Read on Twitter
1. THE TROLL
Last night the John Snow Memorandum got featured on an alternative news service that Media Bias rates as ‘Mixed’. This rating means it shares real news alongside 9-11, New World Order and other conspiracies. Here are the two presenters in a pretty slick studio.
Last night the John Snow Memorandum got featured on an alternative news service that Media Bias rates as ‘Mixed’. This rating means it shares real news alongside 9-11, New World Order and other conspiracies. Here are the two presenters in a pretty slick studio.
2. I’ve been writing about the dark corners of the web since Pendulum, a book that centres on the concept of trolling, something most of us are now all too familiar with.
3. Despite their slick studio and professional graphics, this pair are mega trolls, who trigger an army of troll followers with their emotive language. Here’s what they had to say about the John Snow Memorandum.
4. I’ve cut it before they name one of the memo’s authors, who has since been subjected to a tirade of abuse from the troll army. There are many inaccuracies in this video, which is unsurprising because it’s basically two ‘angry pub blokes’ who’ve been given a studio.
5. But I’m just going to focus on two errors. The first is that this is a ‘British Establishment’ effort to discredit the Great Barrington Declaration. Wrong. The John Snow Memorandum is completely grass roots - @dgurdasani1 were worried about the GBD’s effect on policy...
6. ...so we asked a group of scientists if they’d like to collaborate on a paper setting out the fundamentals of what we know about #COVID19. Scientists from all over the world joined & we organised most of it on Twitter. So it’s definitely not establishment, nor is it British.
7. The next issue I have with the pub blokes’ video is their attack on the phrase “the scientific consensus”. They think it’s political, when it actually means the opposite. The John Snow Memorandum ended up with dozens of authors.
8. The scientific consensus means ‘this is the evidence on which we can all agree’. There are varying opinions on different issues in the group, how long immunity might last, the role of children in transmission etc. The John Snow Memorandum sets out the evidence...
9. ... that leaves no room for opinion. It is a statement of where things stand and if I was in the pub, I would replace ‘the scientific consensus’ with, ‘here’s what we know.’
Writing the John Snow Memorandum has been a painstaking process. The document has been through...
Writing the John Snow Memorandum has been a painstaking process. The document has been through...
10. ...dozens of drafts. Any publishing pals will be familiar with the ordeal of editing. Imagine doing it with dozens of authors and editors scrutinising every statement to see if evidence supports it. @dgurdasani1 did a sterling job marshalling us.
11. Rather than being a shadowy phrase with sinister connotations, ‘the scientific consensus’ means ‘here’s what we know based on the evidence’. Science is constantly evolving, so the consensus will evolve based on new evidence, but the key elements in the John Snow Memo...
12. ...are unlikely to be dramatically affected by new discoveries. There is already robust evidence to support them. And that’s key, rather than scrutinise the evidence, the two pub blokes cast aspersions using a simple phrase that their audience has been trained to recognise.
13. Because they’ve been doing the same thing on climate change. They can’t attack the evidence because it’s strong. They can’t question the credentials of the authors because the John Snow Memorandum has been written by experts in a number of scientific fields.
14. So they imply sinister intent & use triggers to elicit an emotional response in their audience. I’m worried about the rising levels of disinformation and outright malevolent propaganda during the pandemic. It’s one of the reasons I thought the John Snow Memo would be useful.
15. These are not innocent actors. One of the guys in the video owns another ‘alternative’ news site that promotes whacky conspiracies and alt-right stories. I’ve been researching these groups for years, looking at the connections between misinformation, political extremism...
16. ...alt-right groups, dark money, politics and foreign interference. My recent novel, Black 13, is inspired by much of this. It is sad to see the same networks operating during a pandemic, but unsurprising. If you want to weaken a nation, what easier way than to spread...
17. ...disinformation during a pandemic? Don’t believe such things can happen? The FT did a profile of an interesting individual a few years ago: https://www.ft.com/content/84481538-1103-11e4-94f3-00144feabdc0
18. And here is an account in an Austrian newspaper of a now infamous meeting organised by this individual to recruit and fund far right groups across Europe. https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/ausland/europa/gipfeltreffen-mit-putins-fuenfter-kolonne/story/30542701
19. As more and more people switch to alternative news, they are unwittingly exposing themselves to the influence of such individuals & groups. These groups want to sow distrust, because distrust leads to division, and that is a strategic advantage.
20. None of us want to be unquestioning sheep. Government needs to be challenged, science needs to be challenged, but on the basis of evidence, not rumours and superstition. We all need to be very aware of our sources. If you rely on weird...
21. ... blokes in the pub for the ‘truth’ and find yourself getting angry when they use phases like “globalist agenda”, “scientific consensus” or “new world order, congratulations, you’ve been radicalised.
22. If you can’t be convinced by dozens of leading scientists authoring an evidence-led paper, published in a highly regarded peer review journal, now endorsed by more than 3,000 of the world’s infectious disease experts, epidemiologists, medics & researchers..
23. ...I’m not sure what will convince you. You might want to see what the cat thinks... https://twitter.com/adamhamdy/status/1302589270113300481
24. We can’t afford misinformation and division during a pandemic. The countries that have successfully navigated this crisis have done so with clear leadership from government, a widespread consensus and a whole community response.
25. Lockdowns are a failure of policy. Letting the virus spread is a dangerous idea unsupported by evidence. If you want to see what the evidence is and what’s worked elsewhere have a look at the scientific consensus —
*cue dramatic conspiracy music*
http://www.johnsnowmemo.com
*cue dramatic conspiracy music*
http://www.johnsnowmemo.com
26. Broadcasting used to be very strictly regulated. Reputable media offers right of reply and balance. This sort of agenda led, activist broadcasting, devoid of factual criticism, propagating misinformation is a big problem for a world facing profound scientific challenges.
