2020-10-29: News Headlines

Staff (2020-10-29). Facebook Choked Traffic to Mother Jones & Other Sites While Amplifying Right-Wing Misinformation. democracynow.org Big Tech CEOs were grilled Wednesday about how they moderate election disinformation and extremist content, and were accused by Republicans of censoring conservatives. Overlooked were reports that Facebook designed changes to its news feed algorithm in 2017 to reduce the visibility of left-leaning news sites like Mother Jones. Mother Jones editors wrote in 2019 that the site had seen a sharp decline in its Facebook audience, which translated to a loss of around $600,000 over 18 months. "The fact that we are trying to do everything we can to get the truth out and Facebook is deliberately sabotaging our readership…

MEE staff (2020-10-29). Twitter suspends Palestinian accounts shortly after Israeli ministry report on 'phony' profiles. middleeasteye.net Twitter suspends Palestinian accounts shortly after Israeli ministry report on 'phony' profiles | Social media giant says accounts were 'amplifying the dissemination of information' that violated its terms of service | Thu, 10/29/2020 – 12: 24 | Sada Social has been recording and monitoring the suspension of Palestinian content and accounts on Twitter and Facebook since September 2017 (AFP) | Twitter has suspe…

Sophia Purdy-Moore (2020-10-29). Jeremy Corbyn's shocking suspension is met with an outpouring of solidarity on social media. thecanary.co Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been suspended, "in light of his comments" in response to an In his

Mohammad Ayesh (2020-10-28). Arabic press review: Hundreds of Kuwaiti companies face bankruptcy amid coronavirus. middleeasteye.net Arabic press review: Hundreds of Kuwaiti companies face bankruptcy amid coronavirus | Meanwhile, Moroccan politician says Macron waging war on Islam, Egypt jails activist over tweet and IMF warns of 'challenging' times for poorer nations | Wed, 10/28/2020 – 17: 09 | Kuwaiti man stops at a currency exchange shop in Kuwait City (AFP) | Kuwaiti companies threatened with bankruptcy: | Hundre…

Mary Green Swig, Steven Swig (2020-10-28). Freedom Dreamers: The Faces of Student Debt. commondreams.org A shared dream is a powerful force for change. It's time to share the dream of freedom from student debt. (Photo: YouTube/screenshot) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/debt_1.jpg

WSWS (2020-10-28). The New York Times attacks the First Amendment and embraces censorship of "disinformation" wsws.org An essay published in the October 18 edition of the New York Times Magazine argues that online "disinformation" has rendered First Amendment rights to free speech "inadequate," requiring government and social media censorship of "unfettered speech."

Concord Author (2020-10-28). Concord D2 Residents Can Vote Out Caviar Carlyn. indybay.org In the lead up to the election during the economic and Covid crisises, Carlyn Obringer is promoting caviar on Twitter and Facebook. Caviar Carlyn is out of touch when it comes to the struggles that so many Concord residents are facing.

_____ (2020-10-28). The PS5, Social Media and Mass Censorship — What Can Be Done? strategic-culture.org Like an aging oil field the freedom that the Internet offered to the common man across the planet is drying up. "Deplatforming" has become a mainstream expression for describing the growing number of individuals and organizations who have lost their ability to use big social media because of their beliefs.

WSWS (2020-10-28). Faceboook moderators forced to return to offices as COVID-19 continues to spread. wsws.org As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the world, Facebook and its contractors are forcing content moderators to return to offices and risk their lives.

MEE and agencies (2020-10-27). Yemen: Houthi minister of youth 'assassinated' in Sanaa. middleeasteye.net Yemen: Houthi minister of youth 'assassinated' in Sanaa | The Houthis denounce the attack as 'a criminal act' by the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen | Tue, 10/27/2020 – 10: 38 | Yemeni politician Hassan Mohamed Zaid, 66, was killed in the capital Sanaa on Tuesday (Twitter) | Yemen's Houthi movement announced on Tuesday that Hassan Zaid, its minister of youth and sports affairs, was g…

Staff (2020-10-27). You voted. Great! Now the real political work begins. therealnews.com Can we burn down the system at the ballot box? We explore different methods beyond voting to make systemic change with our guests, Ricci Sergienko of the People's City Council of Los Angeles, and Green Party VP nominee Angela Walker. | Burn It Down is our new show — and on a new YouTube channel. Don't forget to subscribe!

Amr Emam (2020-10-27). Macron's anti-Islam remarks give rise to France boycott campaign in Egypt. middleeasteye.net Macron's anti-Islam remarks give rise to France boycott campaign in Egypt | Calls for boycotting French goods find support and opposition in Egypt, one of France's main strategic allies in the region | Tue, 10/27/2020 – 11: 44 | Workers at an Egyptian supermarket chain remove French products from shelves, 24 October 2020 (Facebook) | A major supermarket chain in Egypt has taken French goods off its shelves in res…

Raul Diego (2020-10-27). From a Wealthy Socialite to an Israeli Govt Censor, Facebook's New "Free Speech Court" Is Anything but Independent. mintpressnews.com Freedom of speech on the Internet is all but extinct, and on the eve of the 2020 US elections, a de facto "free speech court" is going to make sure it never comes back. On Facebook at least.

RT (2020-10-27). Schools & clubs closing in Bulgaria amid record Covid-19 surge as health minister warns of 'severe winter months'. rt.com Bulgaria will close its clubs and order high school and university students to study remotely for two weeks as of October 29 in a bid to curb rising coronavirus infection rates, the country's health minister said on Tuesday. | "We have to defuse Covid-19 spread…and if we continue to neglect the [preventative] measures, at some point it may be too late," Health Minister Kostadin Angelov said in a Facebook "We are facing severe winter months — we are entering the flu season and the risk that th…

Ralph Nader (2020-10-27). Don't Rush to Declare Victory: Implementing a Two-Week Grace Period After November 3rd So All Voters Can Be Counted. commondreams.org With such large stakes for our fragile democracy, we cannot afford to bypass such a course of action that will assure a peaceful transition in accord with the rule of law. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/early.jpg

Staff (2020-10-27). Protests Rise in Philly After Police Murder Black Man Amid Mental Health Crisis. truthout.org Philadelphia, Pennsylvania—West Philly saw a quickly escalating situation develop on 4 p.m. Monday afternoon and dragging into the evening and overnight. In a graphic and disturbing video circulating on social media, two white Philadelphia Police (PPD) officers are seen repeatedly shooting a Black man in front of his mother from several feet away as he walked while holding a knife. Neither of the two officers in the video seemed to attempt to use their taser, and they appeared to hav…

Fight Back (2020-10-27). IAM Local 1855 wins a better contract after strike in Appleton, WI. fightbacknews.org Appleton, WI – On the morning of October 24, the following message was posted on the social media accounts of IAM Local 1855: "After a week-long strike IAMAW Members employed at AstenJohnson in Appleton overwhelmingly accepted a greatly improved contract offer this morning. This offer included locking in insurance plan design and premiums for the next two years among other positive changes. Their solidarity and persistence paid off big. Congratulations to the members of Local 1855 and a special thank you to the Teamsters Local 662 for honoring our picket line." | The machinists at AstenJohnson were on strike to d…

WSWS (2020-10-27). Facebook deploying teams with advanced censorship tools in advance of the US election. wsws.org Citing concerns over election-related "chaos" and "violence," Facebook is preparing—in collaboration with the US intelligence state—advanced software tools for implementing a censorship regime during November 3 and its aftermath.

Yasmina Allouche (2020-10-26). Campaign launched on social media to boycott French goods across MENA. middleeasteye.net Campaign launched on social media to boycott French goods across MENA | The French Foreign Ministry has declared that 'calls for a boycott are baseless' and demanded it end 'immediately' | Mon, 10/26/2020 – 12: 09 | A list of French brands to boycott was circulated on Twitter, with users encouraged to avoid buying products like Lancà¥me, Yves Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Gi…

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2020-10-26). Who is Behind "Fake News"? Mainstream Media Use Fake Videos and Images. globalresearch.ca The mainstream corporate media is desperate. They want to suppress independent and alternative online media, which they categorize as "fake news". Readers on social media are warned not to go onto certain sites. Our analysis confirms that the mainstream media are routinely involved in distorting the facts and turning realities upside down.

sputniknews (2020-10-26). Twitter, Facebook Chose Poorly in Blocking Access to Hunter Biden Email Story. sputniknews.com Facebook reduced the presence of the New York Post's Hunter Biden email story in users' feeds until fact-checkers had looked into the matter, while Twitter initially stopped it from being posted, shared or sent via direct message.