Occupy Democrats is not a valid site to be posting material from, including their tweets. OD pushes

[Celerity]

fake news, false CT and wild rumour-mongering. I makes DU look bad having their often dodgy AF shite tossed up here.


Occupy Democrats

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_Democrats

Occupy Democrats is a United States-based, left-wing media outlet built around a Facebook Group and corresponding website. Established in 2012, it publishes false information, hyperpartisan content, and clickbait. Posts originating from the Occupy Democrats Facebook Group are among the most widely shared political content on Facebook.

Accuracy

Evaluation by academia

The Asan Institute for Policy Studies has said that Occupy Democrats "share[s] both real and fake news ... further blurring the line between fact and fiction". According to the University of Iowa library, Occupy Democrats "has been known to show misleading, fake, or exaggerated partisan content". The Valencia College library includes Occupy Democrats on a list of sources that "cannot usually be accepted at face value and need further verification from other sources to determine if information is credible". In a 2017 poster session developed by the library staff of the University of California at Merced, Occupy Democrats was rated "questionable" for its factual reporting and was noted for not having "a very good fact check record".

Evaluation by media

Occupy Democrats has repeatedly been caught by fact-checking websites for posting "exaggerated or invented news stories." Brooke Binkowski, a managing editor at Snopes, commented that Occupy Democrats' headlines were often "extremely misleading." According to The Atlantic, Occupy Democrats' posts are "studded with straightforwardly fake news". The Los Angeles Weekly reports that its posts are "free from the constraints of objectivity and, in some cases, facts". A 2016 BuzzFeed News analysis found it was "the least accurate left-wing page" of several Facebook pages it reviewed and cited one instance where it published a satirical story as fact. In the run-up to the 2020 U.S. presidential election, The New York Times reported that Occupy Democrats "twisted facts to push a critical narrative about Republicans".

In 2017, PolitiFact included Occupy Democrats in its list of fake news websites. In 2017 however, PolitiFact removed Occupy Democrats from its list of fake news sites and, according to the Miami New Times, "admitted Occupy Democrats should never have been on the list in the first place." As of December 2020, PolitiFact classified 62% of 16 posts shared by Occupy Democrats it had evaluated as "not accurate". A further 31% it considered "half-true". In 2021, a post shared by Occupy Democrats claimed Nikki Haley had changed her first name to sound more "white" in order to further her political career. A fact check column by USA Today reported that Nikki was her legal middle name, she had used it as a given name since childhood, and that it was of ethnic Punjabi origin. The same year, Snopes rated "False" a claim by Occupy Democrats that "Republican Congress members had abjectly failed to applaud Biden’s stated goal of drastically reducing the rate of child poverty in the United States" during that year's State of the Union address.

Popular perception

In a 2017 survey among US readers, Occupy Democrats was voted the "least trusted news source" among American readers, just below Breitbart News and BuzzFeed. In September 2018, the English Wikipedia deprecated Occupy Democrats as a source of fact due to its unreliability. In an October 2018 Simmons Research survey of 38 news organizations, Occupy Democrats was ranked the third least trusted news organization by Americans, with InfoWars and The Daily Caller being lower-ranked.

https://www.politifact.com/personalities/occupy-democrats/







https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/occupy-democrats/







Wikipedia bans Breitbart, Occupy Democrats, and InfoWars as fact sources



https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/latest-links/wikipedia-bans-breitbart-occupy-democrats-fact-sources/

Samantha Cole writes: “Wikipedia editors voted to ban Breitbart as a source of fact in its articles. The consensus, reached late in September, agreed that the outlet ‘should not be used, ever, as a reference for facts, due to its unreliability.’

Wikipedia editors also decided that InfoWars is a ‘conspiracy theorist and fake news website,’ and that the ‘use of InfoWars as a reference should be generally prohibited.’ Wikipedia editors held a similar vote for Occupy Democrats, a progressive website.”

[PatSeg]

1. Thanks for posting, I had no idea

I've spread the word to some friends on Facebook.

[LeftInTX]

21. It's not just a Facebook thing. It's also a DU thing

When someone posts from Occupy Democrats on DU, I consider the source and take it with a grain of salt.
Occupy Democrats is also on twitter and many of their tweets are shared on DU
https://occupydemocrats.com/

[PatSeg]

41. It is a shame

They've had some pretty catchy memes. Is it really that hard to fact check themselves? It would improve their credibility unless they don't really care about credibility, preferring online "shock and awe" tactics. Then that puts them in the same category as the right, where facts don't matter, just reactions.

Also, there is absolutely no reason to exaggerative or fabricate outrageous stories. There is a wealth of material to work with.

[Ocelot II]

2. They've definitely gone off the deep end.

Politics USA is another source I take with a grain of salt - they are not as bad as Occupy Democrats but their articles are often overheated and tendentious.

[irisblue]

8. today I learned a new word

ten·den·tious
/tenˈdenSHəs/
Learn to pronounce
adjective
expressing or intending to promote a particular cause or point of view, especially a controversial one.
"a tendentious reading of history"
source Oxford Languages

[PatSeg]

42. Same here

I thought at first it was a typo! Good word.

[FreepFryer]

3. Thank you! (Nt)

[quaint]

4. I did not know they were a single entity.

I don't read Facebook.
I've not used occupydemocrats.com as a source on DU but hadn't had the extreme bias noted hit me.

[Celerity]

5. yes, it is all the same disinfo merchants, be it FB, Twitter, the website, etc, OD has multiple

platforms

[skip fox]

6. Thanks for this.

It does us harm if we propagate lies and misinformation. There's plenty of real crap to find and call out the Republicans on.

[PatSeg]

43. Yes

If when dealing with republicans, you have to exaggerate or lie, you are doing something very wrong.

[jaxexpat]

7. So they're the ones.

I've heard about liberal misinformation for years but didn't know where it was coming from. Now I know where to get my share.

[bucolic_frolic]

9. Fight extremism with extremism, if you don't you will lose the battle much of the time

if only because extremism gains the headlines and attention of the masses. Politics is not a logical game. OD understands this. I'm not a supporter nor an advocate, just observing. Some part of your coalition/media/thinktanks must include extreme narratives if only to float new ideas and debate them. That's how you strengthen your arguments.

[Celerity]

29. Pushing fake news is hardly the way to win. Smdh.

[LeftInTX]

30. I agree, but I think some people pushing fake news is OK

They think it will "win people to our side".

They fake news works for the right, so they think it will work for the left.

I don't know why it doesn't work for us, but it doesn't.

[Celerity]

31. Because Democrats are, on average, FAR more science and fact based than a QMAGAt type.

[Treefrog]

36. Lol, there's a thread about scuba diver in NYC subways on the front page now.

[NNadir]

10. Thank you. It is increasingly problem that critical thinking is...

...under attack. We cannot tolerate misinformation intended to support our views or to oppose them.

Integrity counts.

Thank you for this important note.

I have seen their stuff posted here.

[LiberalArkie]

11. They state on their home page that

"Occupy Democrats is a political organization and information website that provides a new counterbalance to the Republican Tea Party."

They are the polar opposite of the Tea Party. They try very hard to be that also.

[Celerity]

28. They repeatedly have, for years, published fake news.

[Kid Berwyn]

12. And Wikipedia is manipulated by CIA and FBI, among others.

CIA, FBI computers used for Wikipedia edits

By Randall Mikkelsen
Reuters, 16 August 2017

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People using CIA and FBI computers have edited entries in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia on topics including the Iraq war and the Guantanamo prison, according to a new tracing program.

The changes may violate Wikipedia’s conflict-of-interest guidelines, a spokeswoman for the site said on Thursday.

The program, WikiScanner, was developed by Virgil Griffith of the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico and posted this month on a Web site that was quickly overwhelmed with searches.

The program allows users to track the source of computers used to make changes to the popular Internet encyclopedia where anyone can submit and edit entries.

WikiScanner revealed that CIA computers were used to edit an entry on the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. A graphic on casualties was edited to add that many figures were estimated and were not broken down by class.

Another entry on former CIA chief William Colby was edited by CIA computers to expand his career history and discuss the merits of a Vietnam War rural pacification program that he headed.

Continues…

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-security-wikipedia/cia-fbi-computers-used-for-wikipedia-edits-idUSN1642896020070816

Manipulation, misinformation, and disinformation without attribution really piss me off. They are propaganda. So is censorship.

My point is: consider the source.

[H2O Man]

24. Valid point.

[FoxNewsSucks]

13. I don't use facebook, twitter or any of those,

so the only things I've seen of theirs are the picture memes and whatever else had been posted here.

It was always accurate, so I don't know what they are putting on facebook etc.

I just looked at the website, and didn't see anything inaccurate on the front page. Maybe a little sensationalistic in the titles, but that's hardly unusual.

They do seem to be hard-hitting, and maybe that just pissed off the rightwinger teabaggers MAGATs and "conservadems".

I don't see a problem with posting OD things here as long as the post is accurate. If it's not ture, it shouldn't be here anyway no matter what the source is.

[pnwmom]

16. It doesn't matter. Pieces by OD turn up in ordinary news searches, so you're not protected

from them by avoiding Facebook or Twitter -- which also contain links to sources like the New York Times and the WA Post.

[pnwmom]

17. It doesn't matter. Pieces by OD turn up in ordinary news searches, so a person can't avoid them

by avoiding Facebook or Twitter -- which also contain links to sources like the New York Times and the WA Post.

[LeftInTX]

20. The same stuff on DU is the same stuff on Facebook

Occupy Democrats shares the same stuff everywhere.

Many Democratic Underground posts are from Occupy Democrats.
Their accuracy is questionable

[FoxNewsSucks]

44. I can only judge by what has been posted here,

and that is usually been funny, sharp and accurate memes. I don't recall seeing any lies or inaccurate stories posted.

If so, I wish someone would point out the lie. The website seemed to be kinda sensationalistic, but that's just the way a lot of sites are.

[Kali]

14. all I have ever seen were memes, often funny

who uses them for actual news? and I would almost swear I have seen the owner of DU post memes from them so...

[obnoxiousdrunk]

18. I agree

It's the funny stuff that I get from them.

[Celerity]

27. Their 'news" is posted here all the time, just today for example.

[Kali]

37. link?

admittedly, I don't read everything posted in GD, but I read the Latest page and most of Latest Breaking News. I never noticed OD as a source.

[Celerity]

46. Usually tweets of theirs, or sometimes a meme that pushed a falsehood

[Kali]

55. so, no link?

[Celerity]

56. I already provided links and examples in this thread and plenty of receipts for my accusations

[Kali]

57. ok

no examples of any posts specifically here on DU. that was my question. I wanted to see if anybody was actually doing what you said.

[Celerity]

58. Calling out DU'ers by name generally doesn't end well I have found. I am sure my OP will not stop

the posting of more questionable OD product by some, so the next time you see something, I hope you recall this OP.

I am NOT saying that every post OD tosses out on their various platforms is fake news or disinfo, far from it, but they have a really dodgy track record on multiple occasions. They also (as I replied to another poster below on) so often post so-called 'breaking news' that is not attributed and not linked, and ofttimes is a blatant rip off from actual legit new sites, sometimes verbatim.

[FoxNewsSucks]

45. I agree with post 37,

has anyone given any examples of a lying story or inaccuracy OD has published?

If not, why?

[Celerity]

47. here are some examples (from links in the OP)

[aggiesal]

15. I wanted to post the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Handmaid outfits on twitter ...

but didn't because it came from Occupy Democrats Facebook page.
It was the only place that had the image, so I chalked it up as photoshopped.

It does prove a point, but to label it as an official DCC outfit made it highly misleading.

[LeftInTX]

19. I was disagreeing with an OD post and took flack for it..

[totodeinhere]

22. I have always been in favor of letting any outlet say what they want and then let the reader decide

what to believe or not. I do not need anybody holding my hand and telling me what to believe and what not to.

[Amishman]

33. the general public is far too dumb and lazy for that approach to be viable

I like to think that the posters here on DU are a cut above, but I know we too fall victim to believing the lie, just because we want so badly for it to be true.

[totodeinhere]

49. Yes, you are right. I always knew that there were some dumb gullible people who believed Republican

lies. But I didn't realize how many until this pandemic started. And the thing is of course, many of the Republicans telling those lies know they are lying. But many continue the lie anyway because they hope that it provides political advantage. Those who put political gain ahead of their country are the most evil.

[FakeNoose]

23. With the word "Democrat" in their name

... we should assume that the poll results would be skewed, since there's no control over who participates in the poll. Just as many (if not more) conservative-leaning readers are going to vote it down as "fake news" only because of the name.

On the other hand left-leaning readers might be inclined to vote it up for the same reason. Their thinking would presumably be, "I'm a Democrat and I agree with liberals, so therefore Occupy Democrats must be a good thing."

In such a poll they vote on the name and on their own pre-conceived bias, nothing more. It's just like a lot of those fake book reviews on Amazon, every book gets 5 stars or 1 star, depending on the author's political views. Most of the reviewers have no intention of reading that book or any other.

[ARPad95]

25. "Verified Purchase" at least informs if the reviewer even bought the book.

It's just like a lot of those fake book reviews on Amazon, every book gets 5 stars or 1 star, depending on the author's political views. Most of the reviewers have no intention of reading that book or any other.

I don't take anyone's review seriously who does not have that "Verified Purchase" identifier.

[Celerity]

26. They post fake news, it is a bullshit FB group, a shit site, shit Twitter account, etc

Posting their dross here puts DU in a bad light.

[FakeNoose]

38. OK then why are they allowed call themselves Democrats

We Democrats aren't like that. Our Democratic websites don't do that.
They should be required to change their name. Is there any recourse?

[Celerity]

39. Allowed? Anyone can make up a name, and as long as it doesn't violate TOS of whatever platform

they are on, there is little recourse.

[WarGamer]

32. Again... 100% agree

And Raw Story and Politicus USA are no better.

I call it liberal catnip.

They write headlines that make people happy, curious or otherwise engaged no matter the relationship to the truth.

From Media Bias Fact Check:

Raw Story - Overall, we rate Raw Story Left Biased based on story selection that favors the left and Mixed for factual reporting due to half-true, false, and unproven claims, as well as the promotion of mild pseudoscience misinformation.

Politicus USA - Overall, we rate PoliticusUSA borderline extreme Left Biased in wording and editorial positions that always favor the left. We also rate them Mixed for factual reporting due to a few failed fact checks, frequent misleading one-sided commentary, and occasional poor sourcing.

[Celerity]

34. The Palmer Report too, and I would wager that there is some overlap between people

who will defend OD as legit and those who actually believed (maybe still do, lol) the drug-addled Tory Louise Mensch's rot and CT-scamming.

[WarGamer]

35. Palmer and Mensch... were quoted extensively right here in 2017-2018...

[Budi]

61. Politico as well. Now under a new & more foreign nefarious ownership.

Anyone can slap a D before their name & start fundraising, have access to a Voter base & start themselves a 504C private PAC.

As we've all observed since 2016.

Gotta admit, at least The Occupy D's have some great attack ads that target Republicans, rather than attack the Party they now conveniently call thenselves,

For those ads alone, I applaud Occupy D's

[KG]

40. I lulz'd

[LAS14]

48. Thank you!!! nt

[malaise]

51. I love their ads

[Celerity]

52. Some of their memes are based off fake news though, thus it's a dice roll. I have seen them posted

here and ended up being pulled by the OP after the meme was debunked.

They made one based off the fake news (which they also retweeted, then yanked their retweet after Lowes corporate debunked it on Twitter) about Lowes firing its non-vaxxed people if they got COVID. The tweet was posted on DU, but not the meme, in this case.

Link to tweet

Occupy Democrats also specialises in posting non-attributed, non linked 'breaking news', which is often a blatant rip off of a legit news source's story/headline.

[malaise]

53. I don't follow them for news but they have produced some

hard hitting ads.

[malaise]

54. I don't follow them for news but they have produced some

hard hitting ads.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

59. Occupy Democrats-Texas Governor Greg Abbott has blood on his hands!

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

60. This makes me smile

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

62. Facts! Stephanie Ruhle just said it ALL

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

63. LOL-do you need more proof that Boebert had someone take her GED test?

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

64. COVID has killed nearly 5 times as many Americans in Trump counties vs. Biden Counties

Link to tweet