^CategoryCensorship

Birds symbol carry on dialog with each other. Plasticine illustration.

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Author
Peter Biles
Date
July 6, 2023

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Babylon Bee, Bloomberg, Copycat technologies, Elon Musk, Free speech, Instagram, Jordan Peterson, Meta, Snapchat, Threads (Meta app), Twitter, Zuckerberg}

Twitter’s Copycat Rival is Coming to You via Meta. Will It Survive?

_{Meta will again co-opt the ideas of its competitors and hope for the best} _{Peter Biles

July 6, 2023

3

Censorship, Social Media}

Meta is reportedly trying to compete with Twitter by introducing a similar app called Threads. The app will be connected to Instagram and will allow a cross-over of followers, etc. Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, some have complained about loosened constraints regarding speech and expression. A number of formerly suspended accounts, such as those belonging to psychologist Jordan Peterson, the Christian satire site The Babylon Bee, and a number of other (mostly conservative) voices, were reestablished following Musk’s “takeover.” Now Meta is trying to capitalize. If they’re going to launch Threads, now is probably the best time to do it. Apart from the overarching complaints against Twitter and Musk, the platform is now limiting how many tweets a user Read More ›

Flat design cartoon World Book Day illustration. Open book with stories coming out of the pages. AI generated

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Author
News
Date
February 27, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Censorship

Tagged
Arts & Culture, Big Tech, censorship, Creativity, Literature, Publishing, Revision, Roald Dahl, tv}

Roald Dahl is Safe (For Now)

_{How long until making revisions turns into full-blown censorship, and what impact will that have on the creative arts?} _{News

February 27, 2023

2

Arts & Culture, Censorship}

Publishers decided last week to revise certain aspects of beloved author Roald Dahl’s books, like James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They said the decision was intended to make Dahl’s books more inclusive. The decision sparked controversy and outrage in the literary community, and now, Penguin Random House has changed their minds and will preserve the original texts. ABC reported: The updates to Dahl’s works under Penguin had meant to be more inclusive, progressive and more acceptable to today’s readers. Phrases like ‘mothers and fathers’ in Dahl’s ‘Matilda,’ first published in 1988, could have been replaced with ‘parents’ while some descriptions of ‘fat’ characters could have been edited or removed entirely. Description of women’s jobs Read More ›

Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern

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Author
News
Date
January 23, 2023

Categorized
Censorship, Media, Social Media

Tagged
Brendan O'Neill, Disinformation success rate, Featured, Jacinda Ardern, Media and disinformation, Michael Cook, Russia disinformation claims}

Jacinda Ardern’s War on Free Speech Always Deserved To Fail

_{Now researchers have shown why. The departing New Zealand Prime Minister claimed that “prolific misinformation” is a new weapon of war} _{News

January 23, 2023

5

Censorship, Media, Social Media}

This piece by MercatorNet editor Michael Cook (January 20, 2023) is reprinted with permission. In October last year, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, told the United Nations General Assembly that what the world needs is less free speech. Well, not exactly that, but close enough. She pressed for vigorous censorship of the internet because “prolific misinformation” is a new weapon of war. “How do you successfully end a war if people are led to believe the reason for its existence is not only legal but noble?” she asked. “How do you tackle climate change if people do not believe it exists?” The prospect of government censorship of our views on climate change or the war in Ukraine is Read More ›

Cancel Culture society concept or cultural cancellation and social media censorship as canceling or restricting opinions that are offensive or controversial to the public

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Author
News
Date
January 13, 2023

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Alex Berenson, Big Tech, Child sex abuse, COVID 19 censorship, Facebook, Robert Flaherty, Tucker Carlson, Twitter, Twitter and Russian influence claims, Twitter files 13, Twitter files 14, White House}

Twitter files 13 and 14… plus the critical bigger picture

_{Growing distrust of mainstream media should be supplemented by scrutiny among users of Big Tech social media. They're not an answer to the problem.} _{News

January 13, 2023

6

Censorship, Social Media}

First, as Elon Musk continues to dump the files out the window at Twitter — to the dismay of the media elite that generally knew and approved of censorship of views other than their own, especially where COVID-19 or U.S. federal politics was concerned: Twitter files 13: Handled by independent journalist Alex Berenson — once banned from Twitter for criticizing the government response to the pandemic: “Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb secretly pressed Twitter to hide posts challenging his company’s massively profitable Covid jabs /To funnel his demands, Gottlieb used the same Twitter lobbyist the White House did – fresh evidence of overlap between the company selling mRNA shots and the government forcing them on the public.” 4/ In October Read More ›

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Author
News
Date
January 9, 2023

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Bari Weiss, Bias in media, Featured, Jack Dorsey, Karl D. Stephan, Twitter, Wilfred Reilly}

What? Twitter is “neutral”? A thoughtful engineer responds

_{Despite appearances, Twitter is not a conventional public square, but a private corporation} _{News

January 9, 2023

7

Censorship, Social Media}

This column by Texas State University engineering prof Karl Stephan is republished with thanks from Engineering Ethics (January 2, 2023) Back when I started this blog in 2006, the phrase “social media” was hardly used by anybody, according to Google Trends. It began to climb above 1% of its current frequency of use around 2008, possibly in connection with the elections of that year, and has been climbing ever since. Twitter, the social-media format that has become the default medium of choice for announcements by Presidents on down, was also founded in 2006. From an obscure techie-speak term, it has turned into a routine and near-universal medium of expression that its leadership has claimed is as neutral as they can make it. But Read More ›

An internet email symbol and a group of people are separated by a red prohibitory symbol No. restrictions on access to the global Internet. Censorship. Information control, society isolation policy

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 5, 2023

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Benjamin Weingarten, Facebook, Facebook censorship, Glenn Greenwald, Government management of news, Matt Taibbi, TikTok, Twitter files 11, Twitter files 12}

Big Tech Censorship Goes Well Beyond Twitter

_{Big Tech media is not, in itself, an answer to current legacy mainstream media if we would like to know information that our betters would prefer that we didn't} _{Denyse O'Leary

January 5, 2023

6

Censorship, Social Media}

The big news (if it is even news) is that most Big Tech media are involved in censorship of opinions disapproved by the governing elite. Elon Musk has certainly shone a light by buying Twitter and releasing the house files to independent journalists. Legacy media entities still refuse to cover the story seriously (probably because they cannot take inevitable further blows to their relevance, numbers, or prestige) First, some updates on the Twitter Files via indie journalist Matt Taibbi: Twitter files 11 deals with — among other things — the way Twitter was pressured in 2016 by political friends, then out of power, to discover that there was Russian involvement in the outcome of the U.S. 2016 election. Twitter was Read More ›

intellectual property. light bulb with chain

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Author
News
Date
January 3, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Censorship, Education, Science

Tagged
Chicago Principles, College Fix blog, Free Expression Statement at MIT, Hakeem Oluseyi, Kaytlin Reedy-Rogier, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University students and censorship}

MIT Takes Steps Toward Meaningful Free Expression

_{The most significant line: "We cannot prohibit speech that some experience as offensive or injurious"} _{News

January 3, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Censorship, Education, Science}

Anyone familiar with the campus scene today knows that many disciplines are dedicated to anything but open inquiry. The academy is full of true stories about Canceled profs and students. Not “failed” students and profs, notice, but Canceled. Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (the famous MIT) appears to be breaking the mold by adopting free speech principles by a faculty senate vote of 98 to 52. A key passage: At the intersection of the ideal of free expression and MIT community values lies the expectation of a collegial and respectful learning and working environment. We cannot prohibit speech that some experience as offensive or injurious. At the same time, MIT deeply values civility, mutual respect, and uninhibited, wide-open debate. In fostering Read More ›

Hand in a white glove pulling curtain away

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Author
Nathan Jacobson
Date
January 1, 2023

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
bias, censorship, Fact checking, fake news, Google, Google search algorithms (bias), journalism, mob psychology, RankBrain, reliability, search engines, The Anointed, The Trust Project}

Google: Rank Censorship Behind the Scenes

_{We live under a state of highly sophisticated and ubiquitous suppression of disfavored voices} _{Nathan Jacobson

January 1, 2023

10

Censorship, Social Media}

One year ago today (January 1st, 2022) we saw behind the curtain at Google. With vast information scattered across a billion websites, whoever controls the search algorithm largely controls information. And if Google.com were a stage, the spotlight is centered squarely on the first result, with some ambient light spilling onto a few supporting roles. The second page results are essentially extras, unlikely to catch the attention of the audience at all. About 25% of web searchers click that first result. Another 50% follow one of the next half-dozen. A scant 6% will ever make it to the second page.* If your breaking news, breakthrough product, or bold opinion piece isn’t in a starring role on that first page, it will languish Read More ›

Hairdresser's hands with scissors. New normal concept. Copy space. Stay safe. Health protection equipment during quarantine Coronavirus pandemic. Covid 19

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 28, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
COVID censorship, David Zweig, John West on totalitarian science, Mainstream media and Twitter files, Matt Taibbi, Substack, Twitter, Twitter and COVID censorship, Twitter files 10, Twitter files 9, Vivek Murthy}

How Twitter Cut Off a Reasoned Discussion of the COVID Response

_{Three more takeaways (7-9) as the story gets deeper — and of greater concern to those who believe that a free flow of information makes for a healthier society} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 28, 2022

6

Censorship, Social Media}

First, last January, John West reflected at Evolution News and Science Today about the rise of totalitarian science, as shown by the way COVID was managed: The COVID era also has seen a dramatic rise of censorship in the name of science. We are told continuously now that “misinformation” or “disinformation” must be stopped. No decent person favors the spread of “misinformation.” But who is to judge what constitutes “misinformation”? Those warning of “misinformation” seem to assume that existing elites are always right, and so they should be in charge of determining what is true or false. But anyone conversant with the history of science or government knows that this claim can’t hold up to scrutiny. Neither elite scientists nor Read More ›

A sheet of white paper is held by a protester in China.

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Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
December 23, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, China, Global Technology

Tagged
A4 Revolution, Amy Chang Chien, Apple Airdrop, Caiwei Chen, China, China protests 2022, Claire Fu, Featured, Instagram, Instagram and China protests, Paul Mozur, Twitter, Twitter and China protests, Urumqui apartment fire, White paper movement (China), Zero-Covid policy in China}

China: Protesters Evade Censors and Confront State Surveillance

_{Chinese citizens are known for their clever plays on words to evade social media censors.} _{Heather Zeiger

December 23, 2022

7

Censorship, China, Global Technology}

The graffiti on the bathroom wall at the university said there would be a gathering in honor of the people who had died in an apartment fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang. Bathrooms usually do not have surveillance cameras, so this announcement would probably go unnoticed by censors. It is better than risking punishment by posting on social media. In another city, Chinese citizens discretely shared information about the location of a vigil for the Urumqi victims on WeChat in the guise of dinner plans. A number of people died in the fire, whose toll was likely inflated because emergency vehicles were unable to access the building due to zero-Covid measures. Social media posts showed doors that were barred shut and barricades Read More ›

Washington DC - FBI Building on Pennsylvania Street

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 22, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Adam Sabes, Elon Musk and Twitter takeover, FBI and Twitter, Jake Gibson, Jeffrey A. Tucker, MSM and Twitter, Pieter Zatko, Stephen Green, Thursday Night Massacre, Tom Slater}

Three More Key Takeaways From the Twitter Files and Their Fallout

_{The FBI responds to the Twitter files: “Conspiracy theorists” are feeding the public “misinformation.” This isn't helping its reputation} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 22, 2022

6

Censorship, Social Media}

Key takeaways 1–3 are here. 4.Yes, the FBI finally responded to the Twitter files revelations about its cozy relationship with Twitter. And the response could be straight out of a bent cop novel: The Federal Bureau of Investigation is responding to Twitter Files revealing that the agency regularly contacted employees at the social media giant to notify them of accounts that “may” constitute violations of the company’s terms of service. FBI officials told Fox News that the agency didn’t ask Twitter employees to “take action” based on the information provided, and said the information was provided so that Twitter employees can make a determination on whether to take action. “We are providing it so that they can take whatever action Read More ›

online payments. Girl holds a smartphone and a credit card. European woman shopping online. Beautiful young woman using a credit card and mobile phone for online shopping.

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Author
News
Date
December 22, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Censorship

Tagged
Colin Wright, David Sacks, David Sacks (on emerging social credit system), Elon Musk, Online payment companies, PayPal banning users, PayPal founders, Peter Thiel, Rupa Subramanya, Southern Poverty Law Center, Toby Young}

PayPal Today Betrays Its Founders’ Vision for Democratizing Money

_{The payments processor, famously, now often drops customers for what appear to be political reasons, as Indian economist Rupa Subramanya explains} _{News

December 22, 2022

5

Business and Finance, Censorship}

Earlier this year, we wrote about PayPal starting to “fine” users for “misinformation” and wrongthink. While there is certainly misinformation out there, the alarming Disinformation Governance Board proposal and the Twitter files revelations underline the limits of what Big Government, Big Tech, or Big Business can do beyond simply imposing an official opinion. Of course, the official opinion may be based on a faulty understanding of the problem. The banned individuals may merely be better informed. PayPal, famously, now often drops customers for what appear to be political reasons, as Indian economist Rupa Subramanya explains: One by one, they go to start their business day only to find a baffling message from their payments app informing them: “You can no Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 20, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Elon Musk and Twitter takeover, Jack Dorsey, Jack Dorsey's regrets, Jay Bhattacharya, Meta and COVID censorship, Michael Goodwin, Michael Shellenberger, Twitter (and Elon Musk), Twitter and FBI}

Three Key Takeaways From the Twitter Files and Their Fallout

_{Twitter Files 7 dropped yesterday and it features the close relationship between Twitter and the FBI} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 20, 2022

5

Censorship, Social Media}

From the news: Do you think the pandemic response might have gone differently if voices such as yours were not suppressed? Yes… I do really believe censorship kills, and censorship killed during this pandemic. The policies could have been so much better… The policies that were adopted were incredibly damaging to the lives and livelihoods of so many people. 100million people thrown into poverty worldwide: that’s the estimate from the World Bank. Just the consequences of that itself are going to have tremendous effects on the lives and livelihoods of people going forward. And of course, all these children were robbed of an education for years. Those are absolutely monumental outcomes of the policies we adopted during the pandemic, and Read More ›

Man is using laptop with black keys, Social media and social networking. Marketing concept

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Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 19, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Babylon Bee on Twitter, Doxxing on Twitter, Elon Musk and Twitter takeover, Featured, Mastodon, Twitter and child porn}

Musk’s Tyrannical Turn With Twitter

_{While the political bias is gone, the ego bias seems to have just begun} _{Jonathan Bartlett

December 19, 2022

4

Business and Finance, Censorship, Social Media}

I was hopeful when Elon Musk took control of Twitter. As a longtime Musk skeptic in many areas, I thought that his move into Twitter would actually be a good thing. First of all, it matches his background better than Tesla. Twitter is a software play, and Musk’s actual expertise is in building software. Second, Twitter is just about software, not artificial intelligence, which tends to be where Musk gets into trouble. Finally, Musk has at least claimed to be a libertarian, though this seems to be limited to situations where he simply decides that he doesn’t want to do what is required of everyone else. When Musk first took control, it looked positive. Despite the incessant screaming of the Read More ›

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Author
News
Date
December 13, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, Media, Social Media

Tagged
Bill Maher, Elon Musk and Twitter takeover, Freddy DeBoer, Matt Novak, Media decline, Michael Shellenberger, Miranda Devine, Newsbusters, Twitter files}

As the Twitter Files Drop, Ponder the Future of Mainstream Media

_{Mainstream media are largely ignoring the story for reasons that go to the heart of their own growing weakness and unstoppable decline} _{News

December 13, 2022

8

Censorship, Media, Social Media}

The Twitter files, as Elon Musk’s publication of Twitter’s internal censorship records — via dissident journalists — has come to be known, continue to drop. To recap, the drop started with the suppression of the story, on the eve of an election, about Hunter Biden’s seemingly incriminating laptop (Matt Taibbi). It continued with information about widespread shadowbanning (Bari Weiss), a practice the company denied it engaged in. Twitter files slice 3 and slice 4 (given by Musk to journalist Michael Shellenberger) address Twitter’s ban on former U.S. president Donald Trump. Slice 5 (Bari Weiss) detail doubts among Twitter employees about censoring on that scale: 7. There were dissenters inside Twitter. “Maybe because I am from China,” said one employee on Read More ›

Coronavirus Pandemic. A disinfector in a protective suit and mask sprays disinfectants in office. Protection agsinst COVID-19 disease. Prevention of spreding pneumonia virus with surfaces.

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Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
December 12, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, China

Tagged
Carl von Clausewitz, China COVID lockdown protests, Featured, Jiayang Fan, Omicron vs. delta COVID variant, Wu’er Kaixi, Xi Jinping and COVID, Zero-Covid policy in China}

When the Chinese Had Had Enough, Their Government Had To Listen

_{Embarrassingly, Xi had already declared victory over the virus in 2020, touting authoritarian governments as better able to respond} _{Heather Zeiger

December 12, 2022

5

Censorship, China}

“The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and means can never be considered in isolation from their purpose.” (von Clausewitz, On War) Beijing’s zero-Covid policy was not sustainable. The highly publicized events in October and November in Urumqi, Xinjiang and at the Zhengzhou Foxconn factory served as the inciting events for what became a nationwide call for ending zero-Covid, giving people their freedoms — and there were even calls for Xi Jinping to step down. In the course of a week, Beijing went from touting zero-Covid to easing restrictions to censoring mentions of zero-Covid policy online. In November in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, several residents, including four children, died in an apartment fire Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 9, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Bari Weiss and Twitter, Elon Musk and Twitter takeover, Harriet Alexander, Jack Dorsey, Jay Bhattacharya, Joseph A. Wulfsohn, New York Post and Twitter files, Shadowbanning at Twitter, Twitter and child porn}

Update: Musk’s Second Salvo: Twitter Did Secretly Censor Users

_{Despite execs claiming that it didn’t. Elon Musk gave journalist Bari Weiss the story} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 9, 2022

5

Censorship, Social Media}

Readers may recall that Elon Musk, having bought Twitter, started opening some windows. It came out that the Hunter Biden laptop story was suppressed for reasons that would never have passed muster with a story about any other political figure. There is good reason to believe that Twitter had a cozy relationship with the FBI in the matter. Now, it turns out that, contrary to denials by top execs, there were indeed secret blacklists at Twitter: Twitter kept a ‘secret blacklist’ of topics and accounts to prevent them from trending, according to data obtained by journalist Bari Weiss – with conservative commentators deliberately downplayed in what one called ‘Soviet-style bulls***’,’ while another said he was treated ‘with more censorship than Read More ›

press and media camera ,video photographer on duty in public new

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 5, 2022

Categorized
Business and Finance, Censorship, Media, Politics

Tagged
Declining accuracy in media, Douglas Murray, Douglas Murray at Munk Debate, Malcolm Gladwell, Matt Taibbi, Matt Taibbi at Munk Debate, Matt Taibbi on media, Michelle Goldberg, Munk Debate 2022, Victor Davis Hanson}

Veteran News Hound: Why Not To Trust Mainstream Media Anymore

_{Matt Taibbi and Douglas Murray’s resounding triumph in the Munk debates sheds light on why mainstream media are dying} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 5, 2022

6

Business and Finance, Censorship, Media, Politics}

On November 30, at the prestigious Munk Debates in Toronto, 20-year news veteran Matt Taibbi and author and columnist Douglas Murray faced off against New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell and New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg on the question: “Be it resolved, don’t trust mainstream media. The outcome was remarkable: As Taibbi tells it: A pre-event vote of attendees and listeners showed 48% support for our “side,” versus 52% for theirs. 82% of thousands of audience members claimed to be willing to change their minds. They were telling the truth, as it turned out. In a bitter slugfest that featured tense confrontations, impassioned oratory (especially from Douglas), and several almost unbelievably petty exchanges, Douglas and I swung the vote 39% Read More ›

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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 5, 2022

Categorized
Censorship, Media, Social Media

Tagged
Andrew C. McCarthy, Blake Montgomery, Elon Musk and Twitter files, FBI and social media, Howie Carr, Jonathan Turley, Matt Taibbi and Twitter files, New York Post and Twitter files, Twitter files on Hunter laptop story}

Elon Musk Throws a Bomb at Media No One Should Trust

_{Musk’s release of the “Twitter files” on the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story has provoked media outrage and attempts to deflect the issues} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 5, 2022

6

Censorship, Media, Social Media}

By now, you’ve probably heard that Elon Musk, Twitter’s new owner, gave journalist Matt Taibbi inside information about Twitter’s suppression of an explosive story about Hunter Biden weeks before the 2020 election. But here’s some background that may shed some light — especially on how legacy media have changed and how social media really work. First, a summary of the basic story from legal scholar Jonathan Turley: Weeks before the 2020 presidential election, the New York Post ran an explosive story about a laptop abandoned by Hunter Biden that contained emails and records detailing a multimillion dollar influence peddling operation by the Biden family. Not only was Joe Biden’s son Hunter and brother James involved in deals with an array Read More ›