Stephen McDermott

A screenshot of a question to DeepSeek asking about a Chinese 'police station' in Dublin was, followed by a non-response from DeepSeek

"What was the Chinese police station in Dublin?"

A screenshot of a question asking DeepSeek what Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said about China, followed by a non-response from DeepSeek

A screenshot of a question asking DeepSeek whether any Uyghers live in Ireland, followed by a non-response from DeepSeek

Interesting to see that DeepSeek also self-censors when you ask it relatively straightforward questions about Ireland on subjects it doesn't like...

A screenshot of a Bluesky post from a fake Met Éireann account giving updates about Storm Éowyn

A screenshot of a post on X by Met Éireann saying that they do not have any accounts on Bluesky

Heads up if you're looking for #StormÉowyn updates here today that Met Éireann say the account posting as @meteireann.bsky.social is fake.

'Deep concerns' over AI 'undress' apps being advertised on Irish social media So-called ‘nudify’ apps allow users to create deepfake naked images of any woman.

Ads for deepfake ‘nudify’ apps have started to pop up in the feeds of Irish Facebook users in the past few weeks.

The apps allow users to create non-consensual nude images by letting users upload photos to "erase" women's clothing using AI.

An open letter to Mark Zuckerberg from the world’s fact-checkers, nine years later - Poynter From person-to-person coaching and intensive hands-on seminars to interactive online courses and media reporting, Poynter helps journalists sharpen skills and elevate storytelling throughout their car...

"Several fact-checkers over the years have suggested to Meta how it could improve this labeling to be less intrusive and avoid even the appearance of censorship, but Meta never acted on those suggestions." -- @factchecknet.bsky.social

www.poynter.org/ifcn/2025/an...

The truth about Meta’s broadside against fact-checkers Journal Media Managing Editor Susan Daly says that platforms, not fact-checkers, are the ones with the power to control what you see.

"There is irony in Zuckerberg branding US fact-checkers as being “just too politically biased” in a statement that, in both timing and explicit alignment, hints strongly at political expediency."

@susandaly.bsky.social
@factcheck.thejournal.ie

US government brands Dublin riots as terrorism by Irish white supremacists New report monitoring global terror incidents lists Ireland as one of six countries targeted by white supremacists.

The US government has branded Dublin's 2023 riots as "white identity terrorism", carried out by Irish white supremacists and ultranationalists. Report by our journalist @trishdevlin.bsky.social

http://www.thejournal.ie/dublin-riots-white-identity-terrorism-6589040-Jan2025/

Debunked: Man arrested at Connolly Station was Irish and not a foreign national A video of gardaí searching people at the train station was shared on a number of social media platforms.

The evacuation of Connolly Station in Dublin yesterday immediately led to a spate of false claims and unfounded speculation online about what had happened.

Some social media users suggested it had something to do with foreign nationals or asylum seekers.
www.thejournal.ie/debunked-fac...

Join @gavreilly.com tonight at 10pm:

- Dangerous cold snap
- Will next gov abandon green agenda?
- Meta scraps fact checking

Timmy Dooley TD, FF
Minister Malcolm Noonan
Francie Gorman, IFA President
Prof John Sweeney, Climatologist
Sarah McGuinness, Irish Daily Mail
+ @stemcdermott.bsky.social

Differences in misinformation sharing can lead to politically asymmetric sanctions - Nature We find that conservatives tend to share more low-quality news through social media than liberals, and so even if technology companies enact politically neutral anti-misinformation policies, political...

🚨In Nature🚨
Meta is dropping fact-checking to avoid anti-conservative bias- but is there actually evidence of bias?
We this test empirically & find that conservatives
* ARE suspended more
* BUT share more misinfo
So suspension isn't necessarily evidence of bias www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Meta say this is only US-based for now - though it's unclear if that means content from US pages can't be checked or if it's the end kf US-based fact-checkers.

The first words of the announcement also say "starting in the US", a not so subtle indication that they'll killing the whole thing off soon

More Speech and Fewer Mistakes | Meta We're ending our third party fact-checking program and moving to a Community Notes model.

Meta has announced that it's ending its third-party fact-checking programme in the US and replacing it with Community Notes (as are seen on X).

It means third parties - like @factcheck.thejournal.ie - will no longer be able to flag misinfo on Facebook, Instagram or Threads in the US.

FactCheck: False claims about Ireland's position on Gaza ramp up after embassy closure Many false claims have come from social media users but they have also come from official Israeli sources.

Ireland's decision to intervene in South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and Israel’s subsequent decision to close its embassy in Dublin have been surrounded by false claims about the Irish government’s position on the war in Gaza.
www.thejournal.ie/israel-claim...

Steven Bartlett sharing harmful health misinformation on Diary of CEO podcast Disproven health claims are accepted with little challenge by host on number one podcast, BBC investigation finds.

See the incentives at play here in the influencer economy … a great communicator with a tight focus sees the YouTube data … moves into the “secret knowledge” that trigger the dark sides of our brains … monthly views have increased from nine million to 15 million. www.bbc.com/news/article...

More bad news in the courts for Ireland's far-right election candidates yesterday.

Kim McMenamin of The Irish People lost a defamation case against Peter Casey: jrnl.ie/6569277

And Paul Fitzsimons of the Irish Freedom Party was accused of knife possession and threatening a Garda: jrnl.ie/6569547

Kerry election candidate Michelle Keane jailed following contempt of court order Keane was jailed in relation to an alleged breach of a civil court order preventing her from making social media posts about a garda sergeant in Listowel.

Update: she has not purged her contempt.

Brilliant new investigation from @trishdevlin.bsky.social on coastal erosion putting many homes at risk of falling into the sea.

Election candidate Michelle Keane jailed for contempt of court | | RadioKerry.ie The injunction also ordered Michelle Keane and any other party acting in concert with her from making future statements about Sgt Walsh online

Kerry far-right election candidate and personality Michelle Keane was jailed yesterday for contempt of court over social media posts (which usual suspects are comparing to Enoch Burke's case).

Understanding is that she has already appared back in court to purge her contempt this morning.

There appear to already be a lot of fake Instagram accounts posing as Luigi Mangione, the man arrested in Pennsylvania today over the killing last week of the United Healthcare CEO in New York.

Inside Syria’s Secret Torture Prisons: How Bashar al-Assad Crushed Dissent (Gift Article) Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been locked away in filthy prisons where thousands were tortured to death — and the pace of arrests and executions is accelerating.

Amid scenes of prisoners being freed in Syria, incl. from the "human slaughterhouse" at Sednaya, read Anne Barnard's investigation based on the Caesar files exposing systematic torture and extra-judicial executions by the Assad regime.
(Gift article)
www.nytimes.com/2019/05/11/w...

In 2020, no far-right candidate in Ireland won more than 2% of first preference votes in an election; this time around, the figure had risen to 20.

This week's (final) FactCheck election newsletter looks at why Ireland's far-right failed - but failed better - in #GE24.

Donate to Direct Provision Christmas Toy Drive 2024, organized by Dan Lambert WE NEED YOUR HELP AGAIN THIS YEAR! In a year that's shown the worst of human… Dan Lambert needs your support for Direct Provision Christmas Toy Drive 2024

The annual Bohs effort to get a toy to every child in direct provision in Ireland is a wonderful thing.

Donations and info here: gofund.me/ee17f8fe

Disappointed by failed campaigns, far-right candidates turn to claims of election rigging One conspiracy theory alleges criminal charges were dropped against a candidate for splitting “the nationalist vote”.

Conspiracy theories that the general election result was rigged or manipulated are being spread by far-right candidates who failed to gain seats in the 34th Dáil.

It follows similar claims of vote-rigging during and after the local and European elections in June.

I know it's a big ask, but we need help getting CouncilTracker.ie back online to show how Dublin city councillors vote. counciltracker-fdecc5cce045.herokuapp.com/motions

We need to add a system so we can update the line-up of councillors as it changes. github.com/DublinInquir...

Can anyone help? 🙏

Irish Freedom Party leader Hermann Kelly is out in Count 14 in Louth with 3,608 votes.

Means all far-right candidates have Ní been eliminated from #GE24

Michelle Keane (Ind) eliminated in Kerry on the 8th count with 2,081 votes.

Margaret Alacoque (Ireland First) eliminated in Longford-Westmeath on the sixth count with 884 votes.

#GE24

Val Martin (IFP) eliminated in Cavan-Monaghan on fifth count with 1,591 votes.

Niall McConnell (Ind) eliminated in Donegal on 10th count with 2,185 votes.

Michael Burke (Ind) eliminated in Dublin Bay North on 9th count with 2,723 votes.

#GE24

Fingal County councillor Patrick Quinlan (National Party) is eliminated on the 8th count in Dublin West, after receiving 1,658 votes. #GE24

Lester Gordon (Ind) out in Cavan-Monaghan. Eliminated on the fourth count with 1,046 votes. #Ge24

Not eliminated:
-Cavan-Monaghan: Val Martin (IFP)
-Donegal: Kim McMenamin (IP) & Niall McConnell (Ind)
-Dub Bay N: Michael Burke (Ind)
-Dub West: Patrick Quinlan (NP)
-Kerry: Michelle Keane (Ind)
-Louth: Hermann Kelly (IFP)
-Wicklow: Rob Carry (Ind)

#Ge24