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    UK Moderator/Librarian/Administrator Tintin's Avatar
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    Default [Report] Big Brother Watch | The State of Free Speech Online

    GOVERNMENT’S ONLINE SAFETY BILL “POSES GREATEST THREAT TO UK FREE SPEECH IN LIVING MEMORY”, SAY CAMPAIGNERS
    BIG BROTHER WATCH TEAM / SEPTEMBER 5, 2021


    Source: Big Brother Watch

    ________________________

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    Big Brother Watch has launched a new report warning against the “censorious” Online Safety Bill, and sounding the alarm on the rise of Big Tech speech police.

    The report, titled The State of Free Speech Online, explores how:
    - Marginalised groups are disproportionately impacted by tech platforms’ rules, which abandon legal speech standards
    - Online censorship has resulted in the removal of political parties’ and campaign groups’ online content
    - Online platforms’ “misinformation” policies are shutting down online discussions about public health policy
    - The Government’s little-known Counter Disinformation Unit pressures social media companies to take down lawful speech
    The report documents the growing threat of social media censorship with a catalogue of shocking case studies of account suspensions and bans, particularly in relation to sex and gender, race, politics and health.

    Far from “reigning in” social media companies, the campaigners say, the Government is “seeking a share of the extraordinary power to suppress and censor lawful speech on a scale never seen before”.

    The report dissects the Government’s Online Safety Bill, which the civil liberties group warns would increase online censorship and pose a serious threat to online free speech in the UK.

    Impact on marginalised voices

    Over 2 years of research has unearthed scores of examples of online censorship involving marginalised groups – from feminist debates, to comments about sex or race, to erasure of people who have, or have had, mental health problems.

    In one case, a gay man was locked out of his Facebook account for saying that being gay “would be so much easier without men, men are the worst”, showing the blunt nature of social media companies’ “hate speech” policies, which operate without contextualisation and often suppress the speech of those they claim to protect.

    On Instagram, photos of users who have self-harm scars are routinely hidden and labelled as “sensitive content” that people may find “disturbing”.

    On Twitter, scores of users have been suspended or banned in the course of debates about sex and gender, or for allegedly misgendering other users with terms such as “cis” or “dude”.

    Political censorship

    Big Brother Watch’s research also found a growth in arbitrary political censorship, with the posts of political parties and civil society groups shut down without justification.

    Twitter recently removed the grassroots “Kill the Bill” campaign, which opposes the Government’s controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The campaign group was given no explanation for the suspension of the account and set up another account, which was also shut down. The accounts were reinstated after Big Brother Watch complained to Twitter.

    Increased shutdown of public health policy discussion

    Since early 2020, social media companies’ rules regarding so-called “disinformation” and “misinformation” have become increasingly stringent, with many platforms prohibiting content that diverges from WHO guidance. This has been documented by a number of high-level instances of academics and journalists having their posts about public health policies censored.

    However, Big Brother Watch’s research also found this happening at a lower level and restricting the discussions of ordinary users.

    Counter Disinformation Cell

    The report also examines state-censorship and the work of the little-known Counter Disinformation Cell. The opaque Whitehall unit liaises with social media platforms, flagging posts mainly about coronavirus and the pandemic that it believes breach the platforms’ rules – although not the law.

    The civil liberties group warns against the slippery slope of “extrajudicial censorship” and the convergence of power between the tech giants and Government.

    QUOTES

    Commenting on the publication of the report, Mark Johnson, Legal and Policy Officer at Big Brother Watch said:
    "We’ve exposed how, over recent years, social media companies have adopted increasingly censorious speech standards. The Online Safety Bill will only make this worse and poses a greater threat to freedom of speech in the UK than any other law in living memory.

    The Bill does absolutely nothing to help police deal with real crime online but rather, focuses the lens on ordinary people’s conversations. The Bill will force social media companies to suppress lawful content which is controversial, counter-cultural or offensive.

    These new rules will leave us with two tiers of speech, where speech that’s permitted on the street is not allowed online.

    This framework for control of lawful speech will do untold damage to free expression that may be impossible to reverse. The Government should remove powers over lawful speech from the Bill altogether."
    ENDS

    Notes:

    The report is available to download here.
    “If a man does not keep pace with [fall into line with] his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” - Thoreau

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  3. Link to Post #82
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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. This short but very important TED talk by Eli Pariser starts with this alarming quote:



    Why is it alarming? Because Mark Zuckerberg will then decide to FILTER OUT your news about Africa, because your Facebook or online search history says you're more interested in squirrels.

    And you have no say... and you'll never know.

    Listen to this presentation very carefully. And this is from 2011 — over 6 long years ago.

    Should we have our own news agency?
    It's trivial to create a search engine - I've done it in Perl quite a few years ago for my own use. The complexities arise when you need to provide hooks for new video and audio changes and formats, and of course to program against the PTB bots and malware, but it can be done. Should we start?

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    UK Avalon Member Lariliss's Avatar
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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see

    1. The analysis of the interests through internet searches and news would take longer than the internet exists without today’s computation ability and AI.
    2. But the major part of these decisions comes from our brains.
    I have encountered one neurobiology experiment.
    It was devoted to the parts of the brain responsible for pleasure and ran with rats and humans.
    The main point is that the human participating in the experiment had to hit a button, without knowledge, if they will be rewarded with a pleasure signal to the brain or hit by a strong voltage charge.
    It appeared that for that person the reward itself was not important, but hitting the button was addicting.
    It means that we receive pleasure not from the reward itself, but from the reward expectation.

    The example that the author who described the experiment was our going through the Facebook main thread. We just go on scrolling without knowing if we will encounter anything interesting today or not. On the other hand, something will catch the eye and mind, and we will go search for the same subject elsewhere.

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    Scotland Avalon Member Ewan's Avatar
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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see

    Kind of related?

    I received this email from Amazon today..

    Quote Hello,

    We regret to report that the release of the following item has been cancelled:

    Shaw, Christopher a "Dispatches from the Vaccine Wars: Fighting for Human Freedom During the Great Reset (Children's Health Defense)"

    Our supplier has informed us that this item is no longer available. This item has now been cancelled from your order #204-3218000-0917963. In case you have been charged for it, payment will be refunded within 5-7 business days.

    Please accept our apologies for any disappointment or inconvenience caused.

    You may visit the product detail page(s) above to see if these item(s) are available from other sellers.
    Ordered it over two months ago..
    Last edited by Ewan; 24th October 2021 at 17:27. Reason: spelling :blushing:

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    Belgium Avalon Member Johan (Keyholder)'s Avatar
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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see

    Hi Ewan!
    I tried to buy it... and the Kindle edition still is available.
    Once you have it, I don't think they can "remove" it any more?
    A bit expensive at 20 € though.

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    Avalon Member palehorse's Avatar
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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see

    I heard a while ago facebook will go through a rebrand process just like google did years ago, and their focus will be more directed toward the metaverse VR, which you can imagine where they are getting into (VR social network), they got oculus which is already deprecated in comparison with new absolutely freak techies coming up, and facebook horizon (serious **** take a deep look).

    Almost everything digital will be moving towards VR (more exactly brain-interface) very soon, perhaps sooner than we imagined.

    Most of the tech giants will be rebranded into the new infra-structure, they are going to flush away the old history and start writing the new one.

    Who remember pokemon go (Nintendo and Pokemon partnership) ? ground test tech where people died "playing the game".

    They are moving towards brain-interface and once they get it right which is not far from now, reality will become even more messed than it is today.


    In regards of a "clean" search engine, in my view it is only possible using peer to peer protocol, perhaps with federated servers owned by the peers itself, but definetely no institution of man involved, no legal/official corporation, it must be run by people, for the people.
    --
    A chaos to the sense, a Kosmos to the reason.

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    Scotland Avalon Member Ewan's Avatar
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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see

    Quote Posted by Johan (Keyholder) (here)
    Hi Ewan!
    I tried to buy it... and the Kindle edition still is available.
    Once you have it, I don't think they can "remove" it any more?
    A bit expensive at 20 € though.
    I'm a book person, struggle to even read .pdf's on the computer, like to turn the pages I guess.

    Have ordered a copy from, ironically, the US for £31.00 (Hardback)

    Also pre-ordered 'The Real Anthony Fauci by Robert F. Kennedy' at £19 something-or-other, release date 9th November (also Hardback).

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    UK Moderator/Librarian/Administrator Tintin's Avatar
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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see

    Well, it is in keeping - sort of - with the thread theme. Looks like a pretty cushy number for a Twitter employee:



    Source: https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/sta...95267552960512



    Source: https://twitter.com/mighty_tired/sta...97844722470912
    Last edited by Tintin; 27th October 2022 at 09:53.
    “If a man does not keep pace with [fall into line with] his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” - Thoreau

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    United States Avalon Member RunningDeer's Avatar
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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see

    Quote Posted by Johan (Keyholder) (here)
    Hi Ewan!
    I tried to buy it... and the Kindle edition still is available.
    Once you have it, I don't think they can "remove" it any more?
    A bit expensive at 20 € though.

    I download my Kindle copies just in case they decide to "remove".



    .....

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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see

    Who The Hell Do You Think You Are!': Boebert Explodes At Ex-Twitter Exec For Shadow-Banning Her.--9/2/23--5 min--

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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see


    The vid has been up for 8 hours and has 538,366 views.


    Quote Posted by gini (here)
    Who The Hell Do You Think You Are!': Boebert Explodes At Ex-Twitter Exec For Shadow-Banning Her.--9/2/23--5 min--
    Last edited by RunningDeer; 9th February 2023 at 04:54.

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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. This short but very important TED talk by Eli Pariser starts with this alarming quote:



    Why is it alarming? Because Mark Zuckerberg will then decide to FILTER OUT your news about Africa, because your Facebook or online search history says you're more interested in squirrels.

    And you have no say... and you'll never know.

    Listen to this presentation very carefully. And this is from 2011 — over 6 long years ago.

    Proving to be more truth than we knew. Twitter X exec testifies to communicating with gov. officials and Fauci who suggesting blocking Harvard and Standford physicians that disagreed with their policies and the vaccine! I mean imagine the nerve of the guy to block Harvard and Standford doctors and think he could just get away with it. I think that one guy that told them all to prepare to be arrested got it right! The people ae about to learn just how money hungry these vaccine investors like Fauci, Gates and others involved were. Censoring credentialed doctors from speaking their side is criminal in my opinion. Especially when someone in gov. was behind it. Fauci works for the gov. am I right? That would be a free speech violation then correct? I believe so. Rhetorical but the point is it's beginning to hit the fan.
    The genius consistently stands out from the masses in that he unconsciously anticipates truths of which the population as a whole only later becomes conscious! Speech-circa 1937

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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see



    I don't believe anything, but I have many suspicions. - Robert Anton Wilson

    The present as you think of it, and in practical working terms, is that point at which you select your physical experience from all those events that could be materialized. - Seth (The Nature of Personal Reality - Session 656, Page 293)

    (avatar image: Brocken spectre, a wonderful phenomenon of nature I have experienced and a symbol for my aspirations.)

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    Germany Avalon Member Open Minded Dude's Avatar
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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see

    "Pre-bunking", "attitude innoculations" or opinion 'booster videos' is all the rage now for Google. This is insane.


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    Scotland Avalon Member Ewan's Avatar
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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see

    In her testimony to the House Weaponization Committee Emma Morris (a politics editor at Breitbart) reveals hundreds of 3-letter agency staff work at social media outlets.



    The laughter bit that the video draws your attention to was the claim that it was a Russian Misinformation job... not the important bit to me.

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    Avalon Member gord's Avatar
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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see

    This is an interesting pdf from 2022 about google from psychology researcher Dr. Robert Epstein. The most recent reference to him in this thread was from Hervé about 4 years ago.

    GOOGLE’S TRIPLE THREAT
    To Democracy, Our Children, and Our Minds
    https://aibrt.org/downloads/EPSTEIN_2022-GOOGLE'S_TRIPLE_THREAT.pdf
    The only place a perfect right angle ever CAN be, is the mind.

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    Argentina Avalon Member Vicus's Avatar
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    Default Re: How Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Amazon decide what you're going to see

    The Rise of Techno-Authoritarianism
    Adrienne LaFrance
    The Atlantic
    Tue, 30 Jan 2024



    Silicon Valley has its own ascendant political ideology. It's past time we call it what it is.


    If you had to capture Silicon Valley's dominant ideology in a single anecdote, you might look first to Mark Zuckerberg, sitting in the blue glow of his computer some 20 years ago, chatting with a friend about how his new website, TheFacebook, had given him access to reams of personal information about his fellow students:

    Zuckerberg: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
    Zuckerberg: Just ask.
    Zuckerberg: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
    Friend: What? How'd you manage that one?
    Zuckerberg: People just submitted it.
    Zuckerberg: I don't know why.
    Zuckerberg: They "trust me"
    Zuckerberg: Dumb ****s.

    That conversation — later revealed through leaked chat records — was soon followed by another that was just as telling, if better mannered. At a now-famous Christmas party in 2007, Zuckerberg first met Sheryl Sandberg, his eventual chief operating officer, who with Zuckerberg would transform the platform into a digital imperialist superpower. There, Zuckerberg, who in Facebook's early days had adopted the mantra "Company over country," explained to Sandberg that he wanted every American with an internet connection to have a Facebook account. For Sandberg, who once told a colleague that she'd been "put on this planet to scale organizations," that turned out to be the perfect mission.

    Facebook (now Meta) has become an avatar of all that is wrong with Silicon Valley. Its self-interested role in spreading global disinformation is an ongoing crisis. Recall, too, the company's secret mood-manipulation experiment in 2012, which deliberately tinkered with what users saw in their News Feed in order to measure how Facebook could influence people's emotional states without their knowledge. Or its participation in inciting genocide in Myanmar in 2017. Or its use as a clubhouse for planning and executing the January 6, 2021, insurrection. (In Facebook's early days, Zuckerberg listed "revolutions" among his interests. This was around the time that he had a business card printed with I'M CEO, BITCH.)

    And yet, to a remarkable degree, Facebook's way of doing business remains the norm for the tech industry as a whole, even as other social platforms (TikTok) and technological developments (artificial intelligence) eclipse Facebook in cultural relevance.

    The new technocrats claim to embrace Enlightenment values, but in fact they are leading an antidemocratic, illiberal movement.

    To worship at the altar of mega-scale and to convince yourself that you should be the one making world-historic decisions on behalf of a global citizenry that did not elect you and may not share your values or lack thereof, you have to dispense with numerous inconveniences — humility and nuance among them. Many titans of Silicon Valley have made these trade-offs repeatedly. YouTube (owned by Google), Instagram (owned by Meta), and Twitter (which Elon Musk insists on calling X) have been as damaging to individual rights, civil society, and global democracy as Facebook was and is. Considering the way that generative AI is now being developed throughout Silicon Valley, we should brace for that damage to be multiplied many times over in the years ahead.

    The behavior of these companies and the people who run them is often hypocritical, greedy, and status-obsessed. But underlying these venalities is something more dangerous, a clear and coherent ideology that is seldom called out for what it is: authoritarian technocracy. As the most powerful companies in Silicon Valley have matured, this ideology has only grown stronger, more self-righteous, more delusional, and — in the face of rising criticism — more aggrieved.

    continue: https://www.sott.net/article/488501-...thoritarianism

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