BY SIMONE J. SMITH
What a time to be alive.
Whether you want to believe it or not, we are in the middle of an information war where it’s difficult to tell the truth from fiction or lies. Journalists like myself, and my colleagues are no longer the watchdogs; instead, we are directed to information from obviously conflicted sources and made to convince the public to believe that particular viewpoint.
Fact-checking – a once-obscure term that is now a buzzword – is one part of the campaign to control what we as media consumers see online, and therefore what we think and how we perceive reality is all controlled.
To me, the most insidious method is the recent use of “fact checkers” to limit the reach of an outlet (like the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper), or simply branding us with the fake news scarlet letter to discourage readers from engaging. If you don’t believe us, you can check it out for yourself on our Facebook page. They actually discourage individuals from liking us or reading our stories.
This has been increasing in the last two years and I personally know of several remaining independent media outlets that have had to decide whether or not to run certain articles or video reports out of fear they might be censored or banned. What they have done is use algorithmic games to limit access to alternative media sites on certain social media platforms, and now most outlets are reaching a tiny fraction of what they once were.
We are now in a world where instead of real journalists and reporters, the media is infiltrated with propagandists who dictate what’s “fake news” and what’s not. In a way, we are being manipulated to want our information censored by third-party “fact”-checkers, which were introduced as a tool to confuse and control the public further.
Let’s take a look at Facebook’s oversight board created to temper criticism over its decisions to flag certain content and accounts. According to Facebook, members of the oversight board “were chosen for their expertise and diversity” and “must not have actual or perceived conflicts of interest that could compromise their independent judgment and decision-making.” They all “have expertise in, or experience in advocating for, human rights.”
There is just one issue: 18 of the 20 members of Facebook’s oversight board members have ties to Soros’ Open Society Foundations. Two other organizations that have partnered with Facebook and fact checked TMU are Science Feedback and Africa Check, both which claim to identify and expose the spread of disinformation.
Science Feedback describes itself as “A worldwide network of scientists sorting fact from fiction in science based media coverage. Our goal is to help readers know which news to trust.” Africa Check says they are a non-profit attempting to “Raise the quality of information available to society across the continent.” Africa Check uses semantics to label a story false or misleading. Science Feedback uses a similar strategy.
Africa Check’s list of partners includes The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, yet another example of how the Gates’ spread their influence and agenda around the world. I want you to remember that Gates also funded the Event 201 pandemic simulation exercise, which discussed the potential for censoring the internet, or even arresting individuals who spread information that has been deemed false. Let me also note that it has been reported that Africa Check is also partnered with the George Soros-funded Open Society Foundations.
When you hear fact checkers use buzzwords like: “Conspiracy theory”, “debunked”, “quackery” and “antivaccine” know that it is time to dig deeper for the truth. If you are a person who relies solely on the internet for their information, you are at serious risk of being controlled; you can fight back by doing your own research, trusting your cognitive dissonance and using your common sense.
