Big Tech Continued Censorship
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Docs Show Corporate Giants Are ‘Colluding To Demonetize Conservative Platforms,’ Judiciary Committee Says
“The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) through its Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative may be acting inconsistent with U.S. antitrust laws and congressional intent by coordinating GARM members’ efforts to demonetize and eliminate disfavored content online,” Jordan wrote in March 27 letter demanding further documents from advertisers.
“Evidence the Committee has obtained suggests that GARM members, led by Steer Team members, are colluding to demonetize conservative platforms and voices. Further, this coordination does not always revolve around ‘brand safety’ and ‘harmful’ content as GARM publicly claims, but instead the desire to censor conservative and other views that GARM members disfavor,” Jordan added.
The letters indicate that documents obtained by the committee suggest that the group tried to blackball mainstream conservative news organizations, specifically asking for “communications referring or relating to conservative news outlets, including Fox News, Daily Wire, and Breitbart.”
Facebook censors Auschwitz Museum photograph and flags images of death camp victims for 'promoting adult nudity and sexual activity': Historians blast move as 'hurtful and absurd'
- Several memorial posts were hit by Facebook's content moderation systems
- Meta told MailOnline that Facebook had 'mistakenly sent notices' to the museum saying posts had been 'demoted' and apologised for the error
Facebook has been accused of 'grossly offending' Holocaust survivors and 'erasing history' after a photograph of victims was temporarily removed and 20 other posts were incorrectly flagged on the Auschwitz Memorial Museum's profile page for violating the platform's rules such as 'promoting adult nudity' and 'sexual activity'.
Outraged museum staff lashed out at the social media giant on Friday evening saying that the removal or flagging of photos and biographical information of those who died in the death camp was 'hurtful to survivors, descendants, and all those committed to preserving historical truth.'
In a statement the museum said: 'The posts, which serve as tributes to individual victims of Auschwitz, have been unjustly targeted by this platform's content moderation system, citing absurd reasons such as "Adult Nudity and Sexual Activity," "Bullying and Harassment," "Hate Speech," and "Violence Incitement."'
A Meta spokesperson told MailOnline that Facebook had 'mistakenly sent notices to the Auschwitz Museum' that the posts had been 'demoted', but said that the posts had never actually been censored. 'We offer our sincere apologies for the error.'
They also said that an image showing a group of Jewish orphans - which the museum said had been 'summarily removed without the possibility of recourse' entirely - had been restored.
EU to Investigate Meta Over Alleged Election Disinformation
Technology, Big Tech, European Union, Europe, Facebook, Meta, Mark Zuckerberg
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The European Union announced on Tuesday that it will investigate Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, over allegations of disinformation on the social media platforms.
The Details: The European Commission alleges that Meta hasn’t sufficiently assessed and mitigated risks related to its platforms' effects on civil discourse and electoral processes. The investigation will potentially focus on a pro-Russian network called Doppelganger that has allegedly been spreading content favorable to Russian President Vladimir Putin's policies on Meta platforms. Meta had previously identified this network in 2022 and blocked multiple assets connected to it. Meta now has five days to respond to the European Commission's claims and outline its plan for risk assessment.
Key Quote: Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, stated, “Big digital platforms must live up to their obligations to put enough resources into this, and today’s decision shows that we are serious about compliance.”
For Context: Meta, along with other big technology companies, came under scrutiny after the 2016 presidential election when Russian-aligned groups were found to have used social media platforms to influence the outcome. This investigation comes amid growing global concerns about foreign interference in future elections.
How the Media Covered It: Forbes (Center bias) detailed the investigation and potential fines Meta might face, focusing on the European Commission's accusations regarding Meta's failure to mitigate disinformation risks. Al Jazeera (Lean Left bias) highlighted the EU's attempts to clamp down on disinformation ahead of the EU elections and emphasized Meta's perceived insufficient content moderation. This summary was developed with the help of AllSides' AI technology.
Google Censors Trump Ad for Unspecified Reasons
This censorship is pervasive and not only aimed at Trump or even Republicans. It is used to distort everything you see, hear, and read. Our freedoms are evaporating before our eyes. Big tech allies with NGOs funded by the government to censor your speech, and the intelligence community uses false information ("Russian collusion," "Russian disinformation," and a phony rise in "White supremacist violence") to smear anybody who opposes the transnational elite.
Look at how The Washington Post frames a story about the backlash against skyrocketing energy prices: it is "right-wing" to not go bankrupt to pay for green fantasies.
Meta Relies On ‘Human Rights Norms’ To Censor Protected Speech, Board Member Admits
Foreign Pressure to Censor Opponents
America’s government joins with that of China, which also pressured Meta to remove content critical of the regime, according to McConnell.“There are governments — China is one of them — that put tremendous effort into getting criticism of the government eliminated from world discussion,” McConnell said. “And they bring pressure in various ways, and we try to be alert to that and be a guard against it.”
Meta, however, has been colluding with Vietnam’s communist government to stifle opposition, according to The Washington Post.
Still, the European Union — like China — thinks Meta is not going far enough. It launched an investigation on April 30 into Meta’s handling of so-called “disinformation” ahead of European Parliament elections.
The European Commission said it suspects Meta of not complying with the body’s “Digital Services Act,” which made “misinformation” and “disinformation” illegal last year. Meta had pledged in February to counter these in European elections.
Yoshino said Meta has been trying to “balance out these different values” in areas like elections. “If the baseline is international human rights norms,” Yoshino said, “oftentimes that calculus comes out differently than it would if the baseline were U.S. First Amendment norms.”
So much for free speech and the First Amendment.