Oath

• What set Jan. 6 apart was the president of the United States using his cellphone to direct an attack on the Capitol, and those who stormed the Capitol being wired and ready for insurrection.
• My co-authors and I, a media and disinformation scholar, call this networked incitement: influential figures inciting large-scale political violence via social media.
• Networked incitement involves insurgents communicating across multiple platforms to command and coordinate mobilized social movements in the moment of action.
• The reason there was not more bloodshed on Jan. 6 emerged through investigation into the Oath Keepers, a vigilante organization composed mostly of former military and police.

Social media as command and control

• What happened in D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, does not easily fit into typical social movement frameworks for describing mobilization.
• Even with the availability of social media, networked social movements still need mainstream media coverage to legitimize their cause.
• As in prior social movements, the networking capacity of social media proved to be an important conduit to bring strangers together for the occasion.
• The call to action for Jan. 6 came from the president himself in a series of social media posts enticing supporters to come to D.C. for a “wild” time.
• Tweets like these from a prominent figure became social media’s equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theater.

Mobilizing for violence

• The purpose of these documents was to explain the rationales and mental states of the accused, while also offering a defense or explanation for their actions.
• We analyzed the documents, looking at the multiple motivations for the insurrectionist mobilization.
• In sum, we concluded that disinformation mobilizes and incites political violence under specific conditions, such as a popular public figure calling for help.
• Oath Keeper Meggs’ tweet illustrates that even before Jan. 6, militia groups were looking for signs from Trump about how to proceed.
• An investigation by NPR also illustrated how Trump’s messages emboldened participants and ignited the events of that day.

A dark future

• The use of social media for networked incitement foreshadows a dark future for democracies.
• Clear regulations preventing the malicious weaponization of social media by politicians who use disinformation to incite violence is one way to keep that future at bay.

Joan Donovan is on the board of Free Press and the founder of the Critical Internet Studies Institute.

• Captify, the leading Search Intelligence Platform for the open web, today announced the appointments of James Jones as Chief Marketing Officer and John Piontkowski as President, North America, to the company’s executive leadership team.
• Based in London, Jones will report directly to Mike Welch, CEO, while Piontkowski will be based in New York and report directly to Jack Bamberger, Chief Revenue Officer.
• Jones is a leader with nearly 20 years of experience in B2B technology marketing across multiple sectors, including close to a decade in adtech.
• Throughout his career, Jones has worked at various companies--both small and large-- helping build their brands and drive global growth.

• An Army veteran who transitioned to private sector roles in the aging in-place industry, Murphy brings 25+ years of leadership experience to the Council.
• I look forward to working with other members of the Council, advising on solutions to improve caregiving."
• The Helper Bees empowers aging-in-place by providing products and services to insurers, homecare agencies and the older adults and their caregivers.
• Murphy's appointment on the Family Advisory Council begins in 2023, and he will serve through 2026.

• "At Oath, we know that all emotions matter to parental mental health and the importance of creating safe spaces for parents to talk about the full range of emotions they experience," said Dr. Michelle Stephens, Chief Nursing Officer and Co-founder of Oath Care.
• Unfortunately, we also know just how inaccessible mental health support can be and this is why we felt it was essential to keep the event free for all parents."
• While the virtual summit is free for attendees, the Oath Care team has garnered the support of notable keynote speakers such as: Reshma Saujani , Dr. Harvey Karp, Marisa Renee Lee , Libby Ward , Kmele Foster and Nina Meehan .
• "It's no secret that the pandemic has changed our world and everything in it," said Brittany Williams, an Oath Care therapist.