Fake extremism statistics are big business. Just like those shoddy research studies which warn that drinking a glass of wine can kill you or make you immortal, they exist to be broadcast by the media.
Last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center faked a three-fold increase in “hate groups” by switching from listing one organization it had been smearing to listing 45 of its chapters separately. This year, SAALT listed multiple Muslim hate crime hoaxes in its report claiming that such crimes had increased.
The media uncritically reported their claims. Now it’s pushing more bad numbers from the ADL.
“White supremacists responsible for most extremist killings in 2017, ADL says,” CNN reports. “Murders By U.S. White Supremacists More Than Doubled In 2017, New Report Shows,” the Huffington Post claims. “Murders by white supremacists in US more than doubled in 2017,” The Independent details.