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suffragette

(12,232 posts)
Sat Jan 7, 2017, 03:31 PM Jan 2017

German police quash Breitbart story of mob setting fire to Dortmund church

Source: Agence France-Presse in Berlin

German media and politicians have warned against an election-year spike in fake news after the rightwing website Breitbart claimed a mob chanting “Allahu Akbar” had set fire to a church in the city of Dortmund on New Year’s Eve.

After the report by the US site was widely shared on social media, the city’s police clarified that no “extraordinary or spectacular” incidents had marred the festivities.

The local newspaper, Ruhr Nachrichten, said elements of its online reporting on New Year’s Eve had been distorted by Breitbart to produce “fake news, hate and propaganda”.

The justice minister of Hesse state, Eva Kühne-Hörmann, said that “the danger is that these stories spread with incredible speed and take on lives of their own”.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/07/german-police-quash-breitbart-story-of-mob-setting-fire-to-dortmund-church



It's looking more and more like the coalition of Putin and Trump is trying to interfere with German elections and perceptions of Germany in a similar way to what they did here, with a combination of hacking and hate-filled fake news.

Good to see that their lies are being actively countered there.
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German police quash Breitbart story of mob setting fire to Dortmund church (Original Post) suffragette Jan 2017 OP
The Russian threat is everywhere. Dawson Leery Jan 2017 #1
And the push from the right wing suffragette Jan 2017 #2
Russian/Republican/Right Wing Are Becoming Indistinguishable TomCADem Jan 2017 #4
Very good points. Here's another link suffragette Jan 2017 #8
Yeah, I have heard that traditional-minded russians Ilsa Jan 2017 #10
This isn't Russia, imo. Breitbart has been at this for a while. Oneironaut Jan 2017 #23
Russian Meddling and Europe's Elections (NY Times) inanna Jan 2017 #3
Exactly. And while Russia cyberattacks, Breitbart pushes the propaganda. They've opened suffragette Jan 2017 #9
I can't see Breitbart getting far in Germany Jake Stern Jan 2017 #12
Good point about the laws there. I hope both manage to resist. suffragette Jan 2017 #16
Breitbart lies or, equivalently, Brietbart is connected with Donald Trump. - n/t Jim__ Jan 2017 #5
Breitbart is returning the favor ewagner Jan 2017 #6
Breitbart. Trumpy. Putin. Brexit. EU breakup. Russian interference. Anti-NATO Eyeball_Kid Jan 2017 #7
this post sums it up. Rec to every Ilsa Jan 2017 #11
Vladimir Putin is the enemy of the free world. Initech Jan 2017 #13
Yeah, very ugly pattern. suffragette Jan 2017 #14
Well said, and welcome to DU! eom Tanuki Jan 2017 #18
Merkel had already spoke about that happening BumRushDaShow Jan 2017 #15
Exactly. And now Breitbart is working to push the propaganda by creating or widening suffragette Jan 2017 #21
I hope the German media trumpets this loudly DFW Jan 2017 #17
I hope so, too. Especially since it looks like Breitbart is ratcheting up the propaganda suffragette Jan 2017 #20
Glad they have pieces that work and move to keep this sort of danger at bay. AgadorSparticus Jan 2017 #19
Yes, very important to address the lies as quickly as possible. suffragette Jan 2017 #22
The 4chan crowd are trying to blow up the planet. Rex Jan 2017 #24
Great point, Rex. They project their self loathing out and are bathing the planet in hate. suffragette Jan 2017 #25
The scary thing is, it is working like a charm. Rex Jan 2017 #26
Yes, it is scary. Speaking about "pranks" and being prepared. Given the Breitbart suffragette Jan 2017 #27
We live in dangerous times. Rex Jan 2017 #28
I've never understood people who think cruelty is funny. I never will. suffragette Jan 2017 #29

TomCADem

(17,378 posts)
4. Russian/Republican/Right Wing Are Becoming Indistinguishable
Sat Jan 7, 2017, 03:39 PM
Jan 2017

Here is a DailyKoS story discussing some of the overlaps...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/11/18/1601406/-Everything-You-Need-to-Know-About-Steve-Bannon-Breitbart-Russia

In other words, they think the future is not a battle between East and West (US vs. Russia), but Traditionalist verses Secularists and multiculturalists. The modern Alt-right has embraced Putin as an ally in their battle to install a “Traditionalist” worldview. The “Traditionalist” Alt-right believe that Republicans and Conservatives have abandoned them and embraced multiculturalism and allowed things like the acceptance of gays, gay marriage, and multiculturalism.

Because of this, they have abandoned hope in American Conservatism and crossed country lines. They have written articles about Putin being one of them. Here is an article by Pat Buchanan claiming that Putin is their ally: http://buchanan.org/blog/putin-one-us-6071 Also, here is an article by Breitbart describing that the modern alt-right sees themselves as modern “Pat Buchanan,” Traditionalist intellectuals seeking to defeat the Western multiculturalism and liberalism. www.breitbart.com…

Because mainstream Republicans and conservatives have abandoned the cause and accepted things like gay marriage and multiculturalism, the Alt-Right Traditionalists needed to find a new ally and they found a powerful ally in Putin. The Alt-Right thinks that Putin will be their new Traditionalist hero as they have been marginalized by the Republicans and Conservatives of the West. Here are some articles on this alliance:

1. www.washingtonpost.com…

2. talkingpointsmemo.com/...

3. www.thedailybeast.com…

4.www.businessinsider.com/...

The Alt-Right believes that Putin has done a good job imposing “Traditionalism” in Russia. They applaud him for his stance on gays and liberal Western multiculturalism. Putin’s Chief Strategist, Alexander Dugin, has become the intellectual hero of Alt-Right “Traditionalists” around the world.

suffragette

(12,232 posts)
8. Very good points. Here's another link
Sat Jan 7, 2017, 04:50 PM
Jan 2017
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/01/putin-trump-le-pen-hungary-france-populist-bannon/512303/

One critical variable of the Trump presidency may be how far this radical shift in perspective advances in a Republican Party where most elected officials and foreign-policy analysts still believe global stability depends on an American-led network of rules and alliances, and still view Putin as an escalating threat to that order. Though the conservative-populist embrace of Putin common in Europe remains confined to the GOP’s margins, it appears to be establishing a beachhead under Trump, noted Richard Fontaine, president of the centrist Center for a New American Security, and the former top foreign-policy aide to McCain. “It’s already going further than I expected it to go,” Fontaine said in an interview. “The fact that dyed-in-the-wool Republicans are going out and suggesting we don’t know who hacked what [in the 2016 campaign] and the sanctions may be an overreaction is not a terribly encouraging sign.”


The major conservative nationalist and populist movements in Europe, including France’s National Front, Britain’s U.K. Independence Party, Germany’s Alternative for Germany, the Netherlands’s Party for Freedom, Austria’s Freedom Party, and Hungary’s Jobbik, don’t completely overlap in their views of Putin. Geert Wilders, the leader of the Party for Freedom, for instance, has been cooler toward Putin than the National Front’s Marine Le Pen, who borrowed from a Russian bank to help fund the party’s 2014 electoral campaign, or the Freedom Party, which recently signed a “cooperation agreement” with Putin’s United Russia party.

But the European populist parties share a common set of priorities focused on restricting immigration, unwinding global economic and political integration (by renouncing the European Union, and, for some of these parties, NATO as well), taking tougher steps to fight Islamic radicalism, and, in most cases, opposing cultural liberalism and secularization at home. On all those fronts, they view Putin not as a threat, but as an ally.

Ilsa

(61,675 posts)
10. Yeah, I have heard that traditional-minded russians
Sat Jan 7, 2017, 05:43 PM
Jan 2017

are perfectly happy with Putin. They'll just ignore the death of journalists, journalism, etc to embrace what makes them feel good, just like Fox News used to do. Problem? Blame it on a minority or a liberal or a muslim or a GLBT.

Oneironaut

(5,462 posts)
23. This isn't Russia, imo. Breitbart has been at this for a while.
Sun Jan 8, 2017, 05:12 PM
Jan 2017

They're one of the top-running fake news outlets. Newsmax is another.

I don't know why they're being taken seriously all of the sudden. It's very frightening. They've always put crap out like this.

inanna

(3,547 posts)
3. Russian Meddling and Europe's Elections (NY Times)
Sat Jan 7, 2017, 03:39 PM
Jan 2017

DEC. 19, 2016


While revelations about Russian involvement in the American presidential election rock the United States, there are ominous signs that Russia is spreading propaganda and engaging in cyberattacks in Europe in advance of several national elections next year.


In 2017, Germany, France and the Netherlands will hold elections. It is also possible that Italy will move elections scheduled for 2018 forward in the wake of the resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi after voters rejected a referendum on constitutional reforms this month. Candidates who are right-wing populists and friendly toward Russia are gaining ground across Europe, thanks, in part, to Russian interference along the lines of what Moscow was accused of doing in the United States. Russia’s goals in Europe appear to be to elect foreign leaders who are sympathetic to Russian expansionism, to weaken NATO and to fan anti-European Union forces.

In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Front party benefited in 2014 from an $11.7 million Kremlin loan to help finance its campaigns. And the winner of the center-right Les Républicains party’s recent primary elections, François Fillon, has called for lifting sanctions on Russia for its annexation of Crimea and its war in Ukraine, and for working with Russia to curb immigration and prevent terrorism.

In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’s populist Party for Freedom has surged, with a Donald Trump look-alike “Make the Netherlands Great Again” campaign, which is anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim. Mr. Wilders is calling for an exit from the European Union. Matteo Salvini of Italy’s anti-immigrant Northern League opposes sanctions on Russia and boasts of his trips to Moscow.

...


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/opinion/russian-meddling-and-europes-elections.html

suffragette

(12,232 posts)
9. Exactly. And while Russia cyberattacks, Breitbart pushes the propaganda. They've opened
Sat Jan 7, 2017, 04:59 PM
Jan 2017

Sites in France and Germany after already using London one to push Brexit.


http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-strategy-idUSKBN1342TP

Breitbart, which already has a U.K. website, has begun interviewing European journalists to staff the planned new Breitbart France and Breitbart Germany sites, Marlow said. The aim is to help elect right-wing politicians in the two European countries, where anti-immigrant sentiment has been on the rise, sources close to Bannon said.

~~~

The former Goldman Sachs banker launched Breitbart London in 2013 after seeing a "business opportunity" in the campaign to leave the European Union, according to the source. He chose a young conservative activist, Raheem Kassam, to run the site but also hired a venerated British journalist, James Delingpole, to add cache.

Breitbart London's political and business aims were so closely integrated that Kassam took a brief leave of absence from the site to advise Nigel Farage, the leader of the Brexit movement. The more popular the "Brexit" movement became, the more people went to Breitbart London to read about it, and the more advertisements Bannon sold.

Bannon's bet paid off: the June 23 vote to leave the EU was Breitbart's most heavily trafficked day up to that point--(overall) both in London and the United States.

Jake Stern

(3,145 posts)
12. I can't see Breitbart getting far in Germany
Sat Jan 7, 2017, 06:22 PM
Jan 2017

They would have to tone it waaaaaaay down from what they publish here to withstand a challenge under Germany's strict incitement laws.

France might prove to be more fertile ground for poisoned fruit, however.

Eyeball_Kid

(7,410 posts)
7. Breitbart. Trumpy. Putin. Brexit. EU breakup. Russian interference. Anti-NATO
Sat Jan 7, 2017, 04:47 PM
Jan 2017

Are we getting the message yet?

Are we becoming aware of Russia's attacks on the EU and the Western Hemisphere?

Steve Bannon. Michael Flynn. Tillerson. Manafort. Conway. The Mercer Family. We can now see how all of them are connected to Putin. And Putin is calling the shots for Trumpy. They're all against the United States.

And they're all being shielded by the Republican Party.

Ilsa

(61,675 posts)
11. this post sums it up. Rec to every
Sat Jan 7, 2017, 05:46 PM
Jan 2017

Reply in this thread that elucidates. The propaganda is outrageous.

Initech

(99,915 posts)
13. Vladimir Putin is the enemy of the free world.
Sat Jan 7, 2017, 06:35 PM
Jan 2017

What if Russia has been the bad guy the last 30 years this whole time? While we're fighting Iraq and Afghanistan until the end of time, they're manipulating the rest of the world. Putin is a mad man and he must be squashed. Trump is a mad man and he must be squashed.

suffragette

(12,232 posts)
21. Exactly. And now Breitbart is working to push the propaganda by creating or widening
Sun Jan 8, 2017, 02:13 PM
Jan 2017

divisions and has announced that they are looking at opening sites in Germany and France.

They want to install the right wing there too or at least, weaken the center and left wing.

I'm glad they are addressing the fake news from them quickly and head on.

DFW

(54,057 posts)
17. I hope the German media trumpets this loudly
Sun Jan 8, 2017, 10:31 AM
Jan 2017

The German media is mostly free of the Republican-style domination that contaminates our media. Their public is, as a result, usually better informed than ours. Plus, the outing of Soviet domination and manipulation of several parties during the period prior to 1990 became public record when the Stasi files were examined. The Germans are plenty mistrustful of Russian propaganda manipulation. Any such unsubstantiated story will be suspect and immediately debunked by the German media.

suffragette

(12,232 posts)
20. I hope so, too. Especially since it looks like Breitbart is ratcheting up the propaganda
Sun Jan 8, 2017, 02:07 PM
Jan 2017

In an attempt to influence German and French elections.

AgadorSparticus

(7,963 posts)
19. Glad they have pieces that work and move to keep this sort of danger at bay.
Sun Jan 8, 2017, 10:52 AM
Jan 2017

It is good to see that they didn't wait until next year to take action.

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
24. The 4chan crowd are trying to blow up the planet.
Sun Jan 8, 2017, 05:15 PM
Jan 2017

I am convinced the BBart assholes and alt-media cult leaders are trying their best to destroy human civilization. They already are such miserable filth, that they want to die - yet their sadistic side must take the rest of us with them.

Good for Germany, sadly the US media is already alt-right.

suffragette

(12,232 posts)
25. Great point, Rex. They project their self loathing out and are bathing the planet in hate.
Sun Jan 8, 2017, 05:53 PM
Jan 2017

And along with them is a very calculated effort to plunder the people and the planet for short term self gain. That propaganda machine is out in force and has been working globally to yank people and governments ever further to the right of the spectrum.

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
26. The scary thing is, it is working like a charm.
Sun Jan 8, 2017, 08:07 PM
Jan 2017

They are very good at pushing the hate as 'harmless pranks' as Rush would say. We better be prepared.

suffragette

(12,232 posts)
27. Yes, it is scary. Speaking about "pranks" and being prepared. Given the Breitbart
Sun Jan 8, 2017, 08:24 PM
Jan 2017

connection, I wonder what James O'Keefe is planning next.

There are all too many Repubs in Congress who would jump on any of his bogus videos and use them as an excuse to tear down progressive organizations.

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
28. We live in dangerous times.
Sun Jan 8, 2017, 08:27 PM
Jan 2017

Those idiots think it is funny to destroy the social safety net. Of course they don't care, money speaks for them.

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