Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Co-founder of Snopes was writing plagiarized articles under a fake name

buzzfeednews.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

351–360 of 417 posts

Re: Co-founder of Snopes was writing plagiarized articles under a fake name

#351

Post by MikeUt »

ALittleLight wrote: post #288
kstrauser wrote: post #210

I really want to like Snopes, but I'm not convinced that they weigh evidence correctly. For example, they debunked the myth that Marilyn Monroe had 6 toes. First, I don't believe that she did . Or even care, for that matter. But at the time, one of their "facts" was that if she'd had a toe removed, she'd basically have to learn to walk all over again because it would throw her balance completely off. (Note: the artic…

I think Snopes has pretty clear political biases that detract from their ability to fact check. An example is their article on "Sweden is the rape Capitol of Europe"[1] which they rate false. Their article talks about Trump and immigration and Farrage and doesn't really get to what they are supposed to be debunking, which is the rape Capitol thing. Sweden does have the highest rate of rape per capita in Europe. This…

More notable than how they use tangential evidence to debunk a claim (e.g. citing a drop in rape as evidence it's not the rape capital, and comparing the rate of rape in absolute terms, not per-capita), is which part of a claim they choose to debunk.

According to the Swedish state TV, 58% of all convicted rapists were foreign-born [1], despite being only 19% of the population [2]. They could cite that as supporting "accepting refugees from war-torn regions like Syria would make the United States less safe", and rate the whole statement as a mixture. Instead they meticulously dance around the core of the statement [3], using all sorts of indirect statistics.

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45269764

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Sweden

[3] https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/crime-sweden-rape-capital-...

Re: Co-founder of Snopes was writing plagiarized articles under a fake name

#352

Post by ALittleLight »

emj wrote: post #340
ALittleLight wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Snopes has pretty clear political biases that detract from their ability to fact check. An example is their article on "Sweden is the rape Capitol of Europe"[1] which they rate false. Their article talks about Trump and immigration and Farrage and doesn't really get to what they are supposed to be debunking, which is the rape Capitol thing. Sweden does have the highest rate of rape per capita in Europe. This…

Then read some more on the subject and please don't continue to propagate myths like this. https://www.bra.se/bra-in-english/home/news-from-bra/archive...

Here is a quote from the Foreword of that report -

"According to the statistics presented by the EU, Sweden has long had the highest number of reported rapes per capita in Europe"

Now, it's perfectly reasonable to say that rape is defined and reported differently in different countries and that's why rape appears more frequent in Sweden than in many other countries. In fact, I referenced that in my previous comment. It's not reasonable to say "Theoretically, if Sweden followed Germany's laws and reporting then Sweden would have an average number of rapes and therefore the true claim that Sweden has the highest rape rate in Europe is false."

It is actually true, and is repeatedly acknowledged in this report, that Sweden has, and has had, the highest rape rate in Europe. Maybe there is an argument for calling the "Rape Capitol" claim misleading or complicated, but it's clearly not just outright false.

Re: Co-founder of Snopes was writing plagiarized articles under a fake name

#353

Post by zamadatix »

ALittleLight wrote: post #352
emj wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then read some more on the subject and please don't continue to propagate myths like this. https://www.bra.se/bra-in-english/home/news-from-bra/archive...

Here is a quote from the Foreword of that report - "According to the statistics presented by the EU, Sweden has long had the highest number of reported rapes per capita in Europe" Now, it's perfectly reasonable to say that rape is defined and reported differently in different countries and that's why rape appears more frequent in Sweden than in many other countries. In fact, I referenced that in my previous comment.…

I think it's pretty cut and dry, the question is pertaining to actual events not the rate of report for each event. Think of it this way: if Sweden counted population differently than other countries and came up with a population of 2 billion it'd still false that Sweden is the most populous country in the world, they would simply be the country which _reports_ the highest population in the world. While interesting in itself it wouldn't make the statement "Sweden is the most populous country in the world" any less false.

The report rates are probably worth mentioning in the explanation of why it's false but it doesn't change the falseyness of the claim. Unless the question is specifically geared towards the rate of report of course but few go looking for that, most want to know the actual rates.

Re: Co-founder of Snopes was writing plagiarized articles under a fake name

#354

Post by timbo1642 »

kstrauser wrote: post #210

I really want to like Snopes, but I'm not convinced that they weigh evidence correctly. For example, they debunked the myth that Marilyn Monroe had 6 toes. First, I don't believe that she did . Or even care, for that matter. But at the time, one of their "facts" was that if she'd had a toe removed, she'd basically have to learn to walk all over again because it would throw her balance completely off. (Note: the artic…

Snopes is bias and cannot be trusted when it comes to anything political at all. Fact checkers always have a bias

Re: Co-founder of Snopes was writing plagiarized articles under a fake name

#355

Post by pmoriarty »

hitpointdrew wrote: post #332
tablespoon wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Imagine Doctors trying to debunk the official fact-checker statements and being labeled as misinformation simply due to the fact that they disagree with the fact-checker! Though it's worth noting that MDs (and all other kinds of doctors) can be incompetent and/or batshit insane. For instance, I had the pleasure of viewing a video where a psychiatrist leaned on his MD credential to "debunk" COVID and the efficacy an…

> "debunk" COVID and the efficacy and safety of the vaccine What evidence is there of the efficacy of the vaccine that isn’t provided directly from Pfizer/Moderna? What evidence is there that it is safe, when there are 0 mid-to-long term studies on the effects of it? If it safe why are the pharma company’s immune from all liability? Why is anyone that question the narrative on how safe and effective the vaccines imme…

It seems silly to worry about completely hypothetical and unknown long-term risks of vaccination when getting COVID-19 has very serious, well known short-term risks.

Re: Co-founder of Snopes was writing plagiarized articles under a fake name

#356

Post by AussieWog93 »

ALittleLight wrote: post #352
emj wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then read some more on the subject and please don't continue to propagate myths like this. https://www.bra.se/bra-in-english/home/news-from-bra/archive...

Here is a quote from the Foreword of that report - "According to the statistics presented by the EU, Sweden has long had the highest number of reported rapes per capita in Europe" Now, it's perfectly reasonable to say that rape is defined and reported differently in different countries and that's why rape appears more frequent in Sweden than in many other countries. In fact, I referenced that in my previous comment.…

Sweden surveys every single citizen, every single year, and asks them (amongst other things) whether or not they have been a victim of a sex crime.

They also have a very broad definition of what "rape" is, compared to other Western countries.

Calling them the "Rape Capitol" because they have the most progressive rape detection and classification system on Earth is stupid - that's why Snopes and other fact checkers debunk it as false.

Re: Co-founder of Snopes was writing plagiarized articles under a fake name

#357

Post by playguardin »

kstrauser wrote: post #210

I really want to like Snopes, but I'm not convinced that they weigh evidence correctly. For example, they debunked the myth that Marilyn Monroe had 6 toes. First, I don't believe that she did . Or even care, for that matter. But at the time, one of their "facts" was that if she'd had a toe removed, she'd basically have to learn to walk all over again because it would throw her balance completely off. (Note: the artic…

You really want to like snopes? Why?

Re: Co-founder of Snopes was writing plagiarized articles under a fake name

#358

Post by stereoradonc »

kstrauser wrote: post #210

I really want to like Snopes, but I'm not convinced that they weigh evidence correctly. For example, they debunked the myth that Marilyn Monroe had 6 toes. First, I don't believe that she did . Or even care, for that matter. But at the time, one of their "facts" was that if she'd had a toe removed, she'd basically have to learn to walk all over again because it would throw her balance completely off. (Note: the artic…

Kudos for the fact that you bothered to email them for clarification. I never engage with the "fact checking sources"

Re: Co-founder of Snopes was writing plagiarized articles under a fake name

#359

Post by dTal »

WalterBright wrote: post #270
Uhhrrr wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of one I saw shortly after 9/11. The rumor was that bin Laden hated the US because an American woman had made fun of his penis. I believe this even less than the Marilyn Monroe toe story, but the Snopes "debunking" was that bin Laden had never been to America so it couldn't possibly be true - ignoring the fact that Americans leave the country sometimes. I was pretty unimpressed by the slapdash effort.

I don't see how hearsay evidence could ever be debunked. And even if a recording could be found of him saying that, he could always just say he was joking.

You could find a guy saying "yeah I totally made that up". Or at least trace the origin of the rumor, and note that it doesn't plausibly connect with Osama's life. Or interview a bunch of people close to him who say they've never heard anything like that, and note that it's therefore implausible that a bunch of Americans somehow know. Or find the real reasons that he hated America, and note they're vastly more plausible and documented. Etc, etc.

This is a classic "Russell's teapot". We should not give any epistemological weight to unfalsifiable things. To debunk them, it suffices to demonstrate that there was never any evidence to begin with.

Re: Co-founder of Snopes was writing plagiarized articles under a fake name

#360

Post by emodendroket »

WalterBright wrote: post #270
Uhhrrr wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of one I saw shortly after 9/11. The rumor was that bin Laden hated the US because an American woman had made fun of his penis. I believe this even less than the Marilyn Monroe toe story, but the Snopes "debunking" was that bin Laden had never been to America so it couldn't possibly be true - ignoring the fact that Americans leave the country sometimes. I was pretty unimpressed by the slapdash effort.

I don't see how hearsay evidence could ever be debunked. And even if a recording could be found of him saying that, he could always just say he was joking.

Well, I think it'd be sufficient to say there is no proof it happened, the same standard we use to say that there aren't little gnomes who collect up all the water and turn it into water vapor, causing it to rain.
Post reply on HN