Hoaxlines Novel Science

Key findings in this report

Between February 5 and 13, 2022 a dataset with 99,900 tweets declined by 6,959 tweets. Engagements disappear in one of three ways: voluntary deletion of the tweet, voluntary deletion of the account responsible for the engagement, or a user suspension.
Hoaxlines assessed a subset of missing engagements – a tweet, reply, quote, or retweet would be an engagement — and found that for MaximeBernier and TimCast, the majority of the engagements lost could be explained by user suspensions. Users behind the missing engagements often had recent creation dates.
Two users in the top 100 most active accounts for the truck-related hashtag dataset also appeared in the top 100 most active accounts for the Pfizergate hashtag in November 2021.
Suspensions explained most of the lost engagements we examined but we also found that some users deleted the engagement and were still active on the platform. Other users deleted their accounts altogether.
Taken together, the evidence in this report suggests inauthentic activity may be boosting prominent promoters of truck-related hashtags. Suspension indicates that Twitter may be aware of this platform manipulation.
If so, even if the platform cannot ascertain who is responsible for the activity, it is ethically questionable that the platform has not disclosed this. Twitter’s silence may leave users more vulnerable to influence efforts, allowing bad actors to sow chaos and potentially threaten national security.

For the full report visit novelscience.substack.com

A bizarre story born in the depths of the internet about political elites that trafficked and ate children evolved into what we now know as Qanon.
Qanon. It’s a catch-all collection of conspiracy beliefs that weaves anti-semitic Nazi propaganda, Christian tropes, and anti-intellectualism. The identity of their prophet, known only as Q, has almost certainly changed.  Q is anonymous, hence the name Qanon, so followers and researchers can’t say with certainty who the original or subsequent prophet was.

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Visit the Hoaxlines Disinformation Database.

A new strain of the virus causing COVID-19 appeared in the UK in September. By mid-November, the new variety of SARS-CoV-2 appeared in ¼ of new cases.  Now, in December, that portion is much larger at over 60% of new cases. The change left Prime Minister Boris Johnson little choice but to restrict movement over Christmas. 

It’s a warning that Americans should heed. Had Johnson acted swiftly and controlled the virus versus allowing uncontrolled spread, UK citizens might have had a very different Christmas. 

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How the world’s greatest public health organization was brought to its knees by a virus, the president and the capitulation of its own leaders, causing damage that could last much longer than the coronavirus.

Written by James Bandler, Patricia Callahan, Sebastian Rotella, and Kirsten Berg  for ProPublica on Oct 15, 2020, republished by NOVEL SCIENCE 

Article: https://novel-science.com/inside-the-fall-of-the-cdc/

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The GAO report details its audit of congressional and federal spending in the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Origins of Snake Oil: The Truth About the Most Famous Retracted COVID-19 Study
The controversial study gave hope to the world. That was about three seconds before scientists found the trial suffered worrisome flaws. Whether the drug helped people heal faster or protected them from infection, this study couldn’t have shown.
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