Ben Hurley

Business journalist. Obsessive beer brewer and fermentation hobbyist. Surfer, hiker, camper. Former Falun Gong practitioner now enjoying life.

[Ben Hurley @Ben_D_Hurley]

@JanJekielek A good example would be the firewall Li and his family operate around Dragon Springs.

[Ben Hurley @Ben_D_Hurley]

@iamyuttie Sure. Just email me at [email protected]

[Ben Hurley @Ben_D_Hurley]

@hagarco @SteveCannane I absolutely loved the book, got hold of it when it was first out

[Ben Hurley @Ben_D_Hurley]

@oneunderscore__ There’s a super poignant scene in The Boys season 2 where that guy gets radicalised on social media then shoots a store clerk, glad popular culture is attempting to grapple with this issue.

[Ben Hurley @Ben_D_Hurley]

Succinct and cutting analysis on the cult of social media.

[follow @bencollins on bluesky @oneunderscore__]

I think a lot of people in America realized last week that we have a country split in half by an algorithm that rewards lies, fear and our worst selves.

Axios asked me about it. I wrote back a tome about how to fix it. Thankfully, they didn't print all of it.

Here it is anyway.

[Ben Hurley @Ben_D_Hurley]

@Michell69916091 @hagarco another tragic story from Australia due to the Flg teachings.

[Ben Hurley @Ben_D_Hurley]

@Michell69916091 You could consider contacting the abc journalists to tell them your story if they decide to do another story at some stage in the future.

[Ben Hurley @Ben_D_Hurley]

@Michell69916091 The approach I’ve been taking is to get more information out there about Falun Gong to help people better decide whether they want to be involved.

[Ben Hurley @Ben_D_Hurley]

@Michell69916091 The difficulty with groups like this is it’s adults making decisions for themselves. They’re not being ‘forced’ into anything, although we both know the nuances of this, there is a lack of free will when it comes to people who have been brainwashed.

[Ben Hurley @Ben_D_Hurley]

@Michell69916091 I’m really sorry to hear about your experience. There are a lot of tragic stories like this due to Li’s reckless teachings. I’m not aware of any legal action that can be taken and I’m not a lawyer so probably not the best person to ask.

[Ben Hurley @Ben_D_Hurley]

@YamiKiken No idea, but a lot of FLG believers these days seem to be hugely into it. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a connection of some sort. But maybe there isn't a direct connection other than the commonality conspiracy theorists seem to feel with each other.

[TIME @TIME]

.@tedcruz: “President Tsai @iingwen is a signal lamp casting out China’s looming shadow, conveying to the world that Taiwan will not acquiesce to the Chinese Communist Party” #TIME100 https://t.co/8OEfRwwDgk

[Ben Hurley @Ben_D_Hurley]

@China_Fact @hagarco You do you, China Facts, but leave me out of it.

[follow @bencollins on bluesky @oneunderscore__]

Fascinating thing in the QAnon sphere today: Major Q influencers are calling all of these Q rallies, some drawing hundreds of people, a "false flag," likely because the signs, messages and backlash are humiliating when presented IRL. They insist this is an online-only movement.

[Ben Hurley @Ben_D_Hurley]

@ElizabethFlux A goanna

[David Brophy @Dave_Brophy]

This article essentially just reprints the Vision Times complaint, claiming that it's defamatory to refer to it as FLG media. Not sure if Graham Lloyd actually listened to the ABC story. It's hard to see how anyone who did could take that claim seriously. https://t.co/bgzJjl47SP

[Ben Hurley @Ben_D_Hurley]

@RosnerPrance @EmilyzhangAU @Evangelical17 @Grace98898007 @steelmuslim @hagarco @hui_echo Taiwan is killing it. Forecasted 1% contraction in GDP this year. Australia expected to have shrunk 10% in first half of 2020 alone. 7 deaths total from Covid without movement restrictions. Cai Yingwen is one of the savviest global leaders today. This place rocks.

[Ben Hurley @Ben_D_Hurley]

@Grace98898007 @EmilyzhangAU @steelmuslim @hagarco @hui_echo His media are also very active in spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation-probably the greatest threat to democracy today.