5 minutes
deception ( 2 )
Abdullah Al Qamzi
Abdulla.AlQamzi@emaratalyoum.com
May 23 2022
We have previously pointed out the factors that create misinformation, showing the huge difference between the original subject and the misleading, and how people end up completely distracted by believing the misinformation and even not knowing the original subject.
The year 2020 was a fertile period for the explosion of conspiracy theories, and conspiracy to flourish needs uncertainty, and this is what happened that year, as the world was facing a new virus that it did not know how to deal with.
One of the most famous conspiracy theories at the time was the 5G conspiracy, as 5G smartphone communication towers spread the Corona virus, especially since China was the first to develop the technology and won international contracts.
The claim was that the communication towers in Wuhan itself spread the virus, and the claim gained credibility from press reports that came out of Wuhan saying that the authorities there detected a mysterious respiratory infection in late 2019.
The result was the spread of the claim and the rush of some people in Europe to burn the 5G communication towers.
Fear of the harms of wireless communications has existed since the beginning of the 20th century and is renewed by the development of these communications. As the means of communication develop, fears spread through them from evil minds that exploit two factors: the first is the ignorance of the herd/the public;
As the majority does not attempt to verify, the second is the alliance of groups of believers in other conspiracy theories and relying on their accounts to spread misinformation.
Example: Anti-vaccine opponents contributed to the spread of a 5G conspiracy to link the two theories to human health.
The 5G theory is one of the most ridiculous and stupid conspiracy theories.
The malicious who published it opened an account on Twitter named after the theory itself 5GCoronavirus19 The account has only 383 followers.
The account holder sent 303 tweets in seven days and linked them to a network of accounts and hashtags, including the account of former President Donald Trump, although the latter never tweeted again, but he is an influential member of the network made up of famous names in Hollywood or the American media.
And we should not forget that Trump himself came to power through a segment of religious voters who are believers and promoters of conspiracy theories, and Trump himself is one of them, according to disinformation experts who pointed out that his claim that the elections were stolen from him is a kind of conspiracy theories.
And when actor Woody Harrelson commented, through his account, on the claim, such as: Is this real?
The owner of the malicious account retweeted it over and over again through other accounts he created on various social media, which poured fuel on the fire.
At the time, not a single leader came out to refute that theory and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson fell victim to the virus.
These two factors contributed to undermining efforts to combat disinformation, especially in terms of timing.
Attitude
It becomes clear to us that one fake account without followers is enough to spread misinformation, provided that its owner understands how the platform’s “algorithm” works and knows how to link the misleading tweets to the accounts of influential personalities such as Trump or Hollywood celebrities.
Yes, a single fake account, if managed correctly, destroys societies. It has burned 77 5G telecom towers in Britain alone.
For the rest of the talk.
Abdulla.AlQamzi@emaratalyoum.com
To read the previous articles of the writer please click on its name.
Abdulla.AlQamzi@emaratalyoum.com