What Would You Do If You Weren't Afraid?

There’s a meme on Instagram, circulated by a group called “Born Liberal.” A fist holds a cluster of strings, reaching down into people with television sets for heads. The text declares: “The People Believe What the Media Tells Them They Believe: George Orwell.” The quote is surely false, but it’s also perfect in a way. “Born Liberal” was a creation of the Internet Research Agency, the Russian propaganda wing that might as well be part of Oceania. In other words, we live in a time when American democratic debate is being influenced by liars spreading memes about our inability to understand the truth.

This particular meme is one of many revealed in a new report released on Monday, commissioned by the Senate Intelligence Committee and written by New Knowledge, a cybersecurity firm whose director of research, Renee DiResta, is a WIRED contributor. This report, along with a second one written by the Computational Propaganda Project at Oxford University and Graphik, offers the most extensive look at the IRA’s attempts to divide Americans, suppress the vote, and boost then-candidate Donald Trump before and after the 2016 presidential election. The report sheds new light on the ways the IRA trolls targeted African Americans and the outsized role Instagram played in their work.

These Are the Ads Russia Bought on Facebook in 2016 

The most explosive finding in the report may be the assertion that both Facebook and Google executives misled Congress in statements. The researchers suggest that Facebook “dissembled” about the IRA’s voter suppression efforts on the platform in written responses to Congress in October, following the testimony of chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg in October. At the time, the company was asked: “Does Facebook believe that any of the content created by the Russian Internet Research Agency was designed to discourage anyone from voting?” Facebook responded: “We believe this is an assessment that can be made only by investigators with access to classified intelligence and information from all relevant companies and industries.”  Read more...

Is Facebook more harmful than helpful? Should we be afraid of what Facebook has become?

Phobophobia

The fear of phobias. Phobias are actually quite common, affecting more than 10% of the U.S. population. Phobias are the most common mental disorder in the United States, but far more women than men are affected by phobias. In many cases, people are able to recognize that their fear is irrational and therefore take steps to overcome their phobia. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, only about 10 percent of reported cases become life-long phobias.

Use this list to solve the 'Phobia Puzzle' before your classmates.

How are Phobias named?  Check their greek and latin roots.

Create 3 new 'phobias' of your own and define them. For example...."Ebolaphobia:" the fear of contracting Ebola.

Or do you suffer from 'Verbophobia:' the fear of words?

Free Brian Williams

"Sorry Dude, I don’t remember you being on my aircraft.'"

NBC news anchor Brian Williams told a war story on national television. It wasn’t true. 

But does that make him a liar? Do you accept his apology?  Do you still trust him? Why/ why not?

Part two of Revisionist History’s memory series asks why we insist that lapses of memory must also be lapses of character.

LISTEN

Confronting Isis

The White House announced Sunday that U.S. troops would no longer have a presence in northern Syria, just days before neighboring Turkey would begin a “long-planned” offensive there against Kurdish fighters, who helped the U.S.-led coalition take the area from ISIS.

Critics quickly characterized the decision as an abandonment of the Kurdish soldiers who have for years been considered some of America’s best fighters against ISIS both in Syria and Iraq. Even some of President Trump’s staunchest Republican defenders voiced fears, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying a quick withdrawal from Syria “would increase the risk that ISIS and other terrorist groups regroup,” and Sen. Lindsey Graham tweeting, “Pray for our Kurdish allies who have been shamelessly abandoned by the Trump Administration. This move ensures the reemergence of ISIS.”

The announcement came after a phone call between Trump and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Facing harsh criticism on Wednesday as the Turkish offensive in Syria was under way, President Trump said that the U.S. “does not endorse this attack and has made it clear to Turkey that this operation is a bad idea.”

FRONTLINE investigates the successes, failures and challenges in the U.S.-led effort to degrade and destroy ISIS.

Band In China

“South Park,” the long-running Comedy Central cartoon whose mockery has spared few touchy topics, was erased from major platforms in China after an episode last week taunted Chinese censors and the far-reaching effect they often have on American entertainment.

The government’s censors, who routinely quash news and commentary deemed undesirable by the ruling Communist Party, wiped out video clips and discussions of the show, which premiered in 1997 and has lasted 23 seasons.

Last week’s episode, called “Band in China,” appeared to cross a new line for the Chinese authorities. On Baidu Tieba, a popular discussion platform, searches for “South Park” on Tuesday returned the following message: “According to the relevant law and regulation, this section is temporarily not open.”

Should the United States apologize to China for our support of 'freedom of speech?'  Why/not?

Should the N.B.A. put human rights before business?