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Censorship: Twitter silences Kurdish journalism while claiming commitment to free speech
The Region ^ | 19/10/2018 19:48 (10-19-18) | Meghan Bodette

Posted on 10/20/2018 9:24:56 PM PDT by Texas Fossil

The debate over free speech and content policy on Twitter– like on other social media sites— is often centered on issues relevant to political and cultural debates in the United States, where the company is headquartered. Yet this discussion of hypothetical censorship obscures the fact that company policies today are already used to silence important voices— journalists reporting from Kurdistan, who provide key information on political and military developments there at great personal risk. 

While Twitter is a safer platform for Kurdish reporters and supporters of the Kurdish cause than sites like Facebook— which ban pages and accounts for posting photos of the flags of certain Kurdish groups, or photos of key figures of Kurdish political movements— it still engages in what many Kurds and their supporters believe to be targeted political censorship.

Hosheng Hesen is a Kurdish journalist based in Northern Syria who reports for Ronahi TV, a channel popular among Kurdish communities in both the Middle East and Europe. His work has documented the fight against ISIS and the new, revolutionary society being built in the areas liberated by the Syrian Democratic Forces. His current Twitter account, which is his third, has over 11,000 followers. Yesterday, he logged in to find that he was blocked from posting. 

"I think they blocked it because I share a lot of the Rojava happenings, and they want to make me silent. I report in Kurdish, Arabic, and a few in English," Heseng told The Region, explaining that his work helps developments in Rojava reach audiences beyond Ronahi's traditional Kurdish-speaking viewers. 

He believes that his work was specifically targeted by Turkey, whose longstanding attacks on Kurdish journalism are well-known. "We know Turkey is a prison for journalists, and they report my accounts a lot," he said. "It is unacceptable...we are only journalists who are reporting truth, and I am not the first journalist who was blocked."

(Excerpt) Read more at theregion.org ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Egypt; Israel; News/Current Events; Russia; Syria; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: censorship; djibouti; dnctalkingpoint; dnctalkingpoints; egypt; erdogan; eritrea; gaza; hamas; hassannasrallah; hezbollah; iran; isis; israel; jamalkhashoggi; jerusalem; jordan; kurdistan; kurds; lebanon; letshavejerusalem; mediawingofthednc; meghanbodette; partisanmediashills; presstitutes; putinsbuttboys; receptayyiperdogan; russia; silences; sinai; smearmachine; sudan; syria; turkey; twitter; waronterror; whataretheirfrnicks; yemen
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This week I noticed a writer friend who is from Turkey, but lives in DC suddenly vanished from Twitter. What is odd was her existing account name is now being used by someone in Turkey. That account responses are locked. It is very clear it was done to prevent her being reinstated. I have no doubt the the Turk government did this.

This is a good article about sensorship and social media. It is well known that nothing but propaganda is ever presented on Turkish media. But the sensorship is extended past the borders of Turkey. From the beginning of the Ottoman Empire and through the existence of modern Turkey, there has never been freedom of speech or the press.

How close are we to having Fake News become the standard in the US? And on Social Media??

1 posted on 10/20/2018 9:24:56 PM PDT by Texas Fossil
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To: BeauBo; Candor7; ColdOne; Navy Patriot; caww; huldah1776; dp0622; Gene Eric; Freemeorkillme; ...
Syria Ping
2 posted on 10/20/2018 9:28:23 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: Texas Fossil

Fake news for the USA as a standard practice?! Of course. The American news media is already Pravda. Weather girls on the local channels are entertaining and acceptable. Sports highlights are cool.


3 posted on 10/20/2018 9:52:46 PM PDT by Trumpet 1 (US Constitution is my guide.)
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To: Texas Fossil
This makes a lot of sense if you believe, as some do, that Twitter is a derp state/CIA op.

Why else would Twitter care who twats what from Kurdistan?

4 posted on 10/20/2018 9:53:49 PM PDT by bagster ("Even bad men love their mamas".)
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To: Trumpet 1

There was a time I read 2 good regional newspapers each morning. Thought I was very well informed, for the time I was.

Those Regional papers have been bought up, they shed the people who actually understood things and wrote thoughtful content. Now it is all AP nonsense. 90% of it is worse than worthless. I’ve not subscribed to a newspaper in over 20 years. It was just not worth reading, even if it was free (and it was not).

My father will be 93 in a few days. He still gets a newspaper that is part of USA Today’s holdings. They cannot even deliver it properly any more. He has been taking that paper (under other ownership) since 1962 at his current location. They changed delivery people and they threw it in the neighboring yard, building vacant for 15 years. (guess it was a GPS issue). It took 5 phone calls and waiting in the phone cue 5 times to get the problem fixed. How did they fix it? They delivered a paper in both yards for a few months and finally got it right. Idiots with computers. Headshake.

I just returned dad’s subscription renewal envelope this week to cancel it. He is unable to read it well now and it serves no purpose.


5 posted on 10/20/2018 10:21:01 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: bagster

Well, I don’t think the CIA runs it. The people who run it are CA computer types. And they are very biased libs.

The military has some pull with them. I’ve seen that happen.

I’ve been using Twitter to communicate with people outside the US since 2009. It can be an very good way to get news from areas that are not covered by MSM.

Over the years I’ve made friendships with a lot of people who know what is happening in a fairly long list of countries. Some of them are incredibly smart and connected.

I sent them things I think they should know and they send me things I’m interested in. It has worked.

There is of course no country called Kurdistan.

All 4 countries that most of the Kurds live in are different. And the Kurds themselves have a different world view in each of them. Some common culture, but certainly varied on individual level. I have long term close relationships with some of them.

They are in my opinion good people. They have always been very open and honest with me. So if I seem biased toward them, that is why. I do appreciate honesty.


6 posted on 10/20/2018 10:29:05 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: Texas Fossil
All that doesn't explain why Twitter gives a tinker's damn what gets twatted in, from, or about Kurds no matter where they are.

Who controls Twitter that it would go out of it's way to censor Kurd tweets? Why? What is the "big picture"?

Twitter, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and all the big tech companies were set up, manned by, and do the bidding of the derp state.

They are all a means to control and "capture" America.

This is just science.

To think otherwise is naïve.

Expand your thinking, goodman.

p.s. With all due respect.

7 posted on 10/20/2018 10:34:41 PM PDT by bagster ("Even bad men love their mamas".)
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To: Texas Fossil

I used to read the CS Monitor back in the day. It was a great paper—never could figure out the cult ownership. It was in-depth like no other US paper, and had superior coverage internationally. Since they went to the web, they reduced content to the same M-TV length and puerile content as well as going completely leftist.

I haven’t seen a decent local paper in decades and I’ve lived all over the country.


8 posted on 10/20/2018 10:35:46 PM PDT by antidisestablishment ( Xenophobia is the only sane response to multiculturalismÂ’s irrational cultural exuberance)
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To: bagster

Be nice, Baggie.

The Goverment-Media-Complex is not as easily discerned. The relationships are more extensive and the methods are much more sophisticated than the ham-handed mockingbird agents of the last century. A subtle hand can move the tiller without notice.

The private ownership facade creates a shield stronger than corporate liability protection. Even here, we see conservatives clamoring about “private business” and “government interference.”

These (government-supported) monopolies have greater power than any “Robber Baron” ever conceived.


9 posted on 10/20/2018 10:51:48 PM PDT by antidisestablishment ( Xenophobia is the only sane response to multiculturalismÂ’s irrational cultural exuberance)
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To: antidisestablishment
Be nice, Baggie.

Always. Did that come across as "not nice"?

I live by this motto.

"It's nice to be nice to the nice".

p.s. You get it. Which is nice.

10 posted on 10/20/2018 10:58:02 PM PDT by bagster ("Even bad men love their mamas".)
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To: bagster

Nice!


11 posted on 10/20/2018 11:00:11 PM PDT by antidisestablishment ( Xenophobia is the only sane response to multiculturalismÂ’s irrational cultural exuberance)
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To: antidisestablishment

At one time the Amarillo Globe News was an excellent paper. It sold out and was totally destroyed as far as I was concerned.

I read the Albuquerque Journal and the El Paso Times for many years. Frank Feuille was the editor of the El Paso Times, great man. Not sure the condition of that paper now.

There was a time when the Dallas Morning News was a good paper, it is terrible now.

The automation/efficiency of the AP killed the newspapers.

They are totally brain dead now. Or worse, bought to project an agenda. Propaganda only.


12 posted on 10/20/2018 11:03:24 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: bagster

The globalists are not unified. They all have their own agenda. It is not a hopeless cause to resist their efforts.

Expand my thinking? On what basis do you have the wisdom to judge my thinking as being shallow?

You have no idea what I’ve seen or done in my lifetime.

I do have a grasp of what is happening in the Middle East. It is something I have studied for quite a few years and I base my grasp of it on friends that I know and trust within the region.


13 posted on 10/20/2018 11:11:20 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: Texas Fossil
The globalists are not unified.

Are you sure about that?

On what basis do you have the wisdom to judge my thinking as being shallow?

I'm not allowed to talk about where I get my so called "wisdom", but of course my "judgement" can only be ascertained by your own words, statements, and opinions.

Keep in mind that I never used the word "shallow" to describe your thinking.

And I did say "with all due respect".

p.s. I respect that you have experience and knowledge. That wasn't my point.

Again, with all due respect and niceness.

14 posted on 10/20/2018 11:17:15 PM PDT by bagster ("Even bad men love their mamas".)
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To: Texas Fossil
It is not a hopeless cause to resist their efforts.

Oh, I missed this one.

Of course it's not a hopeless cause to resist the derps/globalists.

The Donald and his team are doing that every single day in front of and behind the scenes. There is a struggle and a "shadow war" going on as we speak.

15 posted on 10/20/2018 11:20:06 PM PDT by bagster ("Even bad men love their mamas".)
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To: bagster

I’m through for tonight. Good evening.


16 posted on 10/20/2018 11:25:36 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: Texas Fossil

Think of Google, Twitter and FakeBook as the AP on steroids. They say they do not provide “content,” yet they provide the only platform (it’s really not arguable) and censor content based on an agenda.

They are not free enterprise, nor free speech; together, they confound and corrupt the legal system by making opposing claims simultaneously. You could argue that the (monopolies) platforms are content-agnostic or you can argue the monopolies can “produce” or limit speech. You cannot reasonably argue both. These monopolies should have the same restrictions and liabilities as any other media company, or they should not be able to restrict or moderate speech beyond law.

The current operation of these monopolies, in concert with corrupt (or naive, if you prefer) political oversight, truly represents an existential threat to our way of life.


17 posted on 10/20/2018 11:26:32 PM PDT by antidisestablishment ( Xenophobia is the only sane response to multiculturalismÂ’s irrational cultural exuberance)
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To: antidisestablishment
The current operation of these monopolies, in concert with corrupt (or naive, if you prefer) political oversight, truly represents an existential threat to our way of life.

Agree. And the POLs are corrupt, most are not naive.

18 posted on 10/20/2018 11:30:21 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: antidisestablishment

Have a good evening.


19 posted on 10/20/2018 11:30:43 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: Texas Fossil
G'nite, TF
20 posted on 10/20/2018 11:31:27 PM PDT by bagster ("Even bad men love their mamas".)
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