A leftist research group has come out of the woodwork waving around a new study identifying 10 “superspreaders” of misinformation on Twitter. Here we go again.  The Indiana University Observatory on Social Media (OSM) just released a study in which it examined over 2 million tweets created by over 400,000 users and evaluated them for so-called misinformation and “credibility.” The group allegedly found that 10 users generated nearly one-third of what it deemed “low-credibility content” and 1,000 users accounted for about three-quarters. The group did not give a full list of the top 10 or 1,000 users that it criticized, however, it emphasized the need for these accounts to be removed in yet another leftist attack on free speech. Groups representing leftist mega donors like eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark were listed as OSM’s funders.   The OSM researchers claim that they separated the content of the examined tweets into high-credibility and low-credibility content and then proceeded to identify users, particularly those who tweeted out allegedly low-credibility content more than once.  The study’s authors also circularly defined “low-credibilty content” as “content originally published by low-credibility, or untrustworthy sources.” The OSM researchers the study then identified certain users as supposed  “superspreaders” of  such content characterizing them as having “untrustworthy content-sharing behavior” and using so-called “toxic language.” However, not once does the study give a full list of the people it accused of being “superspreaders.” Instead, it name-dropped a few prominent users including Fox News host Sean Hannity and, Children’s Health Defense, a group chaired by Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  Other accounts mentioned included @TheDemocrats, @GOP, Donald Trump Jr., the son and advisor of former president Donald Trump, JunkScience.com founder Steve Milloy, and news outlet Breaking911. Many of other accounts, the authors noted, were “inactive,” which is quite telling considering the tweets they looked at were all from Jan. 2020–Oct. 2020, notably before the explosive 2020 election and the January 6, 2021 Capitol protests.  The study was very obviously censorship-focused as the researchers repeatedly note how “removing” or “eliminating” top “superspreader” accounts decreased the total amount of misinformation on Twitter, citing popularity and retweet influence as factors. “Our analysis shows that removing superspreaders from the platform results in a large reduction of unreliable information,”  In the 17-page study published in PLOS One, the study’s authors made only one passing reference to potential free speech concerns. “[T]he potential for suspensions to reduce harm may conflict with freedom of speech values,” the authors added in its conclusion. “The effectiveness of other approaches to moderation should be evaluated by researchers and industry practitioners. For instance, platforms could be redesigned to incentivize the sharing of trustworthy content,” they added as if platforms do not already do that.   News credibility ratings and so-called superspreader lists are nothing new. In fact, NewsGuard, Ad Fontes, the Center for Countering Digital Hate and the Global Disinformation Index are known for their extreme vendetta to discredit news sources that don’t comport with their own leftist bias. The University of Indiana is just piling on more of the same.  Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on so-called “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using MRC Free Speech America’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

The tail end of Charlamagne tha God’s appearance on Thursday’s CBS Mornings ended on a deliciously uncomfortable note as the longtime radio host called out socialist co-host Tony Dokoupil as being part of “the left” and refusing to admit he’d be voting for Joe Biden. This led to a nervous Dokoupil twice shouting as the show went to break that he’s “not on the left”. The CBS co-host found himself in this position in part due to his persistence in lecturing Charlamagne to not just vote for Joe Biden, but endorse him and encourage listeners to participate in the democratic process.     Dokoupil began by acknowledging the unease around the election and unpopularity of both President Biden and former President Trump and, after pointing out Charlamagne has said he’ll vote for but not wave pom-poms for Biden, he lectured the Breakfast Club host to do more to encourage voting: You are saying that you are not endorsing Joe Biden, but you will vote for Joe Biden. And you point out in the book that a lot of people are on the couch. They don’t like either candidate. You’ve called them trash choices. Don’t you think you have a responsibility as somebody in the public eye to excite young people to get off the couch and make a choice because sitting out is a kind of a vote in its own way, it supports one or the other? Thinking like any sane person would where politics isn’t central to their being, Charlamagne replied he “can’t lie to my audience” and thus, “if I’m not excited, why would I you know, lie to my audience and try to get them excited and I don’t think it’s my job, you know, to get people excited” but rather “the candidates”. “[I]f they want people to be excited about voting, they probably should run better candidates,” he added, to which Dokoupil and Burleson wondered if this meant not voting at all, down to the state and local level. Unsurprisingly Charlamagne said that’s not what he meant. Only then did the radio host give them what they were looking for with regards to bashing Trump as “a threat to democracy” and, in turn, a vote for him would mean supporting the end to your system of government (click “expand”): CHARLAMAGNE: But it’s not even just about, you know, participating in democracy. This election is about protecting democracy — GAYLE KING: Ahhh. CHARLAMAGNE: — and you know, it’s funny to me, because, you know, I come on these programs and a lot of the left leaning programs, y’all just don’t know how to push narratives, because I’ll come on these program and say, I think Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. I’ll say that he, you know, suspended — he wanted to suspend the Constitution to overthrow the results of an election, you know, he led an attempted coup in his country, but you never lead with that. But if I say Joe Biden and the uninspiring candidate, that will be the headline. DOKOUPIL: How about — CHARLAMAGNE: — the right does a great job of pushing their narrative regardless. DOKOUPIL: — yeah, but democracy dies if people don’t participate in it at all. CHARLAMAGNE: I’m not telling people not to participate, I am voting. I’ve consistently said I’m voting and I’ve told you who I think the threat to democracy is, which is Donald Trump. (....) CHARLAMAGNE: [I]t’s three choices you have this year. You have the Republicans who are the crooks, the Democrats who are cowards because they don’t fight enough, and the couch, which is voter apathy. It is the candidate’s job to energize people to get off the couch. Only thing I can do is constantly tell you what I think and I think that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy.  He added this kicker: “Now, Tony with me saying that, who do you think — who would you vote for with me saying that?” Dokoupil insisted he’s “thinking about...democracy dying because people do not engage with it,” but Charlamagne kept pressing Dokoupil and rebutted the claim he’s not “engaged” in the democratic process. Dokoupil then became nervous: “We’re — we’re going to get — we’re in trouble now on this commercial break. I’ll sell your book and then pay some bills.” When Charlamagne said “I want Tony to answer the question” and Dokoupil kept ducking, he frustratingly declared this was emblematic of how “the left sucks at pushing” narratives. This led to furious shouts from Dokoupil before reading a tease about a CBS Mornings Deals segment: “I am not on the left! I am not on the left.” To see the relevant transcript from May 23, click here.

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in Newark, New Jersey, conducted an approximately two-week-long operation that led to the apprehension of 38 illegal aliens, according to a Thursday press release from the federal immigration agency.The operation, which spanned from April 15 to April 26, arrested “egregious criminal offenders” with prior convictions and/or pending charges.'We will use the full force of our immigration authority.'One of the detained individuals, a 36-year-old Honduran national, was previously “convicted of felony rape, false imprisonment, sex offense, and perverted practice,” ICE reported. That individual was removed from the country in 2017.ICE also arrested a 27-year-old citizen of the Dominican Republic “who was convicted of felony endangering-sexual conduct with a child by non-caretaker.“A detained Mexican national, 39, was previously removed from the U.S., convicted of prostitution and driving under the influence.Other detained individuals included a 26-year-old Chilean national with a felony burglary conviction and a 46-year-old Columbian citizen accused of “money laundering, promoting gambling and conspiracy/promoting gambling.”In response to the arrests, ERO Newark Field Office Director John Tsoukaris stated, “Those who enter our country illegally and break our laws should know that we will use the full force of our immigration authority to bring them to justice.”“These individuals were placed in ERO custody and processed for removal proceedings under the Immigration and Nationality Act,” Tsoukaris noted.ICE primarily focuses on detaining illegal immigrants who have committed additional crimes in addition to unlawfully entering the country. “In fiscal year 2023, ERO arrested 73,822 noncitizens with criminal histories; this group had 290,178 associated charges and convictions with an average of four per individual. These included 33,209 assaults; 4,390 sex and sexual assaults; 7,520 weapons offenses; 1,713 charges or convictions for homicide; and 1,655 kidnapping offenses,” ICE reported.The U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey announced Thursday the arrest of six Chilean nationals who were charged in connection with a burglary ring that targeted residences in multiple states, including New York and Maryland. According to a Department of Justice press release, the suspects stole jewelry, collectibles, and other goods.The suspects were charged with “one count of conspiracy to sell and receive stolen property that had crossed state lines and one count of receiving stolen property that had crossed state lines.”Tsoukaris said, “These arrests of a group of foreign-born individuals that engaged in interstate crime demonstrates how critical the cooperation between various law enforcement agencies continues to be.”Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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