Nine US states launch probe into whether Facebook broke antitrust rules
rt.com | 2019-09-06
Several state attorneys general united forces to investigate if the social media giant Facebook violated antitrust laws, hurting its users in the process. | The prosecutors will check whether Facebook "stifled competition and put users at risk," said New York Attorney General Letitia James who is leading the probe. | Even the largest social media platform in the world must follow the law and respect consumers. | The attorneys general of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, No…
rt.com/usa/468175-states-probe-facebook-antitrust/

Open Markets Commends State Attorneys General for Launching Bipartisan Antitrust Investigation Into Facebook
commondreams.org | 2019-09-06
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commondreams.org/newswire/2019/09/06/open-markets-commends-state-attorneys-general-launching-bipartisan-antitrust?cd-origin=rss

Honest 'government' announcement on climate change, and it's not good news
Andrew Butler | thecanary.co | 2019-09-06
As we head into the third decade of the 21st century, the 'government' has released a surprisingly honest and informative public service announcement about climate change. | This brilliant piece of serious satire was made by The Juice Media, whose honest government ads shine a light on the absurdities and urgencies of the world we live in. | Featured image via YouTube — thejuicemedia | B…
thecanary.co/video/2019/09/06/honest-government-announcement-on-climate-change-and-its-not-good-news/

Extinction Via Rugged Individualism
Kathleen Wallace | counterpunch.org | 2019-09-06
I was recently amused by a train of thought on Twitter excoriating Henry David Thoreau for his experiment in self-sufficient living. True, he was on the land of his wealthy neighbor, his mother did his laundry (and brought him old-timey donuts to eat), but it was rugged, dammit. Okay, it was something akin to a…
counterpunch.org/2019/09/06/extinction-via-rugged-individualism/

'A Major Step Forward': Multi-State Probe Targets Facebook's Possible Antitrust Violations
Andrea Germanos, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-09-06
"Even the largest social media platform in the world must follow the law and respect consumers." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/facebook-ags-probe-antitrust.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/09/06/major-step-forward-multi-state-probe-targets-facebooks-possible-antitrust-violations?cd-origin=rss

WATCH: Viral Video Shows British Voter Politely Imploring Johnson to 'Please Leave My Town' Ahead of Potential Election
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-09-06
A polite but direct British man in the town of Morley, Yorkshire kicked off the viral hashtag #PleaseLeaveMyTown after making the request of Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-11579457331.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/09/06/watch-viral-video-shows-british-voter-politely-imploring-johnson-please-leave-my?cd-origin=rss

'McCarthy style racist': Trump shreds actress Debra Messing over Hollywood donor 'blacklist'
rt.com | 2019-09-05
US President Donald Trump has fired back at Will & Grace co-star Debra Messing over her call for a Hollywood Trump donor "blacklist," calling the actress a "McCarthy style racist" and suggesting she should lose her job. | Wading into the controversy in a pair of tweets on Thursday morning, the president shredded Messing's demand last week for the de facto blacklist, drawing parallels to the McCarthy era, when suspected communists were blackballed from their professions. | "Bad 'actress' Debra The Mess Messing is in hot water," he said. "She wants to create a 'Blacklist' of Trump supporters, & is being accused…
rt.com/usa/468125-trump-messing-mccarthy-racist/

Big Tech & Big Brother meet at Facebook HQ to discuss how to 'secure' US elections
rt.com | 2019-09-05
Security teams for Facebook, Google, Twitter and Microsoft met with the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence's office to coordinate a strategy to secure the 2020 elections. | The tech platforms met with government officials at Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters on Wednesday, the company has confirmed, boasting that Big Tech and Big Brother have developed a "comprehensive strategy" to get control of previous election-related "vulnerabilities" while "analyzing and getting ahead of new threats." | Facebook has scrambled to get in front of the 2020 election after being…
rt.com/usa/468060-big-tech-government-election-security/

Thursday's Daily Brief: Facebook rallies against vaccination 'fake news', DPR Korea UN staff cuts call, Syria crop report, crisis funding and Dorian latest
United Nations | un.org | 2019-09-05
A recap of Thursday's stories: Facebook and WHO work together to stem misinformation on vaccines; North Korea tells UN to cut staff; $75 million allocated for eight crises; mixed news on Syria crop production; 'digital divide' sidelines most vulnerable.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/09/1045732

UN health agency welcomes Facebook pledge to stop vaccine misinformation from going viral
United Nations | un.org | 2019-09-05
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday welcomed Facebook's pledge to ensure users can separate fact from fiction when it comes to vaccines, across its platforms from Facebook Search, to Groups, Pages and forums.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/09/1045692

PM's brother Jo Johnson quits politics over 'tension' between 'family loyalty and the national interest'
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-09-05
Boris Johnson's brother has quit the Government, saying he had been "torn between family loyalty and the national interest". | Jo Johnson, who had been a senior minister attending meetings of his brother's cabinet, said there was an "unresolvable tension". | He announced on Twitter he was quitting his role as Universities Minister and would stand down as MP for Orpington. | It's been an honour to represent Orpington for 9 years & to serve as a minister under three PMs. In recent weeks I've been torn between family loyalty and the national interest — it's an unresolvable tension & time for others to take on…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2019/09/05/pms-brother-jo-johnson-quits-politics-over-tension-between-family-loyalty-and-the-national-interest/

Hong Kong: Google censors China
Sara Flounders | workers.org | 2019-09-04
Google stripped away the illusion that the continuing protests in Hong Kong are about democracy when on Aug. 20 the internet monopoly suspended 936 Twitter accounts and disabled 210 YouTube channels, charging them with seeking to "discredit Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement and sow political discord in the city." (theguardian.com, Aug. . . . | Continue reading Hong Kong: Google censors China at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/09/04/hong-kong-google-censors-china/

'Will & Grace' actor says his idea of Hollywood Trump donors blacklist was 'misinterpreted'
rt.com | 2019-09-04
Star of American sitcom 'Will & Grace' Eric McCormack is backpedaling on his demand for news outlets to name President Donald Trump's donors, accusing critics of "misinterpreting" his words. | The actor's apparent reversal comes after he penned a tweet last week asking the Hollywood Reporter — which covers entertainment industry news — to "kindly report" the name of every person attending a Trump fundraising event in Beverly Hills, "so the rest of us can be clear about who we don't wanna work with." H…
rt.com/usa/468053-actor-reverses-trump-blacklist/

Anti-Semitism or sarcasm? Labor Department official fired over misunderstood Facebook comments
rt.com | 2019-09-03
Less than three weeks into his new job, a Texas conservative has been forced out after Bloomberg dug through his Facebook history and claimed to have detected the whiff of anti-Semitism from three years ago. | Leif Olson clocked in for his first day on the job at the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division on August 12, after being cleared for the position by the White House. Less than three weeks later, Olson handed in his resignation. | The reason? A journalist at Bloomberg Law dug through his Facebook history and unearthed some supposedly anti-Semitic comments he made in 2016. The journalist called his em…
rt.com/usa/467909-bloomberg-labor-anti-semitism/

Western "Progressives" Support Yet Another Color Revolution in Hong Kong
K.J. Noh | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-09-02
Misinformed "progressive" western "activists" and pundits are putting down their remote controls and organic smoothies just long enough to tweet out that Hong Kong protesters need to be supported as paragons of virtue and justice. Some have even blogged and bloviated about the importance of these protests as a struggle for freedom against "dictatorship." Most …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/09/western-progressives-support-yet-another-color-revolution-in-hong-kong/

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/

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