‘Peace Data’ is a lovely name for a website

By KAREN PARKER

County Line Publisher Emeritus

“Peace Data” — What a lovely name for a website. Who isn’t in favor of peace? And data? That implies truth, the real facts. In these trying times of “fake news” and social media, separating truth and fiction is a greater challenge than ever before. 

But alas, Peace Data is gone. Poof, like so much stuff on the internet, just when you thought you had found a safe harbor of truth. Dang!

But they didn’t leave without a farewell. “Corrupt forces,” they tell us on their farewell page, have “silenced free speech.” It’s the usual suspects: CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, Facebook and the NSA.

And then, just to make a point about their “peacefulness,” they cap it off with an illustration of the CEOs of Facebook, Twitter and Amazon in a guillotine, with a basket to hold their severed heads. Ick.

One should always be suspicious of a news source that proclaims it has “information you won’t find anywhere else.”

But the lure of being “published” and paid (up to $200 an article) lured in dozens of wannabe writers, bloggers, and folks who had lost their jobs in the pandemic and needed to make grocery money.

It didn’t take long for the FBI to figure out that Peace Data was a front for the Internet Research Agency, which is backed by the Kremlin and was behind much of the meddling in the 2016 election.

It was apparently in its infancy with very few followers. Writers found their work received few or no corrections on their articles that promoted left-wing causes such as income inequality or climate change, even if it contained criticism of Russia. However, any criticism of Donald Trump was removed.

Correspondence with writers was done by email, with a head shot of the “editor” included. It was later found no such person existed; it was just a computer-generated image created with artificial intelligence.

From outward appearances, Peace Data was a flub, or some theorize, its goal was to look as normal as possible before it started sowing chaos.

We already know that it was Facebook that organized and drew Trump supporters to Kenosha and Portland to clash with peaceful protesters. I guess before I would load up the assault rifle, hop in the pickup and head off to Portland, I would want to know that my actions were not due to a love for Trump, but rather a response to a Russian-backed website.

Traditional media is being shoved into oblivion by Facebook and other social media. Most people are happy with that, I guess.

The Russians count on us not to care about the source of information. We no longer value the fact that with traditional media, the public can walk right in and pinch us, and we’ll squeal. I bet you can even go to CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta and see the real folks behind the news.

The “fake news” comes from real people. Can you day the same for the stuff on the internet that folks gobble up like candy and then pass to their friends?

 

 

 

Comments are closed.

  • It will be a seemingly endless campaign season

    March 14th, 2024
    by

    By KAREN PARKER County Line Publisher Emerita I would imagine if Eric Hovde has secured any demographic in his campaign […]


    A vibrant press is essential to democracy

    March 11th, 2024
    by

    By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher Emerita Sadly, there was no obituary in the paper for the Vernon Focus. […]


    America’s bent toward fascism

    February 26th, 2024
    by

    Imagine living in a country where the simple act of gathering together to lay flowers after the death of a prominent person could result in a two-week jail sentence.


    In 2024, remember that politics were ugly 100 years ago, too

    February 5th, 2024
    by

    Good grief! We are barely into the new year, and I am ready to go back to 2023 or leap ahead to 2025. Are we really in for an entire year of presidential election babble?


    Looking back on our 40th year, 1983–2023 (part two)

    November 30th, 2023
    by

    By KAREN PARKER County Line Publisher Emerita Forty years is a long time. Sadly, it’s long enough for most of […]


  • Looking back on our 40th year, 1983–2023

    November 27th, 2023
    by

    By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher Emerita Certainly one of the things that has changed a lot over 40 […]


    Private insurers insert profit-over-patient mentality into Medicare

    November 9th, 2023
    by

    By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher Emerita I met Dave Zweifel many years ago, at a Wisconsin Newspaper Association […]


    Does the Parents’ Rights Act ensure any new rights?

    October 12th, 2023
    by

    By KAREN PARKER County Line Publisher Emerita It has been a curious sight last week watching the House of Representatives […]


    Medicare Advantage reflects power insurance companies have over Congress

    September 28th, 2023
    by

    By KAREN PARKER County Line Publisher Emerita If you ever had any doubt about the power insurance companies have over […]


    Celebrating Wildcat’s 75th: The Lord brothers are two intriguing figures from Ontario’s history

    September 15th, 2023
    by

    Of all the colorful and eccentric characters in local history few are as intriguing as two brothers, Ed and Charles Lord. 


    Recalling the flood of 2018

    August 31st, 2023
    by

    If there is anything good about a flood, it does force a major house cleaning. This week marks five years since the flood of 2018 that swept through Ontario, built up steam, and continued on its way to the Wisconsin and the Mississippi, leaving behind a forever-changed landscape in the towns along the Kickapoo River.


  • Archives