Texas’ abortion law is just another disinfo fueled attack on democracy

Published Sep 3, 2021, 8:15 PM

Texas just passed the most extreme anti-abortion law in the country. But it’s yet another plank of a coordinated disinformation fueled attack on democracy.

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The Anti-Abortion Movement Was Always Built on Lies: https://www.gq.com/story/jane-roe-anti-abortion-lies

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There Are No Girls on the Internet, as a production of I Heart Radio and Unbust Creative. I'm Bridget Tod and this is there Are No Girls on the Internet. Hello, how have you been? Probably not great because it feels like the whole world is on fire. This week, Texas passed over six hundred new laws, and a good bit of those laws are based on the kind of escalating myths and disinformation, conspiracy theories, social media field culture wars, in scaremongering that we've spent the last year breaking down on this very podcast. There is a lot to be mad about, so let's get into it now. A lot of people are rightfully talking about s B eight, the law limiting abortion access in Texas, which we'll get into in distant moment, but that is not the only legislation in Texas that shows what happens when disinformation becomes codified into law. The Texas legislature also passed h B seventy nine, which banns school teachers from discussing systemic racism and current events in class. It also outright bands the teaching of the sixteen nineteen project. As you will recall, Nicole Hannah Jones is sixteen nineteen project became the target of right wing racists. There's also a new law that allows anyone over the age of twenty one to carry a gun without training or a license, as long as they're not already legally prevented from doing so. So basically, yes to guns, no two abortions. Then there's just a bunch of ridiculous culture war stuff like the so called stars a bangled banner at a law that requires professional sports teams in Texas with state funding to play the national anthem before games, which I'm sure, as the pandemic rages is the most pressing issue in the minds of most Americans right now. So let's get into s B eight. Texas is new law that severely restricts abortion access. This law is bad, and it's what abortion advocates have been warning about for years. The law prevents abortions as early a six weeks into pregnancy. Now, many have been calling this a six week abortion ban, but the way we're talking about it is really imprecise, and that seems like it might be by design. It isn't six weeks after you get a positive pregnancy test. It's actually six weeks after the first day of your last period, So that quote six weeks is actually four weeks after conception, in just two weeks after your missed period. That's right before many pregnancy tests that you'd buy in a store would even be able to tell you that you're pregnant at all. So that would only really leave you with two weeks to suspect that you may be pregnant, get a positive pregnancy test, make an appointment, have an ultrasound, wait twenty four hours, and then have a second appointment with the same provider to comply with Texas law. So basically the window to get a legal abortion is basically so narrow it's close is before most people would even though they're pregnant in the first place. And this is only if your period comes like clockworks each cycle. But we know many people have a regular periods. It's a totally normal thing. But this law ignores that medical reality, and it's based instead on fictions about how our bodies work. Even the way these laws are framed as so called heartbeat bills restricting abortion when there's a fetal heartbeat are distortions about the reality of pregnancy. The quote feel heartbeat talking point is just misinformation intended to deceive and even the press false for it by repeating it at six weeks of fetal development. There is no heart to have a heartbeat. Doctors say the sound that Republican lawmakers are inaccurately calling a heartbeat is actually just the motion of an electrical pulse in a growth known as the fetal poll. But Republican lawmakers know that using this inaccurate language makes an early stage abortion seem like a shameful a moral choice rather than just a commonplace medical procedure, which is why they use this deceptive language in the first place. So this law is definitely based on complete fictions and lies about our bodies and how they work. But ten isn't even the worst part. So just who enforces this law? The state? The government? Oh, no, much worse any private citizen. Let me say that another way, any random asshole. This law allows private individuals to sue abortion providers or anyone who assists in providing an abortion for up to ten thou dollars. It doesn't matter if the person suing as an abuse of X, a rapist, or just some random stranger with no connection to the person getting an abortion whatsoever. It essentially creates a bounty for abortion providers or people who assist in abortions. And yeah, it can even be used to sue an uber driver who drives you to an abortion appointment. There's already a tipline website asking people to turn in people they suspect of aiding an abortions. So, yes, things are pretty bad. But honestly, this is nothing new. The anti choice movement has always used lies and distortions to pass laws restricting abortion access. Now why do they do this, Well, it's because most people actually support abortion access, so anti choice advocates they have to turn to lies in order to sway the public. But y'all, this is not just about Texas. We've seen more laws restricting abortion access this year than in any other previous year. This is according to a study by the Gootmacher Institute. It's just part of a national agenda to end abortion access in this country. This Texas law sets a dangerous legal precedent and could create a path for other states to make abortions unattainable to people who need them. And we expect to see similar bills introducing states across the country. And honestly, it's not even really just about abortion from laws attacking trans youth and immigrants and queer folks. This is yet another in a series of legislation fueled by distortion and lies. The power of lies and disinformation was on full display earlier this year when states were passing laws of rolling back voting rights in response to the complete fiction that election results were rigged because too many black and brown folks voted. Now, we told you about this earlier this year in an interview with a Noah Chanda, a Georgia based journalist, about how these attacks are not just about voting or abortion, but rather a coordinated network of attacks on marginalized people and our democracy. So let's revisit what happens and who gets harmed when disinformation is codified into law. We've talked a lot about disinformation this season, but what happens when lies and distortions actually become law. Well, that's exactly what's happening in Georgia. Trump's big lie that he won the election and it was being stolen from him is being used to fuel a sweeping new law that many advocates say creates barriers to voting that will make it harder for all Georgians to vote. But it doesn't start there. I just want to find uh eleven thousand seven votes, which is one more that we have because we won the state, and flipping the state is a great testament to our country. On January two, Trump had a now infamous phone call with Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensburger, where he falsely maintained that he'd won the election in Georgia and pressured Raefensburger to quote find more votes in an attempt to make that fiction a reality. In the end, Raefensburger certified the election results because there wasn't a reason not to. After a statewide audit of election results, Raefensburger himself said that George's historic first statewide audit reaffirmed that the state's new secure paper ballot voting system accurately counted and reported the results, so, according to him, the election was secure. And yet, the so called should Integrity Act was signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp. This law makes massive changes to how and when folks can vote in Georgia. Now. Kemp said this law was necessary to boost confidence in quote secure, accessible, in fair elections, but if his own secretary of State says the Georgia election results were accurate. The most really going on. Well, this is an example of what happens when disinformation becomes codified into law. Despite what Trump said in that phone call, there was no voter fraud or election fraud in Georgia, but that didn't stop the Georgia legislature from passing this bill that voting rights advocates say will overwhelmingly create barriers that keep black and brown Georgians from voting. And it was all based on a big lie. It's so important that we talk about this law for what it is and the impact it will have on Georgians, which is something a Noah Changa nos firsthand. It was really rooted itself determination for me. In see, Georgia was facing a closely watched Democratic primary for governor, which mean Stacy Abrams, a black woman who if she had won, would have become the country's first black woman governor, and Stacy Evans, a white Georgia state representative. Both candidates were speaking at Netroots Nation, the largest gathering of progressive political organizers in the country, which was being held in Atlanta. Now, something to know about netroots is that there is always a protest. It's basically expected at this point, and speeches always get interrupted by shouting. It's happened to Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and Elizabeth Warren and Martin O'Malley. It's a thing. In two seventeen at net Roots, I was a part of group of folks who you know, led a protest to shut down um a speech that was being given by Stacy Evans, who was at the time running against Stacy Abrams for governor. And a lot of people thought it was just a bunch of oh's Stacy Abrams supporters who were shutting down this white woman. But that like, at the time, I wasn't even like a Stacy fan. I wasn't even I was like, I'll probably vote for her. But it wasn't anything, and so many folks what it was was really about Stacy Evans was trying to be positioned as like the more progressive choice, and she had a bunch of votes, including some long education which were extremely problematic when she had was not being held accountable on and that day at net Route, she was speaking before Becky Pringle, who was then the vice president of the n e A in the National Education Association. So you're someone who has been pro charter school UM, pro you know, removing money out of education. You voted against the interests of teachers, students, families, unions. And you're speaking ahead of like this prominent national black woman that has been this advocate for education. That's a Noah alongside a group of black women interrupting Stacy Evans's planned speech. They're chanting trust black women. The incident came up in a tense debate, but between Evans and Abrams, with Evans maintaining that what happened at net Roots was not a peaceful protest and kind of implying that the group was affiliated with the Stacey Abrams campaign. And I support the right of folks to peacefully protest. That wasn't what happened in that roots. And if something like that had happened to my opponent, whether the group was affiliated, unaffiliated, slightly affiliated, not affiliated at all, I would have stood up and said that it was wrong. But remember Noah says she wasn't even a big Abrams supporter at the time. Reporters just didn't really bother to talk to her or the group or find out more about their motivations. Or message and why they interrupted the speech. They just kind of ran with whatever. And this was hugely instructive for Noah. Now that didn't translate the way we thought it would, unfortunately, because no one in the media even cared to talk to us, to ask any of us about what happened. The way media reacted, like, especially local media here Georgia, ran with a particular narrative. I mean you even had like one one article written that just because I knew someone who was on staff senior staff at Stacy's campaign, we had worked together previously, that because of that previous work relationship, they put me up to it without understanding that Also, when you're talking about black progressive political work, there's so few people in these spaces. Whether you're working in black orbs or white lead orgs, it's just not that many of us. We all end up either knowing each other directly or having people in common. So that experience really taught me about the power and necessity for telling our own stories um making sure our voices were being heard. Today. A Noah is a pretty prolific independent journalist who covers elections and local politics in Georgia, but instead of covering them like a horse race between two politicians. She centers the people impacted by the policies, people whose stories are often overlooked in favor of stories about political points scoring and posturing. And when it comes to the new voting legislation in Georgia, this also means pointing out a lot of lies and the story sans when we're looking at what's happening here in this law. Like I was saying, yes, you have the lies from the different state representatives and state senators, you have the lies from the various um election officials you know, in varied capacities. But you have also our our governor, who was the former secretary of State, who is known for his own shegnanigans and foolishness. But I mean he's someone who actually lied ahead of his own election for governor. The weekend ahead of his election for governor, he lied and said that Stacy Abrams campaign and Democrats were trying to hack the state of Georgia, which was not true. An investigation later revealed that it was not true, and he has never been held accountable that. So we know Brian Camp lies on the regular rad Raeferensberger also has fell into this hole. Of trying to appease his party and play cating and and and twisting, you know, rhetoric. It's one thing to deal with and be able to point out a bold faced lie, which we've seen in this testimony from Rudy Julie Annie when he was in these various hearings in Michigan and here in Georgia, which we've seen Unfortunately, even in some of the testimony or some of the conversations happening in chambers in the passage of these bills by Republican elected officials. And I often harp on the Secretary State because everyone has in terms of national media, has like lionized him and made him this very important figure. But at the same time, he gives credence and he finds ways to give legitimacy, even though he has certified the election, even though he has acknowledged there's no widespread fraud, even though he acknowledged that this is the most secure election George has ever had, all these other things, he will still say things that leave opened the door that act like there is legitimate concern. I mean, just even the widespread reporting or fraud that was happening, it was an issue at some point, it's not just simply that people don't know the process, that don't understand what's going on, and people are being willfully up to. As I have for more than twenty five years, I will stand with my fellow Georgians in pursuit of fairness. You see, I did so as a college student, speaking in the shadow of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. I did so as Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, and now I will do so as a private citizen. In the ten gubernatorial election in Georgia, Stacy Abrams acknowledged that her opponent, Brian Kemp would be the next governor of Georgia. I watched her speech from Atlanta, where full disclosure, I spent time in the state knocking doors for a campaign. During the election, Brian Kemp was Georgia's Secretary of State, which meant that he was in charge of overseeing his own election. As a Secretary of State, Kemp purged over one point or a million and active voters, with low income and black Georgians being the most likely to have their registrations canceled. He also oversaw fifty three thousand voter registrations being put on hold thanks to Georgia's exact match policy that flags registrations from voters with any kind of named discrepancy in state data basis. So if you registered for your first learners permit with your first and middle name and then registered to vote with just your first name, you would be flagged. According to the Associated Press, nearly seventy of those voter registrations on hold were black voters, despite the state's population only being about black. Now. Because of all this, Abrams has said the teen gubernatorial election was stolen from the Georgia voters. After the race, she formed Fair Fight, an organization aimed at increasing voter turnout and ensuring that all votes are accurately counted. It was hugely successful, and their work is often credited with securing the historic Democratic wins and Georgia this past election. But here's where things get tricky. Current Secretary of State Brad Raffensburger has compared what Abrams did to Trump's refusal to concede and pressuring officials to quote fine votes. In a recent USA Today op ed, he calls Trump's refusal to concede a page out of Stacy Abrams's playbook, writing abrams refusal to concede and her dogmatic conviction that her election was stolen had done significant damage to trust an election of tecrity in Georgia. You have Rappensburger recently writing an op ed in the USA Today, and in part of the rhetoric from him and UM, one of his staffers, Gabe Sterling blamey Stacy Abers, is saying that her fight around this way eighteen election and ongoing lawsuit in the work of fair fight is the same as Donald Trump, right, that false equivalency. And so while that's not like the exactly the same as the outright bold face line like saying like, oh there was massive fraud happening in Fulton County or whatever, at the same time, it still lends credence, it still gives legitimacy. And because they did, you have the one brave stand, which really was a matter of I don't want to go to jail because that's hella illegal, Like I mean, let's just be real, like Brad, Brad did not. Brad did everything else in his power. Brad didn't want to go to jail because that's like telling someone to go find some votes. The same scandal like, that's jail right, let this real life. It's so, But they will they will still craft narratives, they still will shift things that still give support. And then people who are like, oh, well, he's a Secretary of State, he's selected official, he should get some deference, will cover a report what he says and does as if it's legitimate concern, when in fact it's really just also in the furtherance of the Republican agenda, which we have seen very clearly over this past year. But I mean you and I you know, as folks who have been digging in and and focusing and looking at the scourge that is disinformation, have seen how deeply entrenched and widespread it has been, particularly over the past several years, and the very deep uh digital networks and that already exists in like you know, liberals and the left and progressives are way behind the eight ball. We react, unfortunately to things where these people are very strategic. I mean, even I was reading article this morning about one of the lawyers that was representing Trump with all that nonsense. She was actually one of the years on that infamous phone call is now um heading up or at least co leading one of the efforts to attack HR one. And so it's not just Georgia, right, you see this coordinated GOP attack on voting rights and really on democracy at this point when we are having people lie and having those lives and shrined into law, and and I mean folks and say it happens in other capacities, but what's happening right now in terms of elections and election reform and how we are treating false allegations as valid considerations for law passing law. It's a very scary precedent as being set right now. I mean, it's so sad, but that's really been Trump's legacy. You know, after the election, I saw this pull from our Street that said that two thirds of Republicans say presidential election was invalid. And I think that's kind of the point of this kind of disinformation, to make people really distrust our democratic process to the point where they just sort of check out. Even in states where Trump one, right, we're still seeing that happening in unfold right, Like in Iowa. We're still seeing a Republican majority in Iowa even though Trump won that state. Let's take a quick break back. Democrats have their own legislation to expand voting rights called HR one, which should expand access to voting by making election day and national holiday, offering online and automatic registration for anyone who wanted it, and prohibit the kind of voter purchase that we saw before the governor's race in Georgia from taking place less than six months before an election. Now, even though we're talking about voting rights, and Noah says, it's about much more than that. She says, it's about a coordinated right wing attack on democracy, like the waves of anti trans and anti abortion bills we've seen in some states, and any attack on identities is a directed hact on democracies. Like we're still seeing them them push through these types of laws. We're seeing it in Mississippi and Missouri, Like we're still seeing in areas that even like they're seizing, this isn't just about like, oh, we're upset because this happened. This is a real opportunity point for them. And this is like I really do think that we we ignore, we forget, like there's so much with so much focus on Trump and resistance and getting Trump out of office, that these state legislatures, these states, you know, capitals and governor seats. We've ignored the way in which that very in deeply entrenched rhetoric has permeated at the state level, and it's back and funded by some of the usual suspects that we've been talking about over the last you know, however many decades um that that fund and get behind these types of work. And what was really interesting someone semi an article recently they talked about like some of the major anti abortion folks are also getting in the fight behind HR one. Like so we also see I had an article a couple of weeks back in Truth Out just talking about how like, when we're talking about voting rights and we're talking about what's happening in these fights, it literally isn't we're talking about saving democracy. It's not just about voting rights, right, like, it's about all these other opportunities and entry points. And we're seeing some of the worst legislation that is really denying people's humanity and rights to exist. When we see like the trans um sports bills being passed in various places, when we see these various attacks on you know, reproductive rights and freedom, and so we really have this much broader attack happening on democracy, and there are these various levels of lives. I mean, just thinking about the way the anti abortion stuff happens, Like so much of that is based on fear mongering around mistruths and disinformation as well, right, so like it permeates across so much in conversations about this information, it's tempting to focus on foreign bad actors like Russia, but sometimes that can lead us to overlook the massive coordination of domestic bad actors or right here in our own country, and the powerful networks of online distortions they have at their disposal. We spent so much time in seventeen post election focusing on Russian interference, right, and Russian amplification of disinformation, but never looking at the disinformation itself, the domestic different information. And I think now and I really appreciate, like what you've been doing, Like so many people have been like sounding the alarm on the danger of what is happening domestically. I think now maybe folks are starting to understand, but it's still being limited to Trump's big lie, which Trump's big lie is really having a grip on our national politics right now. But part of the reason why it's able to do so is because these networks have been able to thrive and have existed for so long, and they're so deep and intense and so like it's a it takes it's a lot to like peel back those layers. I don't think people understand about like how people get targeted with disinformation, particularly when they come after black Latino and other folks of color um through the various mediums like I know, you know Latino folks have talked to me about like the use of WhatsApp. I think some Asian folks too have talked about the use of what's that groups, which are very common with both communities in terms of how they share disseminate information. So what you end up happening is you might have somebody's auntie or whoever who sees like this post or sees this thing. It's like, oh my god, did you see this? And then it it spreads like wildfire. But like that information is not actually accurate, right, So we there are these other ways that it's very insidious and infiltrating trusted spaces um that somehow we have to figure out how do we help people become you know, better shares of information and really like see through because there are some things that might kind of make sense that that's like what's really tricky to right. People will say things that might make sense, like let's take for stuff with the voter I D stuff. Right, So in the Georgia law, you know, there's a new voter idea requirement for folks who are voting absolutee ballot. And it will be like, well, what's wrong you need by I D for everything else? You need I D when you do this, Yes, you need I D. You need to prove who you are when you registered. But once you've registered, like, why do I have to keep showing you the picture itself? Right? Like you need I D. You need I D when you go here, you need I D. Like so people will do this thing. They're like, well that makes sense, but the rhetoric, the rationalization has to do with fraud when the fraud has never been proven to be an actual issue, right, Like so they I remember I remember doing some research during the election, and like an Alabama when Alabam was adapting its voter ID law, the nub A CP Legal Defense Fund looked back twelve years prior to the year when they're trying to add act the law, trying to see how many fraud cases there were. There was only like one or two in a twelve of your period, right, And so like they will use the presence of like one or two and they'll be like, we'll see there's an issue because this is one or two happened. Or someone made a comment about people changing you know, ballots, but it was a Republican postal man in West Virginia that was changing people's request ballots. And but it was caught. Right. That's the other thing, right, the very rare instances where things happen, the people doing it are caught like almost right away, right, because of the mechanisms already built into the system. So media frustrates me too because how they report these things as if they're valid considerations on all sides, when really the only side we need to be thinking about is like democracy, right, And what does it mean to uphold and protect democracy? And how could you ever justify in rationals to say you're protecting democracy by keeping people out? Yeah, I mean you can't. You know, in a democracy, you want to expand voting access, you want to make it easier and get rid of arrears that people have to vote, not not an act more. And it was really disingenuous to see a statement today, I think from Kemp, who was like, you know, oh, we're widening the like the ability for people to vote, We're expanding it. And it's just a lie. I mean you you there is just not a way that you could look at that and see the see the kinds of barriers that this legislation puts in place and try with a straight face to say that you're actually trying to make it easier for people to vote. If that's the case, why are you threatening souls to the polls? Why have you made it so to make it harder for people to give water to folks standing in long lines? Right? Like, if that's it's part of it? To me is shocking how they can sees on something that might have a nugget of truth to try to paint a wider, a wider you know, portrait of what's happening. To your point earlier about the networks and how coordinated this is. Before you and I got on this call, I was just doing a little search about like what's the what you know, what am I seeing in like republican or right wing spaces, Like what's the converse online and what you said about like, oh, you need a vote an I D to go by liquor you need an ID to do X y z. Why is it bad to have to need an idea vote? It was interesting to me that in some uh large Facebook groups that are not even necessarily like explicitly political, I saw a bunch of memes this morning kind of making that point, and they make the point in a way that seems to make sense. You're like, Okay, you know, I get the point that's being made, and it seems it seems non controversial, but when you think about it, you're like, oh wait, in context, that's actually really messed up. And then you know, it's just interesting to me how how there are these networks online that are ready to echo and amplify the distortions of folks on the right about voting and disseminate them into groups of people who might not even be necessarily primed to be looking at like politically charged content. But this is exactly how we saw the stop this field stuff spread right in the j racist insurrection, Like we these people have been primed and Rade, this is why you have so many quote unquote normal, mild mannered folks. They've been all wrapped up in the Q and on and whatever, because again, this stuff is overlooked, It's not seen as important to engage with. I just remember seven years ago, just nonsense that would happen on Twitter and then people be like, why do you even waste time debunking that? Like what's the point? Like I've learned there are probably more effective ways to do things than having one on one arguments with dumb folks on Twitter. But at the same time, like when you have people with large platforms who are engaging in some of this you know, both sides or these red herrings and stuff, it is dangerous because they are then informing and engaging so many other people. But like with these various groups, I mean, I've seen people talking about like the yoga groups, like some of them be the more like just basic spiritual type places that unfortunately end up being places where there was a lot of widespread COVID nineteen misinformation being spread as well, and not necessarily because the people sharing it themselves are malicious of trying to fool people, Like some of it made sense to people, but like whoever is putting it out there and creating it knowing that people are going to pick it up, like, um, I think it was earlier this year. Uh, there's actually someone being charged by the FBI, which I don't really know how I feel about this, but at the same time, it is a very interesting conversation to have. There's someone being charged by the FBI, And part of it was because they were disseminating misleading information targeting predominantly UM, black and I think voters of color. But they were sending out what made it seem like you could vote by using a text code if you couldn't get to the polls and think about it, right, like, people were doing innovative things help people vote in the middle of a pandemic. So, if you're someone who's not very politically savvy, who doesn't know that you can't vote by texts or by tweeting at someone, I mean, like to me and you, that might seem like the of course you can't do that. But to somebody who doesn't know any better, who actually thinks that that could be a real legitimate option and their way of also engaging the process in the middle of a pandemic, that's kind of sucked up. And so like this person, I guess got investigated and the other folks in this group chat they were and also got investigated, but they literally hadn't had a chat. They were surveilling these multiple different groups in different spaces and coordinating releasing these memes and stuff, right, and so like, I mean, that type of stuff has been happening. And so to my point about the Russia stuff, like what was happening with the Russia stuff in its place in the conversation, it really overshadowed the mass volume of what was happening domestically. And so people had years now unchecked to perfect that domestic system, and we're really seeing it rear its head in coordination with just the regular conservative you know, legislative or ichoranizing that already happens, like you know, you used to see people used to talk about like you would see the ALEC bills that basically was the same boiled point lane and multiple states across the country. There are a little bit more savvy now because we're seeing similar things happening um across the country and it's clearly not a coincidence. Can you tell us some of us in this law, some of the must and sidious parts of the law here in Georgia, UM, it removes the Secretary State as the head of the State Board of Elections. State Board of Elections is a five person body. The General Assembly appoints two of those people. The General Assembly will now point a majority three of the five UM with the removal of the Secretary State as the chair. So a republic our Republican could control legislature will now in effect control the state Election Board, which the State of Election Board sets down election you know, per view regulations for the entire state, which is how we select our members of our General Assembly. And you know, there's a brilliant lawyer here that I that I follow and really looks too forguid and Sarah uh Tendo Ghazal, and she was just pointing out in one of the hearings, like how ridiculous it is. UM. One of you know, the proponent build proponents, Barry Fleming, was like, well, I mean, the governor appoints the entire board in the regions. The governor appoints the transportation board. And she's just like, Okay, I guess I gotta explain this to you, but that's fine. The governor point appoints those bodies. But you all appointing the people who set the rules for how you all hold office. Isn't really like you're appointing your own referees and then we're expecting them to hold you accountable. Like it's it's just a wild proposition. Here's how one voter described her voting experience in Georgia. And I don't feel like this is happening at all polls. I'm in a three H three three one zip code and I feel like most of the problems that occurred and this is what we were told that certain polling UM locations have problems, and I do believe it's I think it's targeted. Another thing they did that directly targets Fulton County in particular is forbidding the use of mobile vans for voting mobile voting. This is all something that was done in Harris County UM, in Texas UM, and so like that helps because you know, Fulton County, Gwennette County, the metro Alanta County is in particular, are often burdened with the very long lines and so mobile voting with something that was implemented to help alleviate some of that. So it's basically setting up a mobile polling site, So that was that helped alleviate some of that. So, like when they're talking about, oh, we're making it easier, how are you making easier when you're restricting the time period within which people have to request an absentee ballot and return it. Because if you really want to make it easier, you could have adopted the policy that several states have where you return the absentee ballot as long as it's postmarked on election day or the day before election day. As long as it's received in a particular time period, it would still count. They could have went that row. So there are things that they could have done, but they chose more restrictive means. Now, a lot of the headlines about this bill have pointed out that it puts new restrictions on how volunteers can do things like give water or snacks or chair to people waiting in long lines to vote. But it's even more worrisome than it sounds, so for folks who might not be familiar, Like line warming is what it. You're keeping the line warm, you keep people comfortable who are standing in line. I remember in UM the New Georgia Project, in some of their electric protection folks. They literally sent a mariachi band to one line to keep people entertained because they were waiting in line so long. Um. And so because we have these long lines, because it depending upon the weather, if it's in like you know, spring, because we have very warren spring time here in Georgia, or if it's very cold for whatever reason or raining. You know, people have handed out ponchos, people have handed out handwarmers, food like snacks. I mean, you have pizzas. To the polls, you have the chef for the polls with chef Jose Andreas started the chef to the polls um this past cycle two. So you have these other things that people are doing, and they have tried to compare it to partisan electioneering in in the past. And you even had Brad Roethlisberger telling media that it was in fact illegal and a felony. So before the state actually made it illegal, you had the Secretary of State tell people that it was illegal, and you had people being harassed accordingly because of his misinterpretation and the statements of law. So now that it is illegal to be within a hundred and fifty defeat, that's the same why that that hundred defeat peak. Why I keep HARKing or not is because that is the same distance that if you're representing a party or a candidate, you have to be away. So they have compared nonpartisan activity to partisan activity, and that's a very real attack on black and brown and other organizers of color who have been trying to help alleviate what we see. You know, we don't want people to be discouraged. So I will also note that because there's not anything clear cut and law and like voting rights law period, the way people have tried to kind of just protect themselves and make sure they don't end up being accused of violating any type of federal laws because it has been a law I think since the forties that you cannot give anyone of something of value for their vote. And so unfortunately, because of the discretion involved and are interpreting, you know, a secretary state like Brad robinsbor could interpret that as you know, give you something someone of value because they're in line to vote, which it's like whatever, it's a stretch, but whatever. So how a lot of folks have dealt with that is like anyone in the vicinity, whether it's the poll workers, if you're at someplace that has security. If there are other people passing through the general community, anyone can get anything we're giving out, no matter what, right, Like it's a service. And you know when I when I gotta, I got some quotes when I was writing an article, like from the piece of the poll folks, one of the things they said was, we see this as a way of incentivizing civic engagement in the general community, So we'll provide it to anyone, right And I know that several lawyers have advised people that that was the best way to handle it as well. But now it doesn't matter who you're giving it to, regardless, just the very act of being close to the poll location they have now decided to criminalize. And that is a very clear attack, on a very real way at something that is very commonly known to be, you know, seen as an added value and benefit to communities. And so we're seeing this a very real attack not just simply on democracy, but on our participation as you know, people of color who are exercising leveraging that power. And you know a lot of folks are comparing this to Jim Crow. And I'd really be interested in talking to some historians just to learn more about that post um that early the pre you know, fifties sixties civil rights areas, so like you know, the late eighteen hundreds to like the fifties, because it seems like in some ways we're really in that period, like post reconstruction, where we saw very blatant, active attempts to strip black political power from communities. This attempt to strip black communities of power VIAC curbing access to voting is nothing new after the Civil War. During Reconstruction, black folks were attacked by racist poll taxes and literacy tests and other barriers to make it harder for us to vote. According to the Brennan Center, even though these laws are over a century old, as recent forty six states allowed for voter challenges, laws that allowed any private citizen to challenge the eligibility of prospective voters on or before election day. Now, these kinds of barriers to voting have never gone down without a fight. Organizations like Black Voters Matter, led by Cliff Albright, have already challenged Georgia's new law on the grounds that will unfairly hurt black and brown voters. So it's gonna be interesting about like how some of this stuff even stands up in court. New Georgia Project Black Voters Matter Fund and Rise all filed. They fill the joint suit the same night that can't sign the bill. So it's gonna be interesting to see how that moves forward and unfolds. Um. But but the voter challenges so so basically, and this is like something that used to happen in the old days too, like you could just go in or really white people could just go in and be like, no, that person can't vote for whatever reason or whatever, and you would literally have to have like a white person like someone come vouch for you. And so it's something very similar, like they can come in and just challenge anyone for any reason, and that is very um intimidating, is very stressful. That is something that actually is very insidious. It also kind of feels like an attack on some aspects of the Black way of life. I know, I have older women in my life who I call Auntie and drop off mail and groceries and prescriptions for who are not actually my blood relatives, and I wouldn't be able to touch their ballots. You can't have other people collecting your ballots for you, and again, that might even sound logical to people, but you have some folks. What about people who can't get around and get out right, Like we all know folks. So like, if I know people in my general like life, unless I'm directly related in a household with them, I can't touch their ballot for them, right, But if they don't have anyone and a lot of us live in families and community like that, right where we have missed so and so, who know, I'm technically not related to her, but she's still my auntie or she's still my grandma her, And it's not anything nefarious for no one. The root of this is so obvious. It's racist. The root of it all is they are afraid that they won't win elections unless they do this. It's not like Hi, I should adopt better policies, or maybe I need to not be so extremists in our positions. It's like, no, we just need to do whatever we can to retain and maintain power and make sure them darkies don't because that's what it is. It's really what it is. Like you know, we talk about it, but it's like you and I both know what's up right, It's so clear, no, like no one wants to come out and say it. They don't say it. They dance around it. But it's clear that's what's happening. Anybody, anybody can see it. More. After a quick break, let's get right back into it. Camp flanked by a bunch of white male Georgia state legislators signed the law under a painting of a slave plantation. When folks are pointing to Camp signing that bill under a picture of not just any plantation, right, like what someone several folks have just pierced out the history of the plantation that's depicted a very brutal, atrocious you know, uh, that held like I think upwards of a hundred slaves like that with and then I mean also you have him flanked by six white men um which I believe just quite take a quick glance, and that's like six people who are above house incident leadership. I mean, the fact that you know, the leadership of our government is all white men in a rapidly diversifying state like Georgia is quite telling. I mean that's the other thing, right, Like, there's this real fear that they are losing power, and that's at the heart of it. But you know what happens when white fear controls um policy, Right, We've seen it. We've seen you know, folks can act like, oh that KKK, or white supremacy is just some white as that's some extreme outside thing. But unfortunately, a lot of those same tenants, a lot of those same attitudes influence when we're looking at the way in which people are charged with various crimes, where we're looking at the decisions that are being made, we're looking at the way in which our children are treated in public schools. We see the very deep rooted nature of white supremacy across so many fascests of society. So we can't just you know, it's it's not enough to just say this is Trump's big lie. Like it's so much more than that happening. And I'm just really like excited for the work that you're doing in the conversations you've been having around dis information, because we really need to understand how these systems are operating and what role do we all have to play, and we really should take that role. Seriously, I really do believe that we all have a role to play and fight against if there's information and it doesn't matter if you are aligned ideologically, you're conservative. If you're someone who believes in more moderate or conservative value, you should want people telling the truth like you just you should want facts. You should not want to exist with people distorting information and blatantly lying. It's a wild time. We're in bridget like this is a wild time. It's a wild time. I guess that's one of my last questions for you. What what do you think is next for the state of voting in Georgia? What's next? Where do we go from here? Uh? We keep doing what we've been doing, Like like I keep reporting, but I've been reporting. I'm sure organizers like I just finished interviewing UM Cliff Albright and UM, some other folks Simone Bells, a former state rep. And UM, and we were just talking about like what's next. Right in conversations with folks are just like, so now what and so folks are you know, working through like what does it look like? Possibly as e No I'm boycott strategy or continuing the corporate accountability strategy as a pressure point to paraphrase Cliff, just thinking about like the Georgia law has been has been passed, It's now that's up now that for that specifically, that's up to the lawsuit. Right, the legal strategy, there's always still the organizing strategy and working within the confines of the new limitations that exist. We see folks continuing to you know, strategize organized and just get more people in the process. But that corporate accountability strategy. You know, folks are all hyped up about boycotting Georgia, and I personally tend to object to boycotts unless they are called directly by people themselves. As soon as the legislation was signed into law, people on social media began calling for boycotts of Georgia based corporations like Delta Airlines and Coca Cola until they came out against the law. Now, boycotts like these have been effective in the past. In the eighties, organizers called for a boycott of Coca Cola and other US companies if they didn't divest from South Africa to help end apartheid. But the princes those boycotts were led by local folks on the ground, not outsiders on Twitter, and Noah thinks any calls for boycott should be led by organizers in Georgia, not people who don't live there. But also like with a boycott, and you know I had folks folks like, well, you know they did it in the eighties with CoA Cola. That's part of a very strategic effort around divestment from South Africa, right, Um, And I do remember as a kid we did not drink Coca Cola or wear rebox because of divestment. That's like the only thing like I really remember, you know, being a young child in the eighties. Um. That and then by their early nineties a Different World episode where one of the characters had to give up or chose to give up a scholarship because the company had not divested from South Africa. Economic accountability, economic corporate you know, boycotts, that stuff can work, but it's strategic. It has to be led by impacted people who are very clear on what the goals are. I think Senator Warnock actually said this really well in an interview recently. Um, you know they're busy asking Democrats about why the you know, the Filibus and the Philippus or it's like, why aren't you asking Republicans about why they're not protective voting rights? Like why they don't care? I think that's what But where we all go. I think we need to have a very clear commitment and understanding that democracy is not just some stagnant thing that just exists. It is really an active process that requires us to play a very clear, consistent role. So whether that's just being involved and you know, even if it's being involved and your kids, like if there's like a local school council or something for your district or your school, or if it's you know, when you can and have the time. Because I also, I mean, I've been a single mom my entire adult life. I had my daughter when I was twenty um when almost my entire adult life. Not gonna this count the years their dad was around. But like I you know, so I get being busy, right, Like I get having multiple competing things. You know, I've taken care of other people in addition to my kids, So I understand having other things pressing on us. But we can still find a way to write off that letter to um. You know. Now they now with the technology is so easy, you can automatically send out the text to do stuff, the auto populate the emails. I mean, we we can, we can, we can follow and support the work of black and other organizers of color, not just here in Georgia, because yes, they're amazing people Georgia, but you know what, there are awesome folks throwing down all over the South and really all over the country. I think between Georgia and the Midwest, not to exclude anyone else the South and the Midwest, I've met some of the most prolific organizers really grinding and working at multiple intersections of crisis right now because we still do. We're still in the middle of a pandemic, and we have the democracy issues and then just the regular issue based you know, work that people are doing. So I think about folks like Mississippi Votes who the People's UM Advocacy Institute led by Rakia Lamumba and Mississippi Votes Recommitted UM. I think about work over in Louisiana UM. I mean, and up in Wisconsin you have uh uh LIT Leaders igniting transformation and block Black Leaders organizing communities, and those are both organizations that have worked UM around multiple issues as well as elections specific engagement, while at the same time holding space for community in the metal pandemic. And so these types of groups exist all over. Some of them may be smaller and may not be as well funded, and that's definitely where like your support, I mean, like we act like you know, donations don't matter, but like financial freedom, writers are a thing in my opinion, um is definitely necessary. Not all of us can get there and be there physically in person. Not everybody has to be on the front line. That's one of things I appreciate about the pandemic too. I think that folks have learned there are different ways that you can contribute, and being like literally on the front line is not the only thing of value you can do. Can you feed some folks every once in a while, That's that's also really valuable. So I'm I just think as we're wrapping up, like you know, and just thinking about where to go next, also sharing good information, sharing podcasts and you know, like you're shared articles like the ones I write, like that goes a long way because we don't necessarily have the same distribution networks that the other side does, and so we need to get our information out there. I'll just share a real quick personal story, like I've had these conversations with my mother about COVID, sharing bad information about COVID, whether the vaccine or whatever, and she and it's the same thing. They target black folks. It sounds kind of right, right, Like, it makes kind of sense. They get you hooked in. But I had to walk through with my mom. I had to point her two black doctors she should be following and one thing she said, Well, she goes, well, if they're saying such good information, why isn't there information me shared everywhere? I said, unfortunately, because of the way these algorithms work, the way the sharing systems work. She was like, oh, well, so taking the time to just talk to our folks, right, Like, that's that's super critical. The bill attacking abortion access in Texas is just one more plank of a coordinated attack on our democracy and the rights of marginalized people, and it's time for all of us to fight back. Go to tangodi dot com slash donate to support abortion funds in Texas. Got a story about an interesting thing in tech, or just want to say hi? You can have me us at Hello at tangodi dot com. You can also find transcripts today's episode at tangdi dot com. There Are No Girls on the Internet was created by me Bridget Todd. It's a production of iHeart Radio. And Unboss creative Jonathan Strickland as our executive producer. Terry Harrison is our producer and sound engineer. Michael Amato is our contributing producer. I'm your host, bridget Todd. If you want to help us grow, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. For more podcasts from I Heeart Radio, check out the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts

There Are No Girls on the Internet

Marginalized voices have always been at the forefront of the internet, yet our stories often go over 
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