Chuck DarwinTrump allies hobble misinformation research
Claire Wardle knew her email account wasn’t private.
Starting last fall, whenever the prominent misinformation researcher sent or received an email, she had to consider how the message might be swept up and publicly picked apart.
That’s because Wardle’s employer at the time, Brown University, 🔷had engaged a law firm to use AI software to sift through her correspondence, searching for messages from government agencies or tech companies 🔷
-- at the request of a ⚠️Republican-led investigation into the politically divisive field of misinformation research.
♦️The investigation stems from a legal campaign
-- led by allies of former president Donald Trump to cast the study of misinformation as part of a broader conspiracy to censor conservative voices online. ♦️
It has transformed the daily life and work of Wardle and many others who worked at tracking election misinformation online,
-- a field now reeling as the 2024 presidential race enters its final months.
Wary of the political scrutiny, researchers held back from publicly airing some of their insights on the spate of conspiracy theories erupting online after the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump,
according to one such researcher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of political retribution.
False rumors and disinformation have proliferated online as the nation reels from that shooting and President Biden’s withdrawal from the race.
House Judiciary Committee Chair #Jim #Jordan (R-Ohio) has peppered academics, including Wardle, with document requests as part of a broad probe into the alleged weaponization of government against conservatives.
Earlier this month, #Meedan, a nonprofit focused on promoting reliable information, received a request from Jordan about its efforts to monitor misinformation related to the 2024 election, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution
Toshimaru
Democracy Labs
