deception, propaganda & epistemology on the anti-social web
DESCRIPTION
The Internet enables new discursive strategies that are simultaneously deceptive, difficult to detect and potentially effective at eroding the epistemological foundation of progressive political action. I examine online deception used by white supremacists, anti-abortion activists, and climate change deniers as a way to explore epistemology in the digital era. Specifically, I examine the strategy of cloaked sites. Avowed white supremacists have, since the early days of the popular Internet, owned the URL MartinLutherKing dot org, which appears to be a tribute page but is in fact, a form of white supremacist rhetoric intended to undermine civil rights. Anti-abortion activists use cloaked sites such as Teen Breaks dot com to exhort young women about the dangers of so-called “post –abortion syndrome,” a pro-life rhetorical strategy disguised as a medical diagnosis. And, climate change deniers, often backed by corporate interests such as the coal industry, launch cloaked sites like Americans for Balanced Energy Choices to challenge facts of global warming. I argue that the struggle across a range of issues over “truth,” and “facts” are ultimately epistemological questions that are raised by the digital era.TRANSCRIPT
AoIR14 Conference – Denver, COOctober 25, 2013
Jessie Daniels, PhDCUNY-Graduate Center and Hunter College
Deception, Propaganda & Epistemologyon the Anti-Social Web
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The first page of search engine
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<cloaked sites> : disguise authorship in order to conceal political agenda
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<cloaked sites> : examples of deception & propaganda with features that are unique to the web
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<cloaked sites> : used by individuals, social movements, corporate interests
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“Yeah, because the site itself, it says, ‘Martin Luther King dot org’ so I guess they’re dedicated to
that.” (study participant, age 18)
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“I actually have never, I think, in my life gone to like the third
page, or the second page, because I just stop at the first page…because I mean, there
must be a reason why everything’s on the first page
and the rest of the stuff is later.”
(study participant, age 16)
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evaluating pairs of websites
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The Racial Politics of “Bias”
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“Well, you know, in looking at this site, it appears to be created by his widow, or his
family, so, it could be biased.”
(study participant, 17)
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“Two Sides to Everything”
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“I mean, I don’t think I would disagree with it. I’m sure there are some slaves that were treated
well. So, I can understand their point of
view. There’s always two sides to everything.”
(study participant, age 17)
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<anti-abortion cloaked site>
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“complications for girls”
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“post-abortion syndrome”
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not a medical condition
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rhetorical strategy of the pro-life movement
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brick-and-mortar “crisis pregnancy centers”
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<climate change denial>
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“Americans for Balanced Energy Choices”
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<my argument>
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<epistemology>
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how we know what we say we know
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Enlightenment notions of ‘truth’ rooted in empiricism and rationalism have been the cornerstone of racist culture, ideology and ‘science.’
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Enlightenment notions of race, racism and slavery were foundational to Ivy League institutions in the U.S.
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<political struggle over knowledge>
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“Social movements in the Information Age
are essentially mobilized
around cultural values...
[and seek] to seize
the power of the minds, not
state power.”~ Manuel Castells, 1997
individuals
social movements
corporate interests
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affordances become deceptions
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on the anti-social web, URLs are propaganda tools
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truth v. truthiness = impasse
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<new technologies require new epistemologies>
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Thank you!
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