A woman distributes the multi-language newspapers The Epoch Times newspaper in Hong Kong. (Photo by Miguel Candela / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)
Unraveling viral disinformation and explaining where it came from, the harm it's causing, and what we should do about it.
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Among the delights that readers had to look forward to inside the paper was an op-ed from former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, with the headline: “The thieves who stole our election got sloppy.”Using Trump rallies as a way to boost readership is just one part of the Epoch Times’ strategy to insinuate itself into right-wing circles.The paper is also being delivered by hand to people’s mailboxes across the U.S., and reporters from the Epoch Times and its network of affiliates are a constant presence at the “Stop the Steal” rallies held across the country in recent weeks.
Like One America News Network and Newsmax, Epoch Times is among a growing list of media outlets that are favored by the Trump campaign over the mainstream media and former favorites, such as Fox News.The reason is that Epoch Times, like OAN and Newsmax, is willing to continue spreading the lie that the result of the presidential election is still in doubt.As a result, the Trump campaign is giving Epoch Times special access. The Washington Post reported that reporters from the Epoch Times and One America News were among the only outlets with access to Georgia's election “hearing” last Thursday.The newspaper began life as a tiny publication pushing an anti-China message and promoting the Falun Gong, a secretive and relatively obscure Chinese spiritual movement that was persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party.
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But there’s a more dangerous edge to the content pushed by the Epoch Times group, which in the past has boosted QAnon conspiracy theories.Ahead of a live stream of Trump’s rally in Georgia on Saturday night, NTD America, an affiliate of Epoch Times, broadcast Trump supporters calling for “civil war” to save the country from the “satanic” and “communist” Democrats who are stealing the election.