Tag: social media

UNESCO’s New Mission: Train Influencers About Combatting Online “Misinformation”

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is now incorporating teaching influencers how to “fact check” into its activities.

UNESCO claims that influencers have become “primary sources of news and cultural information” around the world – which prompted it to carry out a survey into how these online personalities verify the “news” they present.

Citizens in UN member-countries may or may not be happy that this is how their taxpayer money funding the world organization is being spent these days. But UNESCO is not only conducting surveys; it is also developing a training course for said influencers (which are also interchangeably referred to as content creators in press releases).

It’s meant to teach them not only to “report misinformation, disinformation and hate speech” but also to collaborate with legacy media and these outlets’ journalists, in order to “amplify fact-based information.”

The survey, “Behind the screens,” was done together with researchers from the US Bowling Green State University. 500 influencers from 45 countries took part, and the key findings, UNESCO said, are that 63 percent of them “lack rigorous and systematic fact-checking protocols” – but also, that 73% said they “want to be trained.”

This UN agency also frames the results as showing that respondents are “struggling” with disinformation and hate speech and are “calling for more training.”

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World Leaders Sign New Censorship Declaration at UN Event While Secretary-General António Guterres Pushed for Increased Online Censorship

A new UN-driven censorship declaration has been signed by a number of world leaders during an event in Portugal – the Cascais Declaration at the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Global Forum.

We obtained a copy of the final declaration for you here.

The gathering was addressed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who once again reiterated his commitment to censoring online speech, bringing up the usual set of “arguments” in favor of moving in this direction.

During the address, Guterres spoke about “unchecked digital platforms and AI” and accused them of allowing “hate speech to proliferate like never before” – and did not miss the opportunity to mention “misinformation and deepfakes” in the same context.

Guterres wants Big Tech, advertisers, and media – that is, along with some governments and organizations like the UN, among the most egregious offenders when it comes to online censorship – to double down.

“Taking responsibility for their role” in spreading hate speech, deepfakes, etc., was how he phrased it.

Guterres also again pushed a UN initiative that critics say introduces algorithmic censorship and demonetization under the stated “anti-misinformation and hate speech” scope – the UN’s Global Principles for Information Integrity.

According to Guterres, these recommendations allow for “a more humane information ecosystem.”

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Rumble Sues California; Says State’s “War Against Political Speech Is Censorship”

Video streaming site Rumble has filed a lawsuit against the state of California in response to legislation forcing social media platforms to censor political speech.

Rumble is being represented by The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which filed suit against AB 2655, aka the “Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024,” in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division.

The legislation is Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s response to a deepfake satire video of Kamala Harris that was shared on X by Elon Musk among others.

ADF stated in a press release that the law “deputizes” Rumble to restrict its user’s free speech, while another law, AB 2839, “Protecting Democracy Against Election Disinformation and Deepfakes,” uses vague standards to punish individuals posting political content about elections.

“California’s war against political speech is censorship, plain and simple. We can’t trust the government to decide what is true in our online political debates,” said ADF Senior Counsel Phil Sechler.

“Rumble is one of the few online voices stepping up against this trend of censorship while other platforms and sites cave to totalitarian regimes censoring Americans,” Sechler further urged.

He added that “Rumble is standing for free speech even when it is hard. Other online platforms and media companies must see these laws for what they are — a threat to their existence.”

Chris Pavlovski, Chairman and CEO of Rumble, further urged that “The very thought of the government judging the content of political speech, and then deciding whether it should be permitted, censored, or eliminated altogether is about the most chilling thing you could imagine.”

“Rumble
will always celebrate freedom and support creative independence, so we’re delighted to work with ADF to help protect lawful online expression,” Pavlovski asserted.

The Democratic Party is pushing hard to enact laws that force censorship.

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“The Mainstream Media is Dead! Long Live the Mainstream Media!”

The old mainstream media is dying, and has been for years.

This has only become more apparent  in the weeks since Donald Trump was re-(s)elected. News that CNN is firing half their workforce, that MSNBC’s ratings continue to slump and is probably being sold, or that The Guardian is leaving X and in financial trouble are greeted with celebratory memes.

Newspaper readership has been dropping for decades, and television news channels struggle to drum up the audience of a moderately popular YouTube channel featuring cute cat videos set to quirky music.

And you know what? Great. That’s all good stuff.

CNN, MSNBC, The Guardian – all of them – they deserve to go under. Digital communication has allowed people to undermine and overthrow decades-old propaganda outlets.

But does that mean it’s over?  Is  Elon Musk actually correct when he reassuringly declares on X that “YOU are the media now”.

Well the answer to that depends on whether or not you think the same forces that spent untold resources constructing this system of information control are just going to give up and go home when it starts to fail.

I mean – does anyone seriously think they would?

You don’t think it ‘s rather more likely they’ll just regroup, re-calculate, and go again?

Remember – newspapers and TV channels are functionaries of the establishment, not the establishment itself.

For several centuries they have been crucial to the selling of ideas and agendas, but they are a voice not a brain. They’re just a tool of control. And tools can easily be swapped out.

One way or another, the internet has replaced television as the media now, just as television replaced radio and radio replaced print.

This is the Darwinian selection process that flows with the development of technology. And while each step of that path has in some ways led to the democratization of the media landscape, each step also saw those in power adjust their methods to the freer flow of information.

The “free internet” is just as vulnerable to money and influence of the “elite” as the “free press” was before it, only the tactics change.

In short, the mainstream media isn’t so much dying as evolving.

Today, if you want to a sell a story to the whole world you don’t need blaring red “Breaking News” banners on the ten o-clock news – you can fund an “independent podcaster” to interview a “whistleblower” on a set decorated to look impromptu and stripped down.

You pay YouTube to boost the video, or make a few short clips go viral.

When it’s popular enough, other youtubers and podcasters will start repeating it or posting “reaction videos”. It doesn’t even matter if they agree or disagree, either way you’ve set the parameters of the discussion.

Instead of full pages ads in the New York Times, NGOs, think-tanks and corporations can spend the same amount of money on a few thousand social media influencers.

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ICAN’s Lawsuit Results in CDC Deleting its Policy of Censoring Claimed “Misinformation”

As a result of the lawsuit ICAN filed against CDC for blocking an individual on its official X (Twitter) account, not only did CDC unblock users, but the agency has now deleted its policy of blocking users for purported “misinformation.”

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a journalist who was blocked by CDC on X after she posted comments critical of CDC policy. We previously reported that, shortly after we filed the suit, CDC promptly unblocked her and others.

Now, CDC has notified ICAN’s attorneys that it has made significant changes to its former public comment policy. Previously, its policy allowed CDC to hide or delete comments that it felt contained “misleading or false information,” defamation, name calling, personal attacks, or spam. It also stated that “repeated violations” may “cause the author to be blocked.”

The new policy—which applies to all CDC sites, social media profiles, blogs, and applications that allow public comments—contains none of these restrictions!

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U.N. Chief Demands Governments ‘Rein in Hate Speech and Disinformation Online’

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres encouraged world governments on Tuesday to “rein in hate speech and disinformation spreading online” through a global censorship framework.

Guterres suggested that “unchecked digital platforms” were amplifying the “worst impulses of humanity” and threatening global stability and peace, requiring world governments to buy into U.N. programs such as the “Global Digital Compact” to silence speech the world body considers threatening. He made his remarks on the same day that the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared global intervention to “educate” online social influencers in how to avoid “misinformation” was an “urgent” priority. UNESCO launched an expansive campaign in early 2023 to promote global censorship regulations to silence “hate speech,” equating online discussions that run afoul of U.N. speech norms to “insects thriving in the dark.”

More recently, U.N. leaders used their platforms at the G20 summit this month to pressure the world’s most powerful economies to silence “disinformation” through a program promoting “information integrity on climate change.” The U.N. paired on that initiative with radical leftist Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whose government is leading a sprawling, violent effort to use the court system and police raids to intimidate conservative voices into silence online.

Guterres made his comments on Tuesday at the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations global forum, hosted this year in his native Portugal. The Alliance describes itself as “a unique and inclusive platform for Member States, the private sector, youth, civil society and the media to exchange views and commit to dialogue and new partnerships.” The U.N. chief listed silencing “disinformation” as his second priority for the event.

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Scott Jennings Pulls Hilarious Reversal During Argument About X With Fellow CNN Panelists

If you’re not an X user, I can safely say you’re missing out on a great free speech platform that gives you the news faster than any corporate organization can, and what’s more, it is ideologically balanced, as all good platforms should be. 

Elon Musk’s platform isn’t just a breath of fresh air, it easily changed the conversational landscape and, as a result, affected the political one. As free speech spread, the Democrat Party and the left lost its narrative edge, collapsing multiple attempts to push lies that may very well have shaped public opinion for the worse. 

If you want proof that X is effective enough to shape the people’s opinion, look no further than the fact that CNN talking heads are mad about it. They don’t even want to discuss any positive reporting about it… even if it comes from CNN. 

Scott Jennings was, once again, on a panel taking on his colleagues when the subject of X came up. 

“I saw a survey this week,” Jennings began. “It’s now the most ideologically balanced user platform of any platform.” 

Before he could even finish that sentence, fellow CNN Cari Champion was already trying to shut him down. She attempted to tell him “you cannot say that,” which is actually a phrase you’ll find repeated at Jennings quite often during these back and forths.

Host Audie Cornish asked for a source, causing Champion to ask for one as well, but Jennings, a man who clearly plays 4D chess, was ready with the answer. 

“We’ve reported it on this network,” said Jennings. 

Champion’s only recourse was to say that CNN’s reporting on X was “not accurate.” 

Cornish didn’t let Jennings speak again, though he was clearly ready to, but you can see just how radical the leftists on the panel were when the question was posed if they would worry if Bill Gates bought MSNBC, to which Champion responded “no, because he’s sane.” 

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Judge Clears Path for Fresh Evidence in Explosive Social Media Censorship Lawsuit Against Biden Administration

The Western District of Louisiana’s US District Court has ruled in favor of the State of Missouri, allowing additional discovery in the significant Missouri v. Biden lawsuit, which scrutinizes government collaboration in social media censorship. This decision comes after the Supreme Court, in June, overturned a prior injunction, then-named Murthy v. Missouri, which had prohibited entities including the White House, CDC, FBI, CISA, and the Surgeon General’s office from pressing social media platforms to suppress speech protected under the Constitution.

We obtained a copy of the order for you here.

Two leading epidemiologists also represented by the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) are among the clients who claim to have been targeted in a wide-ranging censorship campaign, allegedly coordinated by multiple government bodies. The plaintiffs in the case—Drs. Jayanta Bhattacharya, Martin Kulldorff, Aaron Kheriaty, and Ms. Jill Hines were ruled by the Supreme Court as lacking sufficient standing.

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Push to Pass KOSA Spurs Fears Over Privacy and Free Speech

Attorneys general from 32 jurisdictions — including 31 states and the District of Columbia — have signed an open letter urging Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) before the looming conclusion of the current session early next year. This legislation, although primarily aimed at protecting minors from digital harms, introduces significant implications for online privacy and freedom of speech through proposed mechanisms for age verification and potential censorship.

We obtained a copy of the letter for you here.

KOSA itself doesn’t mandate direct implementation of online age verification but tasks the Secretary of Commerce, along with the FTC and FCC, with exploring “options for developing systems to verify age at the device or operating system level.” This move toward digital identification could fundamentally alter the landscape of internet privacy, linking social media accounts and other online activities directly to real-world identities.

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G20’s Online Speech Clampdown Calls Set To Ignite Free Speech Fears

G20 leaders convened in Rio de Janeiro have called for enhanced responsibility and transparency from digital platforms to tackle the growing challenges of “misinformation,” “disinformation,” “hate speech,” and others on their long list of supposed online “harms.”

The summit’s final declaration highlighted the transformative role of digital platforms in global communication but noted the adverse effects of digital content’s rapid spread. It called for increased accountability from platforms to manage speech, which should raise eyebrows among free speech advocates who’ve heard all this before.

We obtained a copy of the declaration for you here.

During the summit, the leaders highlighted the transformative impact of digital platforms in communication and information dissemination across the globe. However, they also alleged negative ramifications of unchecked digital spaces, where “harmful” content can proliferate at an unprecedented pace and scale.

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