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Republicans widen counterattack on Facebook and Twitter
Politico ^ | Oct 15, 2020 | Steven Overly

Posted on 10/16/2020 2:20:33 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?

The GOP fury at Facebook's and Twitter's handling of unproven allegations against Democratic hopeful Joe Biden morphed Thursday into a broad assault on the online industry's most-cherished legal protections — drawing even some once-skeptical Republicans to back President Donald Trump's crusade against Silicon Valley.

The two social networks refused to back down from their decisions Wednesday to limit the spread of a disputed New York Post story about the Biden family, a decision that drew praise from some past critics of the industry's handling of misinformation. Twitter even locked the account of Trump's reelection campaign for a few hours Thursday for posting a video related to the article....

"Censorship over political differences, whether done by the government or a tech company, is un-American," said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Consumer Protection Subcommittee, Thursday during a POLITICO summit on artificial intelligence

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: biden; facebook; factchecking; twitter
Politico as usual is off in left field. Once twitter and facebook entered the fact-checking realm it became a loose loose position. By controlling content on whether something posted is misinformation or not they are now in effect responsible for the content which negates 230 protections.
1 posted on 10/16/2020 2:20:33 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

no media suffers more from TDS than taxpayer-funded ABC Australia.

16m30s to 24m28s: Facebook/Twitter censorship plans, pre and post poll on 3 November.
Rae Johnston, taxpayer-funded National Indigenous TV, thinks it is BEAUTIFUL how Twitter censors President Trump.

AUDIO: 28m22s: 15 Oct: ABC Australia: Download This Show
with Marc Fennell
Plus, are Twitter and Facebook doing enough to stop misinformation...
Guests: Peter Marks, software developer, Access Informatics and Rae Johnston, Science and Tech Editor, NITV
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/downloadthisshow/sick-of-doing-video-calls/12769420


2 posted on 10/16/2020 2:30:08 AM PDT by MAGAthon
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To: where's_the_Outrage?
The GOP fury at Facebook's and Twitter's handling of unproven allegations against Democratic hopeful Joe Biden

Let's see the proof for the fake Steele dossier and that Russian collusion hoax stories that Politico run with for THREE years, then we can talk about “unproven”.
There is vastly more proof about the corruption of Hunter Biden than there ever was for the Steele dossier. .
Having said that, the best thing that could have happened was for Twitter and Facebook to try and ban this story. It made the story spread like wildfire everywhere. Now everyone knows about it. You really can't stop a story from a major newspaper like the New York Post from spreading

3 posted on 10/16/2020 2:35:42 AM PDT by SmokingJoe
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To: MAGAthon

last nite on ABC Australia’s “Counterpoint” radio show, which is supposed to represent a more conservative view than the rest of their ultra-leftist programming. hosted by former conservative MP, Amanda Vanstone, who has just as many “progressive” guests as the rest of ABC:

at 21m18s: ANHEIER (paraphrasing): need to identify certain people who believe in certain conspiracy thories, like QAnon, and then shut down their websites.
in the US, the more prone to conspiracy theories like QAnon are white, with low level of education, African Americans and Latinos. what they have in common: they are in precarious economic conditions. and that’s where you find conspiracy theories more frequent. what do we do about it? in US, we are paying the price for not having enough civics education in the curricula for the past quarter of a century. that needs to change in the long-term.
mentions book “Strangers in their own Land” about people who have not been listened to for a long time and they now disproportionately vote for Trump, even tho Trump does not represent their interests at all. Trump pretends he does, and they pretend he does. a very curious situation. in UK, something similar with Brexit. ENDS 25m30s.

AUDIO: 54min 7sec: 12 Oct: ABC Australia: Counterpoint: Protest and parentheses
Then, (at 12 mins) why are conspiracies and conspiracy theorists so popular in the United States right now? Dr ***Helmut K. Anheier argues that ‘The emergence of the far-right QAnon cult in America has brought conspiratorial thinking to the forefront of global politics, particularly now that US President Donald Trump has offered his own oblique praise of the group’. He believes that ‘at a minimum, such disinformation distracts from real issues and sows confusion. And in today’s information ecosystem, (t)he spread of conspiracy theories threatens to erode even further public trust in established institutions undermine confidence in democracy, and incite violence’. He suggest a Conspiracy Monitor might help. What is it and how will it work?
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/counterpoint/12-10-20/12747054

Wikipedia: ***Strangers in Their Own Land
Hochschild’s book was written after speaking to focus groups and interviewing Tea Party supporters. The bayou area has a high concentration of petrochemical plants as well as a high level of pollution in its waterways. Hochschild wanted to understand why there was little support for environmental regulation in this area, despite what would seem to be the self-interest of its residents...

The core of the book is Hochschild’s attempt to distill the worldview of Tea Party supporters, who formed part of the same constituency that heavily backed Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. According to Hochschild, Tea Party supporters have reacted against the changing face of America in the last few decades. They perceive a situation where women, immigrants, and racial minorities have been “cutting in line” to achieve the American dream. And they also feel as though some government officials (such as President Barack Obama) have been waving these same groups to the front of the line through affirmative action programs and other kinds of support. As a result of these perceptions, the older, largely white, and disproportionately male supporters of the Tea Party increasingly feel, as Hochschild’s title indicates, like strangers in their own land...
Finalist for the 2016 National Book Award for Nonfiction “Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, by Arlie Russell Hochschild, 2016 National Book Award Longlist, Nonfiction”...
Selected by the New York Times as one of “6 Books to Understand Trump’s Win”...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strangers_in_Their_Own_Land


4 posted on 10/16/2020 2:37:01 AM PDT by MAGAthon
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To: MAGAthon

My son and DIL came out of college flaming liberals, and we could never talk about politics without the DIL getting red-faced quoting what she heard on MSNBC and CNN.
My son sent my wife an article a couple of days ago, and my wife responded with an article refuting it, asking if he had seen any of these facts. He responded positively, and she sent him articles about Hunter’s laptop, asked if the had seen them. Of course he hadn’t. Obviously he is questioning his liberalism.
If you’re conservative at 20, you have no heart. If you’re a liberal at 40, you have no brain. He has a degree in Astro-Physics and his wife has a degree in pre-med, both valedictorians. Maybe he does have a brain.


5 posted on 10/16/2020 2:45:44 AM PDT by TStro (Better to die on your feet than live on your knees)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

“Unproven allegations”


6 posted on 10/16/2020 3:04:43 AM PDT by wastedyears (The left would kill every single one of us and our families if they knew they could get away with it)
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To: SmokingJoe

Streisand Effect is real.


7 posted on 10/16/2020 3:12:58 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?
The GOP fury at Facebook's and Twitter's handling of unproven allegations against Democratic hopeful Joe Biden

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! Unproven allegations!!

Isn't that an oxymoron? If they were proven, they would no longer be allegations!

8 posted on 10/16/2020 3:20:34 AM PDT by Cowboy Bob (Mocking Liberals is not only a right, but the duty of all Americans.)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

The GOPe is going to use twitter and Fakebook to take the heat off the Biden Crime Family. Guaranteed.


9 posted on 10/16/2020 4:12:14 AM PDT by lodi90
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To: lodi90

$400 million to influence the election:

14 Oct: Reuters: Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan donate $100 million more to U.S. election infrastructure
By Elizabeth Culliford; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Aurora Ellis
“We’ve gotten a far greater response than we expected from election officials needing funding for voting infrastructure, so today we’re committing an additional $100 million to the Center for Tech and Civic Life to make sure that every jurisdiction that needs funding to help people vote safely can get it,” Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post.
“So far, more than 2,100 local election jurisdictions have submitted applications to CTCL for support,” he wrote...

CTCL is a Chicago-based nonprofit that, according to its website, is “working to foster a more informed and engaged democracy, and helping to modernize U.S. elections.”
The pair previously donated $300 million to help the U.S. election process deal with challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, by funding voting equipment and protective equipment for poll workers.

In the post, Zuckerberg also hit back at lawsuits trying to block the use of the funds: “Since our initial donation, there have been multiple lawsuits filed in an attempt to block these funds from being used, based on claims that the organizations receiving donations have a partisan agenda. That’s false,” he said.

The Thomas More Society, a conservative legal group that is representing clients and funding lawsuits filed in multiple states, in a statement on Tuesday doubled down on its allegation that the CTCL seeks to turn out Democrats, saying Zuckerberg’s announcement was “further proof that private funds from billionaires must not be allowed to dictate how states manage elections.”...
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-election-zuckerberg-chan/mark-zuckerberg-priscilla-chan-donate-100-million-more-to-u-s-election-infrastructure-idUKKBN26Y22C


10 posted on 10/16/2020 4:22:36 AM PDT by MAGAthon
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

What should happen is the ceos go to prison, after paying a fine of 1B and having their companies shut down.
What will happen is the Republicans have a hearing, and the bearded snake avoids the issue, and the sniveling snot shows a tear or two and then it’s over and nothing comes of it.


11 posted on 10/16/2020 5:14:30 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Social media are the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party. Wholly owned subsidiaries.)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Observation #1: Democrats always overplay their hand.
Observation #2: (Democrats) Beware the counterattack after your propaganda offensive is ‘spent’. You’ll end up losing ground before it’s over.

Facebook & Twitter acted impulsively and now they are going to pay a real price for it. I don’t really expect the congressional Republicans to back up their tough talk. But the FCC is likely to start clipping their wings next year.


12 posted on 10/16/2020 6:37:07 AM PDT by Tallguy (Facts be d@mned! The narrative must be protected at all costs!)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

They censored one of America’s largest newspapers, a senior administration official, the campaign of a Presidential candidate, a committee of the US Congress, and POTUS himself.

In short they bit off more than they could chew.


13 posted on 10/16/2020 6:42:26 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer.)
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To: Tallguy
I don’t really expect the congressional Republicans to back up their tough talk

I expect them to introduce endless rounds of Pinch Bills that will go nowhere, stuffing their pockets as a result.


14 posted on 10/16/2020 6:43:31 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer.)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

They panicked.


15 posted on 10/16/2020 6:44:28 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
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To: ClearCase_guy

And they are still playing games.

For the past 3 days Trump’s twitter feed has been failing to load on the first attempt. You get an “oops, something went wrong” message. Refresh the page and it will load.

I suppose they are counting on most people to give-up after the first attempt.


16 posted on 10/16/2020 6:57:05 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer.)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

They did this in 2016.

Apple, Twitter, Google, Instagram collude to defeat Trump
http://observer.com/2016/08/tech-companies-apple-twitter-google-and-instagram-collude-to-defeat-trump/


17 posted on 10/16/2020 4:12:50 PM PDT by tbw2
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