Increased scrutiny fails to deter extremists and conspiracy theorists

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Jared Holt
@jaredlholt
“[Political extremism is] not just an internet problem but indicative of a certain amount of social disorder within the U.S. that is not being adequately addressed.”

I talked to ⁦@CodaStory⁩ for a little Q&A

codastory.com
While the deliberate lies that led to the January 6 insurrection are exposed, misinformation runs...
Increased scrutiny fails to deter extremists and conspiracy theorists
10:41 AM · Jun 17, 2022

https://www.codastory.com/disinformation/jan-6-social-media-disinformation/

Testimony in a third public hearing by the committee investigating the attacks on January 6 on the United States Capitol continued to reveal how President Donald Trump, in the words of one White House staffer, “poured gasoline on the fire” despite pleas to tamp down the flames. Committee chair, Representative Bennie Thompson, said American democracy “came dangerously close to catastrophe” as a mob gathered within feet of Vice President Mike Pence and chanted for him to be hanged.

A feature of the hearing has been Trump’s apparent willingness to knowingly spread falsehoods and misinformation on social media, fomenting anger and unrest among his supporters. In a taped interview played before the investigating committee at the second hearing, Richard Donoghue, former Acting Attorney General in the last weeks of the Trump administration, said, “this gets back to the point that there were so many of these allegations that when you gave him a very direct answer on one of them, he wouldn’t fight us on it, but he would move on to another allegation.” These other allegations, according to Donoghue, included such conspiracy theory fodder as “dead people are voting,” or “Indians are getting paid to vote.” Trump meant, Donoghue clarified, “people on Native American reservations.”

The hearing offers detailed evidence of the lingering half-life of misinformation, no matter how many times the lies are debunked. I spoke with Jared Holt, a social media and extremist activities researcher and fellow at Atlantic Council, about how conspiracy theorists are responding to the latest hearing on the Capitol Hill riots investigation on social media. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Has surprising misinformation popped up on social media among far-right groups you monitor as the hearings continue?

Much of what I’ve seen has been what I expected to see, including the re-litigating of conspiracy theories about the events of that day, such as claims that federal law enforcement set up or entrapped Trump supporters. A lot of what we’re also seeing is smear campaigns of the witnesses testifying and committee members involved. There’s lots of right-wing criticism of Liz Cheney specifically.

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