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Social Media Lab

@socialmedialab.ca

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SocialMediaLab.ca Posts by @PhilipMai.com re: politics of tech, socmed, migration, democracy, mis/disinfo, & propaganda. PoliDashboard.org, Communalytic.org, DeepfakesTracker.org, ConflictMisinfo.org, NoteTracker.socialmediadata.org, & KM.socialmedialab.ca

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 20d

🧵 1/ The most effective disinformation campaigns rarely invent ideas out of thin air. Instead, they take preexisting facts, emotions, and grievances, then distort or exaggerate them in ways that deepen division, heighten resentment, and make falsehoods feel more credible.

Foreign disinformation about Charlie Kirk's killing seeks to widen US divisions

Russia moved quickly to exploit conservative activist Charlie Kirk's shooting death at a Utah college, with groups linked to the Kremlin spreading false and misleading claims that experts say are desi...

apnews.com

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 4h

“People have been trying to do conversion therapy for a hundred years with no record of success,” Colorado Solicitor General Shannon Stevenson told the court.

But, sadly, this argument is falling on the deaf ears of a solidly conservative court with an expansive view of the First Amendment.

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 4h

"A majority of the Supreme Court signaled Tuesday it is prepared to rule against Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” for minors, with several justices indicating they sympathize with a licensed counselor who says the law violates her First Amendment rights." www.cnn.com/2025/10/07/p...

Supreme Court’s conservative majority prepared to rule against conversion therapy ban | CNN Politics

A majority of the Supreme Court signaled Tuesday it is prepared to rule against Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” for minors, with several justices indicating they sympathize with a licensed coun...

www.cnn.com

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 4h

"White House draws out mass federal firings timeline as GOP grows squeamish in funding fight" www.cnn.com/2025/10/07/p...

White House draws out mass federal firings timeline as GOP grows squeamish in funding fight | CNN Politics

The Trump administration’s strategy to swiftly roll out mass layoffs of federal workers during the government shutdown has shifted in recent days, administration officials familiar with the talks told...

www.cnn.com

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 4h

"ICE paid $825,000 earlier this year to a company that manufactures vehicles equipped with various technologies for law enforcement, including fake cellphone towers known as “cell-site simulators,” which can be used to spy on nearby phones." techcrunch.com/2025/10/07/i...

ICE bought vehicles equipped with fake cell towers to spy on phones | TechCrunch

The federal contract shows ICE spent $825,000 on vans equipped with “cell-site simulators” which allow the real-world location tracking of nearby phones and their owners.

techcrunch.com

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 4h

Message received loud and clear ... "International interest in studying for a master's degree in the United States has fallen by 61% since 6 January" www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto...

International interest in US masters degrees falls by 61%

The United States is experiencing its lowest level of international student interest in studying for a masters degree in over five years owing to regu...

www.universityworldnews.com

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Reposted by Social Media Lab

Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 5h

The guy we are saving with $20B bailout

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 5h

Here's what you need to know about this year's flu shot. www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

Here's what you need to know about this year's flu shot

With colder weather set to hit the region soon, Region of Waterloo Public Health has released its fall vaccination plan. David Aoki, director of infectious disease and chief nursing officer with Regio...

www.cbc.ca

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 5h

"But this trend is not limited to Japan: researchers globally have observed similar patterns, prompting calls for heightened vigilance among residents and visitors alike."

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 5h

"An unprecedented early surge in influenza cases has compelled Japan’s health authorities to declare a nationwide epidemic, as medical experts warn the virus may be evolving faster and spreading more easily than ever before." www.scmp.com/week-asia/he...

Nationwide epidemic declared in Japan as flu season hits early

The government has declared a nationwide flu epidemic, prompting calls for vaccinations and heightened vigilance.

www.scmp.com

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Reposted by Social Media Lab

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 13h

To a foreign adversary, this represents a textbook opportunity, an alignment of circumstances that maximizes confusion, weakens resolve, and amplifies internal discord. It’s their playbook come to life.

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Reposted by Social Media Lab

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 14h

If current trends continue as projected, the United States could be on the brink of a decade+ marked by escalating extremist violence, echoing the turbulence and ideological militancy that gripped much of the world during the 1970s.

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 8h

"September, a key month for shipping ahead of the holiday season, is usually a boom one inside the freight business and supply chain, with products moving from warehouses to stores or consumers.

Not this year."
www.cnbc.com/2025/10/07/s...

a cartoon of santa claus with the words high risk of coal behind him

ALT: a cartoon of santa claus with the words high risk of coal behind him

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Social Media Lab

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 20h

Many people who spread misinfo are fully aware that what they’re sharing isn’t true, but they continue to do so b/c it supports their beliefs, reinforces their worldview, or helps push a particular narrative. In other words, accuracy often takes a back seat to persuasion or emotional satisfaction.

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Reposted by Social Media Lab

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 21h

The impact of these intelligence operations are still with us today. The Soviet Operation Denver campaign spread false stories about the U.S. inventing HIV, and while it wasn’t about vaccines, it helped create broader distrust in science and public health that still fuels vaccine skepticism today.

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Reposted by Social Media Lab

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 21h

Using health crises as weapons in great power rivalry is not new. Nations use them because they’re effective & inexpensive.

During the Cold War, the USSR ran a massive AIDS disinfo campaign in Africa against the US to blunt the US soft power. thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/operation-de...

Lessons From Operation "Denver," the KGB’s Massive AIDS Disinformation Campaign

Historian Douglas Selvage sheds light on a conspiracy theory that reverberates to this day.

thereader.mitpress.mit.edu

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Reposted by Social Media Lab

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 21h

Story time: Here's a little-noticed story that came out in 2024 regarding a US clandestine operation: The Pentagon ran a secret anti-vax disinfo campaign in the Philippines to undermine China during the pandemic. www.reuters.com/investigates...

#propaganda #foreignintereference #contestedspaces

www.reuters.com

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 9h

If you don't have to fly to or in the US right now, don't.

"Delays spread to major airports across the country, as the seventh day of government shutdown impacts travelers" www.cnn.com/2025/10/07/u...

Delays spread to major airports across the country, as the seventh day of government shutdown impacts travelers | CNN

There are not going to be enough air traffic controllers in the tower at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport Tuesday night, the Federal Aviation Administratoin is warning. In Nashville, so many are...

www.cnn.com

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Reposted by Social Media Lab

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 19h

There was a time not long ago when we were still optimistic about social media and its ability to bring people together and foster community ...

Mémoires du livre / Studies in Book Culture @memoiresdulivre.bsky.social · Aug 18

In “#1b1t: Investigating Reading Practices at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century”, Anatoliy Gruzd and DeNel Rehberg Sedo provide an historical account of the origins of Twitter’s (now X) first book club and map, by the same token, a unique reading community: doi.org/10.7202/1009...

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Reposted by Social Media Lab

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 14h

The threat is quite real, & fortunately, Canadian leaders are aware of it.

"Can Canada Survive Donald Trump? Under assault from an increasingly aggressive & authoritarian United States, the country's future looks less secure than at any time in postwar history." www.bloomberg.com/opinion/feat...

Can Canada Survive Donald Trump?

Under assault from an increasingly aggressive and authoritarian United States, the country’s future looks less secure than at any time in postwar history.

www.bloomberg.com

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 9h

🤯OMG… If you’ve been following the raid on that apartment building in Chicago — the one where children were taken out naked in the middle of the night — the details about how and why it happened just keep getting worse...

flipinidaho @flipinidaho.bsky.social · 17h

southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...

The building is in a 27 million dollar foreclosure filed by Wells Fargo. The next day, Wells Fargo filed an emergency motion for receivership. The fascist regime kindly emptied the building for donor Wells Fargo.

Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children

Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.

southsideweekly.com

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 9h

Wow, that looks seriously bubblicious. The velocity of AI $ is now in a league of its own.

Nvidia and OpenAI tangle web of deals are “increasingly complex and interconnected web of business transactions is artificially propping up the trillion-dollar AI boom.“ www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 9h

Wow ... Bondi is making a mockery of the whole oversight hearing and spitting in the faces of these Senators and the people they represent. Never seen anything like this.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 19h

instead of answering Durbin's questions, Bondi is attacking him

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 10h

FYI... Our NoteTracker app is still under active development. Soon you will be able to bookmark and download a CSV of Community Notes that you have saved.

Reposted by Social Media Lab

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 6d

According to our ongoing analysis of 1.6M+ X Community Notes, only 11% are ever made visible and displayed in the X app. That means ~89% of Community Notes never see daylight. See the data here: notetracker.socialmediadata.org

NoteTracker Dashboard

App for Discovering and Analyzing X Posts with Community Notes

notetracker.socialmediadata.org

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Reposted by Social Media Lab

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 6d

The high rate of overturned decisions highlights how unreliable these mechanisms can be, often resulting in legitimate content being wrongly taken down and leaving users navigating lengthy appeals to restore their posts.

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