Twitter relying on US/European gov-funded regime-change groups to crack down on foreign states
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-24
Twitter is relying on organizations funded by the US government and European allies, such as right-wing lobby group Freedom House,…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/24/twitter-relying-on-us-european-gov-funded-regime-change-groups-to-crack-down-on-foreign-states/

Wall Street falls as US-China trade conflict intensifies
wsws.org | 2019-08-24
Tweets by Trump in response to tariff measures by Beijing were his most belligerent to date, taking aim not only against China, but US corporations and the Federal Reserve.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/24/trad-a24.html

Community Members Report Encounters with Paid Recall Canvassers
Santa Cruz News Network | indybay.org | 2019-08-24
Increasingly, community members in Santa Cruz are reporting on social media enocunters with people they claim are being paid to gether signatures for the petition to recall Progressive Santa Cruz City Councilmembers Drew Glover and Chris Krohn. Keith McHenry, the co-founder of Food Not Bombs, described yesterday an encounter he had with a person who was paid to collect signatures for the recall petitions. "A poor guy outside Trader Joes told me he was paid $6 per signature and that the people who hired him said the money came from local people," McHenry said. In his latest column, Bruce Bratton writes: "It can't…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/23/18825646.php

Free speech v free enterprise? Lawsuit over big tech censorship strikes at core of American values
rt.com | 2019-08-23
A looming court battle over social media censorship challenges America's dual devotion to free speech and free enterprise, an analyst told RT, arguing that popular platforms like Facebook have essentially become public utilities. | The DC Court of Appeals has agreed to hear the merits of a lawsuit brought against Apple, Facebook, Google, and Twitter by conservative commentator Laura Loomer, who accused the big tech giants of conspiring to silence her political views. Loomer has been banned from several major internet platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Medium, and PayPal. | The case has sparked…
rt.com/usa/467120-loomer-big-tech-lawsuit-debate/

Israel's Online Occupation of Palestine
Miriam Deprez | progressive.org | 2019-08-23
How a Facebook post can land you in prison.
progressive.org/dispatches/israels-online-occupation-of-palestine-deprez-190823/

'Who is our bigger enemy?': Trump lashes out, compares Fed chairman Powell to Chinese President Xi
rt.com | 2019-08-23
President Donald Trump has lashed out at the Federal Reserve chairman, after Jay Powell refused to cut interest rates to Trump's liking, a move that would have given the president ammunition to escalate his trade war with China. | "As usual, the Fed did NOTHING!" Trump tweeted on Friday, after Powell announced that he would "sustain the expansion" of the US economy, but not by slashing interest rates by a whole percentage point, as Trump has repeatedly called for. Instead, Powell is likely to lower rates by around a quarter of a percentage point, from their current level of 2.25 percent. | Also on rt.com…
rt.com/usa/467156-trump-powell-fed-china/

Giant 5G Drones in Hawaii Skies? Pushback Is Growing
Dr. Debra Greene | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
As we approach the 5G Crisis: Awareness & Accountability online summit, Dr. Debra Greene uncovers a crazy development in Hawaii, in her 4-min video above, or on YouTube here. Sign the petition to help stop the 5G drone development …
globalresearch.ca/giant-5g-drones-hawaii-skies/5686969

Trump Tweets About Disloyal Jews, Then Tweets He's "King of Israel"
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-22
Haggai Matar, editor of #972 Magazine discusses Netanyahu's Trump-inspired Omar and Tlaib ban, Trump's bizarre retweets, and its effect on Jews and the U.S. election…
therealnews.com/stories/trump-tweets-about-disloyal-jews-then-tweets-hes-king-of-israel

NYT editor's tweets mocking Jews, Indians amid newspaper's 'anti-racist' drive
rt.com | 2019-08-22
A politics editor at the New York Times faces charges of anti-Semitism and bigotry after a series of old insensitive tweets surfaced online. This comes after a similar scandal with its Washington editor and leaked editorial tapes. | Breitbart News uncovered the tweets in an investigation published on Thursday, detailing a litany of offensive and racially-charged remarks from senior staff editor Tom Wright-Piersanti, who has worked at the Gray Lady for a little over five year…
rt.com/usa/467094-nyt-editor-racist-tweets/

Rep Ayanna Pressley on Israel's Ban: "Bigoted, Short-Sighted and Cruel"
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-21
These are the words tweeted by Rep. Ayanna Pressley in response to the Israeli decision to ban the entry of Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib. The story has a striking resemblance to South Africa and Rhodesia blocking the entry of African American Democratic Representative Charles C. Diggs Junior in January 1972…
therealnews.com/stories/rep-ayanna-pressley-on-israels-ban-bigoted-short-sighted-and-cruel

Representatives Omar and Tlaib speak out against being banned from Palestine
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-08-21
St. Paul, MN – On August 19, Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) held a press conference in the State Capitol in Saint Paul to a packed room, with an overflow of 100 people, on the human cost of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and travel restrictions. | On August 16, the Israeli government denied the representatives visas to visit Palestine. Their visas previously had been approved, but after a tweet by Donald Trump denouncing Omar and Tlaib's visit, the approval was revoked. Congresswoman Stacy Plaskett, delegate to House for the Virgin Islands, was to join them on th…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/8/21/representatives-omar-and-tlaib-speak-out-against-being-banned-palestine

OMG Trump Cancels Denmark!
Jan Oberg | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-21
This morning the Danes could wake up to a Twitter message from US President Trump that he was anyhow not going to Denmark on September 2-3 — in spite of the fact that it had been confirmed and that, formally at least, he had been invited by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II herself. Here is …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/omg-trump-cancels-denmark/

In one tweet, Jeremy Corbyn shows exactly why he's the leader the world needs
Emily Apple | thecanary.co | 2019-08-21
As The Canary reported, a coup is currently underway in Turkey against democratically elected mayors in three predominately Kurdish cities. But while there's been a deafening silence from the Conservative Party over the actions of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoƒüan, Jeremy Corbyn has spoken out: | The arrest of political leaders and act…
thecanary.co/trending/2019/08/21/in-one-tweet-jeremy-corbyn-shows-exactly-why-hes-the-leader-the-world-needs/

Twitter's new policy on 'state-controlled news media' should concern us all
Mohamed Elmaazi | thecanary.co | 2019-08-20
Twitter has announced an update to its advertisement policy which may reflect yet another assault on free speech by social media giants. On 19 August, Twitter declared that: Going forward, we will not accept advertising from state-controlled news media entities. | While this may not see…
thecanary.co/opinion/2019/08/20/twitters-new-policy-on-state-controlled-news-media-should-concern-us-all/

NPR Mocks Cancer Survivor in Drumbeat of Syria Propaganda
Rick Sterling | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-20
Asma al-Assad, First Lady of Syria (from released Syrian Presidency Facebook page) It may be a new low in propaganda. National Public Radio (NPR) used the news that Syrian First Lady Asma al-Assad had overcome breast cancer to mock her and continue the information war against Syria. They interviewed a Human Rights Watch staffer named …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/npr-mocks-cancer-survivor-in-drumbeat-of-syria-propaganda/

Jo Swinson probably wishes she hadn't posted that latest lie about Jeremy Corbyn
Ed Sykes | thecanary.co | 2019-08-20
On 20 August, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson lied about Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ( again). But people were quick to call her out. And now, she probably wishes she hadn't bothered. | "Fake news": | Swinson tweeted: | Jeremy Corbyn didn't fight to remain in 2016, and he won't fight for remain now. He wants to deliver a Labour Brexit, becau…
thecanary.co/trending/2019/08/20/jo-swinson-probably-wishes-she-hadnt-posted-that-latest-lie-about-jeremy-corbyn/

Twitter Helped Chinese Government Promote Disinformation on Repression of Uighurs
Ryan Gallagher | theintercept.com | 2019-08-19
Twitter helped to promote Chinese government propaganda and disinformation about the country's controversial internment camps in the Xinjiang region, a review of the company's advertising records reveals. | The social media company today announced a policy change that would bar such promotion following an inquiry from The Intercept and an earlier controversy over similar propaganda related to demonstrations in Hong Kong. | In Xinjiang, a western province in China, the United Nations has estimated that 1 milli…
theintercept.com/2019/08/19/twitter-ads-china-uighurs/

How do the Western powers use social networks for their own political goals?
unitedEditor | uwidata.com | 2019-08-17
A recent story by the Washington Post revealed that Facebook's algorithms had censored the United States' Declaration of Independence, flagging it for alleged "hate speech".
uwidata.com/4912-how-do-the-western-powers-use-social-networks-for-their-own-political-goals/

Marjorie Taylor Greene: How an Outspoken MAGA Fan Built a Following in a World of Extremists
Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2019-08-16
Originally a MAGA supporter but now an emerging MAGA star, Marjorie Taylor Greene has deftly leveraged social media and confrontations in public to increase her visibility. Now she's entering politics as a GOP candidate for Georgia's 6th Congressional District.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/08/16/marjorie-taylor-greene-how-outspoken-maga-fan-built-following-world-extremists

What Is Israel Trying to Hide? Reps. Tlaib & Omar Blocked from Taking Official Trip to West Bank
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-16
Israel sparked outrage Thursday when it banned two freshman Democratic congresswomen of color — Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota — from entering the country. Following outcry from Democratic leaders and Palestinians, Israel granted permission for Tlaib to enter the country on "humanitarian" grounds to visit her family in the West Bank — though Tlaib said Friday she will not visit her family under such conditions. Israel originally denied entrance to Tlaib and Omar after President Donald Trump tweeted, "It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep.Tl…
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/16/ilhan_omar_rashida_tlaib_israel_trump

Facebook Settlement Breaks a Record, But Not the Cycle of Exploitation
Amos Toh | progressive.org | 2019-08-09
For years, Facebook engaged in a pattern of deceptive conduct that misled users about how their data was being handled. Now, despite a $5 billion fine imposed by the U.S. government, it promises to do little to guarantee a change in behavior.
progressive.org/dispatches/facebook-settlement-breaks-a-record-but-not-the-cycle-of-exploitation-toh-190809/