Tag: Twitter

Twitter Bans Nearly 400 Accounts for Allegedly ‘Undermining NATO’

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On Tuesday, Big Tech giant Twitter announced that it had banned approximately 373 accounts for allegedly posting content that “undermined faith in the NATO alliance and its stability,” as reported by Breitbart.

Twitter claimed that the accounts in question were part of “state-linked information operations” that were supposedly linked to the governments of Russia, Iran, and Armenia. Of the 373, 130 were targeted “based on intel provided by the FBI” that claimed the accounts had attempted to “disrupt the public conversation during the first 2020 U.S. presidential debate.”

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Texas Minor League Baseball Announcer Tim Hagerty Receives Hateful Tweets Aimed at U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee

Jason M. Reynolds

In an unfortunate case of mistaken identity, a Minor League Baseball radio announcer in Texas named Tim Hagerty is receiving hateful social media comments intended for a U.S. Senator of a similar name from Tennessee over the acquittal of President Donald Trump.

Tim Hagerty recently tweeted, “I continue getting tweets intended for US Senator Bill Hagerty.

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Impeachment Blunder: Author of Tweet Introduced at Trial Says It Was Falsified, Misinterpreted

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The author of a tweet introduced by Democrats at the Senate impeachment trial said Thursday her statement “we are bringing the Calvary” was a clear reference to a prayer vigil organized by churchgoers supporting Trump and not a call for military-like violence at the Capitol riot as portrayed by Rep. Eric Swalwell.

Jennifer Lynn Lawrence also said she believes the California Democrat and House impeachment manager falsified her tweet, adding a blue check mark to the version he introduced at the trial suggesting she was a verified Twitter user with more clout when in fact her Twitter account never had a blue check and has never been verified.

“I noticed when they put my tweet on the screen that all of a sudden my tweet had a blue checkmark next to it,” she said during an interview on the John Solomon Reports podcast. “… This way, if he entered that into congressional testimony, it’s a verified account, and it has, it could be applicable in law. Secondly, he wanted to show that my Twitter account had more gravitas than it actually did. He wanted to show that the president was trying to use me to bring in the cavalry.”

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Amy Klobuchar Complains About Trump’s Tweets While Biden Governs by Executive Order

Peter D'Abrosca

  A Minnesota Senator woke up Saturday morning to complain about former President Donald J. Trump’s “mean tweets,” while President Joe Biden governs by executive order. “Woke up on a Saturday and didn’t have to respond to a mean tweet from the White House. Feels weird but good. I’m going to make some toast instead,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said on Twitter. Woke up on a Saturday and didn’t have to respond to a mean tweet from the White House. Feels weird but good. I’m going to make some toast instead. — Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) January 30, 2021 Klobuchar, who is infamous for treating her staff poorly and eating salad with a comb, is apparently still holding a grudge over Trump’s Twitter habits. The former president was banned from the microblogging site about two weeks before his presidency ended. While Big Tech silenced Trump, President Biden has spent his first several days governing by executive order. On his first day in office alone, Biden signed executive orders to strengthen the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for illegal alien children brought to America at a young age by their illegal alien parents, reverse Trump’s order to ban travel from…

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Commentary: The Complete Guide to President Trump’s Twitter Insults

Admin

The New York Times recently posted what it claims is a complete list of President Trump’s Twitter insults. Conservatives should archive this article from the New York Times before the typists the Democrat National Committee assigned the Grey Lady recognize the irony inherent in the article and take it down.

Some items on the list hardly qualify as “insults,” unless stating in truth is an insult.

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Commentary: The Social Media Purge Exposes Net Neutrality’s True Goal

Admin

For nearly two decades, Silicon Valley made net neutrality its highest policy priority. Under the banner of a “free and open” internet, Google, Facebook, and Twitter sought regulations to ensure the uninterrupted flow of information by treating every bit equally. Or so they said.

Beginning last Friday night, these firms and others executed an unprecedented digital purge of the social media and video accounts of their political rivals. After several years of accelerating suspensions and suppressions, this time YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter permanently banned a number of high-profile conservatives and deplatformed thousands of others, at least temporarily. Many of these accounts had nothing to do with last Wednesday’s heinous events at the Capitol. Yet their histories are erased.

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Hungary Weighs Big Tech Sanctions over ‘Systemic Abuses’ of Free Speech

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Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga said Monday that Hungary is considering sanctions against big tech firms over alleged “systemic abuses” of free speech, Reuters reported.

Varga plans to meet with the Hungarian Competition Authority this week to discuss possible penalties for what he says are unfair commercial practices utilized by social media firms including Facebook and Twitter, according to Reuters. In addition, the minister plans to convene a meeting with the state-sponsored Digital Freedom Committee.

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Twitter Suspended Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Account for 12 Hours

Corinne Murdock

Twitter suspended Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene from her personal account temporarily on Sunday. The suspension occurred shortly after Greene posted allegations that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Gabriel Sterling were to blame for potential voter fraud.

Greene had issued a response to Sterling’s tweet which claimed that Greene, Doug Collins, and President Donald Trump were to blame for a significant drop-off in Republican turnout. Just over 270,000 less Republicans voted in the runoff elections, as compared to nearly 166,000 less Democrats.

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Tennessee Principal on Administrative Leave for Warning Students About Social Media Censorship

Corinne Murdock

A Tennessee principal was placed on paid administrative leave after warning students about the dangers of social media censorship. Principal Barton Thorne recorded a homeroom video on Monday, reportedly sharing his thoughts via the Shelby County Schools (SCS) virtual learning platform to address several Big Tech companies’ recent decisions to censor various individuals and platforms.

In a recording of the video since deleted from YouTube, Thorne emphasized the need to allow for free speech and a “marketplace of ideas.” He condemned the Capitol Hill riot and stated that his statements had nothing to do with President Donald Trump.

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Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles Calls for Tennessee to Dump Any State-Held Equity in Big Tech Companies Over Censorship

Jason M. Reynolds

Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles is calling on the Tennessee General Assembly to dump any state-held equity and debt in the Big Tech companies over their “war on freedom of speech.”

Ogles made the announcement on his Facebook page Wednesday, available here. It is addressed to Governor Bill Lee, Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge), House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) and the other members of the Legislature.

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Twitter Says It Purged Over 70,000 Accounts Sharing ‘Harmful QAnon-Associated Content’

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Twitter has reportedly purged over 70,000 accounts from its platform for sharing “harmful QAnon-associated content.”

The social media website began cracking down on Twitter activity after rioters supporting President Donald Trump stormed the United States Capitol on Wednesday, committing acts of vandalism and postponing the certification process as members of Congress were forced to evacuate the building.

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Analysis: The Great Social Silencing

RealClearWire

Last week Silicon Valley silenced the president. In unison, the social media giants, with an assist from Amazon and Apple, also eliminated their most popular conservative competitor and announced that their own moderation policies would now extend to other companies. Meanwhile, CNN openly called for Fox News to be banned from cable, while a major talk radio network issued new speech rules to its hosts, extending tech’s moderation policies to the offline world. Beyond all this, Congress and the European Union called for powerful new regulation of online speech.

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ACLU Warns of ‘Unchecked Power’ After Facebook, Twitter Suspend Trump

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President Donald Trump

A legislative counsel member from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday warned that the suspension of President Donald Trump’s social media accounts wielded “unchecked power” by large tech companies, Breitbart reported.

Kate Ruane, a senior legislative counsel at the ACLU warned in a statement that the decision to suspend Trump from social media platforms could set a precedent for big tech companies to silence less privileged voices.

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Star News Network Working to Restore Tens of Thousands of Posts Deleted from Facebook

Peter D'Abrosca

Tens of thousands of posts containing news stories from The Star News Network’s Facebook pages were temporarily deleted Wednesday. 

“Hi, we are currently experiencing an issue with Facebook and because of that the sharing is stopped and your Facebook accounts are paused,” a third party software used by The Star News Network to schedule and post stories to social media said by email.

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Commentary: How to Parler

Admin

Are you tired of Big Tech deciding what posts you see on social media? Do you feel anxious posting your political opinions online? Do you wish you could exercise your right to free speech without worrying about political correctness or being “cancelled”?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, Parler may be the best thing to happen to you in 2020! It’s been a year, we all need some good news, so please read on.

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Six Takeaways as Facebook, Twitter CEOs Testify at Senate Hearing

Admin

The CEOs of Twitter and Facebook returned Tuesday to Capitol Hill, this time to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

While focused on Twitter’s blocking of a New York Post story about the Biden family’s business dealings overseas and the social media giants’ immunity from lawsuit under the Communications Decency Act, the hearing veered into other topics as well.

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Analysis: Conservatives Ditch Fox, Facebook, Twitter

Admin

Conservative news and social media sites appear to be the big winners from last week’s election.  Viewers ditched Fox News causing a massive ratings plummet after the election. It is now No. 3 in ratings and is being bested by MSNBC and CNN in news coverage. Fox was the top-rated cable news channel on election night, easily leading in ratings, beating both CNN and MSNBC.

Fox’s Election Day coverage had 14.1 million viewers during prime time on Nov. 3, far ahead of CNN with 9.4 million viewers and MSNBC, which had 7.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

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Texas Attorney’s Video of Suspicious Vote-Counting Activity in Detroit Censored by Big Tech, Conservatives Allege

The Center Square

Texas attorney Kellye SoRelle and members of Lawyers for Trump sent a copy of a video to Texas Scorecard of individuals moving what she claims are ballots in the middle of the night on Nov. 4 in Detroit.

In the video, a white van is seen parked in front of polling location at 2:40 a.m. A box is taken out of the van and placed into a red wagon, which is then pulled inside the facility. SoRelle video recorded and photographed the activity, which Texas Scorecard published on its website.

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Commentary: Silicon Valley Titans Lie Again as Congress Meekly Looks On

Admin

After a series of mishaps involving muted senators, virtual cross-talk, and “connectivity issues” befuddling one of the world’s most tech-savvy men, the CEOs of Facebook, Twitter, and Google appeared before the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday for what has now become a performative ritual: senators of both parties yell about different aspects of social media, the tech giants respond with bland, vague, noncommittal statements. And nothing substantive happens.

This is exactly where the Senate Commerce Committee found itself on Wednesday, when Big Tech was confronted with a host of critics and without any defenders—but ultimately very little in the way of committed follow-up from legislators.

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Commentary: A DOJ Roadblock to America’s Big Tech Beatdown?

Admin

It’s safe to say that Big Tech hasn’t had a great month.

Google received a beating at the Supreme Court for allegedly stealing the coding needed to create Android. Congress subpoenaed Facebook and Twitter for deliberately blocking news coverage potentially damaging to one political party — a move that culminated in a high-profile hearing yesterday. And now, the Department of Justice has charged Google with illegally maintaining its search and advertising monopoly.

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Commentary: How to Restrain Big Tech Immediately

Admin

A year ago, University of Georgia professor Cas Mudde took to Twitter and asked: “How do you manage to stay informed about political news and stay mentally balanced?” In his next tweet, he confessed too much time on social media was contributing to anxiety and depression.

With this, Mudde expressed a sentiment many social media users share. As we discuss policy issues tied to social media—tech regulation, free speech, foreign influence—we shouldn’t lose sight of the damaging psychological effects of today’s information environment. You may not want to hear this a week before the election, but social media addiction is a public health issue. Big Tech is the new Big Tobacco.

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Social Media CEOs Get Earful on Bias, Warning of New Limits

The Associated Press

With next week’s election looming, the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google were scolded by Republicans at a Senate hearing Wednesday for alleged anti-conservative bias in the companies’ social media platforms and received a warning of coming restrictions from Congress.

Lawmakers of both parties are assessing the companies’ tremendous power to disseminate speech and ideas, and are looking to challenge their long-enjoyed bedrock legal protections for online speech.

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Facebook Disabled Dr. Carol Swain’s Ad Account For Promoting Law Enforcement Appreciation Event

Corinne Murdock

Facebook blocked Dr. Carol Swain’s ad account, claiming her ads had violated their policies on “deceptive or misleading practices.” Swain had posted an ad for a virtual law enforcement appreciation event.

Swain told The Tennessee Star that she’d directed the woman who runs her social media to submit the ad. Facebook informed Swain that she’d have to change the ad or submit new paperwork to describe the ad as “political.”

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College President Publicly Condemns Prof’s ‘Hateful,’ ‘Vile’ Tweets Exposed by Campus Reform

Admin

After Collin College received backlash from a story by Campus Reform regarding a professor calling Vice President Mike Pence “a demon” and to “shut his little demon mouth up,” the college president publicly came out and condemned the comments. 

President Neil Matkin wrote in a public statement on the school’s website that the professor’s comments were “hateful, vile, and ill-considered.”

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Senator Marsha Blackburn’s New Bill Tackles Big Tech Censorship and ‘Fact-Checkers’

Corinne Murdock

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is co-sponsoring a reform bill tackling Big Tech’s censorship and “fact-checking” policies. The bill, “Online Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity Act,” is a reform of Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act (CDA).
Section 230 hasn’t been updated in nearly 25 years. The goal of the reform is to “clarify the original intent of the law and examine Big Tech’s content moderation practices.”

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Democrats And Journalists Circulate Fake Email Saying Iowa Farm Bureau Retracted Endorsement for Joni Ernst

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A group of Democratic political operatives and journalists circulated a fake email on Twitter on Sunday that the Iowa Farm Bureau retracted its endorsement of Sen. Joni Ernst, a move which would have been a heavy blow to the Republican’s re-election bid.

The fabricated email asserted that the farm bureau was retracting its support for Ernst because of her debate performance earlier this week against challenger Theresa Greenfield.

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Twitter Removes Anti-Mask Tweet From Trump Coronavirus Adviser

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Twitter removed a tweet from a top White House coronavirus adviser, saying that, contrary to official Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, masks don’t prevent the spread of the virus.

On Saturday, Dr. Scott Atlas tweeted that evidence showed masks don’t work, according to NBC News. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released guidance in April urging Americans to wear masks in public to prevent the spread of coronavirus after weeks of recommending the opposite.

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Holocaust Denial Posts Banned on Another Social Media Platform

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Twitter will begin removing posts containing Holocaust denial, a Twitter spokeswoman told Bloomberg News just days after Facebook also implemented a policy banning posts that deny the Holocaust. 

“We strongly condemn anti-semitism, and hateful conduct has absolutely no place on our service,” the spokeswoman told Bloomberg News in a statement. “We also have a robust ‘glorification of violence’ policy in place and take action against content that glorifies or praises historical acts of violence and genocide, including the Holocaust.”

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RNC Files FEC Complaint Against Twitter

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The Republican National Committee has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Twitter after the platform censored a New York Post expose on Hunter Biden published earlier this week. In a letter to the FECs general counsel on Friday, the RNC accused Twitter of violating federal campaign finance laws: “Through its ad hoc, partisan suppression of media critical of Biden, [Twitter] is making illegal, corporate in-kind contributions as it provides unheard-of media services for Joe Biden’s campaign.”

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Commentary: Is Twitter, Facebook Censorship of New York Post Biden-Ukraine Story the Beginning of Social Tyranny?

Admin

Twitter and Facebook have both limited distribution of an Oct. 14 report from the New York Post’s Emma-Jo Morris and Gabrielle Fonrouge entitled, “Smoking-gun email reveals how Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian businessman to VP dad” detailing an alleged meeting between former Vice President Joe Biden and Burisma executive Vadym who Biden’s son, Hunter, used to work for, in April 2015.

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FCC to ‘Clarify’ Meaning of Section 230 Following Twitter Suppression of NY Post Story

Admin

Federal Communication Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced Thursday that he intends to move forward with a rulemaking to “clarify” the meaning of Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act.

Pai’s announcement comes one day after Twitter prohibited users from posting links to a New York Post story about alleged emails involving Hunter Biden, former Vice President Joe Biden and the Ukrainian gas company Burisma. Twitter’s suppression of the story led President Donald Trump to call for the repeal of Section 230, which indemnifies internet companies from liability over content posted by their users.

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C-SPAN Suspends Scully After He Admits to Lie About Hack

The Associated Press

C-SPAN suspended its political editor Steve Scully indefinitely Thursday after he admitted to lying about his Twitter feed being hacked when he was confronted about a questionable exchange with former Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci.

The news came on the day of what was supposed to be a career highlight for the 30-year C-SPAN veteran. Scully was to moderate the second debate between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, which was canceled after Trump would not agree to a virtual format because of his COVID-19 diagnosis.

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Mark Levin: Facebook Is Censoring My Content

Admin

Radio host Mark Levin, affectionately known as “The Great One,” says Facebook is censoring his content.

“Facebook has just sent us this message. It’s a clear effort at censorship,” Levin wrote on Monday morning.

“Every link I post is from a legitimate source,” Levin wrote on his Facebook page. “But because so many people are seeing what I’m posting and we’re within weeks of the election it’s clear that Facebook is trying to influence the election’s outcome. It’s also clear Facebook is pushing a leftwing agenda. I’ll address this tonight on radio.”

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Twitter Suspends DNC’s Account for Retweeting Trump Clip Suggesting Kids Are ‘Almost Immune’ to COVID

Admin

Twitter partially suspended the Democratic National Committee’s account Thursday for sharing a tweet from President Donald Trump that contains a video of the president suggesting children are “almost immune” to coronavirus.

The company made the move after the DNC tweeted a clip of Trump’s Wednesday appearance on Fox News in which the president made the claim relating to children and the pandemic, CNN reported. The account intended to retweet the post with the intention of criticizing the president for spreading misinformation, but Twitter’s moderators flagged the post instead.

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Twitter, Facebook Hit Trump Over Post Suggesting Children Are ‘Almost Immune’ from Coronavirus

Admin

Twitter partially suspended President Donald Trump’s campaign Twitter account on Wednesday for posting a tweet containing a video of Trump suggesting children are “almost immune” to coronavirus.

The post contains an interview Trump gave to Fox News Wednesday morning in which the president made the claim relating to children and the ongoing pandemic, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. Facebook removed a post Wednesday that contained the same video, marking the first time the social media platform has nixed a Trump post over coronavirus misinformation.

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Twitter ‘Embarrassed’ as Hack Hits 130 Accounts

The Associated Press

Twitter says the hack that compromised the accounts of some of its most high-profile users targeted 130 people. The hackers were able to reset the passwords of 45 of those accounts.

The San Francisco-based company said in a blog post Saturday that for up to eight of these accounts the attackers also downloaded the account’s information through the “Your Twitter Data” tool. None of the eight were verified accounts, Twitter said, adding that it is contacting the owners of the affected accounts.

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Biden, Gates, Other Twitter Accounts Hacked in Bitcoin Scam

The Associated Press

Unidentified hackers broke into the Twitter accounts of technology moguls, politicians, celebrities and major companies Wednesday in an apparent Bitcoin scam.

The ruse included bogus tweets from former President Barack Obama, Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg and a number of tech billionaires including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Celebrities Kanye West and his wife, Kim Kardashian West, were also hacked. The fake tweets tweets offered to send $2,000 for every $1,000 sent to an anonymous Bitcoin address.

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