The Sift, NLP’s free weekly newsletter for educators — delivered during the school year — explores timely examples of misinformation, addresses media and press freedom topics and discusses social media trends and issues. It also includes links, discussion prompts and activities for use in the classroom.
Mob Reality
When the mob of extremists, conspiracists and zealous supporters of President Donald Trump violently raided the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, many of its members behaved in person how they have generally acted online. They propagated disinformation, spewed hate, stoked violence, disregarded the law and overwhelmed authorities vastly outnumbered and ill-equipped to handle the onslaught. The consequences were deadly. The crush of militia members, White nationalists, QAnon believers, “boomerwaffen” and ordinary Americans represented an alternative information ecosystem come dangerously to life — a physical demonstration of the “vanishing line between mainstream and fringe” political beliefs. The insurrection was a product of a circular and self-sustaining echo chamber of false political claims, propaganda from openly partisan media, conspiracy theories and disinformation that has been escalating — largely unchecked — for years. Here are three points of focus for educators seeking to guide students through the news literacy implications of this shocking event.
The collapse of the physical and virtual.
The crowds who came to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5 and 6 to “save America” were misinformed, radicalized and organized online. According to Zignal Labs, a media intelligence company, “the term ‘Storm the Capitol’ was mentioned [online] 100,000 times in the 30 days preceding Jan. 6,” The New York Times reported. Once the “storm” arrived at the Capitol, however, the rioters never ceased being online. They chanted hashtags, livestreamed their invasion on sites like Dlive (where other users not only paid them but also used the chat to help them evade police) and they performed and posed for social media.
Discuss: What do you think the online causes of the Capitol attack were? What effect will the real-life violence have online? How could images and footage of the failed insurrection be used in the future?
Related: “Police let most Capitol rioters walk away. But cellphone data and videos could now lead to more arrests.” (Craig Timberg, Drew Harwell and Spencer S. Hsu, The Washington Post).
Threats, violence and police actions against the press.
The mob harassed, threatened and assaulted journalists covering the event. They proclaimed “we’re the news now,” destroyed TV equipment and scrawled “murder the media” — which is also the name of a group of alt-right podcasters and YouTubers — on a door of the Capitol. Several journalists were also detained by police.
Related:
“Journalists were attacked, threatened and detained during the Capitol siege” (Brittany Shammas, The Washington Post).
“‘Three people threatened to shoot me.’ Journalists describe covering mob violence at the US Capitol” (Katherine Jacobsen and Lucy Westcott, Committee to Protect Journalists).
Idea: Use one or more of the ideas in this Twitter thread by Peter Adams, NLP’s head of education, to address the press freedom implications of the Capitol siege with students.
Deplatforming measures.
In the wake of the riot, social media platforms scrambled to retroactively enforce their own terms of service by flagging and deleting specific types of content and limiting or banning the accounts of users spreading dangerous disinformation about the election and attack on the Capitol. The morning after the failed insurrection, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the platform was banning Trump from both Facebook and Instagram indefinitely. On Jan. 8, Twitter announced that it was permanently suspending Trump’s account, which had more than 88 million followers. Parler, an alternative social media platform with lax community standards favored by people on the far right, was delisted from both the Apple and Google app stores over the weekend. It also had its cloud hosting revoked by Amazon on Jan. 10, knocking it offline until — and if — it can find a new hosting service.
Related:
“How Parler, a Chosen App of Trump Fans, Became a Test of Free Speech” (Jack Nicas and Davey Alba, The New York Times).
“Trump Is Banned. Who Is Next?” (Evelyn Douek, The Atlantic).
Idea: Use this summary of platform actions following the Capitol siege — compiled by First Draft, a disinformation research organization — to discuss the topic of deplatforming with students. Do they agree with these actions? Why or why not? What steps would they have taken if they were in charge of these companies?
Thanks for reading!
The Sift is created by Peter Adams (@PeterD_Adams), Suzannah Gonzales and Hannah Covington (@HannahCov) of the News Literacy Project. It is edited by NLP’s Mary Kane (@marykkane).
You’ll find teachable moments from our previous issues in the archives. Send your suggestions and success stories to thesift@newslit.org.
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