Isn’t all this the real electoral integrity issue that warps the playing field on which elections take place as unfavored voices and narratives are suppressed while favored ones are amplified?
Thomas Jefferson said that when the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government. Unfortunately as you report, efforts …
Isn’t all this the real electoral integrity issue that warps the playing field on which elections take place as unfavored voices and narratives are suppressed while favored ones are amplified?
Thomas Jefferson said that when the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government. Unfortunately as you report, efforts to misinform, censor and manipulate Americans mean that the government can’t be trusted.
It would be yet another valuable contribution if the Free Press could delve into the connection between government efforts to misinform Americans and election integrity.
That is absolutely out of the question. Bari and her FP would never do that, that means interviewing Kari Lake, Mehmet Oz or even President 45 - nope that definitely ain’t going to happen, however that is exactly what we need to see, trust in our election process and trust in the media, and a lot less of social media.
The Twitter files revealed how the FBI had the Hunter Biden laptop and knew what was on it. But the media were told it was Russian disinformation and 50 stooges stepped up to add their affirmation. Twitter was told by the intel community to pull the NY Post story and suspend the account. This was election interference by our government in collusion with the media and social media. And here we were all focused on ballot drop boxes.
It's interesting that we all focus on Twitter and Facebook pulling any access to the Hunter story due to government and mass media collusion. But what of the NY Post itself? Now I agree that Twitter caved when the FBI came calling, which was entirely their right to do (they also had the right not to cave and say no..) - but the Post? Merrily printing away the story, in print and online, continuing to this day. No one stopped them, and I'd be surprised if anyone from State or the FBI even tried. The reason of course, is Rupert Murdoch. Power, leverage - the kinds of things a government pauses at.
Which brings me to the point that we can rail at a 'cabal' of bad actors in this, but both Twitter and Facebook made decisions based on what they thought was in their corporate best interest. They are not, in my opinion, a free 'public square' where people can speak their minds - they are corporations which can decide to ban anything and everything they want, since the space they provide to users is their own, and can obey or disobey a government asking them to censor opinions.
The NY Post went one way, Twitter and Facebook went another. I don't think the FBI would ever come to the Free Press.
Not according to Zuckerburg. He blamed the suppression on the FBI. While it is true that private corporations can do as they will within the law, when they act at the behest of the federal government, and it seems to me they did, they are state actors.
And so what would the FBI have done if Zuckerburg didn't want to go along? What if he said that all NY Post stories seemed legit to him? FBI couldn't have done anything, the reason being that there was no law stopping him from complying. We're not talking state secrets here. Just news articles. Zuckerburg decided on his direction based on what he felt was in his company's best interests. He could be a state actor, but he chose to be. Sure there was pressure, but he's a big boy. No need to succumb.
The musings that there is a vast conspiracy involving the deep (blue) state and media companies walking arm in arm to disarm Republicans, is to me, vastly overdone..
We'll never know because that is not how it happened. And I have not mused about a vast conspiracy. I recognized early on that something was afoot with Facebook. I do not Tweet, but thankfully Musk saw fit to disclose the truth. The government, in the form.of it's multiple branches, departments, agencies, and operatives is there to serve the public in an objective manner. That is not what is happening.
And so your problem is with who exactly? The companies, the government, or both? Facebook and Twitter, using our presence on their sites to attract advertisers, can do pretty much what they like in their pursuit of their own self interest. Comply to government pressure or not.
As for the government itself - your comment that gov't agencies are there to serve the public in an objective manner is something out of Civics 101. Hardly reality, respectfully. Nixon used the IRS to go after opponents. The Pentagon sued the NYT over the Pentagon Papers. Bush's newfound Homeland Security Agency tasked itself with the oversight of millions of mobile phone calls. The FBI has been used by various Administrations of both parties since its inception to spy on Americans. (And of course Hoover was only too happy to oblige..)
The timeline of nefarious affairs of the US Gov't on its citizens is longer than I've been alive..
So no surprise to me that Facebook and Twitter were told what they were told. And it was no surprise to me that they complied. I guess that makes me too much of a realist and less of an idealist.
I am a pragmatist. That means not accepting this egregious conduct because x, y, or did or because it has been done before. I cannot be persuaded the government acted properly or that Twitter, Facebook or other social media sites were justified in their submission to the will of the government. In fact you have inadvertently established my point that they were willingly complicit. Complicit, as in actively engaged.
Corporations do not represent the public nor the government. They represent themselves and their shareholders. They don't care about you or me. Nor for your (or my) ideas of what constitutes free speech. All social media companies want are our eyes to attract advertisers. So they give us a platform to hurl insults at each other or make fake friends. As far as they're concerned, they are exercising their own right to free speech by colluding with the government. They didn't have to. Which would have been their right as well.
You say you're not ok with that. But that would mean changing the nature of a shareholder held corporation.
Perhaps you'd be interested in a totally publicly held media corporation such as the CBC or the BBC - where if a government tried to change its reporting to a certain narrative and bias there would be outrage. But that's already a socialistic and (very) Left example, so I don't think you'd approve of that either.
10% for the Big Guy for starters. All the complaints about having to hand over his laundered cash to daddy Is it true? Well it sure would merit an investigation. By an organization that isn't hopelessly corrupted as is the FBI which protected Hunter from criminal charges. A reprise of Praetorian guards?
It is in the Twitter Files.....but you’d be amazed at how few people have heard of the Twitter Files. The Free Press -- though certainly NOT conventional media -- has growing reach, forcing coverage elsewhere.
In addition to unfair viewpoint suppression/amplification in ‘20, that COVID was used to justify relaxing election rules -- so that people didn’t have to choose between their health and sacred right to vote -- made Election Day into election season, with millions more mail-in ballots and rejection rates at a fraction of what they were.
Meanwhile Georgia passed electoral reform and was accused of “Jim Crow on steroids.” Funny thing is... GA had record voter turnout in ‘22, and when surveyed, 0% of African-Americans said they had a bad voting experience.
This whole story needs to be told because if you’re a candidate or even a citizen concerned about “election integrity,” you’re blasted as an “election denier,” and an “insurrectionist.” That is also a false narrative that is used to warp the playing field of elections.
The Democrats are getting desperate, they can’t use the same rogue tools as they did in 2020, it’s going to be fascinating to see what they come up with now, remember they have to keep President 45 out plus any other Republican at the ballot box come 2024.
Don’t forget Mark Zuckerberg’s $420mil “donation” to non profits to sort those ballots and ballot boxes out think 2020 was a sham and a disgrace on the American people as was Covid.
Have you heard about the State Department's role in choking the lifeblood of traditional press by establishing disinformation lists and publishing them to advertisers? Both the NY Post (the laptop story publisher) and Washington Examiner are on the list.
In TGIF Nellie mentioned the story that a conservative's parents were officially banned from using AirBnB simply for being related to her and not publicly denouncing her. That is some Anne Frank era stuff right there. How is everyone not freaking out that this stuff is happening all over the place?
So much for the freest and fairest election in history. You don't have to dump ballots in the river or ballot harvest (which, of course, the Dems did) to rig and election. Just pump out massive lies from the media, allow the Stasi to censor and intimidate, allow massive in-kind media contributions and buckets of Zuck bucks. Not so hard to swing votes in a few battleground states. And - voila - a senile, corrupt imbecile is installed in the Oval Office.
Isn’t all this the real electoral integrity issue that warps the playing field on which elections take place as unfavored voices and narratives are suppressed while favored ones are amplified?
Thomas Jefferson said that when the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government. Unfortunately as you report, efforts to misinform, censor and manipulate Americans mean that the government can’t be trusted.
It would be yet another valuable contribution if the Free Press could delve into the connection between government efforts to misinform Americans and election integrity.
That is absolutely out of the question. Bari and her FP would never do that, that means interviewing Kari Lake, Mehmet Oz or even President 45 - nope that definitely ain’t going to happen, however that is exactly what we need to see, trust in our election process and trust in the media, and a lot less of social media.
Actually, it’s researching what happened in 2020 and reporting the facts....which no journalist has done yet.
The Twitter files revealed how the FBI had the Hunter Biden laptop and knew what was on it. But the media were told it was Russian disinformation and 50 stooges stepped up to add their affirmation. Twitter was told by the intel community to pull the NY Post story and suspend the account. This was election interference by our government in collusion with the media and social media. And here we were all focused on ballot drop boxes.
It's interesting that we all focus on Twitter and Facebook pulling any access to the Hunter story due to government and mass media collusion. But what of the NY Post itself? Now I agree that Twitter caved when the FBI came calling, which was entirely their right to do (they also had the right not to cave and say no..) - but the Post? Merrily printing away the story, in print and online, continuing to this day. No one stopped them, and I'd be surprised if anyone from State or the FBI even tried. The reason of course, is Rupert Murdoch. Power, leverage - the kinds of things a government pauses at.
Which brings me to the point that we can rail at a 'cabal' of bad actors in this, but both Twitter and Facebook made decisions based on what they thought was in their corporate best interest. They are not, in my opinion, a free 'public square' where people can speak their minds - they are corporations which can decide to ban anything and everything they want, since the space they provide to users is their own, and can obey or disobey a government asking them to censor opinions.
The NY Post went one way, Twitter and Facebook went another. I don't think the FBI would ever come to the Free Press.
They'd be outgunned..
Not according to Zuckerburg. He blamed the suppression on the FBI. While it is true that private corporations can do as they will within the law, when they act at the behest of the federal government, and it seems to me they did, they are state actors.
And so what would the FBI have done if Zuckerburg didn't want to go along? What if he said that all NY Post stories seemed legit to him? FBI couldn't have done anything, the reason being that there was no law stopping him from complying. We're not talking state secrets here. Just news articles. Zuckerburg decided on his direction based on what he felt was in his company's best interests. He could be a state actor, but he chose to be. Sure there was pressure, but he's a big boy. No need to succumb.
The musings that there is a vast conspiracy involving the deep (blue) state and media companies walking arm in arm to disarm Republicans, is to me, vastly overdone..
We'll never know because that is not how it happened. And I have not mused about a vast conspiracy. I recognized early on that something was afoot with Facebook. I do not Tweet, but thankfully Musk saw fit to disclose the truth. The government, in the form.of it's multiple branches, departments, agencies, and operatives is there to serve the public in an objective manner. That is not what is happening.
And so your problem is with who exactly? The companies, the government, or both? Facebook and Twitter, using our presence on their sites to attract advertisers, can do pretty much what they like in their pursuit of their own self interest. Comply to government pressure or not.
As for the government itself - your comment that gov't agencies are there to serve the public in an objective manner is something out of Civics 101. Hardly reality, respectfully. Nixon used the IRS to go after opponents. The Pentagon sued the NYT over the Pentagon Papers. Bush's newfound Homeland Security Agency tasked itself with the oversight of millions of mobile phone calls. The FBI has been used by various Administrations of both parties since its inception to spy on Americans. (And of course Hoover was only too happy to oblige..)
The timeline of nefarious affairs of the US Gov't on its citizens is longer than I've been alive..
So no surprise to me that Facebook and Twitter were told what they were told. And it was no surprise to me that they complied. I guess that makes me too much of a realist and less of an idealist.
I am a pragmatist. That means not accepting this egregious conduct because x, y, or did or because it has been done before. I cannot be persuaded the government acted properly or that Twitter, Facebook or other social media sites were justified in their submission to the will of the government. In fact you have inadvertently established my point that they were willingly complicit. Complicit, as in actively engaged.
I am a pragmatist as well. Which to me means I expect to see what we've seen, a government twisting arms, and am not surprised.
Yet you are okay with that. I am not.
Corporations do not represent the public nor the government. They represent themselves and their shareholders. They don't care about you or me. Nor for your (or my) ideas of what constitutes free speech. All social media companies want are our eyes to attract advertisers. So they give us a platform to hurl insults at each other or make fake friends. As far as they're concerned, they are exercising their own right to free speech by colluding with the government. They didn't have to. Which would have been their right as well.
You say you're not ok with that. But that would mean changing the nature of a shareholder held corporation.
Perhaps you'd be interested in a totally publicly held media corporation such as the CBC or the BBC - where if a government tried to change its reporting to a certain narrative and bias there would be outrage. But that's already a socialistic and (very) Left example, so I don't think you'd approve of that either.
The governments agencies have all been captured by Big Tech and the Democrats they will shift anything if they have to
"The Twitter files revealed how the FBI had the Hunter Biden laptop and knew what was on it."
So, what was on it?
10% for the Big Guy for starters. All the complaints about having to hand over his laundered cash to daddy Is it true? Well it sure would merit an investigation. By an organization that isn't hopelessly corrupted as is the FBI which protected Hunter from criminal charges. A reprise of Praetorian guards?
It is in the Twitter Files.....but you’d be amazed at how few people have heard of the Twitter Files. The Free Press -- though certainly NOT conventional media -- has growing reach, forcing coverage elsewhere.
In addition to unfair viewpoint suppression/amplification in ‘20, that COVID was used to justify relaxing election rules -- so that people didn’t have to choose between their health and sacred right to vote -- made Election Day into election season, with millions more mail-in ballots and rejection rates at a fraction of what they were.
Meanwhile Georgia passed electoral reform and was accused of “Jim Crow on steroids.” Funny thing is... GA had record voter turnout in ‘22, and when surveyed, 0% of African-Americans said they had a bad voting experience.
This whole story needs to be told because if you’re a candidate or even a citizen concerned about “election integrity,” you’re blasted as an “election denier,” and an “insurrectionist.” That is also a false narrative that is used to warp the playing field of elections.
The Democrats are getting desperate, they can’t use the same rogue tools as they did in 2020, it’s going to be fascinating to see what they come up with now, remember they have to keep President 45 out plus any other Republican at the ballot box come 2024.
Don’t forget Mark Zuckerberg’s $420mil “donation” to non profits to sort those ballots and ballot boxes out think 2020 was a sham and a disgrace on the American people as was Covid.
Have you heard about the State Department's role in choking the lifeblood of traditional press by establishing disinformation lists and publishing them to advertisers? Both the NY Post (the laptop story publisher) and Washington Examiner are on the list.
It’s like Nazi Germany
In TGIF Nellie mentioned the story that a conservative's parents were officially banned from using AirBnB simply for being related to her and not publicly denouncing her. That is some Anne Frank era stuff right there. How is everyone not freaking out that this stuff is happening all over the place?
So much for the freest and fairest election in history. You don't have to dump ballots in the river or ballot harvest (which, of course, the Dems did) to rig and election. Just pump out massive lies from the media, allow the Stasi to censor and intimidate, allow massive in-kind media contributions and buckets of Zuck bucks. Not so hard to swing votes in a few battleground states. And - voila - a senile, corrupt imbecile is installed in the Oval Office.
Bruce I weep as I read your post 🥲🥲 it’s was the craziest thing to have witnessed the 2020 election.
Remember all, when you die, insist that you are buried in Chicago, New York or any brain dead Dem state or city. This way you can continue to vote.
🤣🤣🤣 not sure I will be happy in those cities might have to stay rural don’t rural give dead votes?