Hate Sells category archive
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
Nigel Barber looks at how “social” media is being exploited to promote authoritarianism. One his examples is Myanmar’s oppression of the Rohingya; follow the link for more examples:
Not being Internet-savvy, Myanmar residents were inclined to believe whatever they read as though it had been edited like a reputable newspaper.
Their Facebook feeds contained many false and hateful narratives about the Rohingya, their atrocities committed against Buddhists, and their ties to Islamic terrorism. The Facebook algorithm amplified these hate-filled rants, offering a breeding ground for fake news hostile to the Rohinga..
Facebook was aware of the problem but opted not to hire sufficient staff in the country to set about removing some of the inflammatory false narratives.
The Guru and the Groupies 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Steve Taylor explores the “abdication syndrome,” which refers to persons’ choosing to abdicate their autonomy to a charismatic leader or guru. He suggests that it can help understand the fanatic devotion of Donald Trump’s base, even as his behavior demonstrates repeatedly that he doesn’t have a clue about how government, politics, or international relations (let alone integrity or morality) work. Here’s a bit; the rest is worth a look:
Chaos Agent, Reprise 0
David is less than sanguine.
Facebook Frolics 0
At The Seattle Times, One of organizers of the #StopHateForProfit campaign to boycott Facebook to encourage it to clean up its act writes that Mark Zuckerberg just doesn’t get it.
Our meeting made one thing clear: Zuckerberg has an extremely limited understanding of systemic racism and the ways it has infiltrated his company.
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
The Denver Post, in an AP article, explores the role of “social” media in promoting anti-social behavior in these viral times.
All the News that Fits 0
Steven M. looks askance at the slanted news coverage emanating from (primarily) right-wing news corporations (I’m not talking about Twitter twits or Facebook frolickers or wacky websites here), particularly Fox News and Sinclair Broadcasting.
But that’s only part of the story.
Con artists cannot succeed without easy marks, and the United States has more than its share of persons willing to believe anything that props up their prejudices and bolsters their bigotry, despite the evidence of objective reality, sometimes despite the evidence of their own eyes.
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
At The Roanoke Times, John Long makes a compelling case for adding an “anti-” to “social,” as in media.
Methinks he is onto something. Follow the link and read for yourself.
The Trumpling Goes Viral 0
This is your–our–country on Trump.
(snip)
But as a bus rolled past, the man again yelled out, this time screaming at the driver to “run them all over,” Zhu said.
He turned to her and she knew it was coming.
“Please don’t,” she said.
“Right after I said that, he spit on me,” Zhu said. “I didn’t really know what to do.”
The story goes on to describe a web site being created to track such hate-full incidents.
Words fail me.
“Because It Sells” 0
Sheila Kohler explores the appeal of mongering hate as a political tactic.
Fear and Mongers of Fear 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Arash Javanbakht explores the “politics of fear.” A snippet:
When one person kills a few others in a city of millions, which is of course a tragedy, major networks’ coverage could lead one to perceive the whole city is under siege and unsafe. If one undocumented illegal immigrant murders a U.S. citizen, some politicians use fear with the hope that few will ask: “This is terrible, but how many people were murdered in this country by U.S. citizens just today?”
Stray Thought 0
Republicans no longer have a “political party.”
They have a hate group, and the sad truth is that hate sells.