Swordsmyth
09-12-2018, 08:45 PM
In an article last month (https://thinkprogress.org/facebooks-new-suspensions-show-its-not-just-russia-behind-fake-accounts-492a0d5f644c/) titled “Facebook announces that fake accounts are now coming not just from Russia”, fauxgressive establishment apologia firm ThinkProgress falsely reported (https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1032384807609585665.html) that I have been writing for an outlet that is alleged to be part of an Iranian propaganda campaign. I repeatedly (https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1032378447266426881) brought (https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1032386946931122176)this false claim to the attention of Casey Michel, the article’s author, telling him that ten seconds of research or any attempt to contact me would have shown him that the articles published by the outlet in question were just reblogs of earlier publications from my platform, but Michel ignored the many notifications he received from myself and my Twitter followers and went on merrily interacting with other posters. As of this writing, the article remains uncorrected.
https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/1_ySlkN13hgc6ezODNiDOxDQ.png
In the article, Michel documented Facebook’s heroic efforts to shut down alleged Iranian propaganda outlets, ominously warning his readers that “Russia is by no means the only foreign adversary exploiting social media’s inherent openness.” In other articles for ThinkProgress, Michel is repeatedly (https://thinkprogress.org/if-facebook-is-removing-pages-why-is-all-this-russian-material-still-up-7ee4b7059b63/)seen wagging his finger (https://thinkprogress.org/facebook-twitter-foreign-propaganda-b5c88834cd63/) at Facebook and Twitter for not doing more to censor “Russian propaganda”, and in a July article (https://thinkprogress.org/facebook-fox-news-alex-jones-infowars-fake-news-conspiracy-theories-mark-zuckerberg-41c9088747a7/) titled “Facebook says both sides share fake news, defends Infowars’ presence on its platform - Mark Zuckerberg has an interesting way of prioritizing ‘high quality news’” another ThinkProgress author criticized Facebook for not censoring Alex Jones. Jones was censored by Facebook the following month (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoojVXE5Xao).
So I think it’s understandable that those of us who have been warning (https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/duhhh-stop-defending-alex-jones-this-will-never-hurt-the-left-derp-duh-f423dc54073e) of the dangers of internet censorship (https://consortiumnews.com/2018/08/10/in-a-corporatist-system-of-government-corporate-censorship-is-state-censorship/) find it a bit funny to see ThinkProgress now complaining (https://twitter.com/thinkprogress/status/1039560966185381889) that it has been censored by Facebook.
Congratulations to everyone who 1) held up Bill Kristol and the Weekly Standard as a responsible, serious, admirable voice; and 2) urged Facebook to become the arbiters of who could & couldn't be heard on the internet. This is just the start of your work: https://t.co/smtbjHpsH4
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 11, 2018 (https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1039614602915577857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) ThinkProgress reports (https://thinkprogress.org/facebook-weekly-standard-fact-check-thinkprogress-6176df1d5749/) that its traffic from Facebook has been slashed by eighty percent due to a “fact check” by the Weekly Standard which, through a series of moronic mental contortions, found ThinkProgress guilty of reporting fake news about Brett Kavanaugh of all things. In a twist of irony which would be delicious if it weren’t so disgusting, the Weekly Standard is one of Facebook’s authorized “fact checkers”, and happens to be the brainchild of none other than bloodthirsty psychopath and rehabilitated #Resistance hero Bill Kristol.
More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-12/thinkprogress-censored-facebook-after-cheerleading-facebook-censorship
https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/1_ySlkN13hgc6ezODNiDOxDQ.png
In the article, Michel documented Facebook’s heroic efforts to shut down alleged Iranian propaganda outlets, ominously warning his readers that “Russia is by no means the only foreign adversary exploiting social media’s inherent openness.” In other articles for ThinkProgress, Michel is repeatedly (https://thinkprogress.org/if-facebook-is-removing-pages-why-is-all-this-russian-material-still-up-7ee4b7059b63/)seen wagging his finger (https://thinkprogress.org/facebook-twitter-foreign-propaganda-b5c88834cd63/) at Facebook and Twitter for not doing more to censor “Russian propaganda”, and in a July article (https://thinkprogress.org/facebook-fox-news-alex-jones-infowars-fake-news-conspiracy-theories-mark-zuckerberg-41c9088747a7/) titled “Facebook says both sides share fake news, defends Infowars’ presence on its platform - Mark Zuckerberg has an interesting way of prioritizing ‘high quality news’” another ThinkProgress author criticized Facebook for not censoring Alex Jones. Jones was censored by Facebook the following month (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoojVXE5Xao).
So I think it’s understandable that those of us who have been warning (https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/duhhh-stop-defending-alex-jones-this-will-never-hurt-the-left-derp-duh-f423dc54073e) of the dangers of internet censorship (https://consortiumnews.com/2018/08/10/in-a-corporatist-system-of-government-corporate-censorship-is-state-censorship/) find it a bit funny to see ThinkProgress now complaining (https://twitter.com/thinkprogress/status/1039560966185381889) that it has been censored by Facebook.
Congratulations to everyone who 1) held up Bill Kristol and the Weekly Standard as a responsible, serious, admirable voice; and 2) urged Facebook to become the arbiters of who could & couldn't be heard on the internet. This is just the start of your work: https://t.co/smtbjHpsH4
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 11, 2018 (https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1039614602915577857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) ThinkProgress reports (https://thinkprogress.org/facebook-weekly-standard-fact-check-thinkprogress-6176df1d5749/) that its traffic from Facebook has been slashed by eighty percent due to a “fact check” by the Weekly Standard which, through a series of moronic mental contortions, found ThinkProgress guilty of reporting fake news about Brett Kavanaugh of all things. In a twist of irony which would be delicious if it weren’t so disgusting, the Weekly Standard is one of Facebook’s authorized “fact checkers”, and happens to be the brainchild of none other than bloodthirsty psychopath and rehabilitated #Resistance hero Bill Kristol.
More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-12/thinkprogress-censored-facebook-after-cheerleading-facebook-censorship