On Wednesday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that his company would ban all political advertisements on its platform. Advertising, Dorsey said, “brings significant risks to politics, where it can be used to influence votes to affect the lives of millions.”
The announcement comes in the midst of an increasingly aggressive campaign by the US intelligence agencies, congressional Democrats and the media to impose censorship, in the guise of “fact-checking.”
Twitter’s action is politically reactionary, with far-reaching consequences. It converts a private corporation, subject to innumerable political and economic pressures, into the arbiter of what may or may not be written and publicized.
Twitter and Facebook acquired mass audiences by facilitating the free flow of information. But having obtained this audience, they are using their power to carry out censorship on behalf of the government.
Dorsey’s action has been counterposed favorably in the media to the stance of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has publicly opposed calls for social media companies to ban or “fact-check” political advertisements.
“I don’t think it’s right for a private company to censor politicians or news in a democracy,” Zuckerberg said in a speech at Georgetown University last month. “Banning political ads favors incumbents and whoever the media chooses to cover.”
Zuckerberg is hardly a poster child for the defense of democratic rights. But here he happens to have made a correct point. In response to these statements, he has received a congressional grilling far more severe than Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, whose company is responsible for the deaths of 346 people in crashes involving the 737 Max 8.
His statements have also prompted an outpouring of denunciations in the New York Times, the Washington Post and the broadcast TV networks, which have for years been waging a campaign to censor the internet.
"Zuckerberg is hardly a poster child for the defense of democratic rights." Exactly. Also, earlier, he was insisting that he created FACEBOOK in response to the Iraq War -- because if it had been around then it could have prevented it. I believe the word we're looking for is "whatever." No, he created it so men could rank women's looks.
I don't want to praise the Zuck. But I will give him credit. Political speech is protected speech. I don't want to hear what Canada does -- I have never agree with their censorship. In the US, we have a Constitution and we have freedom of speech. Political speech should not be censored, even if you disagree with it. Political speech if protected speech. I don't agree with Zuckerberg on much but we do agree on that.
"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Monday, November 4, 2019. War Hawk Joe Biden continues to struggle,
protests continue in Iraq and where is journalist Saba Almahdawi?
Let's note this at the top.
Let's note this at the top.
She is my colleague, @SabaAlmahdawi was kidnapped yesterday after she left Tahrir Square in #Baghdad while on her way home, she just volunteer to aid the wounded demonstrators
WHERE IS SHE?
@IraqiGovt
@yassenalyasiri
@NajahAlshammare
@iraqicts
Where is she? And is this like when Nouri al-Maliki was prime minister, how, in his second term, he began kidnapping and targeting reporters?
We should all be asking where Saba Almahdawy is. Hahdi al-Mahdi was murdered and many of us believe that was on Nouri's orders. We should all be asking, right now, while it matters, were is Saba Almahdawy.
Moving to the US where the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination continues. The race continues but with one less candidate.
More of a media creation than an actual sensation, Beto ran because . . . If he had been able to articulate it, he'd still be in the race.
The media cheered him on . . . until he started talking about the wars. Then they went after him -- starting with the 'fact check' provided by THE WASHINGTON POST. They repeatedly undermined him.
After the national support he got from the press when he ran for the Senate, it must have been confusing for him to see the same press turn on him.
War Hawk Joe Biden hasn't dropped out. However, his campaign is still reeling from Friday's revelation that he's polling fourth in Iowa. Fourth.
Alexander Burns (NEW YORK TIMES) reported:
Ms. Warren appears to have solidified her gains in the first voting state while Mr. Buttigieg has climbed quickly to catch up with Mr. Sanders and overtake Mr. Biden, the onetime front-runner. Ms. Warren is drawing support from 22 percent of likely caucusgoers, while Mr. Sanders is at 19 percent, followed by Mr. Buttigieg at 18 percent and Mr. Biden at 17 percent.
The survey is full of alarming signs for Mr. Biden, who entered the race in April at the top of the polls in Iowa and nationally. He is still in the lead in most national polls, but his comparatively weak position in the earliest primary and caucus states now presents a serious threat to his candidacy. And Mr. Biden’s unsteadiness appears to have opened a path in the race for other Democrats closer to the political middle, particularly Mr. Buttigieg.
Natasha Korecki (POLITICO) adds:
Biden’s
campaign, meanwhile, has been forced to scale down expectations of his
performance here. He has already seen Warren overtake him in the polls
and is also battling the grassroots energy behind Sanders.
“You
might expect that a frontrunner is going to lose some ground as other
candidates become more visible,” said Selzer. “It’s not just that
there’s not enough numbers to go around. It’s that he’s not wearing
well. It’s the trend, it’s the decline.”
Poor Joe. Turns out "more of the same" is not a rallying cry in an election.
If Biden comes in fourth in Iowa, it's very hard for him to come in first in South Carolina. The argument for Joe is that he's electable. Joe's campaign has been preparing the press for the likely reality that he loses Iowa and then New Hampshire. They're trying to say that doesn't matter because he will win South Carolina. Not likely if he loses Iowa and New Hampshire. The two early losses would force many voters in South Carolina to reconsider the claim that Joe is most electable. That's what's driven and sad and pathetic campaign. It's protected him from his problematic behavior with women, it's protected him from his estranged relationship with the truth. If he loses Iowa and New Hampshire, he's just another failed candidate.
Kyle Balluck (THE HILL) mangles a new poll:
Front-runner Joe Biden’s support held steady in a new poll of the 2020 Democratic presidential race that saw Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg make gains.
The poll from ABC News and The Washington Post released early Sunday found Biden with 27 percent support from Democrats and independents who lean toward the party, unchanged from a similar survey in early September.
Warren, however, gained 4 percentage points, climbing from 17 percent to 21 percent. The results mark a new high in the poll for the senator, ABC News noted.
Buttigieg, who is now at 7 percent, added 3 points since early September.
According to the survey, support for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was also constant, holding at 19 percent.
So the actual news would be that Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg increased their numbers, while Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders -- and Bernie Sanders -- remained steady.
Three new national polls: Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders lead Democrats cnn.it/329VdAg
See, even in the headline, CNN gets it accurate while THE HILL tries to treat Pete's distant fourth place as the equivalent of Sanders, Warren and Biden -- all of whom have double digits while Pete remains in the single digits.
This as Joe's gaffes just continue to multiply.
Joe Biden might be the first president primary candidate to s**t his pants on stage.
Many are disputing Collin's claim. Many who were present. But if that's what went out on TV, yes, Joe looks ridiculous. When there was the big mistake at the Academy Awards, I was very clear on what I saw from my seat and very clear that it might have looked different on TV -- I don't know where the cameras were. For those of us present, we saw Warren immediately attempt to call a pause and correct what he rightly saw as an error. Those watching at home may have seen something different due to where the camera focused.
In Iraq, the protests continue.
Iraqi demonstrators block Al-Sanak Bridge during the ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq November 4, 2019. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
Iraq officials: 3 killed in protest outside Iran consulate
cp24.com/world/iraq-off…
3 killed in political protest at Iranian consulate in Iraq upi.com/6955191t via @upi
- Mustafa Habib यांनी पुन्हा ट्विट केले
"The government should come here and learn from the people. We want a government that comes from within this square."
Watch my report for @France24_en on how Tahrir has become a blueprint for the kind of state Iraqis want. #Iraq #IraqiProtests
We're going to end on the topic we started with:
Twitter च्या नवीन वैशिष्ट्यांचा लाभ घ्यायचा आहे?
अगदी सोपे आहे - फक्त लॉग इन करा.
शोध परिणाम
They're trying to kidnap our live.where is Saba almahdawy
#Iraqi High Commission 4 #HumanRights called on #Iraq's government to investigate the fate of a kidnapping Saba Almahdawy.
The kidnapping & killing of demonstrators is exactly what the Iranian regime did against Iranian demonstrators in #Iran's uprising.
Sec Pompeo the iraqi government has kidnaped Saba Almahdawy an iraqi female human rights activist, they have started to silence the activists voices who was showing the world what’s really happening inside the country
Where is Saba Almahdawy kidnapped on her way back from Tahrir Square more than 24 hours ago?! #FreeSaba and all political prisoners in Iraq !! Stop the repression !!
#صبا_المهداوي #نريد_وطن #وين_صبا facebook.com/1312284417/pos…
Saba Almahdawy is a young Iraqi female used to help the wounded protesters today she was kidnapped by an armed group & we know nothing about where she is now & the Iraqi goverment didnt start to find were is she this is what happennig to Iraqi female if we try to seek our rights