Tag: social media

Canada To Censor “Hurtful” Comments About Politicians, Implement Internet Kill-Switch

…but, constituents to remain fair game for abuse from party apparatchiks.

A colleague forwarded me the text of an article from Blackrocks Reporter, which covers Canadian politics from Ottawa, our capitol.

It’s a report on Federal Heritage Minister Steven Guibeault’s ongoing vendetta against non-conforming political speech on the internet, in which he’s calling for censorship of “hurtful” comments against politicians and implementation of an internet killswitch to facilitate it.

Blackrocks is behind a paywall, permit me to quote it here:

‘Federal internet censors should target hurtful words against politicians, says Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault. The Minister added pending regulations may include an internet kill switch to block websites deemed hurtful, but called it a “nuclear” option.

“We have seen too many examples of public officials retreating from public service due to the hateful online content targeted towards themselves or even their families,” said Guilbeault.  “I have seen firsthand alongside other Canadians the damaging effects harmful content has on our families, our values and our institutions. As a dad and a stepdad to six kids, I know more can and should be done to create a safer online environment.”

Guilbeault made his remarks in a podcast sponsored by Canada 2020, an Ottawa think tank affiliated with the Liberal Party. Legislation to censor internet content will be introduced shortly, he said.

“I am confident we can get this adopted,” said Guilbeault. “Once the legislation is adopted, clearly creating a new body, a new regulator like that in Canada, would take some time.”’

The same story is covered here by the Post Millienial (the rest of Canada’s “approved media”, as in the ones who received hundreds of millions in tax breaks and subsidies from the Federal Government in the run up to the last election, are not giving it a lot of airtime for some reason).

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YouTube CEO calls for global coalitions to address content that’s “legal but could be harmful”

During an appearance at the World Economic Forum Global Technology Governance Summit 2021, an event where more than 40 governments and 150 companies meet to ensure “the responsible design and deployment of emerging technologies,” YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki expressed her support for tech platforms moderating content that’s “technically legal but could be harmful” and praised global coalitions that help Big Tech coordinate and automate their censorship efforts.

Wojcicki said that when tech companies comply with the law, there are still “issues around speech” and suggested that these issues should be addressed by private corporations.

“I see a lot of issues around speech and what should or should not be allowed on platforms for example,” Wojcicki said. “And that’s a really tough area. Now, certainly countries pass certain laws and we comply with all the laws that the different countries pass but a lot of times, there’s content that’s legal but could be seen as harmful. And it’s hard for governments to necessarily find the right way to regulate it.”

She then proposed YouTube’s model of privately policing what the platform deems to be COVID-19 “misinformation” as an effective way to handle this content that’s “legal but could be harmful.”

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YouTube CEO: It’s easy to “make up content and post it from your basement” so we boost “authoritative sources”

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has acknowledged that the platform’s policy of boosting “authoritative” mainstream media sources and suppressing independent creators in search makes it “harder, in some cases, for channels, maybe who are getting started or smaller, to be able to be visible when there’s a major event or when people are looking at something that is science or news related” but insists that that the policy is “really, really important.”

Wojcicki made the comments during an interview with The Atlantic’s CEO, Nicholas Thompson, at the World Economic Forum’s Global Technology Governance Summit 2021.

While she acknowledged that this policy does make it harder for creators in some cases, Wojcicki argued that the policy is necessary:

“When we had the Las Vegas shooting, unfortunately, there were a lot of people who were uploading content that was not factual, that was not correct. And it’s much easier to just make up content and post it from your, your basement than it is to actually go to the site and to be able to report and have high-quality journalistic reporting. And so, that was just an example of what happens if you don’t have that kind of ranking.

So sure, we want to enable citizen journalism and other people to be able to report and other people to be able to share information on new channels but when we’re dealing with a sensitive topic, we have to have that information coming from authoritative sources so that the right and accurate information is viewed by our users first.”

Thompson followed up by pointing out that such a policy seems to go against the whole principle of YouTube.

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YouTube Censors Coronavirus Roundtable Hosted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

Google-owned YouTube took down a video of a roundtable conference hosted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), featuring former White House coronavirus task force member and medical scholar Scott Atlas, and the three co-authors of the Great Barrington Declaration.

The Great Barrington declaration argues that blanket lockdowns and mask mandates are counterproductive, instead advocating for a targeted approach focused on protecting vulnerable segments of the population.

The three co-authors, who attended Gov. DeSantis’ roundable, are Harvard professor of medicine Martin Kulldorff, Oxford professor of epidemiology Sunetra Gupta, and Stanford professor of medicine and epidemiologist Jay Bhattacharya.

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YouTube Deleted 2.5 Million ‘Dislikes’ From Biden White House Videos, Data Indicates

YouTube has deleted about 2.5 million ‘dislikes’ from videos on the official White House channel of President Joe Biden, according to data collected and posted online by a researcher who wished to remain anonymous. YouTube recently announced that it’s testing a new page design that hides the dislike count.

The Google-owned video platform allows users to give videos either a thumb up (like) or thumb down (dislike). For at least two years, it’s had a policy to remove likes and dislikes it considers spam.

“We have policies and systems in place to ensure that the engagement on YouTube is authentic, and remove any fraudulent metrics,” a YouTube spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email, but when asked, wouldn’t go into details on what criteria it uses to make these calls.

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People smugglers are using Facebook to promote ‘100% safe’ journeys across the US border: One warns children can only enter America if they’re unaccompanied

Human smuggling networks have been hawking their services on Facebook, guaranteeing illegal entry to America for Central American migrants, including unaccompanied children.

The smugglers, NBC News reported, are charging $8,000 for the ‘100 percent’ safe  voyage which includes a perilous passage through the U.S.-Mexico border that has claimed the lives of many.

The since-deleted messages were posted on public Facebook pages, some which were named ‘Migrants from Various Countries in Mexico’ and ‘Migrants in the Mexico-U.S.A. Border Awaiting Hearing.’

A post written in Spanish promised migrants access to ‘travel to Mexico to the United States. Costs $8,000. 100 percent safe.’

Another read, ‘cross through Matamoros. You walk one hour, after in automobile until you arrive to your relative.’ 

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Facebook ‘corrects’ woman’s complaint vaccine ‘is killing me,’ then she dies

Facebook, which routinely adds its editorial comments to posts with which it disagrees, recently “fact-checked” a woman’s complaint about her reaction to a coronavirus vaccine.

Desiree Penrod, 25, said on Facebook after getting vaccinated in early March: “The vaccine is killing me today. My arm hurts, beyond exhausted, headache, stomach cramps and earaches.”

Penrod also posted: “Multiple people told me that I looked pale today. Yesterday, I was fine but today it’s taking its toll on me.”

Facebook, citing the World Health Organization, added a disclaimer to a post by Penrose, “COVID-19 vaccines go through many tests for safety and effectiveness before they’re approved.”

A week later, Penrod died. Her obituary said she “passed away unexpectedly.”

Facebook’s editorial comment citing the WHO provided a link to the international organization, whose investigation into the origin of COVID-19 has been criticized because of China’s control of it.

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SF district attorney withdraws charges against defendant in attack on Asian man

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin withdrew charges on Monday against one of two suspects in a disturbing attack on an Asian man in San Francisco’s Bayview that was captured on video and prompted outrage from city leaders, officials said.

The district attorney’s office will pursue a “restorative justice” model against 20-year-old Dwayne Grayson, who was booked last week on suspicion of robbery, elder abuse, a hate crime charge and probation violation following the Feb. 22 incident.

Police said Grayson recorded the attack and posted it to social media.

Boudin charged him with elder abuse last week, but pulled back the charges after having a conversation with the victim, said Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office. The victim has not been identified or spoken publicly about the incident.

“We’ve been in conversation with the victim who expressed interest in a restorative justice outcome in this case,” Bastian said. “Specifically, against the young person who videoed the incident. We respect victims and their desires, and we will explore a restorative justice outcome.”

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Facebook leaks full names, phone numbers, email addresses, and other info on half a BILLION users

The personal data, including phone numbers and emails, of more than 500 million Facebook users has been leaked online. The social media company claims that the data was obtained through a vulnerability that has since been fixed.

A user in a low-level hacking forum published the personal data of over 533 million Facebook users. The leaked data includes Facebook IDs, full names, phone numbers, email address, and other personal identifiable information. It affects Facebook users from 106 countries, including data on over 33 million users in the US and 11 million users in the UK.

Business Insider verified the authenticity of the leaked data by matching several of known user’s phone numbers to the Facebook IDs listed.

A Facebook spokesperson said that the data was illegally obtained via a vulnerability that was fixed back in 2019. Whether or not the data is a few years old, it could still be used by cybercriminals for identity theft and other scams.

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