Read on Twitter
The QAnon line to take is these protests were a false flag by the left.
This is being spread by all of the radicalised conspiracy mongers - Lin Wood, Maajid Nawaz and James Delingpole. The should be laughed out of any mainstream forum for this bonkers behaviour.
This is being spread by all of the radicalised conspiracy mongers - Lin Wood, Maajid Nawaz and James Delingpole. The should be laughed out of any mainstream forum for this bonkers behaviour.
Here is a detailed rebuttal of this absolute bullshit https://twitter.com/alistaircoleman/status/1346932418939383810?s=19
Note the once de-radicalised (but sadly re-radicalised) Mr Nawaz had seen "multiple reports" of this tosh. This captures how his recurring credulity to conspiracy works once he caught up in the extreme milieu of a parallel universe of alternative facts https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1346944652801429510?s=19
Yet this "false flag" nonsense is only the second craziest QAnon conspiracy theory about the election promoted by Maajid Nawaz. This SCIF theory is a Scooby Doo plot https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1346907054796107776?s=19
This mammoth thread chronicled this bizarre descent into a parallel universe over the last 2 months, in which unsubstantiated allegations from odd & often extreme sources were always shared - but court decisions or factual scrutiny never was https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1325949736357154817?s=19
Hundreds of you appear to be blocked by MN, often for quite civil questions and fleeting interactions. I was, finally, blocked today. https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1346909580794609668?s=19
There is an important distinction between crap political punditry (which can be criticised, but is ok) and the more dangerous conspiratorial thinking, getting sucked into spreading misinformation & never checking who sources are, never correcting mistakes
Nawaz objects in principle to the term "conspiracy theorist". That would be convenient, but is highly unpersuasive. The SCIF theory and the Antifa fake flag theory fit the phrase conspiracy theory very well https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1340985875669377025?s=19
The whole problem with Nawaz approach to post-election analysis in microcosm. What credible defence could there be for *never* reporting a court decision? https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1346739649264447488?s=19
I listened to one of Maajid Nawaz LBC shows (on 14th November). It was crap punditry but (though he called Sidney Powell "well respected") his broadcasting was a lot less wild & more careful than his personal social media feed (where he shares much more bizarre allegations)
However, on Covid and lockdown, Nawaz is making extraordinary and unsubstantiated arguments both online and on the radio. I have made a formal complaint to LBC and Ofcom about his "lockdown kills" claims, which contain demonstrably false claims https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1346473168995713025?s=19
On Covid, as on the US election, this involves no boundaries as to the extremism of the sources which MN will share and amplify online without ever seeming to make the most cursory checks into his chosen sources
https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1330592006448484352?s=19
https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1330592006448484352?s=19
MN is supposed to be engaged in anti-extremism, so it is alarming that he is so credulous about sharing some of the most extreme voices that can be found online. I saw no retraction or apology when this is pointed out https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1330593042450026497?s=19
He did apologise (once) for sharing material from a virulent anti-semite. (He is sincere about opposing antisemitism, but this negligence is now characteristic). But he refused to acknowledge that the specific thing he shared was demonstrably false in its central claim.
This from an LBC colleague is the key distinction (but MN is unable to make or operationalise this distinction, because of the milieu of misinformation he has sunk into) https://twitter.com/mattuthompson/status/1327624419905331200?s=19
This widely shared version of the false flag theory compares it to the Reichstag fire of 1933. (Biden/Hitler analogy)
MN is very sensitive to people asking if he has lost his mind. He broadcast on LBC his belief that Joe Biden's PR team were playing trolls to abuse him online. He frequently tweets alleging some such campaign. That is incredible and does seem delusional. https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1327648865902866432?s=19
The other main @maajidnawaz theme is that everything he predicted has come true, a claim made ever more insistently whenever the opposite happens.
Is the SCIF theory - that Trump caught the plotters & recorded the computers stealing the election in real time - big reveal today?
Is the SCIF theory - that Trump caught the plotters & recorded the computers stealing the election in real time - big reveal today?
Here is his Jan 5th/6th with with several misunderstandings of ways in which the objections could block Biden's election. (I have no idea what "Trump acts unilaterally" in response to Pence's accurate rebuttal of the claim he had powers to veto even meant)
After the rioting, his analysis was that the Wisconsin & Pennsylvania state legislatures could now decertify the EC slates. He later realised Congress might proceed. (He'd never previously noticed how House/Senate majorities to certify made his 1876 deadlock claims obvs wrong)
MN has successfully sued people calling him a former terrorist (he says he was a "radicalised extremist who spewed hate" & has said he was glad when he heard about 9/11, but he did not actively participate in terrorism). But he obvs can not sue for this! https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1347138894500913152?s=19
This is a first person account, published by QF, of spreading hate prior to deradicalisation. He did claim to have co-founded efforts to "target army officers in order to incite military coups" in both Denmark and Pakistan (though scale/gravity of Hizb's coup effort is unclear)
Of course first person accounts from ex-extremists are useful (people can't sue over things they acknowledge). But several documented cases of exaggeration by former extremists. Though scale of MN's pre-2007 commitment to Hizb is clear.Terrible experience in Egypt well documented
Another detailed unpicking of the viral false flag conspiracy theory, being boosted even by Congressmen https://twitter.com/RespectableLaw/status/1347055062284120064?s=19
This is confused. "Always" though emphasised means since the age of 30. It doesnt apply to 9/11, which MN justified at length, before reflecting and repenting as he deradicalised, nor to his habitually carrying a knife as a young man.
Any guesses on how long it might take for MN to feel psychologically prepared enough to mention that the EC vote was certified for Biden?
Might Maajid Nawaz eventually get around to mentioning that Congressional certification of the Electoral College has confirmed that President Elect Biden will be president on Jan 20th?
*Reject Manichean Ultimatums*
*Reject Manichean Ultimatums*
Its OK. He'll wait. In a field.
Biden certified 340am ET, Wednesday, 840am Thursday GMT.
* when will Majid Nawaz acknowledge this happened? (Did this happen in the parallel reality?)
* will he acknowledge Trump has no route left?
(It's been 17 hours)
* when will Majid Nawaz acknowledge this happened? (Did this happen in the parallel reality?)
* will he acknowledge Trump has no route left?
(It's been 17 hours)
16 hours and counting ...
Q: When will Nawaz notice or acknowledge that Biden won?
A: All you need is love
Q: When will Nawaz notice or acknowledge that Biden won?
A: All you need is love
President Trump gets his Twitter feed back and *concedes* defeat?
Will Maajid Nawaz accept it's over too - or find Trump's final path to victory between the lines? (Could the state legislatures revoke this)
Will Maajid Nawaz accept it's over too - or find Trump's final path to victory between the lines? (Could the state legislatures revoke this)
I am seeing *multiple reports* it might not be over. That is becoming impossible to ignore https://twitter.com/parlertakes/status/1347343352002318336?s=19
Remaining routes for Trump;
A new administration - but whose new administration?
Patience, my friends
https://twitter.com/travis_view/status/1347344204461051904?s=19
Patience, my friends
https://twitter.com/travis_view/status/1347344204461051904?s=19
Facebook have put a "false information" warning on @MaajidNawaz post about Antifa infiltrators, linking to a fact-check.
Twitter have not flagged his Tweet as misinformation and conspiracy, though the link he has shared does now retract the claim as false.
Is this not news yet, people?
Its OK. We'll wait.
18 hours since the vote.
(Will it go > 24 hours?)
Its OK. We'll wait.
18 hours since the vote.
(Will it go > 24 hours?)
This is deep cover https://twitter.com/Millermena/status/1347379048129966083?s=19
24 hours later, Maajid Nawaz has not yet mentioned the certification of Joe Biden, nor Trump's concession. But he does feature in a Washington Post article reporting on the conspiracy theories and fringe cults spreading the Trumpist message beyond America.
* 12 hours after Trump's concession, 30 hours after Congress certified, neither of those developments has yet been acknowledged on planet Maajid.
* I guess he may well comment before & during his next LBC show, scheduled in its regular slot for 1pm-4pm on both Saturday & Sunday
* I guess he may well comment before & during his next LBC show, scheduled in its regular slot for 1pm-4pm on both Saturday & Sunday
Here @MaajidNawaz settles for an not very sincere apology from @eddiemarsan who did not want the hassle of defending his entirely defensible observation that Maajid Nawaz was spreading conspiracy theories, which Marsden observes was clearly valid.
I could not see the legal risk in @eddiemarsan calling @MaajidNawaz "a self publicising shock jock promoting dangerous conspiracy theories" since he is a polemical radio host ('shock jock' is a common shorthand) who certainly promotes dangerous conspiracy theories.Feel free to RT
Those of you with an interest in protecting free speech from absurd and implausible "chilling" efforts to curtail it via legal threats are welcome to retweet my fair comment about this evidenced pattern of behaviour
Need to draw the line "at peddling baseless conspiracy theories, especially ones from the darkest corners of the web". Just asking questions is the "get out clause for most of the worst conspiracy theories" said LBC senior reporter Matthew Thompson of the boundaries MN crosses.
