Disclose.tv
 | |
 Homepage in April 2023 | |
| Available in | English |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2007[1] |
| Headquarters | Passau, Germany[2] |
| Owners | Futurebytes GmbH & Co. KG[2] |
| Website | disclose |
Disclose.tv is a disinformation outlet[8] based in Germany that presents itself as a news aggregator.[2][6] It is known for promoting conspiracy theories[14] and fake news,[23] including COVID-19 misinformation[3][2][6] and anti-vaccine narratives.[26]
The website was created in 2007 as a conspiracy forum focused around content such as UFOs and paranormal phenomena. In 2021, it rebranded itself as a news aggregator on its social media platforms and website. Disclose.tv pushes far-right content, conspiracy theories and misleading information together with real news taken from other sources frequently without attribution, and platforms hate speech, including Holocaust denial and neo-Nazism, on its message groups.[2][6][27][13]
History
[edit]
Archived versions of Disclose.tv were found as far back as March 2007 by Logically, a British anti-disinformation organisation. In its initial form, the website operated as a forum focusing on user-generated content discussing topics such as UFOs, paranormal phenomena and conspiracy theories.[2][6] The website's name references the concept of "disclosure" in the UFO community, referring to the time they believe the government will confirm the existence of aliens and release information about them.[2]
In April 2012, Disclose.tv announced a redesign of its website.[28] During the 2010s, Disclose.tv's content became more political, with users' posts on the site casting doubt on the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and criticising "social justice warriors",[2][6] which Logically said was indicative of "the right-wing undercurrent of the community".[2]
In 2019, Disclose.tv removed its user-written articles and switched to primarily hosting forums; the website presented some of the forum posts as news articles on its social media accounts.[2] In September 2021, it removed its old versions and cleared out its Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts, and announced to its users that it would be operating exclusively as a news website. Around the same time, the website published news articles that were backdated to September 2020, and many of which were plagiarised from a combination of reliable sources and other conspiracy theory websites.[2][6]
In January 2022, after Logically sent a request for comment during its investigation of the website, Disclose.tv published an unsigned statement[29] claiming to have never heard of Logically, stating it had "lost sight" of the hateful content being posted on its Discord channel despite claiming to have moderators and bots searching for such posts, and apologising for the examples of plagiarism listed in the investigation. The statement also targeted Logically reporter Ernie Piper by name.[2][6] Logically noted that Disclose.tv had blocked many members of its editorial team on Twitter prior to the request for comment, despite claiming to have never heard of Logically.[2] Piper said that the statement, part of which was described as being "ironic and mocking in tone", was "not a normal way for a media organization to respond to critical coverage", and added that it was "alarming" and "in and of itself a threat" that Disclose.tv had published his name to its followers.[6]
Influence
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| Antisemitism |
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