1 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: You're listening to Disinformed, a mini series from There Are 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: No Girls on the Internet. I'm Bridget Todd. It brings 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: me no pleasure to report that right wing media keeps 4 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: on giving us great examples of how complete lies are created, 5 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: spread and mainstreamed online. And this time it's about Vice 6 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: President Kamala Harris. The New York Post alleged that unaccompanied 7 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: miners who crossed the border were given copies of Harris's 8 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: book as part of welcome kits. The story included a 9 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: picture of Harris's children's book called Superheroes Are Everywhere, alongside 10 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:40,920 Speaker 1: a backpack and hygiene items on a cop at the 11 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 1: Long Beach emergency intake site for unaccompanied miners. The story 12 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: went viral, and importantly, it wasn't just promoted by fringe 13 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 1: right wing conspiracy theorists. It was shared by mainstream Republican 14 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: figures and elected officials, like the official GOP Twitter account, 15 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton and White House Republican whip Steve Scalise, 16 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: who tweeted, is Kamala Harris profiting off the border crisis? 17 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: Americans need to know? The story was picked up and 18 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: repeated by other big conservative news outlets like Fox News 19 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,960 Speaker 1: and The Blaze. Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocey 20 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: even asked White House Press Secretary Jensaki about it in 21 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: a press conference. Every migrant child being brought to a 22 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: shelter is being given a copy of her children's book 23 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: Superheroes Are Everywhere? Do you know why that is? And 24 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:28,399 Speaker 1: if she is making any money off of that? They're 25 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:30,479 Speaker 1: talking about if they go to shelters or if they 26 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: go to welcome kit. Apparently there's a copy of her 27 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen children's book, Superheroes Are Everywhere. I'd have to 28 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:40,279 Speaker 1: certainly check on that. Only none of it was true. 29 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: The Washington Post confirmed that one copy of Harris's book 30 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: that was donated not included in quote welcome kits, that 31 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: was in that now viral photo, and that one photo 32 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: was the basis for the entire fabrication that Harris's books 33 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: were being included in welcome kits and the insinuation from 34 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 1: Republican elected officials that Harris was personally making a profit 35 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: from the situation at our border. The US Department of 36 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: Health and Human Services said in a statement to Newsweek 37 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 1: that the reference book was one of an assortment of 38 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: hundreds of titles donated to the Long Beach Emergency Intake 39 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: Site as part of a City of Long Beach New 40 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: Books and Toys drive. No taxpayer dollars were used to 41 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: purchase Vice President Harris's book. Kevin Lee, chief Public affairs 42 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 1: officer for the city, also clarified that the city had 43 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 1: no involvement in the books curation. It was just donated 44 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: as part of their book and toy drive. The City 45 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: of Long Beach, in partnership with the Long Beach Convention 46 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,359 Speaker 1: and Visitors Bureau, had a citywide book and toy drive 47 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: that is ongoing to support the migrant children. He said, 48 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: the single book you referenced is one of hundreds of 49 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: various books that have already been donated. The book was 50 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: not purchased by HHS or the city. Now, after the 51 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: story was debunked, the reporter who wrote it, Laura Italiano, resigned, 52 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 1: admitting that she'd been pressured into writing it, saying, the 53 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: Kamala Harris story an incorrect story I was ordered to write, 54 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: which I failed to push back hard enough against. Was 55 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 1: my breaking point. Now the New York Post has not 56 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 1: even officially attracted the story. Instead, they temporarily removed it 57 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:12,799 Speaker 1: from their site and then republished it with an editor's 58 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: down at the bottom saying the original version of this 59 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: article said migrant kids were getting Harris's book in a 60 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: welcome kid, but that has been updated to note that 61 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: only one known copy of the book was given to 62 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,959 Speaker 1: a child. This is completely insufficient when you consider the 63 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: lie is already out there, and all of those prominent 64 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: Republican figures I told you about earlier, their tweets are 65 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: still up on Twitter as of me recording this episode. 66 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: And here's why it's not really about this one lie. 67 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: The data is clear that women of color, especially Black 68 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: women in politics, faced a disproportionate amount of disinformation, especially 69 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: lies in attacks that a lie on negative stereotypes about 70 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 1: our gender and race. They paint us Black women as 71 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: untrustworthy liars and rely on unfair attacks on our identities 72 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: to fuel those lies. Even before Harris was named as 73 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: Biden's running me, she was subjected to a flood of racist, 74 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: sexist disinformation on social media, like posts that made racist 75 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: claims that she wasn't even eligible to serve in the 76 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: White House, or that she was lying about her black 77 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: and Indian heritage. Intelligent software service Signal Labs found over 78 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: one million mentions of Harris on Twitter since June that 79 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: had hashtags or terms associated with misinformation about her. Now 80 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: compare that to her white male counterparts. Misinformation accounted for 81 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:28,800 Speaker 1: less than one percent of Twitter talk when Mike Pence 82 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: and Tim Caine were running for vice president, while misleading 83 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: information about Harris is much more prevalent, making up more 84 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: than four percent of the conversation about her on Twitter. 85 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: And it's not just Harris. Gender disinformation campaigns are widespread 86 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: for women in politics, and her report for the Wilson 87 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:47,919 Speaker 1: Center called Malign Creativity, How gender, sex and lies are 88 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: weaponized against women online. Researcher Alexandra Pavlik found that gendered 89 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: abuse affected twelve of thirteen research subjects, while nine out 90 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: of thirteen subjects were targeted with gender disinformation in narratives. 91 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:05,919 Speaker 1: These narratives were racist, transphobic, and sexualized in nature. The 92 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,040 Speaker 1: overwhelming majority of the recorded keywords relating to the abuse 93 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: and disinformation were identified on Twitter and directed toward Kamala Harris, 94 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:17,039 Speaker 1: who accounted for seventy eight percent of the total recorded instances. 95 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: Her report also found that online abusers used evasive, tricky 96 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,800 Speaker 1: language like dog whistles, where they don't come right out 97 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: and say they're racist or sexist thing in order to 98 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: avoid detection by social media moderation tools. I'm talking about 99 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: things like social media posts that refer to Kamala Harris 100 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,719 Speaker 1: as quote heals up Harris a sexist insinuation that she 101 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: quote slept her way to the top, which is a 102 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: common sexist line of attacks that Harris faces online. And 103 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:44,480 Speaker 1: here's why this is such a big problem for all 104 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: of us, not just women. When attacks on women and 105 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 1: women of color are allowed to fester and spread, it 106 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: is a chilling effect on women's participation in politics and 107 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 1: political discourse. It keeps us from running for office or 108 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 1: even just speaking up about our political opinions online because 109 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: who would want to volunteer to be attacked or become 110 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: the target of a disinformation campaign just because of who 111 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: you are. It keeps our entire country from being able 112 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: to have a democracy or everyone women women of color 113 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: are able to fully participate. And this isn't just a 114 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: threat to women, it's a threat to all of us. 115 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:16,840 Speaker 1: Everyone is better served when all of us can be 116 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:19,720 Speaker 1: fully involved in our democracy. If we're ever going to 117 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 1: create an equal playing field for the next generation of 118 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: women in politics. We've got to create a digital media landscape, 119 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 1: or racist sexist attacks are not widespread and are just 120 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:32,360 Speaker 1: not tolerated. Women, women of color, and black women deserve 121 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: to be judged by our records, actions, and words, not sexist, 122 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 1: racist lies and attacks on who we are. If you've 123 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: enjoyed this podcast, please help us grow by subscribing. Got 124 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: a story about an interesting thing in tech, or just 125 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:55,599 Speaker 1: want to say hi, We'd love to hear from you 126 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 1: at Hello at tangoi dot com. Disinformed is brought to 127 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: you by There Are No Girls on the Inner Man. 128 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: It's a production of iHeart Radio and Unbust Creative Jonathan 129 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 1: Strickland is our executive producer. Tory Harrison is our supervising 130 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: producer and engineer. Michael Lamotto is our contributing producer. I'm 131 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: your host Bridget Tod. For more great podcasts, check out 132 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get 133 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: your podcasts.