When Is Research Not Really Research? When is a survey not a survey? When it’s designed for PR, not science. This blog isn’t meant to offend—rather, it highlights how journalistic standards have collapsed and how this fuels the spread of disinformation. A Viral Story That Wasn’t True Recently, someone shared a shocking claim with me: … Read more
The Digital Trap: How Misinformation Targets People Like Us Writing this blog, I’m making some assumptions about my readers—primarily graduates, middle class, aged between 45 and 65, and self-identifying as well-educated. I hope what I’m about to say doesn’t upset too many of you. Hate, distrust, and disinformation designed to create political divisions have proliferated … Read more
I had planned to publish this in a few weeks, but events over took me… Elon Musk has been conducting a campaign against the British Government since the far right riots last summer. His latest obsession is Muslim grooming gangs, and the apparent refusal by Jess Phillips, the Minister of State for Safeguarding and Violence … Read more
Following my blog about porn bots this is the strangest on line interaction of the year.
Elon Musk is the new head of the US Department of Government Efficiency. An odd choice, given that his recent business decisions have lost lots of money. Since Musk took over Twitter and renamed it X it has lost huge numbers of users and advertisers. It’s share price has collapsed, it is now worth less … Read more
(Tommy Robinson was previously know as Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, and possibly by other names) Tommy Robinson is currently locked up on remand under section 7 of the Terrorism Act, and faces other contempt of court charges. Last week he briefly held the number one spot in Amazon’s best selling books with his version of the … Read more
Fiction Cuddy by Ben Myers is my favourite fiction book of the year – a biography of St Cuthbert, patron saint of the North, told through the lives of those who came after him. Mostly it is a book about the North, about Durham, and about the people who live there. It is not always an … Read more
Dominic Cummings woke alone in the early hours of a cold December morning. His atomic clock (accurate to 1000 of a second and linked to NASA) told him it was 2am. He put on this glasses and as his eyes focussed he made out a terrible grey faced spectre hovering at the end of … Read more
Foriegn Officer Minister Leo Docherty this week confirmed to Parliament that there has been widespread Russian interference in British politics going back at least to 2015. The Russia ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office to explain why the FSB has systematically hacked and impersonated British politicians. This follows on from the 2020 Intelligence Select … Read more
This week Chris Cash, a Conservative Party researcher, was arrested as a Chinese spy. He worked closely with Tom Tugendhat, Minister of State for Security. MI5 also revealed that they had warned the Conservative Party that 2 of their potential candidates for the next General Election were also working for Chinese security intelligence services. Once … Read more