S8 E26: Misinformation, OAN & Idaho: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

16 Dec 2024 (2 days ago)

Idaho Lt. Governor's Power Struggle

A former Facebook employee confirmed that the platform is "terrible" and "by design," while Otis the bear won Fat Bear Week for the fourth time, highlighting the issue of meritocracy in the system (42s).
In Idaho, a power struggle occurred between Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin and Governor Brad Little, with McGeachin signing an executive order banning vaccine mandates in schools and COVID-19 testing while Little was out of state (51s).
McGeachin's actions were seen as a bold move, as she also sent a query to the State National Guard about activating troops and sending them to the US-Mexico border (1m25s).
According to the Idaho state constitution, the lieutenant governor becomes acting governor when the actual governor leaves the state, which is why McGeachin was able to issue the executive order (1m48s).
This is not the first time McGeachin has tried to issue an executive order while Little was out of state, as she previously tried to ban mask mandates in May (2m6s).
McGeachin has been open about her views, including a video criticizing COVID-19 restrictions and referencing the Declaration of Independence (2m24s).

OANN, AT&T, and Misinformation

The One America News Network (OANN) has been found to have flourished thanks to financial support from AT&T, a mainstream source, according to a Reuters investigation (3m30s).
OANN's founder, Robert Herring, testified that AT&T executives told him they wanted a conservative network, and he built one, which was then carried by AT&T on their U-verse system (3m58s).
One America News (OAN) has grown into a toxic network with the help of Direct TV, and it has given a platform to conspiracy theories, including election fraud claims, with one commentator suggesting that those involved in the alleged tampering, including voting machine operators and government officials, are guilty of treason under US Code 2381, which carries the penalty of death (4m25s).
The commentator's statement is extreme, and it's absurd to suggest that ordinary people, such as Dolores, who volunteered to work at a polling station, could be considered traitors (5m7s).
AT&T claims that no senior executive suggested creating another conservative network, and they have never had a financial interest in OAN's success, but an OAN accountant reportedly said that AT&T provided 90% of the network's income (6m9s).
AT&T claims to respect the editorial independence of the channels it carries, including OAN, but this independence has allowed OAN to spread misinformation and conspiracy theories (6m17s).
The author criticizes AT&T's campaign slogan, "More for your thing," as nonsensical and suggests alternative slogans, such as "AT&T: All the business savvy of Quibi without the courtesy of committing corporate suicide" (6m41s).
The author also criticizes AT&T's business practices and suggests that the company is trying to spin off its problematic assets, including OAN, in its deal with Discovery (7m27s).
The author concludes by stating that AT&T is a terrible company that does bad things and makes the world worse, and they should not bother keeping in touch once the merger is complete (7m30s).

Misinformation in Diaspora Communities

Christopher Columbus is often compared to explorers who achieved great feats, but some historians argue that he may have been Spanish, although this is disputed by others who believe he was Italian, as evident from his book "Four Voyages" (8m45s).
The internet is a platform where people can find communities of like-minded individuals, such as a TikToker who created a video of things narrowly fitting into tight spaces, which was enjoyed by a British woman (9m9s).
However, the internet is also plagued by rampant misinformation, which has been covered multiple times before, including topics such as Alex Jones, vaccine misinformation, and conspiracy theories (9m58s).
Tonight's focus is on misinformation that spreads among immigrant diaspora communities, where content in languages other than English often goes unmonitored, such as a Facebook post in Spanish featuring a video with no warning label, despite being flagged as false information in English (10m20s).
According to the Facebook files expose, more than 90% of Facebook's monthly users are outside the US and Canada, but only 13.3% of the company's time spent on monitoring misinformation is dedicated to content from outside the US (10m27s).
The spread of misinformation has real consequences, such as low vaccination rates among Latino communities in California's Central Valley, where a woman explained her reluctance to get vaccinated due to misinformation from a doctor from El Salvador peddling COVID cures (11m4s).
Social media has enabled people to silo themselves off and have different experiences of living in America, as evident from the woman's awareness of the doctor from El Salvador but not Dr. Fauci (11m56s).
The issue of English language misinformation has not been resolved, and it is unclear what to do about it (12m29s).
Misinformation in non-English languages can be particularly problematic, as it often taps into culturally specific interests or fears, making it more relatable and believable to certain communities (12m58s).
Communities with lived experience under communist or socialist regimes are often targeted with misinformation that tries to stoke fears about socialism, such as the false claims spread among Cuban communities in Florida before the election that tied Joe Biden to socialism (13m5s).
A false photo of Jill Biden next to Fidel Castro was spread on social media, but it was actually a photo of Laten Explorer Thor Hayduk Doll and his wife Jacqueline Beer (13m31s).
The spread of misinformation is exacerbated by the lack of alternatives in their own languages for many diaspora communities, leading some to turn to YouTube for news, where channels like King Radio can spread misinformation (14m17s).
King Radio is a popular Vietnamese YouTube channel hosted by N Vu, who has been compared to Alex Jones due to his conspiracy theories and misinformation, including claims that China controls Joe Biden and that masks are killing people (14m30s).
Despite violating YouTube's ban on claims that wearing a mask is dangerous, King Radio remains on the platform, while Alex Jones has been removed for spreading misinformation (15m42s).
The lack of monitoring and regulation of misinformation on social media platforms, particularly in non-English languages, contributes to the spread of false information and conspiracy theories (16m9s).
Private messaging apps are the most popular tools of communication among immigrant communities, with WhatsApp being the largest, owned by Facebook, and having become part of many people's daily routines worldwide (16m20s).
In India, sending good morning messages on WhatsApp is incredibly popular, with millions of people waking up to relatives sending them messages or videos (16m34s).
Certain communities have their own preferred apps, such as Korean immigrants using Cacao Talk and recent Chinese immigrants using WeChat (17m25s).
WeChat is essential in China, where most Western social media is banned, and people use it to text, order food, hail rides, and pay for things (17m49s).
Outside of China, the diaspora uses WeChat to connect with fellow Chinese speakers and access information in their home language (18m0s).
These apps are a cheap and ubiquitous way for people to stay in touch with family and friends, get news, and share information in their home languages (18m37s).
Unfortunately, these apps are also a huge vector for misinformation, with a saying in the Latino community about "la tía de WhatsApp" (the aunt on WhatsApp) who forwards conspiracy theories to all her contacts (18m52s).
Facebook's partnership with mobile phone carriers in many countries makes accessing its services cheaper than the rest of the internet, allowing misinformation to spread far and wide without the same ability to check it (19m32s).
In Brazil, a broadband connection can cost up to 15% of a household's income, making fact-checking too expensive for the average Brazilian (19m46s).
WeChat's features, such as self-media, make sourcing harder to follow, and there is a crucial limitation in that users cannot post links to other websites (20m0s).
Messaging apps and enclosed groups can facilitate the spread of misinformation, often through trusted friends and family members, lending it an aura of legitimacy (20m17s).
The source of information is crucial, as the same information can be perceived differently depending on who wrote it, such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg versus Osama bin Laden (20m29s).
Misinformation can circulate freely on messaging apps, sometimes even being end-to-end encrypted, making it invisible to the general public and the companies hosting them (20m42s).
Posts on social media platforms, such as Reddit's Asian parent stories, often contain misinformation, with people sharing unverified messages, like the claim that filling petrol to the maximum limit can cause explosions (21m4s).
A video promoting conspiracy theories, such as QAnon, was circulated among family members, and a post claiming that boiling black peppers in water with lemon juice can kill the coronavirus was also shared (21m54s).
A TikTok user mocked the gullibility of older generations by creating a satirical post that included a plain background, a mention of a religious text, and a reference to a Harvard scientist, demonstrating how easily misinformation can be spread (22m16s).
The user's post included a diagram that looked scientific and religious, with made-up chemical compounds, such as "Kanye" and "Drake," and insulted Western medicine and culture, making it convincing to some people (22m36s).
The spread of misinformation on messaging apps can have real-world impacts, such as violence and deaths, as seen in India, prompting WhatsApp to create an ad to raise awareness about the issue (23m35s).
A person received a forwarded message with fake news in a family group and was convinced by another family member to leave the group and not circulate the message, highlighting the potential dangers of spreading misinformation (23m57s).
The incident led to the realization that some platforms may not be doing enough to combat misinformation, and that users may need to take responsibility for verifying the information they share (24m25s).
Ideally, platforms like Facebook and YouTube would be more proactive in taking down misinformation in languages other than English, but this is often not the case (24m45s).
Private messaging apps, such as WhatsApp, have taken steps to slow the spread of misinformation, but these measures are often insufficient, and messages can still reach a large number of people (25m9s).
Many communities, especially those that don't speak English, lack access to fact-checking resources, making it difficult for individuals to verify the accuracy of information they receive (26m14s).
Some organizations, such as Viet Fact Check and The Interpreter, are working to provide fact-checking resources in languages other than English, but they often lack the necessary resources and support (26m37s).
There is a need for public pressure on platforms to address misinformation in all languages, and for individuals to be prepared to have difficult conversations with others about the information they share (27m1s).
A potential solution is to provide individuals with the resources they need to verify information and to encourage critical thinking, such as through the use of pre-made messages that encourage people to rethink sharing news from unverified sources (27m26s).
A morning message can be sent to an uncle instead of having a conversation, and it can be in the form of a video message. (27m36s)
Vietnamese Americans may have relatives who listen to King radio in the background 24 hours a day. (28m5s)
A special message was created for Vietnamese Americans, which can be downloaded in both English and Vietnamese at better morning messages.com. (28m17s)
The website also offers a few more messages that can be used when a whole conversation cannot be handled. (28m30s)