Tag: censorship

YouTube CEO says content censorship is “consistent” for all creators, contradicting previous statements

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has defended the company’s moderation and censorship decisions in an interview as being consistently implemented for all creators in the same way – but that sits at odds with the reality of the platform’s policy which promotes what it considers “authoritative sources” over independent creators.

Wojcicki herself in the past admitted that legacy media are allowed to post content that would otherwise fall into the “hate speech” category because they provide their own “context” for it. This would mean that the same moderation rules therefore do not apply to all.

But speaking for Marketplace, Wojcicki claims that censorship (“moderation”) decisions are not taken lightly, and are applied in a consistent manner that doesn’t discriminate between creators.

She also used the fact both sides in the US political divide criticize YouTube (one side saying there is too much censorship, deplatforming and other kinds of restrictions, while the other believes there isn’t enough) as proof that YouTube is getting it right and “striking a balance.”

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An FDA Official Demanded Google Censor A YouTube Video The Agency Didn’t Like

Federal efforts to censor social media extend past discussions with companies like YouTube over broad guidelines about Covid-19 “misinformation” to specific demands for suppression of individual posts, an email from an FDA official reveals.

In the April 30 email, the Food and Drug Administration director of social media, Brad Kimberly, told a Google lobbyist about that the agency expected YouTube to pull a video touting the potential of a new monoclonal antibody treatment for Covid. (Google owns YouTube.)

“Overall, the video is very problematic when it comes to COVID misinformation,” Kimberly wrote to the lobbyist, Jan Fowler Antonaros.

“This video should be pulled.”

YouTube initially declined to remove the video. However, it has since been taken offline.

How often the FDA has made other censorship demands is unknown, because the agency is apparently hiding the existence of its efforts in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

In October, I asked the FDA and several government agencies to disclose both their internal discussions about me and their communications with social media companies like Twitter and YouTube about censoring Covid “misinformation” in general.

On Nov. 30, the FDA responded it had found some emails about me – mainly in response to questions I had asked in April and May for a story about VAERS, the federal vaccine adverse events reporting system. But FDA said it could not find any emails between its officials and social media companies that met my request.

Yet at the bottom of the emails containing the agency’s discussions about me was the email between Kimberly and Antonaros – apparently attached there by accident, as it had nothing to do with me.

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Orwellian Facebook censorship strikes again

Facebook’s fake fact checkers, working on behalf of various money interests, have long been known to ignore blatant false information when it’s put out by favored government, public health officials or other special interests as long as it’s on-the-narrative.

And they censor factual information.

It’s a dynamic that might even make George Orwell shake his head and say, “Even I never predicted it would be this blatant, and allowed to continue.”

Now, a new tale under the category of “You can’t make this stuff up.”

Facebook banned a post I made that was nothing more than a factual citation of a historical quote from Hitler’s propagandist, Goebbels.

It was posted entirely without comment. But a fair read of it would be to infer how dangerous and powerful false propaganda can be.

How that becomes worthy of censorship can only be explained in today’s highly-managed information landscape where facts are not to be heard and read if the chosen minders don’t want people to know them and share them.

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Twitter labels American Heart Association link as ‘unsafe’ over Covid vaccines

Twitter is flagging an American Heart Association website link as ‘unsafe’ after the organization published an abstract of research linking Covid-19 vaccines to heart disease.

The abstract of the study looking into a possible correlation between mRNA Covid shots and heart inflammation was published in one of the Association’s journals, Circulation, on November 16. The research points to a 14-point rise in the risk of acute coronary syndrome within five years in those who have been injected with this type of vaccine, concluding that the “mRNA vacs dramatically increase inflammation on the endothelium and T cell infiltration of cardiac muscle and may account for the observations of increased thrombosis, cardiomyopathy, and other vascular events following vaccination.”

It is worth noting, however, that while the American Heart Association did publish the abstract, it later attached an “expression of concern” to the study over “potential errors” in it. Among other things, it cites the author’s reliance on anecdotal data and a lack of statistical analyses. The Association warned the “abstract in its current version may not be reliable.” On top of that, the study has yet to be peer-reviewed.

Twitter’s ‘unsafe’ label was up until recently reserved for webpages thought to contain viruses and malware; its use has, however, now been extended to also cover cases where ‘misleading content’ is suspected.

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YouTube censors Dr. Fauci satire song video

YouTube censored and demonetized a song criticizing Dr. Anthony Fauci. The platform claimed that the song violated its policy on medical misinformation.

The song, called “Sad Little Man” by Five Times August, accuses Fauci of lying. It references experiments performed on beagles that the Fauci-led National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was accused of funding.

The song also says people worship Dr. Fauci, accepting everything he says.

The video of the song contains animated images of Fauci in a crown, clown shoes, and at some point with devil’s horns.

Speaking to The Federalist, the writer of the song and member of the Five Times August band Brad Skistimas said that the video was temporarily removed. The removal came after it started going viral following a mention by radio host Glenn Beck.

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New Twitter CEO’s First Decision: Ban Mean Memes

One day after brand new Twitter CEO Parag ‘Not Bound by the First Amendment” Agrawal took the helm, the company announced that it will no longer allow people to share ‘images or videos of private individuals without their consent’ due to “growing concerns about the misuse of media and information” to “harass, intimidate, and reveal the identities of individuals.”

We assume this includes photos of protesters rioters, people looting a Louis Vuitton store, the driver of an SUV plowing into a crowd of people, and viral memes which include non-public figures.

In a Tuesday blog post, the company wrote:

“There are growing concerns about the misuse of media and information that is not available elsewhere online as a tool to harass, intimidate, and reveal the identities of individuals. Sharing personal media, such as images or videos, can potentially violate a person’s privacy, and may lead to emotional or physical harm. The misuse of private media can affect everyone, but can have a disproportionate effect on women, activists, dissidents, and members of minority communities. When we receive a report that a Tweet contains unauthorized private media, we will now take action in line with our range of enforcement options.”

What is in violation of this policy?
Under our private information policy, you can’t share the following types of private information or media, without the permission of the person who it belongs to:

  • home address or physical location information, including street addresses, GPS coordinates or other identifying information related to locations that are considered private;
  • identity documents, including government-issued IDs and social security or other national identity numbers – note: we may make limited exceptions in regions where this information is not considered to be private;
  • contact information, including non-public personal phone numbers or email addresses; 
  • financial account information, including bank account and credit card details; and
  • other private information, including biometric data or medical records.
  • NEW: media of private individuals without the permission of the person(s) depicted.

Twitter does provide themselves an ‘out’ – writing that “there are instances where account holders may share images or videos of private individuals in an effort to help someone involved in a crisis situation, such as in the aftermath of a violent event, or as part of a newsworthy event due to public interest value, and this might outweigh the safety risks to a person. “

Who makes that decision, and will the race of the suspect be a factor?

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Twitter’s new CEO Parag Agrawal previously rejected free speech in favor of “healthy public conversation”

In a far-reaching November 2020 interview, Twitter’s new CEO Parag Agrawal, who was the company’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at the time, rejected free speech protections that are enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution, wished the company had censored QAnon sooner, and touted the company’s approach of censoring content based on “potential for harm.”

“Our role is not to be bound by the First Amendment, but our role is to serve a healthy public conversation and our moves are reflective of things that we believe lead to a healthier public conversation,” Agrawal said in response to a question about protecting free speech as a core value and the role of the First Amendment.

He added that the company now focuses “less on thinking about free speech, but thinking about how the times have changed.” In this context, Agrawal said the role of Twitter is increasingly moving toward recommendations and “how we direct people’s attention is leading to a healthy public conversation that is most participatory.”

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Australia declares war on ‘trolls’

The Australian government will introduce new legislation forcing social media companies to “unmask” anonymous users who post offensive comments, or make them pay defamation fines if they are unable or refuse to do so.

The new initiative seeks to define social media giants as publishers, making them responsible for the user-generated content on their platforms, as well as to introduce special mechanisms through which anyone can file a complaint and demand a post takedown if they think they are being defamed, bullied or harassed, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced during a televised press briefing on Sunday.

The online world should not be a wild west where bots and bigots and trolls and others are anonymously going around and can harm people. 

If a platform refuses to delete offensive content, a court may order it to reveal the identity of the anonymous commenter. In case the company again refuses or is unable to identify the troll – then it will be held ultimately liable and will have to pay any resulting fines.

“Free speech is not being allowed to cowardly hide in your basement and sledge and slur and harass people anonymously and seek to destroy their lives,” Morrison stated. “In a free society such as Australia where we value our free speech, it is only free when that is balanced with the responsibility for what you say.”

Morrison offered little insight into details of the proposed legislation, or if it will be up for public debate, but said he expects strong support from parliament. He previously hinted at an imminent crackdown on online anonymity during a G20 summit last month, where he said “the rules that apply in the real world should apply in the digital world.” However, it remains unclear how exactly the Australian government expects social media companies to verify the identities of their users.

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Disney censors The Simpsons episode with Tiananmen Square reference in Hong Kong

Disney+ has censored an episode of The Simpsons in Hong Kong, where the streaming service recently launched. The episode was censored over references to the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Until June last year, Hong Kong operated separately from China. Hong Kongers enjoyed more freedoms than the mainland.

However, since Beijing enforced the national security law in Hong Kong, the censorship laws enforced in China started applying on the island. 

On social media, Disney+ subscribers began reporting that an episode in Season 16 had been removed in Hong Kong. 

We’ve managed to confirm that the Season 16 episode “Goo Goo Gai Pan” has been removed in Hong Kong.

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