Cambridge Disinformation Summit’s Post

These former conspiracy theory believers were deep down the rabbit hole. Here's what pulled them out Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Anna Kelsey-Sugg H/T: Cambridge Skeptics https://lnkd.in/eFb78YVU

Hate Speech Epidemic. The Dynamic Effects of Derogatory Language on Intergroup Relations and Political Radicalization Political Psychology Volume 41, Issue S1 p. 3-33, 2020 Michal Bilewicz Wiktor Soral Abstract Exposure to derogatory language about immigrants and minority groups leads to political radicalization and deteriorates intergroup relations. This article addresses the psychological processes responsible for these effects as well as those involved in hate-speech proliferation in contemporary societies and discusses the factors that constrain its growth. We propose that frequent exposure to hate speech has severe effects on emotional, behavioral, and normative levels. Exposure to hate speech results in empathy being replaced by intergroup contempt as a dominant response to others—it is both a motivator and a consequence of derogatory language. The increased presence of hate speech in one's environment creates a sense of a descriptive norm that allows outgroup derogation. This leads to the erosion of existing antidiscriminatory norms. Finally, through a process of desensitization, hate speech reduces people's ability to recognize the offensive character of such language. Based on empirical evidence from the fields of social psychology and psychology of emotion and aggression, we propose a model that explains the described processes, and we trace the dynamics of this model using an agent-based modeling approach. We show that the mechanisms potentially effective in constraining hate-speech proliferation (empathy, norms) are eroded by hate speech itself. We argue that through basic psychological dynamics, societies become more accepting of derogatory language and less accepting of immigrants, as well as religious, ethnic, and sexual minorities. https://lnkd.in/eWeHj8yy

How conspiracy theories and hate dominated social feeds after assassination attempt on Trump BBC News Marianna Spring https://lnkd.in/ecRwjh-s

“Moments after former President Donald Trump was escorted off the stage after shots were fired at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, unfounded claims about the event swirled on major social media platforms. The posts, including some written by US politicians holding elected office, claimed without proof that President Joe Biden had ordered an apparent shooting at the rally. Others baselessly stated that the incident was staged, or circulated posts misidentifying the shooter. … On X, several politicians accused Biden or his campaign of being “directly” behind the apparent shooting, without providing evidence. Georgia Representative Mike Collins posted simply, “Joe Biden sent the orders,” while Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, a top contender for Trump’s vice-presidential running mate, wrote on X that the Biden campaign’s rhetoric “led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.” Texas Representative Ronny Jackson pointed to unnamed figures on the left whom he accused of being “directly responsible” for the events at Trump’s campaign rally. … Earlier posts on X, Telegram and Gab, forums favored by many on the far-right, misidentified the shooter as a man called Mark Violets, calling him a “known Antifa extremist” which refers to the loosely organized leftist movement. According to NBC News, the misidentified person circulated in posts that included a photo was Marco Violi, an Italian YouTuber who has denied any involvement in the shooting. Immediately after the shooting, hundreds of thousands of posts reaching millions of views circulated on X claiming the shooting at the Pennsylvania rally was “staged,” according to data from the social media platform — without offering any evidence. Despite being quickly debunked, many of the posts remained live on the platform.” Bloomberg Davey Alba https://lnkd.in/eEQCShum