Category Archives: Fake News

The Venezuelan plane with the Iranian crew, currently grounded at Ezeiza International Airport, is a very interesting case study for the analysis of how a communication battle is deployed. Straight news, half-truths, omissions and directly fake news are interlinked within a conceptual promiscuity proper to those situations where prior emotions convert into truth whatever confirms preconceived ideas.

A communication expert would probably be on target, even if cynical, in advising a government: Dont shed light on the dark and shut up all your officials, in the hope that some subsequent news items (e.g. Cristina Fernndez de Kirchners Flag Day speech, the Recoleta fire) will displace news of the plane in the main headlines.

The same is happening with the private companies towards whom the cargo brought to Argentina by the Emtrasur aircraft was heading the Volkswagen people do not want to speak on the record while the Faurecia car parts company (the multinational supplier of Volkswagen importing the seats and dashboards coming from Mexico for the Taos model of Volkswagen) do not attend reporters directly, whether calling on the telephone or travelling to their plant in La Platas industrial suburb of Berisso.

The explanation would be that, given the lack of seats and dashboards (also at their Brazilian subsidiary to complete the units of the Taos model with a daily output of 200 finished vehicles) they had to fly them in from Mexico instead of bringing them in by boat, given that delays in delivery are punished by fine by law.

Days later, another shipment of auto parts for Faurecia/Volkswagen, also from Mexico, arrived aboard another air freight carrier, this time a United States company, which would confirm that the imported auto parts were necessary and urgent.

Obviously neither Faurecia nor Volkswagen are responsible for the international air freight forwarder Fracht USA contracting first a Venezuelan aeroplane and then a US plane, while it is understandable that their executives do not want to come out explaining, in order not to trigger more news linking their brand to something sinister according to public opinion. But limiting themselves to a solitary communiqu which began by saying: SAS Automotriz Argentina informs that it has no relationship with the situation of the Boeing 747-300 freight transport aircraft of Venezuelan origin permitted information to circulate denying the contents of the cargo of the Emtrasur plane.

The fact that the transported goods were genuine does not take away from the possibility of their being an alibi to cover up other ends. With the 250,000 litres of fuel for a Boeing 747 costing around US$300,000, to finally decide whether the Emtrasur flight was commercially logical or not, you would need to know whether there was a freight contract with Argentina or passengers to take back to Venezuela, Mexico or some other destination.

Also not explaining anything (presumably because it would also darken the picture) are the government of Venezuela, its Embassy in Argentina and its flag carrier Conviasa, probably at the request of the Argentine government to try and remove the case from the agenda in the hope that, with no new information on the issue, the scandal will follow the same course as the alleged corruption of the Vaca Muerta pipeline being built by Techint, denounced by many of the same members of the opposition denouncing the Iranian aircraft and shelved 10 days later.

Worse than the lack of information is false information such as the pilot Gholamreza Ghasemi being a namesake of an important Iranian government official because the pilot was 10 years younger, according to Security Minister Anbal Fernndez. Without going so far, the antagonists of the government have also been sloppy when weighing information. That the aeroplane formed part of the airlines Mahan Air and Qeshm Fars Air when the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of Washingtons Treasury Department penalises those doing business with Iranian airlines exposed to the application of OFAC sanctions does not imply that sanctions against legal entities (a company) also apply to physical persons (a pilot or company executive since Gholamreza Ghasemi was also the main director of the company). The Iranian crew of the Emtrasur aircraft would have to be themselves accused of terrorism to be able to be tried and/or extradited. In fact there were no red alerts nor arrest warrants nor legal charges against these physical persons.

While nothing has been denounced prior to the arrival of the aircraft, judge Federico Villena could still indict the Iranian pilot for anything newly committed in Argentina an illegality such as espionage with some evidence or via a transitory appeal to the doctrine of the criminal law of the enemy, the Feindstrafrecht as defined by German Professor Gnter Jakobs at a 1985 Berlin criminal law congress where he separated criminal law for ordinary citizens from such enemies as terrorism, drug-trafficking, organised crime and human-trafficking. Jakobs denies such enemies the condition of a person because for somebody to be considered a citizen they have to give in exchange a certain cognitive guarantee that they will behave as a person. If no such guarantee exists, they will be submitted to suspicion, considering them as the possible creator of dangers not permitted and a potential enemy with their conduct characterised as creating danger. Something similar to the police right to detain persons under suspicion, which cannot be sustained without the existence of evidence. Instead of judging individuals for their past actions, the criminal law of the enemy preventively removes them from society in light of their possible future actions. It was widely used in the United States as from the Twin Towers attack in New York in 2001 when people began to become suspects solely on account of their origin or religion. Guantnamo prison was its paroxysm.

In the Middle Ages, women accused of witchcraft were burnt at the stake but it wasnt always gender prejudice. The character of the enemy of society was tackled by philosophers of the stature of Thomas Hobbes, Immanuel Kant or Jean-Jacques Rousseau and was always controversial.

Further confusing information indicated that less passengers arrived than had departed, also triggering a wave of suspicions because the previous month the aircraft had been in Ciudad del Este on the Paraguayan side of the Triple Frontier, the focus of South American terrorism. The decisive attitude of Paraguays Intelligence minister Esteban Aquino contrasts with the permissive way he previously not only permitted the aeroplane to land and take off again last month without problems but also the Iranian crew to spend three days in that city without any restrictions.

Regarding the aeroplane, the possibility was rumoured of the Argentine State decommissioning it and selling it off to pay compensation to the families of the victims of the terrorist attacks. In that case they could continue with the Iranian Embassy in Argentina, located on Figueroa Alcorta Avenue 3229 in Barrio Parque, facing the lifelong home of Franco Macri.

Although understandable due to the wounds left behind by the attacks on the Israeli Embassy and the AMIA Jewish community centre, it is always desirable to raise the level of discussion in such complex issues requiring the best of us.

See the article here:

Dont shed light on the dark - Buenos Aires Times

Every time President Trump speaks this is what I see

There are a lot of lunatics that Trump created with his battle cry of fake news.

President Trumpvalidated Greed, Bigotry and a lack of empathy.

His validation of Bigotry allowed the Proud Boiz, Oath Keepers and Klan cockroaches to crawl out of their cracks into public view.

Would theUniversity of Virginia Klu Klux Klan style Torch Marchers(many fine people) have happened after the call for civil rights 50 years ago? And sadly that call continues.

My God have we fallen that far?

But far more insidious isPresident Trumps validation of revokinganytruth you dont like even when damning evidence is right in front of your face.

The sky is blue. THAT IS FAKE NEWS

And correcting the historical recordwritten by the victors is now cancel culture. We cry fake news when we look at the inconvenienttruths aboutour history.

The cry of Fake News means screw anything you don't want to hear. It is a lie. Especially if it is critical of you, your belief systems or could weaken your political power.

Double down when you face the truth. Trade vocal volume for facts in a debate or discussion. Truth is measured by how loud you can yell.

Make up conspiracy theories to validate your own insanity. Build aSocial Club of those with special knowledge.

Cognitive dissonance validates belonging to that club. You are wrong. Thats FAKE NEWS rather than examine what you believe.

Or if you are too stupid to make up consipracy theories then promote someone elses that fits your agenda or merely brings you the fanatical support of morons like those whofollowMargret Taylor Greene. She is pretty stupid.

Our families are torn apart as in the Civil War.

Law enforcement officers ignore the beatings and deaths of fellow officers by the criminally insane. Your belief system are your endsthat justify any means.

Maybe those desperate for power political weasels can coax their crackpots and goons to storm state government buildings next.

It is 1938 Germany for me.

Over 70,000,000 voted for President Trump in the last election.

Those voters all thought they were part of some kind (at various levels) of specialRevolutionay Knights Templar Armyand anyone not in it is against God, Freedom,and Apple pie.

That Army punishes people for who they are.

That Army is pro birth and anti child when we see that guns were the leading cause of death in children.

That scares me.

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Reaping the seeds planted by President Trump's battle cry of FAKE NEWS - Daily Kos

A top GOP representative denounced accusations he discussed presidential pardons with Congress after defending claims about fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) told Fox Newss Maria Bartiromo on Sunday that he never requested a pardon because he didn't do anything wrong. A witness told the Jan. 6 committee last week that Jordan had discussed presidential pardons but didnt testify that he requested one.

Yeah, fake news, Jordan said after Bartiromo brought up the witness's testimony saying Jordan discussed the prospect. The witness said I didnt request a pardon, and I didnt request a pardon because I didnt do anything wrong, and I never in relation to Jan. 6 discussed pardons.

JAN. 6 COMMITTEE REVEALS NAMES OF GOP LAWMAKERS WHO ALLEGEDLY SOUGHT TRUMP PARDONS

Jordan went on to blast the Jan. 6 committee, saying, We caught them in another lie, before transitioning to criticizing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for not allowing him to be a member of the Jan. 6 panel.

Although he repeatedly said the committee had been caught in multiple lies, Jordan was coy about which lies he was referring to, besides the revelation last year that the committee altered a text message between himself and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Jordan discussed the indiscretion by the committee on Bartiromos program earlier this month.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

On Sunday, Jordan said the committee misrepresented a video clip of him saying the ultimate date of significance is Jan. 6 in a presidential election in determining the winner. Johnson said the committee left out the fact that he was quoting the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the clip.

This committee, I think the country understands, is purely partisan, Jordan said. And theyre frankly not paying much attention to whats being said.

Continued here:

Jordan blasts Jan. 6 testimony he discussed pardon as 'fake news' - Washington Examiner

Houston The long, hot summer of 2022 drags on. NFL training camps are still over a month away from opening, pre-season football is even longer in the future, and it is well over 2 months before there is NFL football for real. For the Houston Texans fan, with a team seemingly a long way off from competing for the Super Bowl, it can be a struggle to keep motivated to read-up and following the fortunes of their favorite team.

Man, this is as dead an off-season as I have seen in years for this team. Noted one fan. It is so tough that I am eagerly scouring the Texans official webpage to read up on the latest PR moves. Been doom-scrolling Twitter, just looking for the next Easterby tweet to ratio. It is hard, hard, hard to find anything worth reading about the team.

We at Totally Not Fake News understand the challenges that the standard acme Texans fan (however many of them are still left) face this off-season, especially when it comes to following your favorite team. For frame of reference, consider what the off-season headlines could have been for the team:

That is a lot of potential football-y news denied the Texans fans. There are some optionsmaybe.

There are other possibilities. Maybe some Texans player will do something silly and make some headlines. Maybe one of the Bible Study debates will spill out over on social media, and we can get a social media war between player debating just what is meant by the 7 horns and 7 seals? Maybe someone new will take over John McClains beat for training camp and learn the virtues of wearing sunscreen, especially on the face?

Until then, we at Totally Not Fake News will continue to watch...and probably have some good streaming series on the side. Have you seen Kenobi, and the awesomeness that was the...oh, oh, sorry. Yes, uh, Texans...YES, TEXANS NEWS!!! We will keep vigilant watch...with plenty of coffee and Dr. Pepper in tow.

More here:

Totally Not Fake News: The Off-Season Dead Zone...Now What? - Battle Red Blog

The word unsocial introverts who dont wish to mingle with fellow humans has mostly lost its significance since the onset of social media. After all, socialising virtually isnt quite like interacting in person something that introverts anyway find boggling -- and has its own charm and benefits. The world got the taste of this new way of socialising when in 1997 with the launch of Six Degrees was launched. While the platform refused to create much buzz, it did lead to more successful entrants in the market such as Orkut and Facebook (now Meta).

Today, of course, such is the influence and presence of social media in our lives that we have a day June 30 -- to celebrate that. Its difficult to imagine a day without checking your WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. In fact, we now also have several home-grown social media platforms who are giving the global leaders a stiff competition.

Koo, is one such social networking and microblogging site that lets people converse in several languages. In a recent conversation with Outlook Business, Aparmeya Radhakrishna, CEO, Koo talked about social media in general and its relevance for a diverse country like India. Edited Excerpts:

1. What significance does social media day holds for you?

Social media has redefined communication in todays digital world. It has enabled people from all walks of life, different cultures, and linguistic backgrounds to come together, interact and have conversations on multiple topics. Likewise, it has also enabled eminent personalities to engage with their followers, build a true connection, and gain feedback -- all in real-time.

As an innovation in the world of multi-lingual social media, Koo has been empowering every voice to express their thoughts

and opinions in their native language, and thereby experience digital freedom of expression, often for the very first time in their lives. People are not dependent on publishers for news or knowledge sharing its now happening peer-to-peer, either through friends, family or social circle. Social media truly puts the power back in the hands of the users and is the most powerful tool for a democratic world.

2. As a young founder of a social media app, what is your learning about social media across the Indian landscape?

India is a country with thousands of languages and dialects. No other country has the kind of language diversity that we have here. A multi-lingual country like India needs a multi-lingual social media experience. 90% of the population in India does not speak English. Non-English speakers seek experiences where they can freely express in their native language, find their own linguistic communities and hold conversations with like-minded people on a topic of their choice something that they find in Koo.

Like India, much of the world - almost 80% - comprises non-English speakers. Thus, a platform which drives digital inclusion by enabling every voice to come on to social media and freely

express in their mother tongue is what will transform the global social media landscape.

3. Between privacy and security, how do you balance the existence of social media users on your platform?

As a transparent platform, Koo stands committed to ensure the privacy and safety of all users and provide them with a secure online environment to exchange thoughts and opinions.

Global platforms keep getting hacked but that has never happened with Koo. We have employed every best practice required to ensure this level of security.

You can refer to our detailed privacy policy on the website which adheres to prevailing laws and lists out everything related to user rights, information shared at the time of registration, disclosure of information, etc.

4. Globally, social media platforms have been accused of exploiting the privacy of users to make money. Do you think its a valid criticism?

Most media houses either monetise through subscription or advertising. Since media plays the role of a public good, in that it helps the spread of information, its important to be as inclusive as possible. And the only way to do that is through advertising rather than subscription. Of course, a lot of the users may find these ads intrusive or annoying. However, its the only inclusive way to deliver such a public good sustainably.

As far as privacy is concerned, users should be given the choice to opt out of sharing certain data or being shown ads on the platform through a premium version that may have a paywall attached to it. Its the lack of transparency that can lead to an erosion of trust. This is something we will ensure when we monetise our platform.

5. Social Media has democratised information for sure, but it has also led to the menace of fake news, which is leading to riots across social platforms across the world. Do you think it can be controlled ever?

Controlling fake news on the internet is like trying to control rumours in the offline world. Having said that, its a problem that needs to be solved and many efforts are being made globally to address it.

Broadly, the interventions are around using machine learning methods, community reporting processes, legal take down requests and working with professional third-party services that do this for a fee.

At Koo, we continue to comply with the social media intermediary guidelines in India. The platforms Community Guidelines empower creators to build more wholesome and engaging content, while detailing out what constitutes responsible online behavior. The guidelines carry specific references to fake news and misinformation, and sensitize users on the importance of verifying information before posting, while refraining from calling out information as fake, without adequate proof.

We have a dedicated content moderation team comprising, Chief Compliance Officer, Resident Grievance Officer and Nodal Contact Officer -- as required by the IT Guidelines. It is our endeavour to ensure fast redressal of complaints raised. We have the ability to act almost in real-time if there is reported content in violation of our guidelines.

Additionally, we have also enabled users with access to prominent third-party fact-checkers for the purpose of authenticating information. Being a social media intermediary, Koo itself does not assess the accuracy or interfere with content, unless required by the law; thus by enabling access to fact-checkers, reiterates its commitment to building safety and transparency online.

6. Lately, India has been witnessing linguistic debates. Your app offers services across different languages. How do you think Koo balances out this long-standing linguistic debate?

It is a well-known fact that more than 90 percent of Indians communicate and express themselves in their mother tongue. Indians are thus likely to feel alienated on English-first

platforms. Koo drives multi-lingual expression on social media, enabling people, who would otherwise express themselves in the offline world, to come online and express freely on the platform. 95% of users on Koo are first-time social media users who now express, interact with their communities, and also interact with users from diverse linguistic backgrounds by leveraging a breakthrough feature like Multi-lingual Koo (MLK) -- which enables real-time translation of a message across the slew of languages on the platform. Other key features such as talk-to-type further democratise expression on social media by enabling users to express by merely speaking aloud and not having to type.

Continue reading here:

Why India Needs Its Own Twitters, Facebooks, Instagrams - Outlook India

Before the Internet became widely available in Brazil, the bangs and whistles of fireworks were a source of fear among residents of the favelas, or slum communities, in Rio de Janeiro. Lit by olheiros, teenagers who watched over a favelas entrances, they signaled that either the police or a rival gang was about to start a raid. Once heard, there would be little time to find a safe place to hide from the gunfire that usually began shortly afterward; workers returning to their homes on the citys hilltops were often the most at risk of getting caught in the crossfire.

The rise of social mediaWhatsApp, Facebook, and Telegramended the era of using fireworks as a means of protection for Rios poor. Now, the roughly 1,074 favelas that exist in the city (including some formalized settlements), which house around 22 percent of Rios population, are able to instantly exchange information when a dangerous situation is about to occur. These platforms have increased safety in the city while having the added benefit of producing far less noise.

The rise of social media ended the era of using fireworks as a means of protection for Rios poor.

Josi Oliveira, a forty-year-old carpet seller, was born and raised in Jacarezinho, one of Rios most violent favelas. Oliveira pays close attention to three different WhatsApp groups that are based in her community; she uses them to find out which areas are under threat and where to seek shelter.

Before, it was just the fireworks, Oliveria says. We didnt know what to do. Sometimes we missed work. Today, we know where we should go or avoid going.

Since it launched in Brazil in 2009, WhatsApp has become the most popular social network in the country, with 165 million active usersmore than 75 percent of the countrys total population. The Meta-owned mobile messaging service, in terms of users, is followed by YouTube (138 million), Instagram (119 million), and Facebook (116 million). Telegram, a relatively newer app, is installed on 60 percent of smartphones in Brazil.

While messaging apps are frequently used to avoid daily violence, Facebook pages have become a sort of impromptu warning system when an area is imperiled by landslides, flooding, and power outages, among other disasters. In Brazil, Facebook, like in many countries in the Global South, is also a vital platform for business transactions. In October 2021, a worldwide outage of Facebook and its applications that lasted more than five hours led to concern and harm for those who use social networks to advertise their servicesin addition to a feeling of social isolation from not being able to communicate with family and friends.

Paula Fidlis, thirty-three, has lived in Rocinha, the citys largest favela, for five years. She is a stylist who works with hair extensions and advertises her services on a Facebook page dedicated exclusively to Rocinha residents. Facebook is important to Fidlis because it helped her gain clients both within Rocinha and from the outside her community. I have had positive feedback, and I think it is important to use them for work and some even get famous through social media," she said.

Fake news can be particularly dangerous for favela residents who are looking for accurate information to protect themselves from the risk of violence.

Aline Rodrigues, thirty-three, also lives in Rocinha and relies on Facebook as a way to drum up business selling modest skirts and dresses for Evangelical women. I have been selling Gospel clothes for two years on social networks, she says. Sometimes the customers from outside are afraid to come to my store in Rocinha, but we can reach them through [these apps].

But social networks have their dark side. The spread of fake news online (especially on Facebook and WhatsApp) affects Brazilian society as a whole. In the lead-up to the 2018 presidential election that brought Brazils far-right leader Jair Bolsanaro to power, for example, misinformation was widely circulated on WhatsApp. The vast majority of these messages were spread by rightwing sources, likely tipping public debate in his favor.

Fake news can be particularly dangerous for favela residents who are looking for accurate information to protect themselves from the risk of violence. But despite social medias ability to influence or enforce peoples opinions through individually tailored algorithms, in general, many of those who live in favelas say they have a good sense of discerning what is true or false.

In a country with high social and economic inequality, the main concern of the residents of Brazil's poor communities is their survival. For many people from less privileged social classes, social networks go beyond leisure; they are a livelihood.

Read more:

The Promise and Peril of Social Media in Brazil - Progressive.org

How often do you receive photoshoped political images, doctored clips or manipulated screenshots on the campaigns? What implication does this have on the polls?

Well, experts are warming that fake news and disinformation could lead to potentially greater electoral violence across the world, including Kenya.

Kenya's upcoming election featured at the DW Global Media Forum during the panel discussion on "The false fight against fake news: Anti-disinformation laws and press freedom as well as America's in 2020 polls.

Jodie Ginsberg of Committee to Protect Journalists warned that unless companies like Meta address disinformation and misinformation on their platforms, "we'll likely see much greater violence during elections around the world".

"What we see is that these companies react when there is political capital. For instance, they moved to changing things around in the US following the January 6 assault on the capital. But we don't see similar actions around other countries and we are worried about coming elections," Ginsberg said in a panel discussion.

Debunk Media's Asha Mwilu said a situation where there is elite media capture and without independent media to counter disinformation is a recipe for disaster.

Mwilu said hate speech messaging in the August 2022 election was similar to that of the 2007 polls, which resulted in violence that claimed more than 1,000 people and displaced about 600,000 others.

"Mozilla have a brilliant fellow in Nairobi who has been monitoring disinformation campaigns online. Tik Tok, which is becoming very popular among young people in Kenya, and I think in many developing countries, had some 300 accounts posting hate speech videos around Kenyan election," Mwilu said.

"We are seeing the same messaging as was in 2007 on TikTok. Research showed the videos from the 300 accounts had been viewed by more than four million people. When the study came out, Tik Tok pulled down the accounts but it was a little too late. So it is not just a problem with Facebook but the various platforms," she added.

The Debunk Media founder said pulling down videos cannot be a solution and there is need to discuss algorithms and content moderation.

Fake news the false information that is spread deliberately to deceive people and misinformationfalse information, regardless of whether or not it's intended to mislead or deceive people is rampant in this election, with the Kenya Kwanza Alliance and Azimio coalition and their leaders falling victim during the campaigns.

Does fact checking help? It often comes too late when the fake news has spread. The distribution of the fact check is also unusually slow.

Rebuilding enthusiasm for facts, Ralf Bester from the German Federal Office opined, was a better guard against fake news and disinformation.

"That is the question of media and or scientific literacy needs to be addressed, differentiate facts, opinions, impressions and reality and this goes into the field of education," Bester said.

Alphonce Shiundu, Africa Check Kenya editor, told the Starfalse information during elections poses two major threats.

It makes it difficult for voters to make informed decisions because they do not have the facts and the long-term danger of basing decisions on manufactured reality is spending years ruing voting decision for a candidate or a party.

"And even the politicians who manufacture a political reality to win elections have a hard time governing. Simply because they built castles in the sky, trying to fulfil their campaign promises becomes much harderthe reality is different, and doesnt match the expectations. Development suffers. Democracy too," Shiundu said.

Secondly, when hate speech and false information are used to build misleading narratives about candidates and political parties, it escalates political polarisation, he said.

"In a country like Kenya, where political mobilisation is ethnic-based, and at this time when political rhetoric has elements of a classwar (hustler-dynasty dichotomy, high prices of basic commodities, unemployment), it is a risky environment. In such cases, hopeless politicians can pollute the information terrain and incite violence just to get to power," Shiundu said on Saturday.

The spread of fake news has also been boosted by high quality information being behind a paywall, while a lot of low-quality information is free and in abundant supply, which was not the case before social media.

Shiundu, however, noted that electoral violence is dependent on multiple variables such as the incentive for peaceful campaigns and elections, and on the responsibility on authorities to maintain law and order.

"The last one is on the transparent, verifiable and credible execution of the elections. As you can see, if all these go wrong, false information will be the least of your worries. But mis-dis-information can be used to make it difficult to achieve all three," he said.

He noted that fact-checking initiatives such as Africa Check, Pigafirimbi, AFP Fact-check, Pesacheck, and Fumbua (the collaborative journalism project at Baraza Media Lab) have helped to reduce the cycle of misinformation and disinformation from public figures, regarding the current political realities.

The fact-checkers are collaborating with platforms and media houses to sort fact from fiction, he said.

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Fake news, disinformation risk causing violent elections, warn experts - The Star, Kenya

On 27 May 2021, the Chief of the Tkemlps te Secwepemc a First Nations government in British Columbia announced that ground penetrating radar (GPR) had located the remains of 215 missing children. These were allegedly undocumented deaths from the Kamloops Indian Residential School, which had closed 52 years ago.

The young anthropologist who conducted the GPR search later added a note of caution: only a forensic investigation could confirm that these were indeed burials. But a moral panic had already beenunleashed. Politicians and the media immediately seized on the first announcement, and burials of missing children was the storyline that ricocheted around Canada and much of the world. Meanwhile, several other First Nations that had at one time hosted residential schools hired their own anthropologists armed with GPR and announced similar discoveries. Weeks later, almost exactly a year ago, in June 2021, the Cowessess First Nation announced the discovery of 751 unmarked graves at the site of another former residential school in Saskatchewan.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau set the tone of the public response on 30 May by ordering Canadian flags to be flown at half-mast on all federal building to honour the 215 children whose lives were taken at the Kamloops residential school, thus elevating the possible burials to the status of murder victims and making Canada sound like a charnel house of murdered children. Unprecedented in Canadian history, flags remained at half-mast until Remembrance Day, 11 November, and were returned to normal height only after the Assembly of First Nations gave its OK.

In spite of this ostentatious virtue-signalling, Trudeau got into trouble when he skipped an event in Kamloops on 30 September to commemorate the missing children. Apparently, our surfer dude prime minister preferred to ride the waves at Tofino on the Pacific coast rather than attend a commemorative ceremony. To make up for his faux pas, he had to go to Kamloops on 18 October for another memorial ceremony, at which he was harangued for several hours.

But not all the events in the wake of the Kamloops announcement were so amusing. Sixty-eight Christian churches, mostly Roman Catholic, were vandalised or even burned to the ground. Many of these were historical church buildings still used and revered by native people. The pretext for arson and vandalism was that the Kamloops Indian Residential School had been run by a Catholic religious order, as had 43% of all residential schools. Imagine the outrage if 68 synagogues or mosques had been vandalised and burned. Yet the attacks on 68 Catholic churches passed with only mild criticism.

An article in the New York Times was typical of media commentary about the unmarked graves. It was first published under the headline Horrible History: Mass Grave of Indigenous Children Reported in Canada on 28 May and updated on 5 October under the same title. It asserted that: For decades, most Indigenous children in Canadawere taken from their families and forced into boarding schools. A large number never returned home, their families given only vague explanations, or none at all.

Because the corporate press take their cue from the New York Times, its perspective echoed widely. The discovery of the so-called unmarked graves was chosen by Canadian newspaper editors as the news story of the year. And the World Press Photo of the Year award went to a haunting image of red dresses hung on crosses along a roadside, with a rainbow in the background, commemorating children who died at a residential school created to assimilate Indigenous children in Canada.

But the award this news report should have won is for fake news of the year. All the major elements of the story are either false or highly exaggerated.

First, no unmarked graves have been discovered at Kamloops or elsewhere. GPR has located hundreds of soil disturbances, but none of these has been excavated, so it is not known whether they are burial sites, let alone childrens graves. At her original press conference, the Chief of the Kamloops Indian Band called these findings unmarked graves, and the media, politicians, and even Pope Francis ran with the story without waiting for proof.

Similar claims from the chiefs of other Indian reserves ran into grave difficulty (no pun intended) because the GPR research was conducted in whole or in part on community cemeteries located near the sites of residential schools. It would hardly be surprising to find burial sites in a cemetery! But again, since no excavations have been conducted, it is not known whether these unmarked graves contain the bodies of children.

North American Indians did not conduct burials; they usually exposed the bodies of the dead to be worn away by predators and the elements. Christian missionaries introduced the practice of burial. But Indian graves were usually marked by simple wooden crosses that could not long withstand the rigours of Canadian weather. Thus Indian reserves today contain probably tens of thousands of forgotten unmarked graves of both adults and children. To discover these with ground-penetrating radar proves nothing without excavation.

Second, there are no missing children. This concept was invented by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), whose members spoke at various times of 2,800 or 4,200 Indian children who were sent to residential schools but never returned to their parents. Indeed, some children died at residential schools of diseases such as tuberculosis, just as they did in their home communities. But the legend of missing students arose from a failure of TRC researchers to cross-reference the vast number of historical documents about residential schools and the children who attended them.

In the fake news stories, the unmarked graves are presumed to be populated by the missing children, who died at residential school. Lurid tales of torture and murder, of babies thrown into the furnace and hanging from meat hooks, make the stories more colourful. However, the notion of missing children cannot stand up to critical scrutiny. Indian parents, like other parents, loved their children and certainly would have noticed if they went away to school and never came back. But no inquiries about missing Indian children were ever filed with the police. Moreover, children were carefully tracked in the residential school system. Similar to boarding schools all over the world, each child received a number upon admission for keeping track of clothing and other possessions.

The federal Department of Indian Affairs also recorded students because it paid a per capita subsidy to the schools. It reviewed admission records meticulously because it didnt want to pay for the white and Mtis students who sometimes got into the residential schools, even though they were supposed to be only for Indians. On the other side, the residential schools were equally motivated to keep track of students because their income depended on the per capita subsidies. If students disappeared, their subsidy would have decreased.

Third, stories about Indian residential schools are almost always accompanied by the frightening claim that 150,000 students were forced to attend these schools, but the claim is misleading at best. Scholars generally agree that more students attended day schools on Indian reserves than went away to residential schools. Moreover, a large number didnt go to any school at all. It wasnt until 1920 that school attendance was made compulsory for Indian children, and enforcement was often lax. It was estimated in 1944 that upwards of 40% of Indian children were not in any kind of school.

For students who did attend residential school, there had to be an application form signed by a parent or other guardian. Many of these forms still exist and can be seen in online government archives. The simple truth is that, despite allegations of physical and sexual abuse, many Indian parents saw the residential schools as the best option available for their children. Cree artist Kent Monkmans famous painting The Scream, showing missionaries and mounted policemen snatching infants from the arms of their Indian mothers, is a fever dream of the imagination. It is not even close to an accurate depiction of historical reality, not even if taken metaphorically.

*

How could the fake news story of unmarked graves, with its attendant legends of missing children ripped from the arms of their mothers, have gained such wide currency among political and media elites? The short answer is that it fits perfectly into the progressive narrative of white supremacy, of the white majority in Canada oppressing racial minorities. But there is also a specific etiology of the unmarked grave story.

Prior to 1990, residential schools enjoyed largely favourable coverage in the media, with many positive testimonials from students who had attended them. Indeed, alumni of the residential schools made up most of the emerging First Nations elite. Then Manitoba regional chief Phil Fontaine spoke on a popular Canadian Broadcasting Company radio show about how he had suffered sexual abuse at a residential school. After that things went south quickly. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples wrote critically about the schools; two historians wrote influential books; and lawyers launched multiple class actions on behalf of residential school survivors, claiming damages for physical and sexual abuse, as well as loss of language and culture at the schools.

Rather than contest these lawsuits in court, the Liberal government of Paul Martin negotiated a settlement in 2005, which was accepted shortly afterwards by the newly elected Conservative government of Stephen Harper. Ultimately about $5 billion in compensation was paid to about 80,000 claimants, and Prime Minister Harper gave a public apology for the existence of residential schools in 2008.

Harper might have thought that the compensation payments and his apology would be the end of the story, but it was only the beginning. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission that he appointed took off in its own direction after the initial set of commissioners resigned and had to be replaced on fairly short notice. The TRC held emotional public hearings around the country at which survivors were invited to tell their stories without fact-checking or cross-examination. Most had already made claims for financial compensation in which the amount paid was proportional to the degree of sexual and physical abuse suffered, again without fact-checking or cross-examination. The TRC concluded that the residential schools amounted to cultural genocide.

While this was going on, lawyers were bringing more class actions for other forms of Indian education, such as day schools on reserves, or boarding in town to attend public schools. Harpers government offered some resistance in court, but the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau, elected in 2015, preferred to settle out of court. Billions of dollars more are being paid out as a result.

Against this background, the claims of unmarked graves are a new money-maker. In August 2021, the federal government announced $321 million in special grants to First Nations for research about unmarked graves, and Canadas 2022 budget pledged $275 million for addressing the shameful legacy of residential schools. Meanwhile indigenous leaders are pursuing claims for financial compensation from the Catholic Church.

Fake news does not arise and thrive in a political vacuum. While progressive ideology makes academia and the Liberal government a receptive audience, the indigenous industry has an obvious financial stake in driving the story. As long as the dollars flow, expect more stories about unmarked graves, yet no excavations to test the truth of the stories.

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The truth about Canada's Indian graves - UnHerd

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Charles Nii Armah Mensah, popularly known as Shatta Wale, has been slapped with a GHc 2000 fine after he retracted his initial 'not guilty' plea regarding his death hoax in 2021.

This judgment was made by a Circuit Court judge, Emmanuel Essandoh, on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, after the defendant, Shatta Wale, pleaded guilty to spreading fake news that he had been attacked by armed assailants in October 2021.

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Shatta initially pleaded not guilty to the charges against him in an earlier court session but changed the plea during Wednesday's sitting.

Should the dancehall king fail to pay the GHc 2000 fine, he would serve a three-month jail term.

On Monday, October 18, 2021, Shatta Wale's personal assistant confirm rumours that the 'Gringo' hitmaker had been shot several times by armed attackers and left in critical condition at an undisclosed health centre.

A thorough investigation by the Ghana police revealed that the entire reportage was a hoax by Shatta with the aim of drawing people's attention to a prophecy by Jesus Ahuofe that Shatta would be shot dead on the said date.

Shatta argued that the cybercrime department of the police service acted nonchalant towards the prophecy by the founder of New Life Kingdom Chapel International, thus the hoax to draw their attention to it.

Still on Shatta Wale, YEN.com.gh reported earlier that Nigerian singer Naira Marley had let slip that he and Shatta Wale worked on the 'Papi' song for the yet-to-be-released Gift of God (G.O.G) album two years ago.

Naira Marley said he and Wale got talking on Instagram and he received the song from Wale, listened to it, liked it and decided to hop on to it. He added that he had no idea why Shatta refused to release the song and suggested that the dancehall musician might have wanted to release it as a single but decided against that to add it to the G.O.G track list.

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Shatta Wale Admits To Spreading Falsehood, Charged With GHc 2,000 Fine - YEN.COM.GH - Yen.com.gh

Hoaxes about US politics were among the top-performing fake news content on Facebook in 2016, according to an analysis by BuzzFeed News.

Twenty-three of the 50 top-performing fake news hoaxes we found on Facebook were focused on US politics. Overall, fake news about US politics accounted for 10.6 million of the 21.5 million total shares, reactions, and comments these English-language stories generated on Facebook this year, according to the analysis.

The top-performing fake news story identified in the analysis is a hoax from October that claimed President Obama had banned reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in schools. It was published by ABCNews.com.co, a fake site made to look like ABC News that scored six hits in the top 50. The Obama hoax generated more than 2.1 million shares, comments, and reactions on Facebook in just two months. (A counter on the article page suggests the story has been viewed more than 110,000 times.)

BuzzFeed News used BuzzSumo to identify the top-performing Facebook content from 96 fake news websites, including the network of more than 40 sites exposed in a recent investigation. This list of English-language fake sites has been built up over the past two years of covering this topic, and was compared to this chart from the creators of Hoaxy to compile a more comprehensive list of pure fake news sites. Click here to view the top 50 hoaxes, and to see the list of fake news sites.

In order to examine the performance of pure fake news on Facebook in 2016, this analysis focused exclusively on stories that were 100% false and that originated on fake news websites it did not include misreported news or partisan misrepresentations of real events.

Along with the Obama pledge ban hoax, other fake news about US politics that hit big on Facebook this year included Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President, Releases Statement," "Trump Offering Free One-Way Tickets to Africa & Mexico for Those Who Wanna Leave America," ISIS Leader Calls for American Muslim Voters to Support Hillary Clinton," and "FBI Agent Suspected in Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide."

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Here Are 50 Of The Biggest Fake News Hits On Facebook From 2016