Google suppressing free speech; Google search traffic to Avalon down over half.

[East Sun]

Look no farther than the OWO? Have people forgotten already? A one world order...Who said that
in the not too distant past?
Out of chaos.......? Oh, yeah, they will make everything perfect.
Dont hold your breath.
There's obvious chaos and we are dumbed down to participate in it-----poisoned water, poisoned food and air not to mention, poisoned minds.

no one today can have missed all that, can they?
And worst of all the perpetrators have been spelled out in front of us and yet???????do we not get it?

[Tintin]

Posted by latte (here)
This is a widespread and growing concern to many.

Google displayed it's bias during the US elections. Entering a term such as "Hillary is" would result in a list of mostly positive returns and entering "Trump is" would result in a list of mostly negative returns.

On Bing, it was generally the opposite.

So, here is an article Global Research has posted:

Think Tank Proves Mass Censorship of Internet Worldwide. The Role of Search Engines. What are the Solutions
“The only legitimate role of search engines is to provide relevant search results, to facilitate public access to information. The only legitimate role of social media platforms is to facilitate public access to communications. … Content carriers have no legal nor moral authority to be self-appointed censors, nor to be self-proclaimed arbiters of Fact or Truth.” – Prince Judge Matthew of Thebes
At the request of the international Judiciary, the Council on Alternative Policy Studies (CAPS), an inter-governmental university think tank, has issued a ground-breaking exposé report proving the shocking reality of full-scale mass censorship of the Internet worldwide, and giving practical solutions for individuals to gain open access to uncensored Internet resources."

Excellent stuff Latte: I have downloaded a copy of the report.

For about 5 or so years now, and I really don't know why I remember it being 5, I have been advising that people source pdfs or text, actual text on articles of interest to them that fall outside "mainstream" interest/sanction and might run counter to officialdom, and, back-up copies to an external hard drive (not cloud based platforms) and print stuff out. Yes it may be costly but at least you'll have a working library to hand. On that subject I shall I think need to invest in another few reams of paper, and ink, as my 'to do' list' of print jobs has mushroomed of late.

[uzn]

MILO Meets James Damore, Author of the Google Memo
Google is known to hire the best and brightest in the world, but what happens when political correctness meets science? James Damore made history when he was fired from the tech giant after his memo on gender and STEM jobs was released to the public. The media attacked him as a sexist but MILO gets an in-depth interview with the man behind the memo and the science of the sexes.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=H2J5E8sSdsI

[Harley]

* Posting this here because Google and YouTube are one and the same.
* Also includes a mention of Facebook w/supporting link.

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YouTube "Economically Censors" Ron Paul, Labels Videos "Not Suitable" For All Advertisers

Aug 27, 2017 11:20 PM

Former US Congressman Ron Paul has joined a growing list of independent political journalists and commentators who’re being economically punished by YouTube despite producing videos that routinely receive hundreds of thousands of views.

In a tweet published Saturday, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange tweeted a screenshot of Paul’s “Liberty Report” page showing that his videos had been labeled “not suitable” for all advertisers by YouTube's content arbiters.

Twitter

Assange claims that Paul was being punished for speaking out about President Donald Trump’s decision to increase the number of US troops in Afghanistan, after Paul published a video on the subject earlier this week.

The notion that YouTube would want to economically punish a former US Congressman for sharing his views on US foreign policy – a topic that he is unequivocally qualified to speak about – is absurd. Furthermore, the “review requested” marking on one of Paul's videos reveals that they were initially flagged by users before YouTube's moderators confirmed that the videos were unsuitable for a broad audience.

Other political commentators who’ve been censored by YouTube include Paul Joseph Watson and Tim Black – both ostensibly for sharing political views that differ from the mainstream neo-liberal ideology favored by the Silicon Valley elite.

Last week, Google – another Alphabet Inc. company – briefly banned Salil Mehta, an adjunct professor at Columbia and Georgetown who teaches probability and data science, from using its service, freezing his accounts without providing an explanation. He was later allowed to return to the service.

Conservative journalist Lauren Southern spoke out about YouTube’s drive to stifle politically divergent journalists and commentators during an interview with the Daily Caller.



Of course, Google isn’t the only Silicon Valley company that’s enamored with censorship. Facebook has promised to eradicate “fake news,” which, by its definition, includes political content that falls outside of the mainstream.

Still, economically punishing a former US Congressman and medical doctor is a new low in Silicon Valley's campaign to stamp out dissent.

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[mojo]

this new article on the Sun..

The Google-owned video site is now putting videos into a "limited state" if they are deemed controversial enough to be considered objectionable, but not hateful, pornographic or violent enough to be banned altogether.

This policy was announced several months ago but has come into force in the past week, prompting anger among members of the YouTube community.
The Sun Online understands Google and YouTube staff refer to the tactic as "tougher treatment". One prominent video-maker slammed the new scheme whilst WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange described the measures as "economic censorship".
However, YouTube sees it as a way of maintaining freedom of speech and allowing discussion of controversial issues without resorting to the wholesale banning of videos.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/437217...ess-to-videos/

[Hervé]

Google curtails the reach of one's speech but records everything one (and others) says...

How Google is recording you and storing the data

Margi Murphy The Sun, UK
Wed, 23 Aug 2017 17:47 UTC

© Sun

DID you know that Google has been recording you without your knowledge?

The technology giant has effectively turned millions of its users' smartphones into listening devices that can capture intimate conversations - even when they aren't in the room.

If you own an Android phone, it's likely that you've used Google's Assistant, which is similar to Apple's Siri.

Google says it only turns on and begins recording when you utter the words "OK Google".

But a Sun investigation has found that the virtual assistant is a little hard of hearing.

In some cases, just saying "OK" in conversation prompted it to switch on your phone and record around 20 seconds of audio.

It regularly switches on the microphone as you go about your day-to-day activities, none the wiser.

Once Google is done recording, it uploads the audio files to its computer servers - often dubbed "the cloud".

These files are accessible from absolutely anywhere in the world - as long as you have an internet connection.

That means any device that is signed into your personal Gmail or Google account can access the library of your deepest, darkest secrets.

So if you're on a laptop right now and signed into Gmail - you could have a listen.

Recordings last around 10-20 seconds on average, and a text version of the conversation is saved.

The Silicon Valley giant states on its terms and conditions that it keeps these recordings for "improving speech recognition against all Google products that use your voice".

After the Sun Online presented examples of the voice recognition flaws to Google, a spokesman said: "We only process voice searches after the phone believes the hot word 'OK Google' is detected. Audio snippets are used by Google to improve the quality of speech recognition across Search."

It recently launched a smart assistant, Google Home.

Mundane voice recordings from the general public will help its artificial intelligence that runs Google Home, by teaching it how humans naturally communicate.

In simple terms: it's a free language class for its software.

How to find out exactly what Google knows about you

First, you'll need to be signed into your Gmail or Google account.

Once you've done that, type "history.google.com/history" into your web browser.

You'll be taken to a hub which contains your entire digital footprint, so be careful, it could make for some grim reading.

This includes Maps searches and YouTube videos you've watched.

Click on "Activity Controls "on the left-hand side of the page.

Under "Web and App Activity", click "Manage Activity".

If Google's keeping tabs on you, there should be a stream of web pages and map searches that show up in chronological order.

You can randomly delete searches, or select all the searches to make them disappear.

But Google is, first and foremost, an advertising company and its largest product is a targeted advert service, which it sells to the biggest brands in the world.

Billions of annual web searches, location and email data allow it to target the population with specialised marketing - and there is no reason why it couldn't do the same with your voice data, too.

So, now for the important question: how can I listen to the sound files Google has from my life?

How can I listen back to the audio Google has recorded from my phone?

It's pretty easy.

Unlike Apple, who does not publicise any of the voice data it stores through Siri, Google is pretty transparent - giving you full access to your audio.

First, you'll need to be signed into your Gmail or Google account.

Once you've done that, type "history.google.com/history" into your web browser.

You'll be taken to a hub which contains your entire digital footprint, so be careful, it could make for some grim reading.

This includes Maps searches and YouTube videos you've watched.

Under the tab Voice and Audio Activity, you'll find a list of recordings in chronological order.

Before you start listening, you might want to plug your headphones in.

You'll have to listen to the cringe-worthy sounds of you buying a pack of fags in the newsagent or making small talk at the bus stop.

But there might also be all lots of salacious gossip that you wouldn't want anybody else to hear.

You'll be shocked to hear what it's picked up, however.

The Sun Online discovered recordings from when the phone's owner was not in the room - and even revealed a romantic interlude between two mystery colleagues.

How do I switch it off?

It is possible to stop Google from storing so much info in the future.

Go back to "Activity controls" and under "Web & App activity" you should see a blue toggle.

You can switch this off, but be warned. Officially you have merely "paused" the recordings - so keep checking back on a regular basis to ensure that the terms and conditions don't change in the future and you aren't auto-enrolled when a new Android update comes along.

Apple iPhone users aren't any better off.

The tech giant also stores your voice recordings to improve its Siri assistant - but you aren't able to access them.

Apple says that the recordings are anonymised after 18 months, so nobody would be able to figure out who is speaking.

[Harley]

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YouTube [Google] Shuts Down North Korea Propaganda Account

10 Sep 2017



YouTube has cut off access to a state-run North Korean propaganda channel, as the U.S. seeks to impose tougher sanctions following Pyongyang's recent nuclear and missile tests.

The shutdown of Uriminzokkiri, which regularly posted video footage boasting of the North's nuclear and missile programs and others praising the North's leader Kim Jong-Un, was confirmed Saturday.

"This account has been terminated for violating YouTube's community guidelines", said the video-sharing website.

YouTube gives no details on reasons why particular accounts are closed down, or for how long. But advertising revenue generated by the accounts could violate U.S. trade sanctions.

Academics use official footage from the channels of missile launches and visits to factories by Kim to gain rare insights into the progress of the country's weapons programs.

"Tracking and digitally reconstructing events is going to be more difficult as these accounts get deleted," Scott Lafoy, a Washington-based satellite imagery analyst, told NK News.

The channel serves various propaganda purposes for North Korea.

Last month, Uriminzokkiri published a video featuring the two sons of James Joseph Dresnok, in which they said their father -- the only U.S. soldier known still to be living in North Korea after defecting more than five decades ago -- had died last year pledging loyalty to the "great leader Kim Jong-Un".

In July, it hosted a video featuring Lim Ji-Hyun, a female defector in her 20s who arrived in Seoul in 2014 and soon became a public figure, before apparently returning to the North from the "hell" of the capitalist South.

Uriminzokkiri's social media accounts remained active Saturday.

North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test a week ago, saying it was a hydrogen bomb that could be fitted onto a missile -- prompting global condemnation and calls for further sanctions.

In July, it tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that appeared to bring much of the mainland U.S. into range.

The U.S. has formally requested a U.N. Security Council vote on Monday on tough new sanctions against North Korea, despite resistance from China and Russia.

This is not the first time that YouTube has targeted North Korean propaganda.

In November 2016, the video-sharing platform closed down state-owned Korean Central TV1. Several other channels including Chosun TV, NK Propaganda and KCTV Stream were also cut off, according to NK News.

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[WhatTha']

Just a thought?

Did this phenomena start with the advent of President Trump to the American National Political Scene? All kinds of things became evident in tandem with his ascendancy. In fact, Alt nearly went the equivalent of lame stream and in the process many of the alt heroes were exposed to their ulterior motives and some of them were not very pretty. Couple that with the play of alt on various lame stream sources, the necessity of experiencing vicarious drama on selected sites was appeased by just watching the current administration. Never fear, resurgence is part of the pendulum swing.

[raregem]

I really enjoyed the Google parody art. My fave is -GOOLAG DON"T Think Differently !
I have noticed how my searches on Google has become flimsy. Really, so very little to work with to dig deeper for other viewpoints/ sites.
When I put Project Avalon in search I would get a page with a direct link to PA. Two steps but there.
I do not find so much either for Duck Duck Go or Bing. I am not great with the computer but it was -in the past- chock full of websites that were controversial in the alt media. PA has almost become ( for me) a way to get to places I may never have known otherwise. So, thank you all posters for your capabilities and sharing.

[Hervé]

Information war: Big Brother Google intensifies censorship of anti-war websites

Andre Damon World Socialist Web Site
Tue, 19 Sep 2017 00:00 UTC

Google has intensified its censorship of left-wing, progressive and anti-war websites, cutting the search traffic of 13 leading news outlets by 55 percent since April.

On August 2, the World Socialist Web Site reported that changes to Google's search algorithm had led the search traffic of these sites to drop by 45 percent, according to figures by the search analysis service SEMRush.

In the ensuing six weeks, the search traffic of every one of these sites, without exception, has plunged further, leading the total search traffic for the sites to fall by an additional nine percentage points.

The World Socialist Web Site, whose search traffic had fallen by 67 percent between April and July, has now experienced a total drop in search traffic of 74 percent.

By other measures, the WSWS's performance in search results has been impacted even more substantially. On September 16, the latest date available, articles from the WSWS were shown in search results 68,000 times, down from over 450,000 in April. This constitutes a decline of some 85 percent.

As a result of Google's censorship, the WSWS's global page rank has fallen from 31,000 to 41,000, according to Amazon's Alexa traffic ranking software.

Other sites affected include:

Alternet, one of the top 3,000 sites in the US, has seen its Google search traffic fall by 71 percent between April and September, up from 63 percent in the period through July.

Democracy Now, one of the top 5,000 sites in the US, had its search traffic fall 50 percent between April and September, up from 36 percent in the period through July.

Common Dreams, ranked in the top 8,000 US sites, had its Google search traffic fall by 50 percent between April and September, up from 37 percent in the period through July.

Global Research, one of the top 14,000 sites in the US, had its traffic fall slightly from its massive 62 percent decline between April and July.

Truth-out.org, ranked in the top 12,000 sites in the US, had its search traffic fall by 49 percent, up from 25 percent in the period through July.

The information uncovered by the WSWS has been prominently reported on a number of alternative news websites, including Consortium News, Global Research, Counterpunch, Truthdig, Russia Today, Truepublica and others.

In an article on Truthdig, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges pointed to the censorship of the WSWS and other left-wing websites:

"The ruling elites, who grasp that the reigning ideology of global corporate capitalism and imperial expansion no longer has moral or intellectual credibility, have mounted a campaign to shut down the platforms given to their critics...

"This is a war of ideas. The corporate state cannot compete honestly in this contest. It will do what all despotic regimes do-govern through wholesale surveillance, lies, blacklists, false accusations of treason, heavy-handed censorship and, eventually, violence."

Despite the broad support for the WSWS's calls for an end to Google's Internet censorship, the company has refused to reply either to the WSWS's petition opposing its censorship or repeated attempts to contact it for comment.

While Google's censorship has substantially reduced traffic to the WSWS, its effect has been partially counteracted by readers sharing articles through email and social media. One widely shared article published on September 9, titled "Why aren't trains evacuating people from the path of Hurricane Irma?", has been viewed over 90,000 times.

While only about 300 people reached the article through Google, tens of thousands accessed it through links from other websites and social media platforms.

In April, Google's vice president of engineering, Ben Gomes, announced in a blog post that the search giant would be implementing changes to its search algorithm to "surface more authoritative content." Google's guidelines for human search evaluators, issued around the same time, stressed that "authoritative" content should appear ahead of "alternative viewpoints."

On August 25, World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board Chairman David North issued an open letter to Google demanding that it stop censoring the Internet and end its political blacklisting of the WSWS.

An online petition calling for Google to end its censorship has received over 3,800 signatures from dozens of countries.

Google, however, has not replied to North's letter.

Recent weeks have seen a drastic escalation in calls for Internet censorship. The campaign to censor the Internet-usually justified in the name of "fighting terrorism" and blacking out "fake news" - has assumed international dimensions and is promoted at the highest levels of government. On ABC's This Week program on Sunday, the first three people interviewed, including British Prime Minister Theresa May, US National Security Adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster, and Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called for stricter control of the Internet.

President Donald Trump responded to last week's terror attack in London with a tweet declaring that "we must cut off" the Internet.

In her newly released book, What Happened?, Hillary Clinton again attributes her defeat to "fake news." She writes approvingly that "Companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google have already begun taking steps-adjusting algorithms, deactivating bot networks, and partnering with fact-checkers" - to fight the "torrent of misinformation" supposedly responsible for the outcome of the election.

Google's actions against the World Socialist Web Site and other left and progressive sites are making clear the real targets of Internet censorship: news outlets and political organizations opposing war, social inequality and the domination of society by the financial oligarchy.

SOTT Comment: Is all of this censorship in service to "authoritative" content any wonder considering that Google was Created and nurtured by the CIA?