A social media meme has been modified with numbers, because numbers make it more convincing
An Internet meme propaganda poster appears to contain false percentage data.
Study used cherry picked data to prove a false conclusion
A fake study cherry picks the start date of the pandemic to make a false claim that billionaires became far richer due to the pandemic. The actual purpose of the “study” is propaganda messaging using the methods of cherry picking, appeal to authority, and emotion. The errors made are large enough to be treated as lies, as well.
Details on Twitter’s policy to automatically flag or delete tweets concerning Covid-19
A link to Twitter’s official policy on how it censors tweets concerning Covid-19. Hilarously, it also censors many tweets previously issued by public health officials and politicians – with examples of those tweets included in this post. Too funny.
AI video cameras to monitor face mask compliance
“Artificial intelligence” software, in conjunction with video cameras, will be monitoring “compliance” with face mask mandates in Paris.
A subtle form of opinion making within a news report
See how a WSJ report skews your views of the subject of a news article by diminishing the impressive background of the primary individual in the story. This is a common technique to spin a news story. Ultimately, rather than blame some for asking odd questions, we should ask why were they confused in the first place? The answer comes down to poor public messaging surrounding public health – from the public health practitioners themselves.
Social media: Social media meme asserts U.S. corn belt yields 40% more oxygen than the Amazon
This poster is a persuasive bit of propaganda. Most of it is not true. The parts that are true are that the Corn belt is a very productive region, and about 80 million acres (close to 100 million in the poster?) are growing corn. This item had been shared into my Facebook news feed.
Propaganda: Poster illustrating growth in physicians versus administrators is flawed
Can you spot all the propaganda tricks in this chart? This chart has been running around social media for years. At best it is highly misleading. At worst, the data is not correct.
Nutrition: the role that propaganda played in picking the wrong villain
Yudkin argued that excess sugar was causing health problems. Keys argued that sugar was not the problem – the consumption of fat was causing health problems. Keys was effective at loudly denouncing anyone who criticized his fat hypothesis. For 40 years, we were told to avoid all fats and that sugar consumption was not a problem. Propaganda messaging played a major role in persuading the public that any fat in the diet was bad while simultaneously asserting that sugar consumption was not a problem for most people.
Journalism: If you do not trust the Washington Post, you are unpatriotic
If you do not trust mass media, then you are unpatriotic. Interesting assertion unsupported by evidence. But its in the Washington Post, so you can trust it.
Social Media: It’s role in spreading epidemics of mass hysteria
Social media has become a vector for epidemics of mass hysteria.