Facebook to ban QAnon, militarized social movement ads ahead of election

Company is ramping up efforts to combat fake stories

Facebook announced Wednesday it is banning ads that “praise, support or represent” QAnon and any militarized social movements on the platform. Members of groups that have been restricted and follow pages that have been restricted "will see content from these Groups and Pages further down in their News Feed," the company said. Facebook is ramping up efforts to combat fake stories on its platform ahead of the November presidential election, including banning ads trying to delegitimize the election results.

A few weeks ago, it announced it would ban political ads in the last week of the campaign to clamp down on disinformation, which ran rampant in the 2016 election and was taken advantage of by Russian operators. Facebook said it is aware that QAnon is also using hashtags like #savethechildren to recruit and organize, alluding to the conspiracy theory that supposes most liberal leaders are Satan-worshipping sex traffickers. “Starting today, we will direct people to credible child safety resources when they search for certain child safety hashtags.”

https://www.foxnews.com/tech/facebook-to-ban-qanon-militarized-social-movement-linked-ads-ahead-of-election

Senate committee votes to subpoena CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter to testify

The Senate Commerce Committee voted on a unanimous, bipartisan basis Thursday to subpoena the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter to testify before the panel about concerns over the tech industry’s key legal shield, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the committee, initially opposed the subpoena introduced by Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss. But on Thursday, Cantwell said she supported the move after Republicans included language in the subpoena about privacy and “media domination.”

The Senate Commerce Committee voted on a unanimous, bipartisan basis Thursday to subpoena the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter to testify before the panel about concerns over the tech industry’s key legal shield, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the committee, initially opposed the subpoena introduced by Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss. But on Thursday, Cantwell said she supported the move after Republicans included language in the subpoena about privacy and “media domination.” Cantwell stressed, however, “what I don’t want to see is a chilling effect on individuals who are in a process of trying to crack down on hate speech or misinformation about Covid during a pandemic.” “I welcome the debate about [Section] 230,” Cantwell said in her opening remarks. “I think it should be a long and thoughtful process. Not sure a long and thoughtful process will happen before the election, but I understand my colleagues’ desires here today.”

Republicans have repeatedly turned to Section 230 as a key area for reform in response to their concerns that social media companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube censor conservative voices. The platforms have repeatedly denied that they suppress conservative users, many of whom thrive in sharing their messages on those services. Still, several instances in which the platforms have made mistakes or reversed course on take-down decisions have fueled those criticisms from the right. Section 230 allows online platforms to be protected from liability for their users’ posts and their moderation practices if taken in good faith. While the bill was introduced in the 1990s to allow nascent tech companies to grow, many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have recently questioned its current language, which now serves to insulate some of the world’s most valuable companies from legal challenges. Wicker, in his opening statement, said both presidential candidates support reform to Section 230. President Donald Trump has issued an executive order targeting changes to the law’s enforcement and Democratic nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden told The New York Times editorial board during the primary race that Section 230 “should be revoked.”

“Even if you happen to agree with them on a particular issue right now, ceding the power to the star chamber of Silicon Valley is profoundly dangerous,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said following the committee’s vote, referring to the tech companies. en. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust, discussed the importance of “an even playing field” for small companies to be able to compete, but said she doesn’t “really see it,” when talking about the alleged suppression of conservative voices on social media. “We are joining you with this subpoena but you need to join us when it comes to taking on this major, major issue that Sen. Cruz has identified when it comes to monopolies,” Klobuchar appealed to her Republican colleagues.

A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment. Representatives for Google and Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The CEOs Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and Google’s Sundar Pichai have all testified before Congress in the past. Zuckerberg and Pichai most recently testified in July before the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust, which is conducting a probe of their businesses as part of a review of antitrust laws for digital markets. Other executives from all three companies have testified multiple times before Congress on issues ranging from privacy to alleged bias to disinformation. Zuckerberg’s last appearance before the Senate Commerce Committee was during his grilling following revelations about how political analytics firm Cambridge Analytica used Facebook to access information about voters and target them ahead of the 2016 presidential election . Cantwell referenced the appearance in her introductory remarks, saying she “can’t wait to ask Mr. Zuckerberg further questions.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/01/facebook-google-and-twitter-ceos-sub.html

The Unscientific Attacks on the Science of Dr. Scott Atlas

Critics of the distinguished White House coronavirus adviser don’t have a leg to stand on.

The news media until recently had rarely criticized the medical advice of experts — especially those who worked for federal bureaucracies, international organizations, or elite universities. Yet the much-praised Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, has demonstrably weakened the effort to fight COVID-19. During the critical initial weeks of the virus’s spread, Tedros parroted Chinese propaganda. He falsely assured a complacent world that the virus was probably not transmissible between humans and did not warrant travel bans. The fact that Tedros was the first WHO director not to have a medical degree was seldom cited by the media. Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel is known to the public for his past advocacy of the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act. Although he now advises 77-year-old presidential candidate Joe Biden, Emanuel once wrote an article for The Atlantic titled “Why I hope to die at 75,” contending that life after age 75 is, and should be, mostly over — now an eerie idea in a time of a pandemic that targets the elderly. Emanuel has often weighed in on the COVID-19 pandemic, sometimes in overly pessimistic fashion by suggesting that some acquired collective immunity and a viable vaccine were not likely to come soon. Yet Emanuel also has been largely exempt from media criticism. No reporters have questioned his epidemiological expertise despite his background as an oncologist specializing in breast cancer. The esteemed Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has given conflicting advice on the use of masks, quarantining, and the methods of viral transmission. Yet such inconsistency is either ignored or chalked up by the media to the usual learning curve of dealing with a new epidemic. So why — other than politics — is there now a concerted media attack on Dr. Scott Atlas, an adviser to the Trump administration on COVID-19 policy?

Atlas has had a distinguished career as one of world’s top neuroradiologists. He has become a national expert on public-health policy, especially in the cost-benefit analysis of government programs. After COVID-19 arrived in the U.S., Atlas consistently warned that government must follow science, not politics, in doing the least amount of harm to its people. He has reminded us that those under 65 rarely die from COVID-19, and that those infected who are younger than 20 usually do not show any serious symptoms. Accordingly, Atlas has urged the states to focus more resources on the most vulnerable — those over 65, who account for the vast majority of COVID-19 deaths — and allow younger Americans to reenter schools and the workforce with appropriate caution. Atlas has also warned that the available test data on COVID-19’s infectiousness, spread, and morbidity must be handled with care, given that those who feel sick are more likely to get tested. He argues that those with some natural protection from the virus, either through antibodies from an asymptotic past infection or through T-cells, may be a far larger group than previously thought. But most importantly, Atlas has warned that government must be careful not to endanger Americans with Draconian lockdowns that curtail needed medical examinations, procedures, and treatments. Just as dangerous as the disease may be quarantine-related spikes in mental illness, substance abuse, child and spousal abuse, and depression from lost livelihoods. Children may be suffering irreparable harm from being locked down and kept out of school. Atlas has shown that these policy choices unfortunately entail bad options and even worse ones, rather than good choices and even better alternatives. He has not played down the dangers of COVID-19 but rather has reminded us to look at scientific data that often belie media sensationalism.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/10/scott-atlas-white-house-coronavirus-adviser-critics-ignore-science/

Gardner's lawsuit alleging racist conspiracy to force her from office dismissed

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s lawsuit alleging a racist conspiracy to force her from officer has been dismissed by a federal judge. Gardner, St. Louis’ first African American circuit attorney, filed the lawsuit against the city and police union in January alleging civil rights violations as well as violations of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. In her lawsuit, Gardner cited St. Louis’ “long history of racial inequality and prejudice in its criminal justice system generally, and within its police force particularly.” She said she was elected to change that, but that the police union and others “have mobilized to thwart these efforts,” including “the unprecedented appointment of a white, ethically conflicted Special Prosecutor” in an effort to oust Gardner. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit Wednesday.

Gardner's office sent the following statement: “Nothing about today’s Court ruling changes the underlying merit of this case. Kimberly Gardner has been viciously attacked by the coordinated powerful few simply because she is a Black woman reforming the criminal justice system so that all people in the City of St. Louis are treated fairly. The improperly appointed Special Prosecutor continues to be allowed to hide the contents of an illegitimate search warrant from which he seized and holds every file that belonged to the Circuit Attorney’s Office. Since the Summer of 2019, the City has violated its Sunshine Law obligations and continues to hide documents that will reveal its dishonest role in this matter. We will continue to fight on behalf of Ms. Gardner until the truth of this conspiracy is brought to light.”

https://www.kmov.com/news/gardners-lawsuit-alleging-racist-conspiracy-to-force-her-from-office-dismissed/article_ba2a5798-0345-11eb-98ea-43b56d315e51.html

>>10869083

Thinking Comey is running a fools errand, while he feels he might be on top at the moment, he's doing a better job at exposing conflicts of interest in the system, which include his own family.