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I'd add: counter with factual information, including source/links.
In cases where the accusations are flat out wrong, absolutely. In cases where they try to lure you into “proving a negative” in order to give life to a topic, press ignore.
They can't help it. It is why they are Trump supporters in the first place. People who feel aggrieved, left out of globalism, etc. They are his base, those who are angry about change and not sure how to stop it. They have to blame it on things that they don't understand, which is where conspiracy theories fill the gap. This has always been around, it just got amplified due to social media being in our lives now.
For example, they don't understand why a gas company in Ukraine would need a political patron after a revolution. They are told the only answer is Biden must be corrupt and they believe it because they want it to be true. No more obvious reasons can exist in their mind because they have no idea how the world really works outside of their tumbleweed town.
They can't help it. It is why they are Trump supporters in the first place. People who feel aggrieved, left out of globalism, etc. They are his base, those who are angry about change and not sure how to stop it. They have to blame it on things that they don't understand, which is where conspiracy theories fill the gap.
This is a lovely article reminding us how Bannon-and-friends’ pizzagate strategy works. This is the most important take-away from the article:
While the claims have not been repeated by any mainstream media outlets, that does not mean that they have not had their intended effect. Phillips, the Syracuse assistant professor, said the goal of the rumors isn't necessarily to make people believe the claims, but to confuse and disillusion voters into distrusting any piece of information and, in turn, keep them from wanting to vote at all.
"All 'flooding the zone with s--t' does is just make reasonable people not want to engage," said Phillips. "So then the screamers and the people on the far, far, far-right take over the discourse, and then that means no one can have a discourse."
As you have likely noticed, lately social media has seen a barrage of pizzagate-style accusations against Hunter Biden. Count the number of threads on this site on Hunter Biden, you’ll see what I mean.
The goal isn’t to provide credible evidence that leads to prosecution. Their goal is to generate buzz and turn voters on the fence to just not vote.
How to combat this campaign of disinformation?
1. Ignore posts that discuss Hunter Biden
2. Do not repeat the baseless claims elsewhere
3. Vote. (This is the most important.)
The huge early voting is already showing the spectacular failure of this disinformation campaign. But we can always do better by bringing awareness to voters and actively combat disinformation rumor mills like the one cited in this article.
Well Hellopity, I think you are a starry eyed dreamer, but your heart is in the right place.
I don't believe that those who post conspiracy theories here are doing so because they want to engage in any sort of true discourse. All they want to do is to preach the gospel according to Fox and then move right from there.
Critical thinking is a foreign concept to these folks. They are too lazy for one and for two they are too deeply entrenched in the "us vs them" culture wars. They really believe that Hunter Biden is a pedophile who preys on younger family members and runs an international child porn ring which is based in the Ukraine (or whatever they are saying - I don't read those threads either).
I'm tempted to start a thread about Ivanka's child porno fashion ring/coronavirus super spreading Chinese pizza take-out biz but the mods would probably delete it. Oh well.
Left-wing conspiracies such as police are hunting down black people and that the US has widespread “systemic racism” are not only widely believed by every leftist they are taught being taught on college campuses and in corporate HR meetings. Spare me the whining about some anti-government conspiracies on the right. Questioning and restraining government is as American as apple pie and is the reason we still have freedom here.
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