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Following his trial for defamation of the families of the children and school staff killed in the Sandy Hook massacre, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is using Valve Corp.’s Steam, the world’s largest digital distribution platform for PC games, to sell an Infowars-themed video game. Jones claims to have earned hundreds of thousands in revenue from the video game, yet he has refused to pay the Sandy Hook families. Alex Jones: NWO Wars also mirrors and cartoonishly repackages the conspiracy theorist’s regularly violent, hateful rhetoric despite the platform’s policies against hate speech.

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[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

They called the dossier the best evidence of pizzagate.

Did they? It's not a bad introduction but voat had much better documentation.

That dossier has this particular photo.

Again? Let's discuss this one instead.

Well, I'm talking about this photo.

The photo is not illegal, but it is suspicious, especially when combined with Alefantis' other posts.

Because it is THIS that picture that by itself caused a frenzy.

See. You have to add in and highlight "by itself".

So 4chan decides ...

4chan didn't make him post suggestive comments or host suspicious files on his website.

Well, that piece of "evidence" is clearly trash.

You have failed to make this argument clearly.

Do you have a dossier that does NOT include wastes of time?

So one item labeled a waste of time allows you to disregard the rest. This is a repeat of the "no basement=debunked" argument.

Pizzagate debunkers are just as illogical as Pizzagate true believers.

[-] ook_the_librarian@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

I'm not talking about another photo. You have a mountain of evidence. Please edit out any trash designed to waste time. That picture is a pretty clear litmus test. I'm not stupid enough to be scared of that photo. If you think I am, this will not go anywhere.

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

I'm not talking about another photo.

Then you aren't going to debunk them.

Please edit out any trash designed to waste time.

If you had been able to debunk pizzagate this step would not be necessary.

That picture is a pretty clear litmus test.

Sadly I think I agree.

I'm not stupid enough to be scared of that photo.

I'm not really interested in measuring how stupid you are.

[-] ook_the_librarian@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

I’m not really interested in measuring how stupid you are.

Then what are you even doing here? Honestly. You asked if my favorite podcast had a pizzagate episode.

I said, i don't think so. I'll ask others. I don't like talking about pizzagate because every claim is dumb. I said:

The only thing interesting about pizzagate is how strongly people can hold on to beliefs with zero backing

In fact, I’d go as far as to say, the fact there is no evidence backing it up is precisely why this stuff is so dangerous. If some one is mentally unsteady enough to accept any reason to hate their enemies, they are probably pretty dangerous to be around already. Now use a massive media operation so that person need no other source of news. He (sorry to be sexist, but I’m going to stick with “he” for the easily influenced viewer’s pronoun) knows he’s right. He hears nothing but that he is right. However, out in the dangerous part of the world [to clarify, i mean reality i meant to put quotes], no one cares about this. It’s so fucking easy to dismiss this stuff. Why would anyone believe it?

None of that has changed. The more I say, the more you shift and want me to look elsewhere. It's clear to me that anyone who could read that doc and not be embarrassed that they are trying to spook you with that picture, is not worth engaging with.

You picked out me saying "no victims coming forward". You know there's still not any, right? No matter how many different things you tell me. You called it a "bad argument". I'm not here to argue. You brought this shit up. It's not an argument. It's a fact. You can keep claiming not to make an claims. But facts are facts. Calling them "arguments" makes them sound like they can be "bad". Nope. I said a fact, and you took personally.

So you link some homophobic shit. i don't want to read that. There's some horrible allegations that if some unhinged individual who has a fuzzy notion of epistemology reads, things could get and have gotten ugly.

Your lies are consequence free. Is there anyone (journalist, pundit,...) with a reputation to protect that says anything about this?

If you had been able to debunk pizzagate this step would not be necessary.

Can you show where I had expressed any desire to debunk this? This might be my first use of the word in this thread.

I said it's not interesting. I haven't seen any claim attached to anything concrete. Why would I engage? I'm not a witness.

The only document you have has claims that no one can be serious about. I'm asking you to remove those. You're just wasting my time.

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

You asked if my favorite podcast had a pizzagate episode.

Yes. Thanks for that. Sincerely.

I don't like talking about pizzagate because every claim is dumb.

A lazy, blanket statement leading to this lengthy thread.

The only thing interesting about pizzagate is how strongly people can hold on to beliefs with zero backing

It's also interesting how claims that it was debunked dissolve when examined.

the fact there is no evidence backing it up

I linked to some evidence. It's hard to do so now that search engines have been scrubbed and voat has died.

Why would anyone believe it?

Because the claims are not impossible, or even unlikely.

The more I say, the more you shift and want me to look elsewhere.

At the beginning I gave you the NYT and a steemit link with additional evidence. Nothing has shifted.

You link some homophobic shit. It's clear to me that anyone who could read that doc and not be embarrassed that they are trying to spook you with that picture, is not worth engaging with.

I didn't write it. There are not a lot of other options that search engines index. Just view the pictures if the text offends you.

Your lies are consequence free.

All the linked evidence is factual. I've not drawn any conclusions. Not sure what I could have lied about.

Is there anyone (journalist, pundit,...) with a reputation to protect that says anything about this?

This was the closest

Can you show where I had expressed any desire to debunk this?

Whenever you state that every pizzagate claim is dumb.

The only document you have has claims that no one can be serious about. I'm asking you to remove those.

Ok. I'll remove everything from that document except for this

[-] ook_the_librarian@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

Is there anyone (journalist, pundit,...) with a reputation to protect that says anything about this?

This was the closest

No one will touch this with a 10-foot pole. People that the pizzagaters victimized have been hurt, and some of the worst offenders of the conspiracy theory were arrested. No one will put a stake on this.

All the people that used to talk about this have disappeared. There once was a rush when people were talking about that document. Adding new threads. Making connections. This was going to be it. But nothing came.

I believe you may be chasing a high that was at its peak when it looked like pieces were coming together.

Everything fizzled. Now you're trying to get strangers worried about a list of files. It's not the same.

The emperor has no clothes here. No one else will put their reputation on the line.

I'm sure you have people in your life that you get along fine with. This is, provide no one brings this up. That has to feel isolating. Most people have moved on.

I was being honest. I'm not interested in pizzagate. But I have heard from so many people describing what it was like to have once believed it. And what it felt like when they were able to reconnect with people who pushed them away.

Obviously, I don't know you. You're fine to tell me I'm way off base. We're strangers here, but it's just food for irl-thought.

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

People that the pizzagaters victimized have been hurt, and some of the worst offenders of the conspiracy theory were arrested.

One crazy person has been jailed. No-one was hurt. All because the police failed to investigate.

All the people that used to talk about this have disappeared.

Because there is nothing new to talk about. Although if someone had done a thorough debunking then that would be new information of interest.

I believe you may be chasing a high that was at its peak when it looked like pieces were coming together.

This may be true for people searching the Internet and finding clues. Crowdsourced Sherlock Holmes. I only got interested when the crackdown happened, subreddits were closed and journalists silenced. Then claims of debunking popped up (usually without logical argument).

Debunking is much more interesting, scientific and rigorous than the actual conspiracies. James Randi, moon landings, aliens, 9/11. You learn a lot from a good debunk (hence my interest in your favourite podcast)

Now you're trying to get strangers worried about a list of files.

No, I'm trying to establish if it has been debunked. That there is no possibility of truth in the claims.

If you said pizzagate was unlikely, dubious or unconfirmed then I would agree and we wouldn't be having this exchange.

The emperor has no clothes here.

Neither do the debunkers following behind.

[-] ook_the_librarian@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

Did you ever used to post at 4chan?

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

No. Too difficult to follow conversations. My exposure has been 2nd hand by reddit or reformed text

[-] ook_the_librarian@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

i used to post on 4chan all the time. the hard to follow part was a feature. It let's you see only the good stuff in a way that's hard to explain, but I'll try.

The fun of 4chan is that everyone is full of shit. In fact, there posts about how much shit everyone else is full of. It's fun.

So how do you have fun on 4chan? It's easy. You lie. You're anonymous. It's consequence free.

It's been said that people like "bad jokes" because jokes split the room into two groups: those that get it and those that don't. A "bad joke" has a very forced punchline so that everyone gets the joke. There is no split in the room. Everyone hates the joke together.

A lie on 4chan splits the readership. Those that are ready to debunk anything. And those that "yes, and..."

The "bad lies" were no fun. Easy debunk, no one elaborating. The other lies were the fun ones.

The debunking group is the loudest, most numerous, and had tons of fun. There were infographics on how to tell if the user was pretending to be two different people ("samef--"). There were infographics on how to see photoshop artifacts. All kinds of good skeptical reasoning and debunking tools. The debunkers proved the liars lied.

The debunkers would share huge greentext png files of reformated text laying out how full of shit that all the liars are.


The other group had a different kind of fun. They found that if they see an obvious lie, they "yes, and...". That's an improv cliche that means you fully accept the OP's premise and develop it fuller yourself.

Wrestling fans would call it "kayfabe". Horror fiction on reddit has "nosleep" rules. It's in general, a willful supension of disbelief. These are "metarules" in a sense. They are rules saying it's against the rules to mention the rules.

Of course the yes-anders got debunked to hell and back. There are all kinds of greentext proving it.

But, the yes-anders shared greentext too. They had huge pngs full of undebunked truth. It was easy to do. It's all lies, and they are editing this huge png files. They just leave off an debunking.

Is it really that easy to just cut out the debunking? Wouldn't it just be easy to check?

HELL NO. That's the fucking point of 4chan.

Too difficult to follow conversations. My exposure has been 2nd hand by reddit or reformed text

It is IMPOSSIBLE to follow conversations. Everyone is only responding to what they came to see. There's no "I'll get back to that". You got to spew your shit while the shit is flying. Or you miss the fun.

This is where the debunkers always lose. There is just too much shit to debunk.

People reform the text into the png files I was mentioning. Put out a mountain of stuff. IGNORE ALL CONTRAPOINTS. And there are some people that believe them. When I said

I’m sure 99% of posts about pizzagate are LARPing really. (I think the same of Flat Earth. At least, way back when.)

I mean, they are the yes-anders. The people pretending to believe it because its fun to watch people try to debunk things when they never admit other, plausible explanations. I would have to say that the "99%" figure is an uneducated statement, so your guess is as good as mine.

But there are those that see this spread without any debunking because the debunking is lost. And anyone that tried was driven crazy by people pretending not to understand. So it's now an echo chamber of those that fell for it.

4chan was fun. I'm glad I quit.

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

The only time 4chan /pol caught my attention was when FBIanon posted about the Clinton foundation. I thought it was a fun LARP, then Bill Clinton has a clandestine airplane meeting with Loretta Lynch.

But given that nothing has happened to the Clinton foundation I would accept that FBIanon has been debunked.

this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2024
914 points (97.2% liked)

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