Kate Starbird says attacks have made research difficult, and claims of bias arise because of prevalence of lies from the right

Kate Starbird says attacks have made research difficult, and claims of bias arise because of prevalence of lies from the right

A key researcher in the fight against election misinformation – who herself became the subject of an intensive misinformation campaign – has said her field gets accused of “bias” precisely because it’s now mainly rightwingers who spread the worst lies.

Kate Starbird, co-founder of the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public, added that she feared that the entirely false story of rigged elections has now “sunk in” for many Americans on the right. “The idea that they’re already going to the polls with the belief that they’re being cheated means they’ll misinterpret everything they see through that lens,” she said.

Starbird’s group partnered with Stanford Internet Observatory on the Election Integrity Partnership ahead of the 2020 elections – a campaign during which a flood of misinformation swirled around the internet, with daily claims of unproven voter fraud.

Starbird and her team helped document that flood, and in return congressional Republicans and conservative attorneys attacked her research, alleging it amounted to censorship and violated the first amendment.

  • freeindv@monyet.cc
    18·
    11 months ago

    Neither could the person who was forced to get a different type of injection into their body in order to keep their job.

    • StorminNorman@lemmy.world
      41·
      11 months ago

      They 100% can. No power dynamic imbalance in the COVID case. Also, guarantee the employee signed a contract saying that the employer could fire them for just cause. Making the workplace unsafe is definitely just cause for that. And killing your fellow workers with a preventable disease sure sounds unsafe to me. And I know I’m repeating myself but you sure as shit ain’t picking it up, but that’s why you couldn’t get unemployment benefits in the US if you were fired for not getting the jab. Because you were fired with just cause. Because noone was forced to get the jab. Because you could consent to it. The lady in your case literally could not give consent. You can argue all you want about it, but your shitty opinion doesn’t change decades of legal precedent.

      • freeindv@monyet.cc
        18·
        11 months ago

        No power dynamic imbalance in the COVID case

        There’s no power dynamic in losing your job? Glad to hear you also support zero protections on workers rights

        Making the workplace unsafe

        Off topic. The injections did not stop the spread

        • StorminNorman@lemmy.world
          51·
          11 months ago

          There is no power dynamic imbalance brought about by your boss firing you for doing something unsafe. Hence why there has been literally 0 cases of workplaces being punished for firing employees who didn’t get the vaccine.

          And it’s 100% on topic to mention that the disease was deadly and was literally killing people in many workplaces. It also reduced the spread, even if it didn’t stop it. Cos it’s really hard to spread a disease when you don’t have it.

          • freeindv@monyet.cc
            15·
            11 months ago

            The same power dynamic balance is in play in both situations. Just admit it

            • StorminNorman@lemmy.world
              31·
              11 months ago

              Nope. Completely different. I’ve given you facts that support this. I suggest you do the same. Hell, I’ll give you more. A boss who is in any kind of sexual relationship with a subordinate has way more power than they would over a subordinate who they were not having a relationship with (which does imply there is a power dynamic in play in all instances involving a boss and their employees. But that’s not what you said. You said it was “the same”). And this can be proven by the multitude of cases where those bosses who’ve coerced their employees to have sex with them and then been charged. Like I said, literally 0 businesses have been punished for firing employees who didn’t get the vaccine (and I’ve already told you why this is, because being fired for a safety related offence is just cause).

              Also, if you are set in your belief that it isn’t rape, why would you think that there is the same power imbalance? As far as your concerned, it’s not even rape, so how could there be a power imbalance? And you’re just gonna ignore the article that shows that vaccines slowed the transmission of COVID? That has a bunch of scientific studies referenced throughout? You are picking and choosing what you reply to, and trying to use that to seem smart. You’re not, you couldn’t argue your way out of a wet paper bag. Hell, I’ve seen 5yos make more convincing cases for an extra serve of icecream after dinner than you are making here…

              • freeindv@monyet.cc
                14·
                11 months ago

                That’s a lot of words to dance around the fact that there’s the same power dynamic in both situations. Just admit it already

                • StorminNorman@lemmy.world
                  3·
                  11 months ago

                  It’s a lot of words cos you didn’t get the point when I pointed out how it was different with only a few words. Now, I asked you to support your claim with facts. You haven’t. I’m going to assume that this means you can’t prove it. Which means you’re essentially admitting that you’re wrong. Thanks. I knew spending time with you would eventually be satisfying, cos idiots like you generally make it painfully clear to everyone just idiotic you are.