Tag: 3/28/2019

Facebook bans all praise of ‘white nationalism’ & ‘white separatism’

CAP

Facebook has announced that it will ban content relating to ‘white nationalism’ and ‘white separatism’ from its platform. The nature of the content that will be banned raises some free speech concerns.

Facebook’s hate speech policies already forbid any content praising or promoting “white supremacy.” The company has, until now, drawn a distinction between this content and “white nationalism” and “white separatism,” much to the ire of civil rights activists, who argue that the terms are interchangeable.

“Going forward,” the company announced in a blog post on Wednesday, “while people will still be able to demonstrate pride in their ethnic heritage, we will not tolerate praise or support for white nationalism and separatism.”

As of next week, users attempting to post such content will be redirected to Life After Hate, a nonprofit staffed by former extremists that seek to turn young people away from white supremacy. The new policy will apply to both Facebook and Instagram.

White nationalism and white separatism are hazy concepts. Facebook initially considered them in the same category of Basque separatism in Spain, the Zionist movement, or Malcolm X-style black separatism. However, the latest decision seems to place explicitly white movements into a category of their own.

Enforcing the ban will likely prove controversial, especially in the United States where Facebook has been accused of a pervasive anti-conservative bias. Phrases like “I am a proud white nationalist” and “Immigration is tearing this country apart; white separatism is the only answer” will now be banned, the company told Motherboard. Less explicit and “coded”references will be removed on a case-by-case basis, an opaque policy that will surely draw accusations of misuse.

Behind the scenes, most of the content sifting will be done using artificial intelligence and machine learning, Facebook said on Wednesday.

Facebook’s clampdown on the extreme right comes less than two weeks after gunman Brenton Tarrant murdered 50 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Tarrant livestreamed his rampage on Facebook, and the social media giant was criticized for failing to take down reposts of the video quick enough in the days afterward.

Tarrant’s murder spree, inspired by a blend of white supremacist and fascist ideologies, prompted New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Arden to issue a “global call” to fight the “ideology” of racism, particularly online.

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Schiff Confronted in Explosive House Hearing: We ‘Urge Your Immediate Resignation’…

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BY GRACE SEGERS, OLIVIA GAZIS

Every Republican on the House Intelligence Committee is calling on Chairman Adam Schiff to resign Thursday, accusing the California Democrat of weaving a “demonstrably false” narrative of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and “undermining” the credibility of the panel.

At a hearing Thursday, Republican Rep. Mike Conaway read a letter that argued that Schiff has been “at the center of a well-orchestrated media campaign claiming, among other things, the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government.”

A visibly emotional Schiff, who did not know this broadside from Republicans was coming, had a strident response. At times raising his voice, he listed a litany of known and controversial interactions between the Trump campaign and Russia – including Donald Trump, Jr’s involvement in the Trump Tower meeting and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort‘s sharing of polling data with a Russian associate.

“You might think it’s okay,” Schiff said. “I don’t.”

Since special counsel Robert Mueller did not find that Trump campaign associates had colluded with the Kremlin, according to a letter sent to Congress by Attorney General William Barr, Republicans believe that Schiff’s continued investigation of Mr. Trump and his associates is an example of congressional overreach, and they accused him of abusing his position to “knowingly promote false information.”

“Your willingness to continue to promote a demonstrably false narrative is alarming,” said the letter read by Conaway. “The findings of the Special Counsel conclusively refute your past and present assertions and have exposed you as having abused your position to knowingly promote false information, having damaged the integrity of this Committee, and undermined faith in U.S. government institutions.”

The letter also says that Republicans have “no faith in your ability to discharge your duties in a manner consistent with your Constitutional responsibility and urge your immediate resignation as Chairman of this Committee.” The letter was signed by all nine Republican members of the committee, including moderate Reps. Elise Stefanik and Will Hurd.

President Trump is also picking a fight with Schiff, echoing the call on him to resign.

“Congressman Adam Schiff, who spent two years knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking, should be forced to resign from Congress!” Mr. Trump tweeted Thursday morning.

The committee has been riven by infighting since before Democrats took the majority in the 2018 midterm elections. The Republican-led Russia probe broke down along party lines — Republicans concluded there was no evidence that Mr. Trump or his campaign colluded, coordinated or conspired with the Russian government. Democrats decried the investigation as superficial and vowed to continue pulling threads they said Republicans ignored.

Asked about the sudden push by Republicans for him to step aside, Schiff told CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe Wednesday, “I’m used to attacks from the president and his allies in Congress. This is really nothing new and nothing unexpected.”

Emily Tillett contributed to this report

First published on March 28, 2019 / 11:19 AM

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Conspiracy Theory Peddling CNN Talker Brian Stelter Offers Excuse for CNN’s Abysmal Ratings

CNN’s eunuch has an interesting take on why his network’s ratings are falling.

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A conspiracy theorist and host at CNN made a downright bizarre excuse for his network’s plummeting ratings after the collapse of the RussiaGate hoax.

“It’s true that Fox’s prime time ratings have popped this week while CNN and MSNBC’s ratings have been below average. That makes sense: On the right, the Barr letter is being celebrated like a sequel to election night. Since the letter’s release on Sunday, there hasn’t been much news. So I’m not surprised by the ebb and flow, but I’m keeping an eye on it…” said Brian Stelter in his morning newsletter.

Stelter hosts the show “Reliable Sources,” which proved itself unreliable on multiple occasions, but confirmed its unreliability after the CNN’s president said that the network’s reporters “are not investigators.”

The excuse that there “hasn’t been much news” this week is bogus.

America’s favorite alleged hate crime hoaxer Jussie Smollett was mysteriously exonerated by tight-lipped prosecutors in Chicago who have deep ties to the Democratic Party establishment, all the way up the ladder to the Obama family.

Going to, not from jail is former CNN darling Michael Avenatti, whose alleged un-indicted co-conspirator is Mark Geragos, a former CNN legal analyst who has now been released by the network. The network once let both men dominate their airtime. Now, Stelter says they’re not newsworthy.

CNN could always discuss their own legal woes. The network was recently served with a $250 million lawsuit by the attorneys for Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann, alleging that the network defamed him. That was on March 9. CNN first covered the story on March 21 – then dropped it altogether.

There’s plenty of news to cover. Perhaps Stelter could drop the charade and be honest about why his network is rapidly losing viewership.

The Russian “collusion” scandal was always a conspiracy theory, and CNN and the rest of the cable nets perpetuated it for two years.

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TUCKER: REAL COLLUSION IS BETWEEN MEDIA AND DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Tucker: Real Collusion Is Between Media And Democratic Party

Carlson opened Wednesday night’s edition of his show with a “story about collusion, actual collusion that’s currently” taking place “in the open on live television.”

Chris Menahan | Information Liberation – MARCH 28, 2019

Tucker Carlson argued Wednesday that the media shifted from the Russiagate hoax to talking about “healthcare” by taking cues from Democratic Party leader Nancy Pelosi.

From The Daily Caller:

Fox News host Tucker Carlson contended that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi successfully changed the coverage agenda at CNN from the Mueller report to health care.

Carlson opened Wednesday night’s edition of his show with a “story about collusion, actual collusion that’s currently” taking place “in the open on live television.”

“This is a story about where your news comes from,” he said.

[…]“Something had to be done,” Carlson said. “So into this disaster stepped the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. On Monday, just hours after the collusion story collapsed, Pelosi announced that the Democratic Party would be switching gears. Going forward, Democrats would focus intently on health care, just like she disingenuously claimed they always have.”

What Tucker said about both networks talking about “healthcare” during his monologue a little after 8PM EST was entirely true:

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