Carioca wrote: Passing Through wrote: The presumption in your question is that not enough was done to prevent the fires, is that correct? David Littleproud said yesterday that more than enough was done. I can do no more than defer to our government. PT, read your post from 11-28am, the prolonged drought 2018/2019 hindered their cleanup, I just asked Why.

I will answer that myself , possibly total fire ban stopped continuation.

Twitter bots and trolls promote conspiracy theories about Australian bushfires

Research from QUT shows that 'some kind of a disinformation campaign' is pushing the Twitter hashtag #ArsonEmergency. There is no arson emergency.

As Australia continues to battle bushfires of unprecedented size and ferocity, a social media disinformation campaign is pushing false conspiracy theories about their cause.

Tweets with the hashtag #ArsonEmergency are coming from a "much higher" proportion of bot-like or troll-like accounts than those with more general bushfire-related hashtags such as #BushfireAustralia or #AustraliaFire, according to initial analysis by Dr Timothy Graham from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

Graham came to look at #ArsonEmergency because it was being used by some of the more suspicious-looking individual Twitter accounts he'd been tracking.

"They were really focused in particular on climate denial, and The Greens being responsible for the bushfires, and arson attacks being responsible for the bushfires as well," he told ZDNet on Tuesday.

Those last two are conspiracy theories, he said.

The Greens, or "greenies" in general, have not blocked hazard reduction burning in bushfire-prone areas. In fact they support it.

And while some bushfires are caused by arson, there is no evidence to suggest that the current season has seen a higher level of this crime.

In New South Wales, one of the two states hit hardest by the bushfires so far, only 24 people have been charged with arson. This compares with 53 people charged with failing to comply with a total fire ban, and 47 people who tossed a lit cigarette, or match.

These are just a few examples of the massive amount of bushfire-related misinformation currently circulating online.

USING AI TO ANSWER "BOT OR NOT?"

Graham collected a sample of the tweets from January 1 to January 6 using the Python-based scraper twint and ran them through the R package tweetbotornot. That second tool assigns each Twitter account a score from 0 (definitely not a bot) to 1 (definitely a bot).

"Lo and behold, when I ran it through the tweetbotornot fancy AI model, it showed that there's a really high proportion of suspected bots], much higher than we would expect based on... all the other hashtags that are happening at the moment," he said.

Comparison of the distribution of tweetbotornot scores for the sources of tweets on the hashtags #BushfireAustralia, #AustraliaFire, and #ArsonEmergency.

Image: Timothy Graham/QUT

Graham warned that the analysis is based on just 315 accounts using the #ArsonEmergency hashtag, compared with 1106 for #BushfireAustralia and 7674 for #AustraliaFire.

He's "at least confident" that it represents a disinformation campaign of some kind. But at this stage he is "less confident" that it's something on the scale of the Russian Internet Research Agency's work during the US elections in 2016.

"I'm not sure whether it's orchestrated, or the extent to which this campaign is being coordinated, but there does appear to be a particular focal point for spreading disinformation about arson in relation to the bushfires," he said.

"I do get a strong sense, based on the evidence so far and based on the analysis I've done, is that it does have all the hallmarks of broader conspiratorial-style thinking [and] far-right populist, extremist discussions online."

More broadly, Graham's major concern is that this whole episode will be "a bit troublesome" for Australia, thanks to what he says is an "unprecedented" amount of disinformation and misinformation.

"A lot of people are confused. There's a lot of anxiety at the moment around people's ability to discern truth, and be able to find out factual information, and to make sense of this tragedy as it unfolds," he said.

"This is a bit of a warning sign for me... I don't think that Australia has seen anything like this before, and it's starting to look a lot like the 60 or 70 examples from other countries around the world where disinformation has become a legitimately and seriously problematic issue for elections and things."

GOVERNMENT WARNS OF FAKE CHARITIES

Meanwhile, as is common during times of disaster, criminals are trying to cash in on people's sympathies.

The Australian government's Scamwatch reports that scammers are pretending to be legitimate well-known charities, creating their own charity names, and impersonating people negatively impacted by the bushfires.

"Scammers are cold-calling, direct messaging and creating fake websites and pages on social media to raise funds," Scamwatch warned on Monday.

"Do not donate via fundraising pages on platforms that do not verify the legitimacy of the fundraiser or that do not guarantee your money will be returned if the page is determined to be fraudulent," they wrote.

"Be careful about crowdfunding requests as these may be fake and also come from scammers."

https://www.zdnet.com/article/twitter-bots-and-trolls-promote-conspiracy-theories-about-australian-bushfires/

Dr E wrote: Afros wrote: Dr E wrote: Passing Through wrote: Morrison is a climate change neophyte, he said the link between climate change is real Doc. What are your thoughts on Morrison's new position? I think it's silly - the media and the left wing nutters and Climate Liars will just keep on lying and vilifying him, and won't vote for him ... will you? I actually agree - there is a notional link between Climate Change and the size and ferocity of Bush Fires ... but it doesn't cause them.  Beneficial Global Warming has resulted in a 25% increase in the greening of the planet ... so much more fuel on the ground in the risk areas that the Green Environmentalists are "protecting" ... it's a global phenomenon in fact, and unless there is a Global response to fuel reduction, there will be more and bigger fires globally ... regardless of the temperature. Hey shouty, we have not been able to get a fire permit in our area of Qld since August and some areas were under total fire ban before that due to the hot and dry conditions. August is traditionally the month for controlled burns jusy prior to (hopefully) spring rains that bring new grass growth. How do you propose we go about the controlled burn offs when the window to perform them is shrinking? Hey dopey, I wouldn't normally recommend this, but in your case, have you considered using petrol? Seriously though, you just confirm everything that I say ... you are another typical victim of "Green Tape" - the ALP/Green policies set up years ago to "protect" the bush ... I'm sure you will find that they will be lenient on anyone who does unauthorised clearing now, so just do it, make sure it's is a low wind day, the temperature is not the issue ... the window is not getting shorter by the way - that is the green climate liars favourite excuse - it's a cycle.  ... or do nothing, and wait your turn for a "CATASTROPHIC!!! RRRREEEEEEEE!!!" fire to come through because of - one more time for the mini mes - INADEQUATE FUEL REDUCTION. It's very simple, even you should be able to figure it out.

Hey shouty, maybe try actually having an idea rather than try pretend and expose yourself.

Hint: If it is hot, dry and windy, it isn't safe to burn off, hence why total fire bans have been in place for so long. Nothing to do with 'green tape' and everything to do with greater risk of a fire getting away and out of control. General practise is to burn after rain when the ground is still damp and fires are less likely to get away quickly and just burn dead vegetation. Hint, there wasn't much winter rain either, so there wasn't much chance of hazard reduction burns.

So you suggest we just drop a match and they'll turn a blind eye? Now it may be contained just to the area desired to burn but all it takes is the fire to be called in which requires a response from firies and the trouble starts. Fines for deliberate fire under total fire ban plus paying for the fire callout and damage if it gets into neighboring properties. You call this 'green tape' but really it is more akin to speeding and dui laws, helping keep people safe.

See there is more to hazard reduction burns than simply burning it, protocols are in place to ensure they are done safely and with minimal collateral damage. The changing climate has made the window for hazard reduction burns smaller, nothing to do with 'green tape' and everything to do with avoiding burning beyond what is required.

Go with petrol if you want, but a mix of petrol and diesel is much better

Afros wrote: Dr E wrote: Afros wrote: Dr E wrote: Passing Through wrote: Morrison is a climate change neophyte, he said the link between climate change is real Doc. What are your thoughts on Morrison's new position? I think it's silly - the media and the left wing nutters and Climate Liars will just keep on lying and vilifying him, and won't vote for him ... will you? I actually agree - there is a notional link between Climate Change and the size and ferocity of Bush Fires ... but it doesn't cause them.  Beneficial Global Warming has resulted in a 25% increase in the greening of the planet ... so much more fuel on the ground in the risk areas that the Green Environmentalists are "protecting" ... it's a global phenomenon in fact, and unless there is a Global response to fuel reduction, there will be more and bigger fires globally ... regardless of the temperature. Hey shouty, we have not been able to get a fire permit in our area of Qld since August and some areas were under total fire ban before that due to the hot and dry conditions. August is traditionally the month for controlled burns jusy prior to (hopefully) spring rains that bring new grass growth. How do you propose we go about the controlled burn offs when the window to perform them is shrinking? Hey dopey, I wouldn't normally recommend this, but in your case, have you considered using petrol? Seriously though, you just confirm everything that I say ... you are another typical victim of "Green Tape" - the ALP/Green policies set up years ago to "protect" the bush ... I'm sure you will find that they will be lenient on anyone who does unauthorised clearing now, so just do it, make sure it's is a low wind day, the temperature is not the issue ... the window is not getting shorter by the way - that is the green climate liars favourite excuse - it's a cycle.  ... or do nothing, and wait your turn for a "CATASTROPHIC!!! RRRREEEEEEEE!!!" fire to come through because of - one more time for the mini mes - INADEQUATE FUEL REDUCTION. It's very simple, even you should be able to figure it out.  Hey shouty, maybe try actually having an idea rather than try pretend and expose yourself. Hint: If it is hot, dry and windy, it isn't safe to burn off, hence why total fire bans have been in place for so long. Nothing to do with 'green tape' and everything to do with greater risk of a fire getting away and out of control. General practise is to burn after rain when the ground is still damp and fires are less likely to get away quickly and just burn dead vegetation. Hint, there wasn't much winter rain either, so there wasn't much chance of hazard reduction burns. So you suggest we just drop a match and they'll turn a blind eye? Now it may be contained just to the area desired to burn but all it takes is the fire to be called in which requires a response from firies and the trouble starts. Fines for deliberate fire under total fire ban plus paying for the fire callout and damage if it gets into neighboring properties. You call this 'green tape' but really it is more akin to speeding and dui laws, helping keep people safe. See there is more to hazard reduction burns than simply burning it, protocols are in place to ensure they are done safely and with minimal collateral damage. The changing climate has made the window for hazard reduction burns smaller, nothing to do with 'green tape' and everything to do with avoiding burning beyond what is required. Go with petrol if you want, but a mix of petrol and diesel is much better

Also it takes considerably leas than 30 years to build up a fuel load for a fire

Dr E It is OK to disagree with other posters but if you continue to abuse them posts will disappear.

The Greens have blood and ash on their hands ... they remain the most dangerous risk to our economy, environment and lives.

Dr E wrote: zdnet PT? QUT? ... where's CBS and MSNBC and CNN or The Guardian and Waleed and Your ABC? ... are they too conservative and honest for you now? So anyway, have you given up on scientists now that Old blokes who like dressing in uniforms and lighting fires and pointing hoses at them are the new experts?  Could you be more of a hypocrite?

75 day longer fire season, no winter rain to reduce flammable material, shorter winter window to effectively clear but NSW still managed 103% of their objective this year,

TIGER wrote: The greens are the best comedy show in town at present

Nearly, they come second to the clowns on here and social media with NFI.

I’ll see your bunch of Greenie cardigan wearers, and raise you one Tony Abbott, and one Craig Kelly........

Same article was in ABC today, and right on cue, Donald Trump Jr, Gorka and a host of Trump extremists are posting the lies and Murdoch articles the trolls are using.

2 hat tricks in one day djebel...outstanding.

Well done