s the right-wing stepped up their attacks of disinformation, it’s become apparent that they’re unwittingly getting help from an unlikely source — Black tabloids — with a false claim about “crack pipes” the most recent example.
Recently, The Shade Room was caught up in controversy as it published a post that alleged that the Biden presidential administration had approved a $30 million dollar grant to “distribute crack pipes” as a health equity measure. The patently absurd claims got an immediate backlash from the White House, which labeled them “misleading and misinformed.”
The truth was that the administration announced a harm-reduction program aimed at reducing drug overdoses by distributing items called “safe smoking kits.” The kits include materials to prevent infection and contamination such as rubber mouthpieces and disinfectant wipes. These kits and “safe injection sites” are considered important tools by substance abuse experts in the effort to rehabilitate people who misuse drugs.
After the backlash, The Shade Room deleted the post and issued a follow-up. It was later determined that the “crack pipes” allegation was contrived by conservatives who manipulated the language concerning the health equity components. But the situation illustrated the problem of these sites being complicit.
The Shade...
Pakistani actress and model Ayesha Omar has strongly denied a controversial statement falsely attributed to her on social media. In recent days, a statement circulated online claiming that the act...