Bonum Certa Men Certa

On “Conspiranoia Strawman Attacks Defending Bill Gates.”

Video download link



Summary: The video above discusses a troubling pattern of responses (or generic rebuttal) to critics of Bill Gates, based on a stigma or stereotypes associated with those critics because corporate media gives air time to the wrong people

LAST year we expressed concern about a seemingly new tactic for discrediting critics of Bill Gates, a man who had been arrested several times in his life before committing crimes at Microsoft. The person has hardly changed, but the Public Relations stunts keep changing. A lot can be accomplished with vast media budget.



"A reader of ours from Argentina noticed that same thing in his country."One particular pattern of critics being dismissed was described here before and it was explained more than half a dozen times. It's similar to the "Microsoft basher" stigma, but it's actually a lot more effective than accusing Gates critics of being "hateful" or "jealous"; nowadays they're being framed as a bunch of cranks. "I have commented on that observation before, too," an Associate of ours noted. "Though I had noticed the volume more than the sudden onset of the conspiranoia strawman attacks defending Gates."

A reader of ours from Argentina noticed that same thing in his country. He commented on how this relates to the RMS attacks. "Little detail about the RMS issue," he said, was worth pointing out. "I've been following the news on Techrights about the cancelling of RMS since day zero, and there's a detail in the whole story I don't recall reading it there (or anywhere else for the matter)."

Journalism’s Gates keepers"The chronology is fuzzy, but the thing is there. You see, almost at exactly the same time Gates began the onslaught against RMS, suddenly and out of nowhere, if you happen to speak against Bill Gates you're a lunatic."

"I mean this: at the same time the campaign against RMS started, Bill Gates also started to be the focus of conspiranoia. Comments everywhere about Bill Gates and 5G antenae that breaks your DNA, vaccines with nanochips, Qanon level stuff about deep state and NWO, and stuff like that. And paid media talking about that: lots of news about "Bill Gates thinks this and that about vaccines and global warming", and "look at all the idiotic things crazy people say online about Bill Gates". It's even the case here in Argentina media."

"So, I believe this attack had THREE fronts. Bashing RMS is one of them: you've been reporting a lot about that. Posing Gates as a goody philanthropist with deep ideas is a second one. You've also said a fair share about that, and is basically every rich person's PR campaign. But there's a third one: trying to let critics as some kind of mentally ill people with serious problems to gasp reality. And that last aspect is barely mentioned in your reports."

Journalism’s Gates keepersThis is actually untrue. We wrote about it many times, both in IRC and here in the site. The "5G" aspect was mentioned mostly as an analogy, saying strew man had been set to distract from legitimate criticism of 5G technology (hype and downsides).

Moreover, such PR techniques aren't exactly novel or new. We can find analogous things in history (and no, we won't say "aliens" or "moon landing" or "JFK or "9/11" or whatever). It's part of a broader tactic of setting up and then amplifying unreasonable views, where the real goal is to create and reinforce a stigma in the public psyche. The civil rights movements has some examples of that kind; for example, you infiltrate groups and put 'agents provocateuer' in them. They do something really mad and malicious to tarnish the name of the whole group. We don't need to have theories and hypothesis on that because there are well documented examples (and actual documents) to show such programs in police departments and agencies like the FBI.

In the case of Gates, it's difficult to understand where that came from and whether it was merely interjected into existing groups that would stain a particular line of discussion/dialogue.

Our reader explained it as follows: "I tell you this because I'm convinced the timeline of that third aspect matches the one of the Epstein-Gates reveals. The Gates conspiranoia was very sudden and unexpected: Bill Gates was no longer a thing in media since many years ago, and then all of that noise was everywhere in matter of days. Perhaps there's something searchable about that trend, some links to be made? Who knows... maybe that leads to something useful."

Journalism’s Gates keepers"Of course, I can't thank you enough for your amazing and tireless work, but you already know that. I wrote my own article about the cancelling of RMS back in 2020, for a magazine some friends of mine are setting up online. As the project is being constantly delayed, my article never saw the light. It was directed to non-informed people, mixing some awareness about both Free Software, cancel culture, and the cancer that is Gates. I'm in the process of rewritting it now, as new events are happening. I'll let you know if that article someday goes online, as it quotes Techright's work on Gates."

Since the beginning of 2020 we've had people attempting to interject complete and utter nonsense about Gates into our IRC channels and even comments (thankfully they cannot sabotage our stories by leaving random comments). It mostly started in January of last year. People would attempt to insinuate, with little or no evidence, that Gates somehow started COVID-19 and people who did that weren't regular of ours. They would just enter the IRC channel, drop in a bunch of nonsense, then leave in anger because we rejected/turned down their theories, never to return to IRC again.

I've decided to record the video about to respond to this issue because it is quite important. Other sites can easily fall for those same people or tricks.

Recent Techrights' Posts

StatCounter Shows the Market Share of Vista 11 is Decreasing in Ukraine This Year
Microsoft abandoning Vista 10 users would be a victory for Vladimir Putin
The "Gold" Rule: Taking Money for Reputation Laundering and Openwashing Under the "Linux" Banner
Seller of expensive toilet paper, Jim Zemlin
LLM Slop Says Slop is "coming for white-collar jobs. Microsoft’s layoffs are just the start"
Look what the Web has become
Reporting Facts About Violence Against Women Deserves Awards, Not Frivolous Lawsuits and Threats
What is Microsoft's stance on women's safety?
Linux.com as Spamfarm of the Linux Foundation, Partner of the Gates Foundation
They no longer publish articles
Slopwatch: The Typical Slopfarms and the 'Brian Fagioli Dilemma'
To the Web and to society (exposed to the Web) LLMs are a net negative
 
You Should Probably Self-Host Your E-mail and Never Use a Web Browser for Mail
Does anyone still believe Gmail is "free"?
Links 16/04/2025: Cliff Lynch RIP, More Attacks on Science (NASA)
Links for the day
Google Promotes Fake Articles (LLM Slop) Instead of Originals, Relaying Microsoft's Linux FUD Emanating From Microsoft LLMs
Shame on Google for participating in the slopfest
In Some Countries the Largest OEMs Already Dump Microsoft Windows
Windows at 18.9%, Android 60.2%
Microsoft Down From 100% to 10% in Myanmar/Burma
only about 4% of Web requests in Myanmar/Burma come from Vista 11, soon to be the only "supported" version of Windows
When Fedora Said It Was Looking to Integrate "AI" It Meant Promoting Microsoft's Proprietary Spyware and GPL-Violating Slop
When they say "AI" they mean Microsoft
It Used to be IBM, Now It's Microsoft (Why You Need to Fire Microsofters or CIOs Working for Microsoft)
Typically the only effective solution is to identity and remove Microsofters from one's project/organisation (before they can bring more Microsofters in)
IBM Closes Offices and Labs in the United States to Open New Ones in India
It's not layoffs per se; they're substituting/swapping veteran employees for lesser-paid ones
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 15, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Gemini Links 16/04/2025: IndieWeb Carnival, Tinylog RFC, "Focus, the Web and Gemini"
Links for the day
Links 15/04/2025: Touchable Volumetric Display and Resistance to American Spying Firms
Links for the day
Links 15/04/2025: Some People Cannot Read and Re-discovering of 'Web 1.0'
Links for the day
Links 15/04/2025: China Admits Targetting Critical Infrastructure Using CALEA Back Doors, NASCAR Cracked by Windows Usage
Links for the day
Why We Support Carole Cadwalladr (Even If We Don't Agree With Everything She Said)
I first became aware of Cadwalladr's work a long time ago
Microsoft's Serial Strangler Chose to Attack Techrights With SLAPP When Over 400 Victims of Mohamed Al Fayed Complained About Media's Role in Enabling Him
There is a strong element of "free press" here
A Coalition or a Coup of Sexism
In the Free software community it's hard to avoid this issue
statCounter Sees GNU/Linux at New High of 6% in Bosnia and Herzegovina
GNU/Linux is measured at all-time high
To Celebrate Git Turning 20 Linus Torvalds is 'Selling Out' to Microsoft and Proprietary Software Which Attacks Git (E.E.E.)
He makes it seem like he's endorsing his attackers
Gemini Protocol Milestone (3,000 Active Capsules)
and a total of nearly 4,500
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, April 14, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, April 14, 2025
Gemini Links 14/04/2025: Silver Pigs and more Foundation, Disliking Computers
Links for the day
Hundreds of Microsoft Layoffs (Net Headcount Decrease) in the United Kingdom
headcount decreased
Links 14/04/2025: Russian Attack on Sumy Shows No Intention of Peace, Virgin Australia Admits Overcharging People
Links for the day
The Dilemma of Web Browsers Lying About What They Are (in Order to Bypass Discriminatory Gateways Like Clownflare) Worsens Due to LLM Slop
LLM crawlers/scrapers have made sites more restrictive and hostile towards browsers that are potent but not "famous"
What Really Matters to Companies is Net Income or Profit (Bankruptcy is Possible Even With High Revenue)
We ought to stop talking about revenue without focusing on actual profit
Carole Cadwalladr Talks About How Big Business Tried to Silence Her (and Why You Might be Next)
Our story is very different from Cadwalladr's for many reasons
Companies Conspiring to Keep Salaries Down and Undermine Competition
People who do all the practical work are being paid less and made to work for much longer
Links 14/04/2025: Disinformation, Public Disdain for LLMs, and "Lessons on Tyranny"
Links for the day
LLM Slop and SEO SPAM Take Us Further Away From Facts (the Case of IBM Layoffs)
Some of these can impact Red Hat as well
Gemini Links 14/04/2025: Ween and Historic Ada Project Management
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 13, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, April 13, 2025
Influencers: Red Hat, Inc's IPO, 1999, post-mortem on the directed share offer to open source developer community
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock