{"id":21228,"date":"2020-07-21T14:51:48","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T18:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=21228"},"modified":"2020-07-22T16:28:33","modified_gmt":"2020-07-22T20:28:33","slug":"the-un-enlists-an-army-of-trolls-to-fight-the-alt-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=21228","title":{"rendered":"The UN Enlists an Army of Trolls to Fight the <i>Alt Media<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><strong>UN Unleashes Army of Trolls to Shut Down Opposition<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p><!--more-->Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola<\/p>\n<div id=\"bcr_UpdPnlStory\">\n<div id=\"bcr_pnlStoryAtAGlance\" class=\"story-glance\">\n<div class=\"story-highlights\">\n<h3 id=\"expanderHead\" data-jsid=\"expanderHead\">STORY AT-A-GLANCE<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-21229 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-21-at-2.51.12-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"384\" height=\"220\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-21-at-2.51.12-PM.png 384w, http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-21-at-2.51.12-PM-300x172.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" \/><\/h3>\n<div id=\"expanderContent\" data-jsid=\"expanderContent\">\n<ul>\n<li><span id=\"bcr_rptStory_cslStory_0\">The United Nations has enlisted 10,000 \u201cdigital volunteers\u201d to rid the Internet of so-called \u201cfalse\u201d information that\u2019s supposedly worsening the COVID-19 pandemic<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span id=\"bcr_rptStory_cslStory_1\">Upset by the fact that individuals are using social media and their immediate social circles to share information they deem relevant about COVID-19, the U.N. is asking the public to sign up to become \u201cinformation volunteers\u201d who commit to sharing \u201cU.N.-verified, science-based content\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span id=\"bcr_rptStory_cslStory_2\">Censorship of media and social media is already filtering information and telling people what they should and shouldn\u2019t fear, and increased surveillance is being pushed courtesy of coronavirus<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span id=\"bcr_rptStory_cslStory_3\">The campaign, dubbed the Verified initiative, amounts to an army of trolls engaging in censorship in an attempt to shut down opposition or opinions that run counter to the status quo<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"bodytext\" class=\"bodytextdiv\">\n<p>In an effort to combat \u201cmisinformation,\u201d the United Nations has enlisted 10,000 \u201cdigital volunteers\u201d to rid the Internet of so-called \u201cfalse\u201d information that\u2019s supposedly worsening the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>As news outlet Devex reported, Melissa Fleming, the U.N.\u2019s under-secretary-general of global communications, said, \u201cGood information is how we\u2019re going to overcome the virus,\u201d adding:<sup><span id=\"edn1\" data-hash=\"#ednref1\">1<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cIt is easier to spread misinformation because no direct contact with other people is necessary. You can multiply it by the thousands depending on how many followers you have, and in an environment of generalized fear, it is spreading like wildfire.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>While it sounds altruistic to volunteer your time to combat the spread of misinformation, what the campaign, dubbed the Verified initiative, amounts to is an army of trolls engaging in censorship in an attempt to shut down opposition or opinions that run counter to the status quo.<\/p>\n<h2>Trolls Enlisted to Combat \u2018Communication Crisis\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Upset by the fact that individuals are using social media and their immediate social circles to share information they deem relevant about COVID-19, the U.N. is asking the public to sign up to become \u201cinformation volunteers\u201d who commit to sharing \u201cU.N.-verified, science-based content to keep their families and communities safe and connected.\u201d<sup><span id=\"edn2\" data-hash=\"#ednref2\">2<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>If you sign up, you\u2019ll get a daily briefing full of information the U.N. wants you to share, centering on three themes:<sup><span id=\"edn3\" data-hash=\"#ednref3\">3<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n<div class=\"indent\">\n<p><span class=\"bullet\">1.<\/span>Science \u2014 to save lives<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"bullet\">2.<\/span>Solidarity \u2014 to promote local and global cooperation<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"bullet\">3.<\/span>Solutions \u2014 to advocate support for impacted populations<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The information will come in easy-to-share formats optimized for social media in order to directly counter misinformation or fill an information void. Their primary audience is a vague \u201cthose who are being targeted with misinformation,\u201d Fleming said,<sup><span id=\"edn4\" data-hash=\"#ednref4\">4<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0calling COVID-19 not just the century\u2019s largest public health emergency, \u201cbut also a communication crisis.\u201d She warns:<sup><span id=\"edn5\" data-hash=\"#ednref5\">5<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cPurveyors of misinformation are creating storylines and slick content that are filling information voids where science has no answers. They offer promises of cures that have no evidence of benefit or may even be harmful.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p><em>They are savvy about using narratives that link to people\u2019s fears and appeal to people\u2019s need for answers or a culprit. While misinformation has always had a dynamic in this crisis, there are signs that its role is dangerously increasing. You have seen the flood of new conspiracy theories in recent weeks.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The major red flag to the U.N.\u2019s campaign is a lack of detail about what constitutes a \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d or \u201ccure with no evidence to back it up.\u201d Some of the information Verified is aiming to share simply states, \u201cIf you come across a post online that makes you really angry or frightened, it\u2019s a sign you might be looking at misinformation.\u201d<sup><span id=\"edn6\" data-hash=\"#ednref6\">6<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Other suggested shares \u2014 found on the Verified U.N. site in posterboards with social media widgets on them, state, \u201cMisinformation spreads faster when we\u2019re upset,\u201d and shares information that downplays the importance of vaccine choice and open conversation regarding their safety, especially as a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/articles.mercola.com\/sites\/articles\/archive\/2020\/06\/02\/expect-coronavirus-vaccine-failure-and-reactions.aspx\">COVID-19 vaccine<\/a>\u00a0is being fast-tracked to the market:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVaccines are safe and they help prevent millions of deaths every year. Yet, a growing number of networks seek to undermine trust in vaccinations.\u201d<sup><span id=\"edn7\" data-hash=\"#ednref7\">7<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n<h2>UN Calls for Global Fight Against \u2018Infodemic\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>In a statement released by the Republic of Latvia\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, countries are called on to step up and support the U.N.\u2019s mission to counter the \u201cinfodemic\u201d that they claim is \u201cas dangerous to human health and security as the pandemic itself:\u201d<sup><span id=\"edn8\" data-hash=\"#ednref8\">8<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cAmong other negative consequences, COVID-19 has created conditions that enable the spread of disinformation, fake news and doctored videos to foment violence and divide communities. It is critical states counter misinformation as a toxic driver of secondary impacts of the pandemic that can heighten the risk of conflict, violence, human rights violations and mass atrocities.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Ironically, in outlining the \u201ccrucial need for access to free, reliable, trustworthy, factual, multilingual, targeted, accurate, clear and science-based information,\u201d they call on countries to take steps to stop the spread of information they deem to be false and to spread information from \u201ctrustworthy sources,\u201d which is the U.N.\u2019s Verified campaign.<\/p>\n<p>One-hundred thirty-two member states, non-member observer states and observers have so far endorsed their statement, which reads in part:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201c[The COVID-19 crisis] has confirmed the key role of free, independent, responsible and pluralistic media to enhance transparency, accountability and trust, which is essential to achieving adequate support for and compliance by the general public with collective efforts to curb the spread of the virus.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u2026 States, regional organizations, the UN system and other stakeholders such as media workers, social media platforms and NGOs have a clear role and responsibility in helping people to deal with the \u201cinfodemic\u201d. In this regard, we strongly support the United Nations Communications Response initiative and the \u201cVerified\u201d campaign announced by the UN Secretary General on April 14, 2020.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>Is the UN\u2019s New World Order Advancing?<\/h2>\n<p>Many aren\u2019t aware that on March 19, 2020, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/articles.mercola.com\/sites\/articles\/archive\/2020\/06\/16\/new-world-order-advancing-rapidly.aspx\">United Nations New World Order<\/a>\u00a0(UNNWO) launched its annual campaign to celebrate an international happiness day, which its website says it has celebrated every year since 2012.<sup><span id=\"edn9\" data-hash=\"#ednref9\">9<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0If you haven\u2019t heard of UNNWO, its website starts out with, \u201cLet\u2019s take our planet back,\u201d On March 19, it then read:<sup><span id=\"edn10\" data-hash=\"#ednref10\">10<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cLets stand united. Lets stand together. The New World Order Project is an independent international campaign to advance the principles, values, and articles of the UN Charter, and UN resolutions 65 309, and 66 281, in support of the UN\u2019s Global Goals for Sustainable Development by 2030, and the happiness, well-being, and freedom of all life on Earth by 2050.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That note was taken down, though, sometime afterward, with no records of it in Wayback internet archives showing up until May 3, 2020,<sup><span id=\"edn11\" data-hash=\"#ednref11\">11<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0and by that time the page had been changed to buttons on the movement\u2019s initatives and goals. Today the website has no clickable buttons and reads only \u201cLet\u2019s take our planet back.\u201d<sup><span id=\"edn12\" data-hash=\"#ednref12\">12<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Its initiatives, still listed in the Wayback archives, include \u201chappytalism,\u201d which \u201cplaces happiness, well-being, and freedom at the center of human development models, systems, and all life.\u201d It also supports the mobilization of more than $30 trillion toward achieving the 17 UN Global Goals by 2030, which include things like no poverty, zero hunger, gender equality and clean water and sanitation.<\/p>\n<p>It sounds like utopia, but some believe the push for a one-world government isn\u2019t about pushing forward world peace and happiness but, rather, about taking rights away from the public and putting the power into the hands of a select few.<sup><span id=\"edn13\" data-hash=\"#ednref13\">13<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Censorship of media and social media is already filtering information and telling people what they should and shouldn\u2019t fear, and increased surveillance is being pushed courtesy of coronavirus.<\/p>\n<p>The U.N.\u2019s Verified initiative fits in nicely with this plan and is being orchestrated in collaboration with Purpose, a social mobilization organization. According to Fleming, even social media platform\u2019s highly suspect acts of taking down \u201cdubious information\u201d or directing users to government health websites isn\u2019t enough to protect the public.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut this is not enough,\u201d she says, \u201cparticularly because the most pernicious misinformation and conspiracy content spreads via messaging apps, peer-to-peer.\u201d<sup><span id=\"edn14\" data-hash=\"#ednref14\">14<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>The World Health Organization also has an Immunization Agenda 2030, in which they\u2019re aiming to vaccinate everyone across the globe: \u201cIA 2030 envisions a world where everyone, everywhere, at every age, fully benefits from vaccines to improve health and well-being.\u201d<sup><span id=\"edn15\" data-hash=\"#ednref15\">15<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>The Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation is the biggest funder of WHO, and Bill Gates intends to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/articles.mercola.com\/sites\/articles\/archive\/2020\/05\/21\/bill-gates-foundation-global-health.aspx\">vaccinate the global population against COVID-19<\/a>, and then track and monitor each one through digital surveillance.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the U.N.\u2019s Verified content likewise states, \u201cAs experts work around the clock to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 we must all play our part to ensure it is \u2018a people\u2019s vaccine\u2019 \u2014 available to all.\u201d And they quote vaccine advocate Ethan Lindenberger, who says, \u201cIf I get immunized, I\u2019m contributing to the personal health and safety of everyone around me.\u201d<sup><span id=\"edn16\" data-hash=\"#ednref16\">16<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no reason in the world to believe this gigantic global disease surveillance system would be dismantled once the pandemic is declared over. Naturally, it will simply transition into other surveillance functions.<\/p>\n<h2>More Internet Censoring Tools<\/h2>\n<p>The U.N.\u2019s verified campaign is reminiscent of another self-appointed internet watchdog, NewsGuard, which claims to rate information as \u201creliable\u201d or \u201cfake\u201d news, supplying you with a color-coded rating system next to Google and Bing searches, as well as on articles displayed on social media.<\/p>\n<p>If you rely on NewsGuard\u2019s ratings, you may decide to entirely skip by those with a low \u201cred\u201d rating in favor of the \u201cmore trustworthy\u201d green-rated articles \u2014 and therein lies the problem. NewsGuard is in itself fraught with conflict of interest, as it\u2019s largely funded by Publicis, a global communications giant that\u2019s partnered with Big Pharma, such that it may be viewed more as a censorship tool than an internet watchdog.<\/p>\n<p>For example, NewsGuard announced that my site has been\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/articles.mercola.com\/sites\/articles\/archive\/2020\/04\/28\/newsguard-fake-news.aspx\">classified as fake news<\/a>\u00a0because we have reported the SARS-CoV-2 virus as potentially having been leaked from the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/articles.mercola.com\/sites\/articles\/archive\/2020\/05\/24\/is-the-new-coronavirus-created-in-a-lab.aspx\">biosafety level 4 (BSL4) laboratory<\/a>\u00a0in Wuhan City, China, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak.<\/p>\n<p>According to NewsGuard, \u201cThere is no evidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the source of the outbreak, and genomic evidence has found that the virus is 96% identical at the whole-genome level to a bat coronavirus.\u201d<sup><span id=\"edn17\" data-hash=\"#ednref17\">17<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0But NewsGuard\u2019s position is in direct conflict with published scientific evidence suggesting this virus was created in a lab and not zoonotically transmitted.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, by giving a falsely low rating and \u201ccensoring\u201d my site, they\u2019re doing a disservice to people looking for trustworthy information and in and of themselves are spreading misinformation. By enlisting an army of trolls to spread their own rhetoric, the concern is that the U.N.\u2019s Verified campaign will do more of the same.<\/p>\n<h2>Share the Information You Believe In<\/h2>\n<p>Ultimately, most adults are fully capable of choosing what information they deem credible to share with their social networks, family and friends, without the need for an overreaching Big Brother telling them what\u2019s credible and what\u2019s not.<\/p>\n<p>What is important is always looking at the source of the information and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/articles.mercola.com\/sites\/articles\/archive\/2020\/07\/07\/billionaires-getting-rich-off-coronavirus-pandemic.aspx\">motives behind it<\/a>, something even the U.N.\u2019s Verified touts. Toward this end, the U.N. is closely partnered with the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/articles.mercola.com\/sites\/articles\/archive\/2020\/04\/14\/world-health-organization-pandemic-planning.aspx\">World Health Organization<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Only 25% of WHO\u2019s funding comes from member states. The remaining 75% comes from voluntary contributions. The Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation \u2014 the investments of which include junk food manufacturers, alcohol and drug retailers \u2014 is the biggest funder.<sup><span id=\"edn18\" data-hash=\"#ednref18\">18<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/articles.mercola.com\/sites\/articles\/archive\/2020\/07\/21\/un-unleashes-army-of-trolls-to-shut-down-opposition.aspx?cid_source=dnl&amp;cid_medium=email&amp;cid_content=art2HL&amp;cid=20200721Z2&amp;mid=DM600305&amp;rid=921124112\">https:\/\/articles.mercola.com\/sites\/articles\/archive\/2020\/07\/21\/un-unleashes-army-of-trolls-to-shut-down-opposition.aspx?cid_source=dnl&amp;cid_medium=email&amp;cid_content=art2HL&amp;cid=20200721Z2&amp;mid=DM<br \/>\n600305&amp;rid=921124112<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UN Unleashes Army of Trolls to Shut Down Opposition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21228\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}