Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

tenderfoot

(8,426 posts)
Tue Aug 11, 2020, 01:36 PM Aug 2020

Portland "Bible Burning" Story Was Russian Disinfo

Of course it was...

The truth was far more mundane. A few protesters among the many thousands appear to have burned a single Bible — and possibly a second — for kindling to start a bigger fire. None of the other protesters seemed to notice or care. Yet in the rush to paint all the protesters as Bible-burning zealots, few of the politicians or commentators who weighed in on the incident took the time to look into the story’s veracity, or to figure out that it had originated with a Kremlin-backed video news agency.

And now, days later, the Portland Bible burnings appear to be one of the first viral Russian disinformation hits of the 2020 presidential campaign. The video was first tweeted by an account that lists two cities — Oklahoma City and Abu Dhabi — as its users’ location and has only a few dozen followers. It was soon after deleted. But before it disappeared, the tweet was picked up by a Malaysian named Ian Miles Cheong who has amassed a large Twitter following by playing a right-wing American raconteur on social media.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/11/us/politics/russia-disinformation-election-meddling.html

2 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Portland "Bible Burning" Story Was Russian Disinfo (Original Post) tenderfoot Aug 2020 OP
Shocked. Shocked, I tell you. Squinch Aug 2020 #1
Me too! Well... Bongo Prophet Aug 2020 #2
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Portland "Bible Burning" ...