Words and Wars

     Putin

           Bolsonaro                                                                                                                                    

                 Trump 

            Zelensky

We’ve heard the well-tailored pleas from Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, via online press conferences and open virtual speeches to our Congress, as a Russian war criminal leads a vile and brutal attack against Ukraine, indiscriminately destroying civilian targets, slaughtering innocents by the thousands. Words. Powerful words. We’ve seen that same Russian dictator tell the world, which does not believe him, and his own “media controlled” people, most of whom do, that this is not a war – only a special military operation against a right-wing, small minority Nazi dictatorship in Kyiv – and that the only civilians killed were nothing more than human shields for that Nazi government’s military. Words. Powerful words. 

You might think that support for Vladimir Putin’s brutality in the Western world is marginal and one that would naturally bring opprobrium and rejection against those who have openly supported Putin’s regime as it mounts these attacks. Shockingly, that is frequently not the case. “Polls on both sides of the Atlantic suggest strong public outrage against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, as well as massive support for Western sanctions. But a smattering of emerging evidence also suggests that the war’s initial impact on core support for figures who have offered praise for Putin — from former president Donald Trump to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro — is more of a mixed bag than the champions of liberal democracy might have hoped…

“Ambiguity might be one moderating factor. Trump has called Putin ‘savvy’ and a ‘genius,’ and held back from denouncing the Russian leader. But he has criticized the Ukraine war, even describing it as a ‘holocaust.’… On Feb. 24, FiveThirtyEight’s polling averages showed favorable views of Trump at 42.9 percent — a figure that by March 15 had shifted slightly, to 41.8 percent. A Wall Street Journal poll showed Trump’s support in early March at 41 percent, unchanged from last November. The Journal poll did show a disconnect between a growing edge for Republicans in U.S. midterm elections, and Trump’s flatlined numbers. But there is little indication that Trump has bled core support since the war began, or that his views have necessarily hurt his party.” Washington Post, March 17th.

Have too many Americans become inured to political fabrications, addicted to false narratives and conspiracy theories and willing to believe obvious falsehoods that support a distorted or desired political outcome? Have we become particularly vulnerable to “misinformation” (mistaken) and even more to “disinformation” (intentional manipulative falsehoods)? Has the open invitation to well-funded special interests under Citizens United vs FEC (a 2010 Supreme Court decision) to tout their false narratives and extreme economic and political positions joined forces with an out-of-control garbage bin of social media, where zealots, liars and manipulators have been able to operate with very few limitations or consequences? Hiding behind a First Amendment wall for purposes never envisioned by our Founding Fathers, raining falsehoods that so many have accepted as truth, powerful enough to provoke armed insurrection in what was once a bastion of truth, justice and democracy?

Here in the United States, this tsunami of disinformation, often unleashed on legitimate online and mainstream media by dark sources using misleading yet anonymous monikers (words like “Americans,” “Patriots,” “Freedom” are leading candidates for manipulative campaigns). Clearly, our polarization, Americans at each other’s throats and a nation operating with a gridlocked Congress, is a direct result of this unbridled “new normal” of falsehoods. Here in the United States, can the land of the free and the home of the brave fight back? Defund the sources of those damaging lies? Do we even know who they are?

For online advertisers, buying ad placement on a bulk basis often places liberal company’s marketing on Websites that promote right-wing falsehoods, is troubling without a simple remedy. FastCompany.com’s Rob Pegoraro, writing on March 17th, explores one group that seeks to generate consequences for those special or biased interests that post inaccuracies or knowing falsehoods. “‘We believe the biggest crisis of our generation is solvable,’ said Nandini Jammi, cofounder of Check My Ads, in a panel Saturday. The nonprofit organizes campaigns to unplug disinformation merchants from the advertising revenue that keeps them in business—one ad exchange at a time.

“‘When I say the disinformation economy, it’s possible that your first thought is of Facebook,’ added the other half of Check My Ads, cofounder Claire Atkin. But, apparently, that’s not where people who lie about the pandemic, election integrity and more, make their money: ‘They make money when users of Facebook click on the links and go to their websites, where [the users] meet half a dozen or so ad exchanges waiting to serve them ads.’… [The] disinformation market… is easy to monetize with ads placed automatically by advertising exchanges. They can just churn out fake news stories, one after the other,’ Atkin said. ‘It’s a very easy way to make money.’

“[At SXSW, Atkin and Jammi] outlined the demonetization of right-wing pundit Dan Bongino. It started with Jammi tweeting at Warby Parker in September 2021 to inquire if the eyeglass vendor really wanted its ad below a headline supporting Texas’ near-total abortion ban on the newsletter of Bongino’s ideological fellow traveler, Ben Shapiro. The same day, Warby Parker replied that the ad placement was an outside ad vendor’s mistake, and that it would henceforth exclude Shapiro’s publication, the Daily Wire, from any ad placements.

“Bongino voiced his outrage over this and urged his audience to direct their own—not just at Jammi, but at Warby Parker. ‘Bongino’s followers did exactly what they were told, and they went to war with Warby Parker’s poor customer teams,’ she said… ‘We got a lot of harassment and death threats, some of which really scared us,’ Jammi continued. ‘But it also gave us something we could work with, which was documented violations of ad exchange policies.’

“Those ‘supply policies’ of ad exchanges exist to protect what advertisers call brand safety—that an ad won’t appear on a hateful- or harassment-prone site… ‘This public documentation of what’s happening really forces ad exchanges to act,’ Jammi said.” 

Establishing transparency and accountability is an uphill climb. The First Amendment is being misused to the detriment of democracy itself. Social media’s craving for profitability, deep pockets with powerful influence without significant concerns for truth, is threatening the very existence of our nation. They mount token efforts to show Congress how much they are countering the issue… while the vast majority of their malignant postings continue. This must change! Congress has sufficient tools. 

I’m Peter Dekom, and Russia is powerful evidence of what happens when disinformation becomes the norm; our democracy might not survive unless we stem this rising tide of mendacity.