I spent the past few months reporting on The Epoch Times, trying to figure out how it went from small, obscure Falun Gong newspaper to giant, influential pro-Trump media empire. It was a wild ride!

good investigation of The Epoch Times by @kevinroose. Another chapter in what is a definitive story of the last decade: unscrupulous actors building complex FB networks of hyperpartisan news & viral garbage for reach & ultimately destabilizing everything

This is why the electorate is so profoundly misinformed and I cannot stress enough how dangerous the hijacking of social platforms is. So ⁦@kevinroose⁩ did perfectly here: How The Epoch Times Created a Giant Influence Machine - The New York Times

A few stray thoughts from my story in today's paper about The Epoch Times.

.@nytimes investigation: How Epoch Times, a Falun Gong-backed newspaper, has infected the info ecosystem. It peddles pro-Trump conspiracies to millions. Online audience is equal to that of Daily Caller or Breitbart. Facebook is key tool. By @kevinroose.

A few phrases in this piece are off—FLG isn’t “relatively obscure” and its racist cosmology has been described for decades—but otherwise an excellent look at how Epoch Times went from a scrappy religious publication to a bulwark of far-right misinformation

Epoch Times is just one of the weirder Trump-era things

In another sign of our increasingly fractured information culture, here's how The Epoch Times became a top conservative news site and what Steve Bannon says will increasingly be "a force to be reckoned with.” @kevinroose

Out of nowhere, something called the Epoch Times started appearing in my emailbox maybe 6 weeks ago. I couldn't figure out what it was about--other than it hated Beijing. Now I learn it's a key part of a secretive Falun Gong news empire

Here’s a new bit of thriving insanity to worry about on a wet Sunday morning : The Epoch Times has flaky weirdo Steve Bannon’s admiration. Who knew!!

Great glimpse at the fake news industry. "Embracing Mr. Trump and Facebook has made The Epoch Times a partisan powerhouse. But it has also created a global-scale misinformation machine that has repeatedly pushed fringe narratives into the mainstream."

This NYT profile of the publication called The Epoch Times is nuts

How an obscure Falun Gong-backed newspaper, @EpochTimes, used aggressive Facebook tactics and right-wing misinformation to create an anti-China, pro-Trump media empire, by @kevinroose nytimes.com/2020/10/24/tec… via @nytimes #journalism #infodemic

If you've noticed commercials popping up everywhere for Epoch Times, promising to let you in on "what's really going on" (always pro-Trump/conservative) it started as an anti-Communist pub in China & run by the Falun Gong movement (cult some call it).

How The Epoch Times [backed by the Falun Gong cult: bit.ly/FalunGongInfo] Created a Giant Influence Machine - The New York Times ow.ly/cHuY30rgJct

Never underestimate the ability of a small handful of wackos to destabilize democracy. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. @NYTimes ⁦@skepticscience⁩ ⁦@crankyuncles⁩ ⁦@johnfocook⁩ ⁦@STWorg⁩ ⁦@Sander_vdLinden⁩