RADDICS ICSEKICALIZED PUSHED INT
KNOWN WEBSITES."
EXPERTS LIKE MY NEXT GUEST KNEW
WHERE TO LOOK.
JOINING ME NOW, NBC’S SENIOR
INVESTIGATIVE PRODUCER ANNA
SCHECHTER.
GREAT TO SEE YOU.
MALCOLM MADE THE POINT A WHILE
AGO THERE WAS NOTHING SECRET
ABOUT THIS.
A LITTLE UNUSUAL EVERYBODY
DIDN’T HAVE THEIR ABOUT THE
TOGETHER, BUT THESE EXTREMIST
CONSPIRACY THEORIES GROW ONLINE,
THEY’RE PUBLISHED ONLINE.
THIS WHOLE EVENT WAS RECRUITED
FOR ONLINE.
>> THAT’S EXACTLY RIGHT.
FOR MONTHS IN ADVANCE WE WERE
SEEING EXTREMIST CONTENT AND THE
STOP THE STEAL STEAL CONSPIRACY
WAS REALLY A DRIVER AND IT
ACTUALLY RECRUITED SO MANY
PEOPLE INTO THIS WAY OF THINKING
AND ENRAGED SO MANY PEOPLE WHO
WERE TRUMP SUPPORTERS AND THERE
WAS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THAT
AND EXTREME VIEWS AND WE’VE SEEN
THIS CORROSION BETWEEN THAT
DIVIDING LINE.
IT SEEMS TO NOT EXIST ANYMORE.
I WAS IN PARLOR WHICH WAS
EXTREMELY EASY TO DOWNLOAD AND
YOU ARE IMMEDIATELY IN AN ECHO
CHAMBER.
YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE TO GET
INSIDE ONE OF THESE CHAT ROOMS
LIKE WE’VE SEEN ON TELEGRAM.
PARLOR WAS SHUT DOWN ON MONDAY
IN THE WAKE OF THE JANUARY 6th
SIEGE ON THE CAPITOL, AND YOU
SAW THIS HUGE UPTICK IN
MEMBERSHIP IN SOME OF THE MOST
EXTREME TELEGRAM CHANNELS.
SO IF YOU DOWNLOAD TELEGRAM ON
TO YOUR PHONE IT’S REALLY EASY
TO GET INSIDE THESE CHAT ROOMS
IF YOU KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR,
AND YOU’RE SEEING QANON
CONSPIRACIES WHICH GIVE WAY TO
PEOPLE POSTING, FOR EXAMPLE,
WHAT WE FOUND IN -- WE’VE BEEN
MONITORING FOR MONTHS IS A U.S.
ARMY AN
ARMY MANUAL FOR BOMB MAKING, FOR
MUNITIONS MAKING AND THESE ARE
EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
THINGS THAT ARE BEING SHARED
OPENLY ON THESE CHANNELS.
UNBELIEVABLY, BUT IN AN
UNPRECEDENTED WAY, TELEGRAM DID
SHUT DOWN A HOST OF THESE
CHANNELS AND WE FOLLOWED UP OUR
REPORTING WITH THAT.
THIS WAS AN UNPRECEDENTED MOVE
FOR U.S. CHANNELS.
REMEMBER, TELEGRAM WAS THE APP
FAVORED BY ISIS AND NOW IT’S
REALLY THE PLACE FOR FAR-RIGHT
EXTREMISTS, CONSPIRACY THEORIES
AND SADLY AND UNFORTUNATELY
CALLS FOR VIOLENCE.
THEY WERE BUILDING UP TO CALLS
FOR VIOLENCE ON JANUARY 6th AND
NOW RECALIBRATING AND PLANNING
FOR JANUARY 20th, INAUGURATION
DAY.
>> ANA, EXPERTS IN THIS FIELD
DIFFER ON WHETHER IT’S GOOD THAT
TWITTER, FACEBACK AND MAINSTREAM
SOCIAL MEDIA ARE CLAMPING DOWN
ON THESE GROUPS.
LAST WEEK I WAS TALKING TO THE
PROFESSOR FOR M.I.T. AND THEY
WERE ARE WORRIED TO AT LEAST
SEE, NOW MAYBE GOING INTO
NARROWER AND NARROWER CHANNELS.
YOU’VE BEEN STUDYING THIS FOR
YEARS AND YOU’VE LIVED IN THESE
PLACES WHERE THESE CONSPIRACY
THEORIES COME FROM AND IS THERE
SOME DANGER OF THEM BEING
SQUEEZED OUT OF THE OPEN?
>> ABSOLUTELY.
IT’S A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD.
ON THE ONE HAND, THERE IS SOME
HOPE THAT WHEN PEOPLE SWITCH
PLATFORMS IT CREATES AN
OPPORTUNITY FOR MISTAKES TO BE
MADE, WHERE PEOPLE CAN REVEAL
IDENTIFYING INFORMATION EVEN
WHEN POSTING UNDER AN ANONYMOUS
NAME OR PSEUDONYM.
HOWEVER, YOU’RE FORCING PEOPLE
INTO DARKER AND DARKER CORNERS
OF THE INTERNET AND IT’S HARDER
TO FIND THEM.
SO IF YOU WIPE OUT PARLOR THEN
YOU SEE THIS HUGE INFLUX INTO
TELEGRAM AND IT’S A GAME OF
WHACK-A-MOLE, AND WHAT I’VE SEEN
EXTREMIST POSTING IN TELEGRAM
SAYING WE’RE NOT GOING AWAY, AND
YOU SEE THESE BACKUP CHANNELS.
SO YOU’RE IN SOME OF THE WORST
CHANNELS WHERE HITLER
GLORIFICATION, CALLS FOR
VIOLENCE ARE JUST POPPING UP IN
YOUR FEED, SO TO SPEAK, AND ALL
OF A SUDDEN IT’S, LIKE, OKAY.
WE MIGHT NOT HAVE A LONG TIME
HERE SO HERE’S THE BACKUP
CHANNEL AND HERE’S THE BACKUP TO
THE BACKUP CHANNEL.
SO THESE GUYS KNOW THAT THEY’RE
BEING WATCHED AND THEY’VE
CREATED WAYS TO GO ELSEWHERE AND
BRING THEIR AUDIENCE ELSEWHERE
AND SADLY, RADICALIZE MORE
PEOPLE IN THIS CLIMATE WHERE IT
IS SO POLARIZED.
THERE’S SO MUCH ANGER AND
THERE’S SO MUCH MISTRUST THAT AS
YOU SAW ON JANUARY 6th, TOO,
PEOPLE WHO WERE AT THAT RALLY
PROBABLY WOULDN’T HAVE GONE A
FEW YEARS AGO AND NOW THEY’RE
TAKING THAT STEP AND TAKING THAT
STEP INSIDE THE CAPITOL
UNLAWFULLY, PEOPLE WHO YOU NEVER
WOULD HAVE THOUGHT WOULD DO THAT
UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND
THAT’S SO TROUBLING.
>> ANA, THANKS FOR YOUR GREAT