Misinformation: Baseless claim about U.S. presidential candidate Kamala Harris crash spread by mysterious website
Misinformation: Baseless claim about U.S. presidential candidate Kamala Harris crash spread by mysterious website
The false story has been viewed millions of times online - we break down how you can know it was fake.
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.
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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.
Conservatives have no media literacy and its a global problem.
Or people without any media literacy are more likely to vote for conservatives…
Have you ever met a liberal though? Eg. NPR is non-stop zionist propaganda. Two sides of the same coin.
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”.
true. This article has a responsiblly worded headline, but it only takes one outlet to get the words just wrong enough...
Streisand effect
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.
the fascists are not actually law and order, they just wear it as a bumper sticker. mussolini did not actually make the trains run on time. pinochet did not actually crack down on crime he just shot his critics.
Voting for Harris is ill advised if we are concerned about fascism? Are you really saying this with Trump on the ticket?
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.
While you're correct that laws are created by the legislature the judiciary is where they are judged to be just. At least in systems based on English common law. Look up jury nullification for more info. Also, prosecutorial discretion is a thing. Basically if any law isn't enforced either through jury nullification and/or prosecutorial discretion then it is vestigial and should be amended or repealed.