Social Media Sucks for Reporting News
Kollibri terre Sonnenblume | counterpunch.org | 2020-06-05
What's happening at all the George Floyd protests around the country? How many people are showing up? What are the demographics? How many cops are there? Which community organizations are involved? Are local elected officials helping or hurting? Who really broke that window or set that fire? What about these reports of incitement by white…
counterpunch.org/2020/06/05/social-media-sucks-for-reporting-news/
White House forced to retract claim viral videos prove Antifa is plotting violence
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-06-05
THE WHITE HOUSE engaged in an extraordinary act of rumor-mongering on Wednesday, releasing a compilation of viral video clips posted on social media recently by people who believed, wrongly, that the piles of bricks they came across had been planted there by anti-fascist activists, known as Antifa, to inspire violence at protests.
mronline.org/2020/06/05/white-house-forced-to-retract-claim-viral-videos-prove-antifa-is-plotting-violence/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=white-house-forced-to-retract-claim-viral-videos-prove-antifa-is-plotting-violence
The Battle Over Free Speech Online is a Volcano That's Ready to Blow
Marshall Auerback | counterpunch.org | 2020-06-05
Donald Trump threatened to close Twitter down a day after the social media giant marked his tweets with a fact-check warning label for the first time. The president followed this threat up with an executive order that would encourage federal regulators to allow tech companies to be held liable for the comments, videos, and other…
counterpunch.org/2020/06/05/the-battle-over-free-speech-online-is-a-volcano-thats-ready-to-blow/
Opposition builds to re-opening of UK schools
wsws.org | 2020-06-05
In response to a Zoom webinar held by the National Education Union on Wednesday–two days after the re-opening of schools–many educators on Facebook expressed hostility to the inaction of the union.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/06/05/uksc-j05.html
How Immunity for Cops and Facebook Kills Americans
Thom Hartmann | zcomm.org | 2020-06-04
When you tell people they won't be held accountable for their actions, it almost always ends badly. That's what's happened with our police and our social media…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/how-immunity-for-cops-and-facebook-kills-americans/
How Immunity for Cops and Facebook Kills Americans
Thom Hartmann | counterpunch.org | 2020-06-04
When you tell people they won't be held accountable for their actions, it almost always ends badly. That's what's happened with our police and our social media, two institutional pillars of personal and political society in America today. Removing those dual immunities could dramatically change–for the better–the lives of millions of Americans. For police, the…
counterpunch.org/2020/06/04/how-immunity-for-cops-and-facebook-kills-americans/
Tales from the Fakebook
Terry Everton | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-06-04
What does facebook actually represent? An artistic depiction contrary to how Facebook depicts itself.
dissidentvoice.org/2020/06/tales-from-the-fakebook/
Capitalism, Climate Change, and Pandemic: Rob Wallace, Mike Davis, and Sabrina Fernandes
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-06-04
Join us and Fórum Popular da Natureza on Friday, June 5, at 6 pm ET/5 pm CT, for a conversation with Monthly Review author Rob Wallace, Mike Davis, and Sabrina Fernandes about capitalism, climate catastrophe, and pandemics. The event will be in English with simultaneous translation in Portuguese. To find out more, check out the Facebook …
mronline.org/2020/06/04/capitalism-climate-change-and-pandemic-rob-wallace-mike-davis-and-sabrina-fernandes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=capitalism-climate-change-and-pandemic-rob-wallace-mike-davis-and-sabrina-fernandes
America for the Rich or the Poor?
Rev Dr Liz Theoharis | commondreams.org | 2020-06-04
Those of us in the welfare rights movement always saw our work as the kindling for a wildfire of organizing by the poor and dispossessed. (Photo: Poor People's Campaign/Twitter) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/ppc_0.jpg …
commondreams.org/views/2020/06/04/america-rich-or-poor?cd-origin=rss
Organizing the Rich or the Poor?
Rev Dr Liz Theoharis | commondreams.org | 2020-06-04
Those of us in the welfare rights movement always saw our work as the kindling for a wildfire of organizing by the poor and dispossessed. (Photo: Poor People's Campaign/Twitter) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/ppc_0.jpg …
commondreams.org/views/2020/06/04/america-rich-or-poor?cd-origin=rss
Our History is Our Future
John Davis | counterpunch.org | 2020-06-04
We can be sure that the public grandiloquence of Barack Obama grated mightily on at least half of the country during his eight years in the Oval Office. Now, we Libtards find every Trump tweet excruciatingly inane
'I love to hate-f*ck': Sex worker offers to SLEEP with any officer who hangs up badge at Houston protest (VIDEO)
rt.com | 2020-06-04
As thousands take to the streets in cities across the US to protest police brutality, one sex worker in Texas sought to sacrifice her night's pay for the cause, offering to spend the night with any cop who quits in viral video. | …
rt.com/usa/490702-sex-worker-houston-protest/
'FAKE WOKENESS': Video game firm Bethesda switches profile images to LGBT pride flag… but NOT on Middle East account
rt.com | 2020-06-04
The Bethesda video game company has drawn the ire of netizens who noticed that it had changed its Twitter profile logos to a rainbow flag to celebrate LGBT Pride Month, but made an exception for its Middle East account. | The American firm has been flooded with comments accusing it of insincerity and meaningless virtue signaling in its quest to appear woke. Many angry gamers suggested that the only thing Bethesda cared about was money
Friday 6/5: Police Violence Discussion on FB Live w/ Alicia Garza, Kyndra Simmons, Rep. Barbara Lee
Congresswoman Barbara Lee | indybay.org | 2020-06-05
Online: www.facebook.com/RepBarbaraLee/…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/06/04/18833761.php
UK government wants your credit details and more, with some help from Cummings's pals
Tom Coburg | thecanary.co | 2020-06-04
The artificial intelligence (AI) firm employed by Dominic Cummings on the Vote Leave project is now working directly with the government on a highly sensitive data-matching project. | The Canary has obtained a partly redacted version of the project's contract, and the details are scary. | In short, according to the contract, the government will be able to match someone's credit details with their social media accounts and their utilities payments. All, apparently, to assist in coronavirus (Covid-19) intelligence gathe…
thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2020/06/04/uk-government-wants-your-credit-details-help-cummings-pals/
Patrol officer SET ON FIRE during police brutality protests over 'Mexican George Floyd' (VIDEO)
rt.com | 2020-06-05
A police officer was set on fire while confronting a group of demonstrators in Mexico. Protests and rioting in the country were triggered by the death of a local man shortly after his detention. | The incident occurred in the city of Guadalajara, the capital of Mexico's western state of Jalisco. The video circulating on social media shows a group of police officers on motorcycles in a standoff with protesters. At one point, a man wearing a mask and dark sunglasses pours flammable liquid on the back of one of the officers and sets him on fire. | The policeman runs and falls to the pavement as fellow officers an…
rt.com/news/490864-mexico-protests-police-fire/
Trump campaign blasts Twitter for CENSORSHIP as George Floyd clip taken down due to copyright claim
rt.com | 2020-06-05
US President Donald Trump's campaign team slammed Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey for "censoring" its video, made amid the police brutality protests and unrest across American cities. | The clip, titled 'Healing, Not Hatred', was posted on Twitter on Thursday, but has been taken down due to what appears to be an unspecified copyright claim. | Twitter and @Jack are censoring this uplifting and unifying message from President Trump after the #GeorgeFloyd tragedy. | The…
rt.com/usa/490847-trump-campaign-twitter-floyd-censorship/
'It's Ruptly, I'm not tweeting it': Yahoo WH correspondent ridiculed for not sharing LIVESTREAM from protest because it's RUSSIAN
rt.com | 2020-06-05
A Yahoo journalist refused to share a livestream from a Washington protest with his followers simply because it was from RT's Ruptly video agency. When ridiculed over it, he implied that the criticism was paid for with rubles. | Hunter Walker, Yahoo's White House correspondent, was looking for live coverage from the Washington protests on Thursday, so he asked his followers if there was a livestream. One was quickly suggested, but the journalist found it problematic. | t.co/yyq9PLHVVK– Kyuss Jones (@Kyuss_Jones)
'Anyone with a pulse': Trump offers endorsement AGAINST Alaska GOP senator Murkowski after she praises Mattis
rt.com | 2020-06-05
US President Donald Trump says he'll campaign for anyone who challenges Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) after she endorsed an angry diatribe by his former secretary of defense comparing the president to Nazis. | "Few people know where they'll be in two years from now, but I do, in the Great State of Alaska (which I love) campaigning against Senator Lisa Murkowski," Trump tweeted on Thursday evening. "Get any candidate ready, good or bad, I don't care, I'm endorsing. If you have a pulse, I'm with you!" | …Unrelated, I gave Alaska ANWR, major highways, and more. Get any candidate ready, good or bad, I don't…
rt.com/usa/490836-murkowski-trump-mattis-endorsement/
Erdogan cancels Turkey's weekend lockdown after public backlash but warns of rise in coronavirus cases
rt.com | 2020-06-05
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday he had decided to cancel a weekend lockdown announced late on Thursday, following a public backlash. | The Interior Ministry said earlier that the stay-at-home order in 15 cities could help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, continuing the policy of weekend lockdowns. | Erdogan explained in a series of tweets on Friday that the government had to impose the weekend lockdown after daily new Covid-19 cases rose from around 700 to nearly 1,000. | "However, the reactions we received from our people pushed us to re-evaluate the decision," the president said,…
rt.com/newsline/490880-turkey-erdogan-cancels-lockdown/
The Great Screen Robbery: Chicago looters make off with TVs & other expensive goods from MOVING TRAIN in broad daylight (VIDEO)
rt.com | 2020-06-04
Video has emerged online purporting to show looters audaciously stealing flat screen TVs and other electronics from a slow-moving freight train in Chicago, as mass protests raged across the US. | As the wave of peaceful anti-police brutality protests continue across the US
Gandhi statue near Indian Embassy in US capital 'desecrated' by vandals amid ongoing police brutality protests (PHOTOS)
rt.com | 2020-06-04
A statue of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi has been defaced in the US capital, with vandals spray-painting obscenities on the monument as heated protests carry on in the city. Police have yet to identify the culprits. | Photos of the statue circulated on social media on Wednesday, some appearing to show the words "rapist" and "racist" scrawled on its base in bright orange paint. The DC Park Police have launched an investigation, though few other details were made public, according to ANI. | Walked by @IndianEmbassyUS staff reporti…
rt.com/usa/490703-gandhi-statue-defaced-protests/
CANDACE OWENS slammed as 'WHITE SUPREMACIST' and 'RACIST' for declaring George Floyd 'not a martyr or hero'
rt.com | 2020-06-04
Candace Owens is being called a racist by supporters of the protests over George Floyd's death for simply highlighting his criminal past and arguing against him becoming a "martyr" to black Americans. | "I do not support George Floyd and a media depiction of him as a martyr for black America," Owens said in a video that has now gone viral. | Owens acknowledges Floyd should not have died in police custody
'Kiss my shoes': Two British teenagers arrested after video showing pair racially abusing black boy goes viral
rt.com | 2020-06-04
Two teenagers have been arrested in England after a shocking video went viral on social media, showing a young man and woman racially bullying a black boy and telling him to get on his knees and kiss their shoes. | Footage of two youths in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire abusing the boy was shared on Snapchat on Wednesday night. West Yorkshire Police confirmed on Thursday morning that the two teenagers had been arrested in connection with the racially aggravated incident. | Chief Superintendent Julie Sykes of Kirklees Police said a 17-year-old male had been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated common assa…
rt.com/uk/490789-teenagers-arrested-abuse-black-holmfirth-video/
Facebook selectively slaps 'state-controlled media' warning on some government-funded outlets ahead of 2020 US elections
rt.com | 2020-06-04
Facebook is labeling content posted by state-funded media outlets and plans to bar them from running ads in a conveniently loophole-packed effort to prevent "foreign influence" in the 2020 US presidential election. | Pages of Russian and Chinese media outlets have already been graced with the new warning labels, which Facebook announced on Thursday in a blog post. | The social media behemoth claimed it is taking other factors into account besides government ownership, explaining "if we determine that ther…
rt.com/usa/490823-facebook-warning-state-owned-rt/
Facebook selectively slaps 'state-controlled media' warning on some government-funded outlets ahead of 2020 US elections
rt.com | 2020-06-04
Facebook is labeling content posted by state-funded media outlets and plans to bar them from running ads in a conveniently loophole-packed effort to prevent "foreign influence" in the 2020 US presidential election. | Russian and Chinese media outlets' pages have already been graced with the new warning labels, which Facebook announced on Thursday in a blog post. The social media behemoth claimed it is taking other factors into account besides government ownership, explaining "if we determine that there ar…
rt.com/usa/490823-facebook-warning-state-owned-rt/
Watch Elephant Ask for a Kiss From His Rider, Who Seeks Permission to Go Home
sputniknews.com | 2020-06-05
New Delhi (Sputnik): Have you ever heard a conversation without words? One such wordless conversation between an elephant and his rider has left social media users in awe of the remarkable bond between the two, more so after people in India were left outraged at the killing of a pregnant elephant.
sputniknews.com/viral/202006051079527848-watch-elephant-ask-for-a-kiss-from-his-rider-who-seeks-permission-to-go-home/
Millions Of Tenants Are Ready For A Rent Strike Revolution
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-06-04
Calls to "cancel rent" are catching fire. First came a couple of tweets on Twitter. Then progressive firebrands like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed the #CancelRent movement. Now, millions are on a rent strike. Even presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has declared his support for rent and mortgage forgiveness. As millions of tenants mobilize to cancel rent, they are not asking nicely or relying on lip service from politicians. Rather, millions of tenants are taking action by using a powerful time-tested strategy: rent strikes. | As the desperation builds and another month of bill…
popularresistance.org/millions-of-tenants-are-ready-for-a-rent-strike-revolution/
LA City Council President Introduces Motion To Cut LAPD Funding
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-06-04
The president of Los Angeles's city council introduced a motion Wednesday that would direct officials to identify millions of dollars' worth of funding cuts to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) following criticism of the department's treatment of protesters. | Councilwoman Nury Martinez (D) said in a statement released on Twitter that the move was about resetting the city's priorities in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis police custody last week. Video of Floyd's arrest and death sparked protests around the country, including in Los Angeles. | "Today we intrdcd a mo…
popularresistance.org/la-city-council-president-introduces-motion-to-cut-lapd-funding/
As Protests Rage Over George Floyd's Death, Climate Activists Embrace Racial Justice
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-06-04
Friends of the Earth tweeted #BlackLivesMatter, and the head of the NRDC promised: "to be fully and visibly committed to the fight against systemic racism." | When New York Communities for Change helped lead a demonstration of 500 on Monday in Brooklyn to protest George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis, the grassroots group's activism spoke to a long-standing link between police violence against African Americans and environmental justice. | Elizabeth Yeampierre, executive director of UPROSE, Brooklyn's oldest Latino community-based organization, said she considers showing up to fight police brutality and racial vi…
popularresistance.org/as-protests-rage-over-george-floyds-death-climate-activists-embrace-racial-justice/
'System glitch': Facebook admits RT Deutsch story was WRONGLY labeled 'fake' but damage to traffic is already done
rt.com | 2020-06-04
Facebook fact checkers have labeled a video published by RT's German-language branch RT Deutsch 'fake news,' after the outlet reported a viewership spike. They later blamed a 'technical glitch' but the damage was already done. | An innocent post about a hospital being built in Russian city of Ufa to treat people suffering from Covid-19 had somehow incurred the displeasure of Facebook's ever-watchful fact checkers. It is trivial to discover lots of stories about the project in Russia's regional and national media, as well as a plenty of videos of the hospital under construction on platforms such as YouTube.
rt.com/news/490830-facebook-rt-fact-checkers-blunder/
'Thank you, Iran!': Trump says 'deal is possible' after Tehran releases US Navy vet
rt.com | 2020-06-04
US President Donald Trump has praised Tehran for releasing US Navy veteran Michael White, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2018, hinting at a breakthrough that may pave way for a new nuclear deal. | "I just got off the phone with former American hostage Michael White, who is now in Zurich after being released from Iran. He will be on a U.S. plane shortly, and is COMING HOME to the United States," Trump tweeted on Thursday evening, before giving credit to the Islamic Republic for its cooperation in the process. | Thank you Iran, it shows a deal is possible! | I just got off the phone with former Ameri…
rt.com/news/490832-trump-iran-deal-made/
'Practice the eye gouge': Project Veritas claims to have INFILTRATED ANTIFA, will 'expose its violent nature'
rt.com | 2020-06-04
Conservative investigative website Project Veritas claims it has "infiltrated" the controversial Antifa movement to expose its "violent nature," days after Donald Trump said he would declare it a "terrorist organization." | Project Veritas' James O'Keefe tweeted a five-minute teaser clip of its investigation into the Antifa (anti-fascist) movement on Thursday, promising more would be revealed on Friday. | One alleged Antifa organizer caught on camera said the "whole goal of this is to get out there and do dangerous things as safely as possible." Another suggested practicing "things like the eye gouge," because…
rt.com/usa/490804-project-veritas-infiltrated-antifa/
Searching 'Racist' on Twitter Yielded Donald Trump's Profile as Top Result
sputniknews.com | 2020-06-04
Typing "racist" into Twitter's people search yielded US President Donald Trump as the first suggested account on Wednesday, the British news outlet The Independent first reported.
sputniknews.com/society/202006041079521638-searching-racist-on-twitter-yielded-donald-trumps-profile-as-top-result-/
Attorney Resigns From Use of Force Committee After Being Shot, Gassed by Denver Police
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-06-03
Elisabeth Epps, a Colorado-based attorney and bail activist, publicly resigned from the Denver Police Department's Use of Force Committee last night after being shot and tear gassed by the same force she was trying to regulate. "Plenty of Black folks will shuck & jive for ya, it just can't be me anymore," Epps said via Twitter, sharing pictures of the welts across her body and legs from police gunshots. | Dear @DenverPolice, | After 3 years working on your Use of Force committee, I hereby resign. | We met last Thursday with Chief Pazen. Hours late…
mintpressnews.com/attorney-elisabeth-epp-resigns-use-of-force-committee-shot-denver-police/268223/
Susan Rice Blames Russia for George Floyd Riots: 'Right out of the Russian Playbook'
Zachary Evans | anti-empire.com | 2020-06-03
Editor's note: So is CNN's Chris Cuomo (of the it's-illegal-to-read-Wikileaks fame) Russian? | twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1267987525198585856 | | Former Obama adviser Susan Rice has blamed the violent protests that rocked major American cities over the weekend on "foreign actors," and even suggested that Russia could be involved in stirring them up. | "I'm not reading the intelligence today, or these days
My white friend asked me to explain white privilege, so I decided to be honest
graham | truepublica.org.uk | 2020-06-03
By Lori Lakin Hutcherson: Yesterday I was tagged in a Facebook post by an old high school friend asking me and a few others a very public, direct question about white privilege and racism. I feel compelled not only to publish his query but also my response to it, as it may be a helpful …
truepublica.org.uk/united-kingdom/my-white-friend-asked-me-to-explain-white-privilege-so-i-decided-to-be-honest/
OBEY! NY Governor Cuomo's curfew billboard spawns dystopian memes
rt.com | 2020-06-03
Governor Andrew Cuomo has taken over a billboard in New York City's Columbus Circle to give updates on the curfew. Its eerie aesthetic drew dystopian comparisons and fueled a lot of memes. | In addition to the curfew schedule, the billboard features a variety of changing text messages, which for whatever reason seem to be designed to look like the governor's tweets: "DO NOT BE A CRIMINAL," "LOOTING INSULTS GEORGE FLOYD'S MEMORY," "HELP ME RESTORE CALM." | The dystopian aesthetic has been widely panned on social media, prompting horrified reactions like "We are living in a dystopian nightmare. Please tell me th…
rt.com/usa/490698-cuomo-dystopian-billboard-curfew/
Jax Fraternal Order of Police president threatens local teacher
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-06-02
Jacksonville, FL – Just hours after 3500 people rallied for police accountability in downtown Jacksonville on May 30, the president of the city's police union took to Facebook and threatened a local teacher and community activist. | The target of these threats was Christina Kittle of the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC), who helped co-organize and lead the massive May 30 peaceful protest. Kittle also teaches middle school civics in Jacksonville, where she serves as her school's union representative. | "This is Christina Kittle, one of the organizers of the so-called peaceful protest today in Jackson…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/6/2/jax-fraternal-order-police-president-threatens-local-teacher
Extremists Are Among Those Fomenting Violence In Twin Cities
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-06-02
Protesters and onlookers have posted numerous videos and accounts of confrontations with white men on social media, sometimes including symbols associated with fringe groups that originated online. | Many people have also told MPR News reporters of witnessing armed men in Minneapolis. | Bridget Schumann was out for a run near Calhoun Square in south Minneapolis on Friday night when she saw a truck that was being driven aggressively, honking and intimidating other drivers. The truck had a big white sticker on the back of the cab with the OK sign symbol associated with white supremacists. | "There were two men in t…
popularresistance.org/extremists-are-among-those-fomenting-violence-in-twin-cities/
Trump Labels Anitfa As A Terrorist Organization Without Any Basis In Fact
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-06-02
United States President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that the U.S. will go ahead and label Antifa as a "terrorist organization," raising serious concerns about the unconstitutionality of such a threat if carried out. | "The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization," Trump said, as protests over the murder of the black man, George Floyd, continued in at least 30 cities in the United States on Sunday, with Minneapolis as the epicenter. | Without evidence, Trump and several top officials from his administration, including U.S. Attorney General William Barr, have blamed Antifa an…
popularresistance.org/trump-labels-anitfa-as-a-terrorist-organization-without-any-basis-in-fact/
Patient and Study Participant Rights to Privacy in Journal Publication
Flanagin A, Bauchner H, Fontanarosa PB. | jamanetwork.com | 2020-06-02
Personal health information is defined as identifiable data related to the past, present, or future health status of an individual. Personal health information has been considered protected health information, which is governed by ethical principles and laws to shield against intrusions into an individual's rights to privacy. However, rapid growth in the volume of electronic health records, access to other health information, and increasing use of personal health data by artificial intelligence, social media, technology, and other companies are threatening the traditional tenets of privacy protections for persona…
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2766612
George Floyd Murder Enflames US. America Is a Failed State
Shenali D Waduge | globalresearch.ca | 2020-06-02
On 26 May 2020 social media watched a black man (George Floyd) handcuffed and pinned to the pavement pleading to the 4 white American police officers
Tribe Thumps Trump's Tweet
Michael T. Hertz | nationofchange.org | 2020-06-02
Trump uses tweets as a means of keeping his image out in the public without paying a dime.
nationofchange.org/2020/06/02/tribe-thumps-trumps-tweet/
Trump Faces New Lawsuit Over Executive Order Targeting Twitter – Advocacy Group
sputniknews.com | 2020-06-02
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US President Donald Trump faces a new lawsuit accusing him of breaking the First Amendment to the US Constitution by issuing an executive order targeting Twitter and other social media platforms as they seek to counter misinformation, the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) said in a news release.
sputniknews.com/us/202006021079503104-trump-faces-lawsuit-over-executive-order-targeting-twitter-advocacy-group-says/