‘Where is the line between global business & attempts to control society?’ Putin calls out Big Tech in Davos

Big Tech companies have become rivals to governments, but there are doubts over the benefits of their monopoly for society, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said, during a virtual meeting of the annual World Economic Forum.

“Where is the line between a successful global business, in-demand services and consolidation of big data – and attempts to harshly and unilaterally govern society, replace legitimate democratic institutions, restrict one’s natural right to decide for themselves how to live, what to choose, what stance to express freely?” Putin wondered.

“We’ve all seen this just now in the US. And everybody understands what I’m talking about,” he added.

The Russian leader was apparently referring to the crackdown by Big Tech corporations like Twitter, Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon, mostly on Donald Trump and his supporters, during the recent presidential election in the US. The companies, which, according to some critics, sided with Democratic candidate Joe Biden, blocked President Trump’s social media accounts over accusations of inciting violence, with the same being done to many pages of groups and individuals who’d backed him.

However, one-sided bias claim voiced by some might be an overestimation – the accounts of Democrats supporters were also subject to restrictions, but on a much smaller scale.

Conservative Twitter-like platform Parler was also forced offline, and now there are calls to block the Telegram app as well.

These events have shown that Big Tech companies “in some areas have de facto become rivals to the government,” Putin said.

Billions of users spend large parts of their lives on the platforms and, from the point of view of those companies, their monopolistic position is favorable for organizing economic and technological processes, the Russian president explained. “But there’s a question of how such monopolism fits the interest of society,” he stressed.

https://www.rt.com/russia/513768-putin-slams-big-tech-in-davos/

Proud Boys Leader Was 'Prolific' FBI Snitch: Court Docs

While US officials claim that 'far-right extremism' is one of the largest threats facing America, the leader of the group most commonly singled out as an example - the Proud Boys - was a 'prolific' informant for federal and local law enforcement, according to Reuters, citing a 2014 federal court proceeding.

Enrique Tarrio repeatedly worked undercover for investigators following a 2012 arrest, court documents reveal.

Curiously, Tarrio was ordered to stay away from Washington D.C. one day before the January 6 Capitol riot after he was arrested on vandalism and weapons charges - upon a request by government prosecutors that he be prohibited from attending. At least five Proud Boys members were charged as part of the riot.

In the 2014 hearing, a federal prosecutor, an FBI agent and Tarrio's attorney describe his undercover work - noting that the Proud Boys leader helped authorities prosecute over a dozen people in various cases involving drugs, gambling and human smuggling, accoding to Reuters.

In a Tuesday interview with Reuters, Tarrio denied working undercover or cooperating in cases.

"I don't know any of this," he said, adding "I don't recall any of this."

Law-enforcement officials and the court transcript contradict Tarrio’s denial. In a statement to Reuters, the former federal prosecutor in Tarrio’s case, Vanessa Singh Johannes, confirmed that “he cooperated with local and federal law enforcement, to aid in the prosecution of those running other, separate criminal enterprises, ranging from running marijuana grow houses in Miami to operating pharmaceutical fraud schemes.”

Tarrio, 36, is a high-profile figure who organizes and leads the right-wing Proud Boys in their confrontations with those they believe to be Antifa, short for “anti-fascism,” an amorphous and often violent leftist movement. The Proud Boys were involved in the deadly insurrection at the Capitol January 6.

The records uncovered by Reuters are startling because they show that a leader of a far-right group now under intense scrutiny by law enforcement was previously an active collaborator with criminal investigators. -Reuters

During Tarrio's 2014 hearing, both the prosecutor and Tarrio's defense attorney asked for a reduced prison sentence after pleading guilty in a fraud case related to the relabeling and sale of stolen diabetes test kits. In requesting leniency for Tarrio and two co-defendants, the prosecutor noted that Tarrio's information had resulted in the prosecution of 13 people on federal charges in two separate cases, and helped local authorities investigate a gambling ring.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/proud-boys-leader-was-prolific-fbi-snitch-court-docs

Controlled opposition? I've long suspected

No More Hard Questions: Biden Team Considers Banning Conservative Media from Press Briefings

In January 2017 the Gateway Pundit announced we would be represented in the Trump White House with a reporter at the daily briefings.

The liberals did not take the news well and our reporter Lucian Wintrich was attacked nearly every day he set his foot into the press room. Lucian was even accosted and harassed at one point by the vicious reporter-activists in the room.

It was clear during the Trump years that the media’s goal was to smear President Trump and ignore his successes. They were threatened by any real news outlet. It is not a surprise that today the media is not trusted and despised by a significant segment of the population.

Maybe it’s all the lying?

The Biden regime is not taking any chances with confrontations by real reporters. Earlier this week Biden’s deputy press secretary announced that “conspiracy” organizations will no longer be allowed in the White House… By that, he means conservative outlets.

Like their president, they are not willing or capable of answering difficult questions on their insane policies.

Via Big League Politics:

President Joe Biden’s press team may move to restrict the briefings held at the White House to liberal mainstream media outlets, if language from the new President’s deputy press secretary if more than just talk.

“Organizations or individuals who traffic in conspiracy theories, propaganda and lies to spread disinformation will not be tolerated,” TJ Ducklo, Biden’s deputy press secretary, said in a statement to Politico, “and we’ll work with the WHCA to decide how to handle those instances moving forward.”

Given liberal media figures’ extremely wide-ranging definition of “disinformation,” it appears possible to likely that any journalist or reporter who is critical of Biden policies “will not be tolerated” at the White House.

Of course, it should be noted that anything to the right of Joseph Stalin is considered “conspiracy” by today’s far-left gatekeepers.

Questioning climate science, reporting on election fraud, or exposing flawed COVID science will get you banned and silenced by the elites.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/01/no-hard-questions-biden-team-considers-banning-conservative-media-press-briefings/

53 dead after blaze engulfs bus and fuel truck in horror Cameroon crash

A horrific crash between a bus and a fuel-laden truck in western Cameroon has left 53 people dead after an enormous fire engulfed the two vehicles.

A local official said the 70-seat bus was involved in a head-on collision with the truck at around 3.30am at a location called the Cliff of Dschang, in central-western Cameroon.

“The dead have all been burned beyond identification,” Awa Fonka Augustine, the governor of West Region, said. Along with the shocking fatality count a total of 29 people also suffered severe burns.

Tragédie : Au moins 53 morts dans un accident à #Dschang#Cameroon#Ouest👇👇👇👇 https://t.co/JDD0DTSBREpic.twitter.com/BmGbT0NEVE

— Mimi Mefo Info (@MimiMefoInfo) January 27, 2021

"A collision between the truck and the bus sparked uncontrollable fire which ravaged the truck, the bus and its occupants,” he added.

Augustine said fog may have been a cause of the accident, and early investigation found that the truck had a “brake problem.”

The governor added that the truck was illegally transporting fuel and that the driver of the vehicle fled the scene in the aftermath of the incident.

🔥😢🔥 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘 𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗨𝗫 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗦 𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗨𝗥𝗦 𝗦𝗨𝗥 𝗟𝗔 𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗘 𝗗𝗘 #𝗗𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚Ce matin à 4h, un bus de Menoua Voyage venant de #Douala entre en collision avec un camion.Nous y reviendrons #Camerounpic.twitter.com/x6kDW1anAv

— Camer24 (@Camer24) January 27, 2021

A 70-seater bus and a mini truck collides and catches fire at the Dschang cliff in the early hours of the morning leaving 14 dead, 38 others removed and rushed to the hospital in Dschang. The numbers may increase as the rescue team continues with their rescue mission#Cameroonpic.twitter.com/FYMlBJb55e

— Anchunda Benly (@anchunda_benly) January 27, 2021

https://www.rt.com/news/513781-53-dead-bus-crash-cameroon/

PRAY FOR EACH OTHER