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Misinformation: Baseless claim about U.S. presidential candidate Kamala Harris crash spread by mysterious website

A story posted on a mysterious website has been widely circulated on social media after it made a baseless claim that Kamala Harris - the Democratic presidential nominee - was involved in an alleged hit-and-run incident.

It claims, without providing evidence, that a 13-year-old girl was left paralysed by the crash, which it says took place in San Francisco in 2011.

The story, which was published on 2 September by a website purporting to be a media organisation called KBSF-San Francisco News, has been widely shared online. Some online posts by right-leaning users citing the story have been viewed millions of times.

BBC Verify has found numerous false details indicating it is fake and the website has now been taken down.

[…]

Fake news stories targeting the US

The story and the website it originally appeared on share striking similarities with a network of fake news websites that masquerade as US local news outlets, which BBC Verify has previously extensively reported on.

John Mark Dougan, a former Florida police officer who relocated to Moscow is one of the key figures behind the network.

Approached by BBC Verify to comment on the hit-and-run story, Mr Dougan denied any involvement, saying: “Do I ever admit to anything? Of course it’s not one of mine.”

The websites mix dozens of genuine news stories taken from real news outlets with what is essentially the real meat of the operation - totally fabricated stories that often include misinformation about Ukraine or target US audiences.

The websites are often set up shortly before the fake stories appear on them, and then go offline after they serve their purpose.

FlashMobOfOne ,
@FlashMobOfOne@beehaw.org avatar

I don’t need fake stories, myself.

To me, electing someone who is famous for prosecuting non-violent drug users and truants en masse when our government is becoming increasingly more fascist by the day seems incredibly ill-advised.

But this is America. Ill-advised is what we do. You drink the unhealthy, uber-sugary soda and just ignore how unhealthy it is because Coke slapped a picture of a Marvel superhero on the can. We’ve demonstrated that we care more about the packaging than the actual product.

tate ,
@tate@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Electing someone who believes that we should have laws and enforce them is exactly what we should do.

When she was a prosecutor, it was not her job to change the laws or decide which ones to enforce. If we don’t want non-violent drug users and truants prosecuted, then we should change those laws. We have a process for that, and it doesn’t include prosecutors making those decisions for us.

technocrit , (edited )

100% fascist comment.

“She was just doing her job locking people in cages. If you want to stop the prison state and ongoing genocide, then just change the laws!!!”

Gross AF.

tardigrada OP ,

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    FlashMobOfOne ,
    @FlashMobOfOne@beehaw.org avatar

    deleted_by_moderator

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    GammaGames ,

    deleted_by_moderator

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    FlashMobOfOne ,
    @FlashMobOfOne@beehaw.org avatar

    deleted_by_moderator

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    FlashMobOfOne , (edited )
    @FlashMobOfOne@beehaw.org avatar

    Electing someone who believes that we should have laws and enforce them is exactly what we should do.

    That is an exceedingly euphemistic statement about Harris’ career.

    psvrh ,
    @psvrh@lemmy.ca avatar

    And now you, the mainstream media, are amplifying it and giving it oxygen.

    It’s like y’all never learned the old Usenet adage: “don’t feed (quote) the trolls”.

    storksforlegs ,
    @storksforlegs@beehaw.org avatar

    true. This article has a responsiblly worded headline, but it only takes one outlet to get the words just wrong enough…

    DarkThoughts ,

    Fact checking and clarifying fake news is not amplifying it, especially when it is already this widely spread.

    psvrh ,
    @psvrh@lemmy.ca avatar

    Yes it is.

    You might not wish it to be, but fact-checking absolutely does amplify fake news, especially if you give details.

    A simple “this story is bullshit” is all that’s needed

    derpgon ,

    Streisand effect

    FunderPants ,

    Conservatives have no media literacy and its a global problem.

    geekwithsoul ,

    Or people without any media literacy are more likely to vote for conservatives…

    technocrit , (edited )

    Have you ever met a liberal though? Eg. NPR is non-stop zionist propaganda. Two sides of the same coin.

    psvrh ,
    @psvrh@lemmy.ca avatar

    “Liberal” doesn’t mean what many people think it means.

    It doesn’t mean “leftist” or “progressive” or “humane”. There might be some overlap, but these are not the same things, despite conservatives trying to define them as such.

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