Sidebar: Sunday School 9/4/22

Martha Raddatz led the discussion in ABC's 'This Week' Sunday School classroom. During her interview with Keisha Lance Bottoms, a senior advisor to President Biden, she mentioned an organization I'd never heard of - the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. 

Regular readers know I can't help myself when this happens - I have to do some research. According to the About page on the organization's website, 

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) is an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to safeguarding human rights and reversing the tide of polarization, extremism and disinformation worldwide. 

And, it's been around for a decade-and-a-half, with headquarters in London and folks in DC, Germany, Jordan, Kenya, and France. 

Since 2006, ISD has been at the forefront of analysing and responding to extremism in all its forms. Our global team of researchers, digital analysts, policy experts, frontline practitioners, technologists and activists have kept ISD’s work systematically ahead of the curve on this fast-evolving set of threats. We have innovated and scaled sector-leading policy and operational programmes – on- and offline – to push back the forces threatening democracy and cohesion around the world today.

Aa a result of its efforts, the website says

Thousands of white supremacist, Islamist and covert disinformation Twitter accounts, Telegram channels and Facebook pages, groups and accounts have been removed as a result of ISD’s digital analysis and advocacy.

Here's how the ISD was brought up in the classroom on Sunday. When asked how Biden's speech was "unifying," Bottoms said, in part, 

So, the president spoke optimistically about who we are as Americans. We are the greatest nation in the world. But also, a reminder that we have to be intentional about being the greatest nation in the world and that we have to call out hatred. We have to call out this balance and that if we don’t, our democracy is in danger.

And Raddatz responded

Whatever you said, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which tracks hate speech, said after the Biden speech, there was a surge online in conversations that said Biden’s remarks singling out MAGA Republicans were interpreted as a declaration of war against conservatives and all the Trump voters.

Now, given the organization's focus on hate speech, disinformation and the like, I'm not at all surprised they'd see an uptick, are you?

I was surprised, though, when I checked the ISD website for the info Raddatz mentioned; there was a blurb about Raddatz saying ISD said there was a surge, but I didn't find anything else about it.

I did, however, find a great deal of information using 'Donald Trump' and 'MAGA' as search keywords. Here's some of what the ISD folks have posted. 

• Gunman who tried entering FBI's Cincinnati office is a suspected 'extremist'
• Why did the January 6 rioters plot in plain sight?
• Conspiracies build communities as Trump supporters claim false flag
• Trump leans on Dutch farmers protest against climate measures to rally US base: "You're Next"
• Trump's post-Jan 6 Speech Fails to Convince MAGA nation to concede
• All I know is What's on The Internet: Trump Conspiracy and Extremism
• How the Big Lie conspiracy continues to threaten US democracy
• Narratives of Violence around the 2020 Presidential Election
• The Dominion Voting Systems Election Narrative: Beginnings
• The Dominion Voting Systems Election Narrative: Going Viral
• Dark MAGA: The Latest Cycle in the Far-Right Aesthetics Laundromat
• Trumpists coming together behind 'Dark MAGA' in preparation for 2024
• The Long Road to the Capitol: A Constellation of Actors
• The Boom Before the Ban: QAnon and Facebook
• Online Reactions of the Far-Right to the Far-Left
• Why Voter Fraud Narratives Remain Persistent

Even an article on Canadian right-wing extremism mentions, more than once, Donald Trump and US right-wing extremism.

It's fine if Raddatz wants to quote outside organizations - she also mentioned a Quinnipiac poll, which I'll look at later this week. I just wish she had been more thoughtful about it.

• Either she knew that ISD's data and analysis supported Biden's point about Donald Trump and his right-wing extremist followers and chose to ignore that, or she didn't bother to check.
• Either she knew that Biden's speech specifically didn't attack all conservatives and all Republican voters and chose to ignore that, or she didn't bother to check.

Unless, of course, she was looking for the soundbite that would get trending on social media? 

And blaming Biden for inspiring right-wingers to go nuts online is pretty silly, isn't it? I mean, it's not like they need the current president to inspire them; they've got the former president doing that all day long on his Truth Social platform. 

I'm pretty sure they don't need any extra help from Martha Raddatz.