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Searching for the Truth About Syria and the White Helmets (February 2018)

The recent Guardian article by Olivia Solon attacks those investigating and questioning the role of the White Helmets in Syria and attributes all such questioning to Russian propaganda, conspiracy theorizing and deliberate disinformation. The article does little, however, to address the legitimate questions which have been raised about the nature of the White Helmets and […]

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Propaganda Here and Now (Jan 2018)

The current ‘fake news’ crisis has brought to the forefront of debate questions regarding the manipulation of information and the role of deception as a political strategy. One strand of this debate has focused on the use of propaganda and deception by authoritarian and autocratic states outside the West. In particular, there has been substantial […]

Questioning The Official Story About Official Stories: A Role for Citizen Investigations

Originally posted on Tim Hayward:
Official stories, according to the official story about them, are (nearly) always true. The ‘nearly’ gets mentioned just because, on rare occasions, an official story is acknowledged to have been wrong, as, for instance, with Iraq’s falsely alleged weapons of mass destruction in 2003. But that’s considered an exception to…

On The Leveraging of Effective Altruism

Originally posted on Tim Hayward:
As the practical philosophy of ‘Effective Altruism’ comes under unprecedented public scrutiny, I thought it could be helpful to post a short passage of critical comment on it that comes from my book, Global Justice and Finance (Oxford University Press 2019) pp.75-6: The practical philosophy applied in the field of…

The Unfolding Revelations Concerning the OPCW – by Piers Robinson

Originally posted on Tim Hayward:
The following is an edited reproduction of an extended thread of tweets recently posted by Piers Robinson, founding member and spokesperson for the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media. New leaks published today by The Grayzone News and Aaron Maté confirm that the OPCW deceived in order to smear…

The Unfolding Revelations Concerning the OPCW – by Piers Robinson

via The Unfolding Revelations Concerning the OPCW – by Piers Robinson

Peer Review Vs Trial By Twitter

Originally posted on Tim Hayward:
This past week has seen some unedifying academic-on-academic hostility on Twitter, with a storm of haughty criticism being whipped up in response to publication in the journal Alternatives of a paper by Dr David A. Hughes. Perhaps because I know first hand what it feels like to be publicly smeared for…

OPCW Must Come Clean: Open Letter To States’ Representatives

Originally posted on Tim Hayward:
Following revelations of grave flaws in its Syria reporting, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons must allow whistleblowers’ evidence to be heard at the coming OPCW Conference of States Parties. That’s the message from the following public figures who have signed an Open Letter to OPCW permanent representatives. José…

Introduction

via Introduction

Dr Piers Robinson

via Dr Piers Robinson

“Truth Vanishes in a Cloud of Poison Gas”

Originally posted on Tim Hayward:
“A huge international news story broke last week,” writes Peter Hitchens, in the Mail on Sunday today, “but I doubt you will hear about it anywhere else.” In fact, while the story resounds around sections of the alternative media and Twitter, attracting also the concern of some well known people…