Anna Cook
LightNews LightNews
Anna Cook
@annacook.bsky.social
500 followers 1.8K following 3 posts
Partner at Bristows LLP and trustee of Full Fact.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Anna Cook
eddwilson.bsky.social
Email just sent to today @ bbc . co . uk and feedback @ bbc . co . uk

#r4today
Text of email Two BBC slogans - "Inform, Educate, Entertain" and "The fight for truth is on" https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2024/bbc-news-trust-is-earned We've spent a couple of days now discussing the "problem" of "small boats", and claims that immigrants are responsible for a disproportionate number of serious crimes. The government has played along with this narrative - it's all a serious problem - and various BBC programmes have quoted figures from Robert Jenrick, which appear to be taken from a Daily Telegraph story, quoting Nigel Farage, who in turn quotes an organisation called the Centre for Migration Control, which appears to be a one man band - the trading name of Athelney Campaigns Ltd, run by one Robert Bates. I've heard Robert Cuffe of BBC Verify telling us the figures should be treated with caution, but the story doesn't change. Yesterday, Yougov released figures https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/52704-is-there-public-support-for-large-scale-removals-of-migrants which would be no surprise to anyone who's read - or presented - the news over the last few years: - 45% of Britons would support a halt in immigration and deportation of recent arrivals (that's not quite what the Yougov report says, of course, but it's the kind of headline the papers produce from the figures, and the kind of headline you read out at nine minutes past six) - 47% of Britons think there are more migrants staying in the UK illegally than legally, when a comparison of those arriving in small boats (the headline number, arriving in an irregular/illegal way but immediately taking on the legal status of asylum seeker) with those arriving with government-issued visas (for work, to join family members, to escape Ukraine, Afghanistan, Hong Kong...) shows the "illegal" number is around 4% of the total It's not your job to argue for or against immigration or asylum. But you do, calling arrivals over the Channel a "problem" - not because of the exploitation or the deaths; you
August 6, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Reposted by Anna Cook
silencedogoodbos.bsky.social
In the 1770s the Intolerable Acts were economic threats intended to cripple us into submission. Once again we find ourselves faced with intolerable actions that threaten our prosperity, happiness and freedom. Boston wouldn’t stand for it then & we won’t now.
#silencedogood #boston #resist #nokings
April 10, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Reposted by Anna Cook
404media.co
Massive, unarchivable datasets of cancer, covid, and Alzheimer's research could be lost forever

🔗 www.404media.co/nih-archives...
Massive, Unarchivable Datasets of Cancer, Covid, and Alzheimer's Research Could Be Lost Forever
Days before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that 10,000 HHS staffers would lose their jobs, a message appeared on NIH research repository sites saying they were "under review."
www.404media.co
April 4, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Reposted by Anna Cook
fullfact.org
A video is circulating online with claims it shows President Zelenskyy uttering an expletive when asked about President Donald Trump’s latest comments on Ukraine.

But the clip has been edited to mislead, and the Ukrainian leader says nothing of the sort.
Downing Street video doesn’t show Volodymyr Zelenskyy using expletive to refer to Donald Trump - Full Fact
A clip being widely shared online, which appears to be a news report covering a moment where the Ukrainian president swore when asked about President Donald Trump, is fake.
buff.ly
March 8, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Reposted by Anna Cook
anneapplebaum.bsky.social
Please share this fact sheet on Ukraine with anyone who needs it

understandingwar.org/backgrounder...
February 23, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Reposted by Anna Cook
karlbode.com
A BBC study just found that generative AI can't even generate news story synopses with any consistent accuracy, and here we are happily pretending it's a symmetrical replacement for education and experience
February 17, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Reposted by Anna Cook
caseynewton.bsky.social
NEW: Meta has quietly dismantled the system that prevented misinformation from spreading in the United States. Machine-learning classifiers that once identified viral hoaxes and limited their reach have now been switched off, Platformer has learned www.platformer.news/meta-ends-mi...
Behind the scenes, the company was also quietly dismantling a system to prevent the spread of misinformation. When the company announced on Jan. 7 that it would end its fact-checking partnerships, the company also instructed teams responsible for ranking content in the company’s apps to stop penalizing misinformation, according to sources and an internal document obtained by Platformer. The result is that the sort of viral hoaxes that ran roughshod over the platform during the 2016 US presidential election — “Pope Francis endorses Trump,” Pizzagate, and all the rest — are now just as eligible for free amplification on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads as true stories.
January 15, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Reposted by Anna Cook
pimlicat.bsky.social
Great letter in today's Guardian. What sort of free speech is prevented by factchecking, Zuck?
January 9, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Reposted by Anna Cook
peterstefanovic.bsky.social
"X is a platform that no longer serves the public interest at all, but the special ideological and financial interests of its owner and his political allies"

www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/media/e...
European Federation of Journalists to stop posting content on X
The EFJ represents over 295,000 journalists in 44 countries.
www.thelondoneconomic.com
December 2, 2024 at 10:06 PM
Reposted by Anna Cook
stevepeers.bsky.social
This sort of thing has happened repeatedly - journalists, I have a list of immigration and asylum experts you can contact, if you are interested in accuracy
bsky.app/profile/did:...
peterwalker99.bsky.social Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · Nov 17
The Trevor Phillips show on Sky has now had two discussions of Labour's potential use of overseas asylum processing centres, and both times compared it to the defunct Rwanda scheme – which was deportation, not processing – without pointing out the difference. It's all a bit baffling.
November 17, 2024 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by Anna Cook
cyberlawyeryyz.bsky.social
Taking inspiration from our new Brit members, I`ve taken a crack at a Bluesky starter pack for Canadian law and lawyers. Tell your friends! And if you want in the pack, slide into my DMs! go.bsky.app/9ZQ6QYm
September 9, 2024 at 9:57 PM
Reposted by Anna Cook
morrischris.bsky.social

Full Fact AI’s new tool allows fact checkers and journalists to identify the most important issues in the tsunami of misinformation they are facing, and tackle them more quickly and effectively.
It’s already being road-tested by teams around the world. We’re excited by its potential 3/3
Google.org: Google’s philanthropy
Google.org connects nonprofits to funding & additional resources. Learn about our philanthropy program & goal to aid underserved communities.
Google.org
September 4, 2024 at 7:33 PM