#TheBattleForTruth

Long stories short More Russian missile attacks on Kyiv killed three people including two children.Mike Pence indicated he would announce a run for the US presidency next week.The Labour Party suspended Geraint Davies MP over allegations of unacceptable behaviour towards female colleagues. Voting for Christmas Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is four days into his second term as president of Turkey. Including his time as prime minister he has 21 years in power under his belt and at least five more to come. Yesterday he pulled out of a pan-European summit in Moldova that was intended as a show of solidarity against Russia’s war on Ukraine, citing preparations for his inauguration.  So what? Erdoğan’s re-election has  confounded the hopes of a democratic opposition that aimed to oust him and end Turkey’s long drift towards autocracy; sent the lira to a new low against the dollar as markets factor in Erdoğan’s unfounded belief that raising interests causes rather than curbs inflation; andconfirmed the electoral power of populism, patronage, nationalism and incumbency. Erdoğan’s non-appearance at today’s meeting of the European Political Community has meanwhile underlined his policy of keeping a foot in both camps, maintaining relations with the EU and the West while continuing friendly dealings with Russia. Twilight zone. In the run-up to the election, it looked like Erdoğan could be in the sunset of his two decades in charge. Turkey’s worst economic crisis in decades had raised the cost of living for every citizen, while his government’s response to twin powerful earthquakes that killed over 60,000 people earlier this year sparked outrage.  Harsh new dawn. Erdoğan defied expectations, buoyed by an unexpected surge of support for his hard-right parliamentary coalition in the first round vote, including in the earthquake zone. His rule has been marked by sweeping social change even as he curtailed freedom of expression and jailed opponents.  He has not been gracious in victory. He’s used multiple celebratory speeches to lash out at his political enemies, target the LGBT+ community and double down on his unorthodox economic policies. Those policies. As a rule, raising interest rates tames inflation by luring funds into savings and out of the cash economy. Erdoğan asserts against all evidence that in Turkey the reverse is true, and the cure for soaring inflation is low rates.  “I say this speaking as an economist,” he told CNN. “This is not an illusion.” Except that it is. The lira plummeted to an historic low following his win despite the  $177 billion that economists estimate the central bank has spent since December 2021 to stabilise the currency. Officially, inflation is still running at more than 40 per cent year-on-year, but unofficial trackers put it at over 100 per cent, devaluing savings and raising the cost of living. His reforms are meant to spur a production boom, but inflation and the lira’s devaluation have made things harder for everyone but the largest companies, able to benefit from cheap labour and exports. So for some the election defied logic:  A majority of Turkish citizens opted for a leader who has made them all poorer, but who many continue to believe is the only person who can fix an economic crisis of his own making.Voters in the eleven provinces levelled by February’s earthquakes overwhelmingly backed Erdoğan, despite his government’s slow response and lax enforcement of building codes, saying that only Erdoğan is capable of solving their problems.  Defeat. The story of Turkey’s election is about opposition failure as much as Erdoğan’s win, after Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu failed to convince voters outside his party’s traditional bases in big cities and on the Aegean coast to take a chance on him in a crisis. Misinformation and media control factored into the outcome: one fact-checking organisation said both Erdoğan and his opponent were happy to feed misinformation to their own supporters. Erdoğan played a deep fake video at one of his rallies and his campaign received vastly more coverage than his opponent’s.  OSCE observers said the ballot was well run and voters had a genuine choice – but that media bias and restrictions to freedom of expression created “an unlevel playing field”. That is the field on which his opponents will have to play in the run-up to local elections next year.  Also, in the nibs Republican radicals underestimated Biden again in debt talks We are alone, that is the evidence of Earth’s atmosphere so far The Sacklers could still face criminal charges State Farm stops insuring Californian homes Former Evening Standard owner implicated in the war Thanks for reading. Please tell your friends to sign up, send us ideas and tell us what you think. Email sensemaker@tortoisemedia.com. Photograph Diego Cupolo/NurPhoto via Getty Images Choose which Tortoise newsletters you receive IN OUR MEMBERS’ APP

Long stories short More Russian missile attacks on Kyiv killed three people including two children.Mike Pence indicated he would announce a run for the US presidency next week.The Labour Party suspended Geraint Davies MP over allegations of unacceptable behaviour towards female colleagues. Voting for Christmas Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is four days into his second term as president of Turkey. Including his time as prime minister he has 21 years in power under his belt and at least five more to come. Yesterday he pulled out of a pan-European summit in Moldova that was intended as a show of solidarity against Russia’s war on Ukraine, citing preparations for his inauguration.  So what? Erdoğan’s re-election has  confounded the hopes of a democratic opposition that aimed to oust him and end Turkey’s long drift towards autocracy; sent the lira to a new low against the dollar as markets factor in Erdoğan’s unfounded belief that raising interests causes rather than curbs inflation; andconfirmed the electoral power of populism, patronage, nationalism and incumbency. Erdoğan’s non-appearance at today’s meeting of the European Political Community has meanwhile underlined his policy of keeping a foot in both camps, maintaining relations with the EU and the West while continuing friendly dealings with Russia. Twilight zone. In the run-up to the election, it looked like Erdoğan could be in the sunset of his two decades in charge. Turkey’s worst economic crisis in decades had raised the cost of living for every citizen, while his government’s response to twin powerful earthquakes that killed over 60,000 people earlier this year sparked outrage.  Harsh new dawn. Erdoğan defied expectations, buoyed by an unexpected surge of support for his hard-right parliamentary coalition in the first round vote, including in the earthquake zone. His rule has been marked by sweeping social change even as he curtailed freedom of expression and jailed opponents.  He has not been gracious in victory. He’s used multiple celebratory speeches to lash out at his political enemies, target the LGBT+ community and double down on his unorthodox economic policies. Those policies. As a rule, raising interest rates tames inflation by luring funds into savings and out of the cash economy. Erdoğan asserts against all evidence that in Turkey the reverse is true, and the cure for soaring inflation is low rates.  “I say this speaking as an economist,” he told CNN. “This is not an illusion.” Except that it is. The lira plummeted to an historic low following his win despite the  $177 billion that economists estimate the central bank has spent since December 2021 to stabilise the currency. Officially, inflation is still running at more than 40 per cent year-on-year, but unofficial trackers put it at over 100 per cent, devaluing savings and raising the cost of living. His reforms are meant to spur a production boom, but inflation and the lira’s devaluation have made things harder for everyone but the largest companies, able to benefit from cheap labour and exports. So for some the election defied logic:  A majority of Turkish citizens opted for a leader who has made them all poorer, but who many continue to believe is the only person who can fix an economic crisis of his own making.Voters in the eleven provinces levelled by February’s earthquakes overwhelmingly backed Erdoğan, despite his government’s slow response and lax enforcement of building codes, saying that only Erdoğan is capable of solving their problems.  Defeat. The story of Turkey’s election is about opposition failure as much as Erdoğan’s win, after Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu failed to convince voters outside his party’s traditional bases in big cities and on the Aegean coast to take a chance on him in a crisis. Misinformation and media control factored into the outcome: one fact-checking organisation said both Erdoğan and his opponent were happy to feed misinformation to their own supporters. Erdoğan played a deep fake video at one of his rallies and his campaign received vastly more coverage than his opponent’s.  OSCE observers said the ballot was well run and voters had a genuine choice – but that media bias and restrictions to freedom of expression created “an unlevel playing field”. That is the field on which his opponents will have to play in the run-up to local elections next year.  Also, in the nibs Republican radicals underestimated Biden again in debt talks We are alone, that is the evidence of Earth’s atmosphere so far The Sacklers could still face criminal charges State Farm stops insuring Californian homes Former Evening Standard owner implicated in the war Thanks for reading. Please tell your friends to sign up, send us ideas and tell us what you think. Email sensemaker@tortoisemedia.com. Photograph Diego Cupolo/NurPhoto via Getty Images Choose which Tortoise newsletters you receive IN OUR MEMBERS’ APP

Long stories short More Russian missile attacks on Kyiv killed three people including two children.Mike Pence indicated he would announce a run for the US presidency next week.The Labour Party suspended Geraint Davies MP over allegations of unacceptable behaviour towards female colleagues. Voting for Christmas Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is four days into his second term as president of Turkey. Including his time as prime minister he has 21 years in power under his belt and at least five more to come. Yesterday he pulled out of a pan-European summit in Moldova that was intended as a show of solidarity against Russia’s war on Ukraine, citing preparations for his inauguration.  So what? Erdoğan’s re-election has  confounded the hopes of a democratic opposition that aimed to oust him and end Turkey’s long drift towards autocracy; sent the lira to a new low against the dollar as markets factor in Erdoğan’s unfounded belief that raising interests causes rather than curbs inflation; andconfirmed the electoral power of populism, patronage, nationalism and incumbency. Erdoğan’s non-appearance at today’s meeting of the European Political Community has meanwhile underlined his policy of keeping a foot in both camps, maintaining relations with the EU and the West while continuing friendly dealings with Russia. Twilight zone. In the run-up to the election, it looked like Erdoğan could be in the sunset of his two decades in charge. Turkey’s worst economic crisis in decades had raised the cost of living for every citizen, while his government’s response to twin powerful earthquakes that killed over 60,000 people earlier this year sparked outrage.  Harsh new dawn. Erdoğan defied expectations, buoyed by an unexpected surge of support for his hard-right parliamentary coalition in the first round vote, including in the earthquake zone. His rule has been marked by sweeping social change even as he curtailed freedom of expression and jailed opponents.  He has not been gracious in victory. He’s used multiple celebratory speeches to lash out at his political enemies, target the LGBT+ community and double down on his unorthodox economic policies. Those policies. As a rule, raising interest rates tames inflation by luring funds into savings and out of the cash economy. Erdoğan asserts against all evidence that in Turkey the reverse is true, and the cure for soaring inflation is low rates.  “I say this speaking as an economist,” he told CNN. “This is not an illusion.” Except that it is. The lira plummeted to an historic low following his win despite the  $177 billion that economists estimate the central bank has spent since December 2021 to stabilise the currency. Officially, inflation is still running at more than 40 per cent year-on-year, but unofficial trackers put it at over 100 per cent, devaluing savings and raising the cost of living. His reforms are meant to spur a production boom, but inflation and the lira’s devaluation have made things harder for everyone but the largest companies, able to benefit from cheap labour and exports. So for some the election defied logic:  A majority of Turkish citizens opted for a leader who has made them all poorer, but who many continue to believe is the only person who can fix an economic crisis of his own making.Voters in the eleven provinces levelled by February’s earthquakes overwhelmingly backed Erdoğan, despite his government’s slow response and lax enforcement of building codes, saying that only Erdoğan is capable of solving their problems.  Defeat. The story of Turkey’s election is about opposition failure as much as Erdoğan’s win, after Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu failed to convince voters outside his party’s traditional bases in big cities and on the Aegean coast to take a chance on him in a crisis. Misinformation and media control factored into the outcome: one fact-checking organisation said both Erdoğan and his opponent were happy to feed misinformation to their own supporters. Erdoğan played a deep fake video at one of his rallies and his campaign received vastly more coverage than his opponent’s.  OSCE observers said the ballot was well run and voters had a genuine choice – but that media bias and restrictions to freedom of expression created “an unlevel playing field”. That is the field on which his opponents will have to play in the run-up to local elections next year.  Also, in the nibs Republican radicals underestimated Biden again in debt talks We are alone, that is the evidence of Earth’s atmosphere so far The Sacklers could still face criminal charges State Farm stops insuring Californian homes Former Evening Standard owner implicated in the war Thanks for reading. Please tell your friends to sign up, send us ideas and tell us what you think. Email sensemaker@tortoisemedia.com. Photograph Diego Cupolo/NurPhoto via Getty Images Choose which Tortoise newsletters you receive IN OUR MEMBERS’ APP

Long stories short More Russian missile attacks on Kyiv killed three people including two children.Mike Pence indicated he would announce a run for the US presidency next week.The Labour Party suspended Geraint Davies MP over allegations of unacceptable behaviour towards female colleagues. Voting for Christmas Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is four days into his second term as president of Turkey. Including his time as prime minister he has 21 years in power under his belt and at least five more to come. Yesterday he pulled out of a pan-European summit in Moldova that was intended as a show of solidarity against Russia’s war on Ukraine, citing preparations for his inauguration.  So what? Erdoğan’s re-election has  confounded the hopes of a democratic opposition that aimed to oust him and end Turkey’s long drift towards autocracy; sent the lira to a new low against the dollar as markets factor in Erdoğan’s unfounded belief that raising interests causes rather than curbs inflation; andconfirmed the electoral power of populism, patronage, nationalism and incumbency. Erdoğan’s non-appearance at today’s meeting of the European Political Community has meanwhile underlined his policy of keeping a foot in both camps, maintaining relations with the EU and the West while continuing friendly dealings with Russia. Twilight zone. In the run-up to the election, it looked like Erdoğan could be in the sunset of his two decades in charge. Turkey’s worst economic crisis in decades had raised the cost of living for every citizen, while his government’s response to twin powerful earthquakes that killed over 60,000 people earlier this year sparked outrage.  Harsh new dawn. Erdoğan defied expectations, buoyed by an unexpected surge of support for his hard-right parliamentary coalition in the first round vote, including in the earthquake zone. His rule has been marked by sweeping social change even as he curtailed freedom of expression and jailed opponents.  He has not been gracious in victory. He’s used multiple celebratory speeches to lash out at his political enemies, target the LGBT+ community and double down on his unorthodox economic policies. Those policies. As a rule, raising interest rates tames inflation by luring funds into savings and out of the cash economy. Erdoğan asserts against all evidence that in Turkey the reverse is true, and the cure for soaring inflation is low rates.  “I say this speaking as an economist,” he told CNN. “This is not an illusion.” Except that it is. The lira plummeted to an historic low following his win despite the  $177 billion that economists estimate the central bank has spent since December 2021 to stabilise the currency. Officially, inflation is still running at more than 40 per cent year-on-year, but unofficial trackers put it at over 100 per cent, devaluing savings and raising the cost of living. His reforms are meant to spur a production boom, but inflation and the lira’s devaluation have made things harder for everyone but the largest companies, able to benefit from cheap labour and exports. So for some the election defied logic:  A majority of Turkish citizens opted for a leader who has made them all poorer, but who many continue to believe is the only person who can fix an economic crisis of his own making.Voters in the eleven provinces levelled by February’s earthquakes overwhelmingly backed Erdoğan, despite his government’s slow response and lax enforcement of building codes, saying that only Erdoğan is capable of solving their problems.  Defeat. The story of Turkey’s election is about opposition failure as much as Erdoğan’s win, after Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu failed to convince voters outside his party’s traditional bases in big cities and on the Aegean coast to take a chance on him in a crisis. Misinformation and media control factored into the outcome: one fact-checking organisation said both Erdoğan and his opponent were happy to feed misinformation to their own supporters. Erdoğan played a deep fake video at one of his rallies and his campaign received vastly more coverage than his opponent’s.  OSCE observers said the ballot was well run and voters had a genuine choice – but that media bias and restrictions to freedom of expression created “an unlevel playing field”. That is the field on which his opponents will have to play in the run-up to local elections next year.  Also, in the nibs Republican radicals underestimated Biden again in debt talks We are alone, that is the evidence of Earth’s atmosphere so far The Sacklers could still face criminal charges State Farm stops insuring Californian homes Former Evening Standard owner implicated in the war Thanks for reading. Please tell your friends to sign up, send us ideas and tell us what you think. Email sensemaker@tortoisemedia.com. Photograph Diego Cupolo/NurPhoto via Getty Images Choose which Tortoise newsletters you receive IN OUR MEMBERS’ APP

Long stories short More Russian missile attacks on Kyiv killed three people including two children.Mike Pence indicated he would announce a run for the US presidency next week.The Labour Party suspended Geraint Davies MP over allegations of unacceptable behaviour towards female colleagues. Voting for Christmas Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is four days into his second term as president of Turkey. Including his time as prime minister he has 21 years in power under his belt and at least five more to come. Yesterday he pulled out of a pan-European summit in Moldova that was intended as a show of solidarity against Russia’s war on Ukraine, citing preparations for his inauguration.  So what? Erdoğan’s re-election has  confounded the hopes of a democratic opposition that aimed to oust him and end Turkey’s long drift towards autocracy; sent the lira to a new low against the dollar as markets factor in Erdoğan’s unfounded belief that raising interests causes rather than curbs inflation; andconfirmed the electoral power of populism, patronage, nationalism and incumbency. Erdoğan’s non-appearance at today’s meeting of the European Political Community has meanwhile underlined his policy of keeping a foot in both camps, maintaining relations with the EU and the West while continuing friendly dealings with Russia. Twilight zone. In the run-up to the election, it looked like Erdoğan could be in the sunset of his two decades in charge. Turkey’s worst economic crisis in decades had raised the cost of living for every citizen, while his government’s response to twin powerful earthquakes that killed over 60,000 people earlier this year sparked outrage.  Harsh new dawn. Erdoğan defied expectations, buoyed by an unexpected surge of support for his hard-right parliamentary coalition in the first round vote, including in the earthquake zone. His rule has been marked by sweeping social change even as he curtailed freedom of expression and jailed opponents.  He has not been gracious in victory. He’s used multiple celebratory speeches to lash out at his political enemies, target the LGBT+ community and double down on his unorthodox economic policies. Those policies. As a rule, raising interest rates tames inflation by luring funds into savings and out of the cash economy. Erdoğan asserts against all evidence that in Turkey the reverse is true, and the cure for soaring inflation is low rates.  “I say this speaking as an economist,” he told CNN. “This is not an illusion.” Except that it is. The lira plummeted to an historic low following his win despite the  $177 billion that economists estimate the central bank has spent since December 2021 to stabilise the currency. Officially, inflation is still running at more than 40 per cent year-on-year, but unofficial trackers put it at over 100 per cent, devaluing savings and raising the cost of living. His reforms are meant to spur a production boom, but inflation and the lira’s devaluation have made things harder for everyone but the largest companies, able to benefit from cheap labour and exports. So for some the election defied logic:  A majority of Turkish citizens opted for a leader who has made them all poorer, but who many continue to believe is the only person who can fix an economic crisis of his own making.Voters in the eleven provinces levelled by February’s earthquakes overwhelmingly backed Erdoğan, despite his government’s slow response and lax enforcement of building codes, saying that only Erdoğan is capable of solving their problems.  Defeat. The story of Turkey’s election is about opposition failure as much as Erdoğan’s win, after Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu failed to convince voters outside his party’s traditional bases in big cities and on the Aegean coast to take a chance on him in a crisis. Misinformation and media control factored into the outcome: one fact-checking organisation said both Erdoğan and his opponent were happy to feed misinformation to their own supporters. Erdoğan played a deep fake video at one of his rallies and his campaign received vastly more coverage than his opponent’s.  OSCE observers said the ballot was well run and voters had a genuine choice – but that media bias and restrictions to freedom of expression created “an unlevel playing field”. That is the field on which his opponents will have to play in the run-up to local elections next year.  Also, in the nibs Republican radicals underestimated Biden again in debt talks We are alone, that is the evidence of Earth’s atmosphere so far The Sacklers could still face criminal charges State Farm stops insuring Californian homes Former Evening Standard owner implicated in the war Thanks for reading. Please tell your friends to sign up, send us ideas and tell us what you think. Email sensemaker@tortoisemedia.com. Photograph Diego Cupolo/NurPhoto via Getty Images Choose which Tortoise newsletters you receive IN OUR MEMBERS’ APP

Who is lurking behind the Covid conspiracies spreading across social media? Why do they do it, and how worried should we be? Our daily digital ThinkIns are exclusively for Tortoise members and their guests.Try Tortoise free for four weeks to unlock your complimentary tickets to all our digital ThinkIns.If you’re already a member and looking for your ThinkIn access code you can find it in the My Tortoise > My Membership section of the app next to ‘ThinkIn access code’.We’d love you to join us.Disinformation continues to disorient us. As part of our ongoing investigation into the sources and structures that perpetuate the spread of fake news, join Tortoise’s investigations team and invited experts in tracking far-right Facebook groups as we examine the social media accounts consistently and deliberately spreading lies on many subjects, and to great effect. What are their motivations? Who funds them? And what can be done – by the platforms, the fact-checkers and ordinary social media users – to halt the infodemic at source?Chair: James Harding, Editor and Co-founder, TortoiseOur special guest include:Manlio De Domenico is a physicist, Senior Researcher at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (Italy), where he leads the interdisciplinary Complex Multilayer Networks (CoMuNe) Lab, and national coordinator of the Italian Chapter of the Complex Systems Society. His research is focused on the study of collective phenomena emerging from natural and artificial interdependent systems, with leading contributions to modelling and analysis of multilayer networks, their structure, dynamics, information capacity and resilience to shocks. His applications range from biological to socio-technical systems, with impact on personalised medicine, smart city engineering, risk assessment and policy-making in response to spreading phenomena such as epidemics and infodemics. Recently, he coordinated the team behind the COVID19 Infodemic Observatory.Raymond M Serrato is an open source investigator and social media analyst based in Berlin. His research on social media and elections, influence operations, and mis/disinformation has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, and CNN. He has worked for the United Nations, the EU, and civil society organisations managing projects in countries as diverse as Tunisia, Pakistan, and Myanmar. In another life, he was a communications specialist in the US Navy, where he learned how to dog down a hatch and fight a class “B” fire.Lucy Hooberman is Professor of Digital Media & Innovation at the University of Warwick. Her research is focussed on real world, practise-based projects such as the qualitative research necessary to launch a new NHS digital health platform serving the needs of NHS staff as well as the patient population of the West Midlands. She joined Academia from a career in “mainstream” media as a Producer and executive Producer for Channel 4 and at the BBC in their Innovation Lab, BBC Imagineering for eight years in “new” media supporting and leading the BBC’s transition onto the internet and into the world of the WWW.How does a digital ThinkIn work?A digital ThinkIn is like a video conference, hosted by a Tortoise editor, that takes place at the advertised time of the event. Digital ThinkIns are new to Tortoise. Now that our newsroom has closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, we feel it’s more important than ever that we ‘get together’ to talk about the world and what’s going on.The link to join the conversation will be emailed to you after you have registered for your ticket to attend. When you click the link, you enter the digital ThinkIn and can join a live conversation from wherever you are in the world. Members can enter their unique members’ access code to book tickets. Find yours in My Tortoise > My Membership in the Tortoise app.If you have any questions or get stuck, please read our FAQs, or get in touch with us at memberhelp@tortoisemedia.comWhat is a Tortoise ThinkIn?A ThinkIn is not another panel discussion. It is a forum for civilised disagreement. It is a place where everyone has a seat at the (virtual) table. It’s where we get to hear what you think, drawn from your experience, energy and expertise. It is the heart of what we do at Tortoise.