Free Republic

Google was the chief promulgator of the Donald Trump "bloodbath" hoax over the weekend, flooding its search results with articles that deceptively framed the former president's comment. Trump predicted that re-electing Joe Biden would stir an economic "bloodbath," while specifically referencing the automotive industry at a rally last weekend. Yet nearly every headline Google generated on the topic led users to an article skimping over the context, suggesting Trump warned of his plans to provoke a civil war. Google understands it can no longer lead users to such deceptive headlines. Most Americans know what Trump said by now. Therefore, Google...

Today, America First Legal (AFL) released documents from litigation against the U.S. Department of State’s Global Engagement Center (GEC), exposing the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s internal “Disinformation Primer.” Foundation for Freedom Online (FFO), founded by Mike Benz, analyzed these documents and discovered that: The US Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Center on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) created an internal “Disinformation Primer” that revealed the agency’s explicit praise for private sector censorship strategies and proposed additional censorship practices and techniques; USAID’s censorship proposals were aimed at influencing private-sector technology companies, media organizations, education ministries, national governments,...

Tweet: Here’s the interesting part about Rishi’s tyrannical new online bill… Yesterday, his government announced that offences under new online laws have kicked in so “criminals can face up to five years behind bars for their demeaning and dangerous actions.” Part of this new law outlines a new “fake news” offence – a false communications offence – that outlaws the intentional sending of false information that could cause “non-trivial psychological” or physical harm to users online.

A whistleblower has come forward with an explosive new trove of documents, rivaling or exceeding the Twitter Files and Facebook Files in scale and importance. They describe the activities of an “anti-disinformation” group called the Cyber Threat Intelligence League, or CTIL, that officially began as the volunteer project of data scientists and defense and intelligence veterans but whose tactics over time appear to have been absorbed into multiple official projects, including those of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The CTI League documents offer the missing link answers to key questions not addressed in the Twitter Files and Facebook Files....

Former President Barack Obama helped draft the new White House artificial intelligence policy that President Joe Biden rolled out earlier this week, according to aides familiar with the situation. … Ahead of its debut, Obama -- who has long had interest in AI -- assisted the Biden team with the plan, an Obama aide told ABC News. Obama held meetings with AI industry leaders, where he pressed them and made them aware of not just the national security concerns AI poses, but also other issues with AI such as bias and discrimination, the aide said. Obama also met with congressional...

With the 2024 election just a year away, the Oregon Secretary of State signed a contract with an AI-powered threat intelligence program to “identify, advise, and combat harmful MDM information online.” The contract was signed today, October 27th. OFA Media reached out to the Oregon Election’s Division communication team for comment, but haven’t received a response. According to sources, the platform is a company called “Logically Intelligence” whose mission is to “reduce the harms associated with mis- and disinformation” and “provide analysts with content analysis tools to detect harmful online narratives and threats at speed and at scale.” Here’s an...

A video posted to social media claimed to show Hamas fighters shooting down an Israeli war helicopter in Gaza. The footage was actually taken from a video game. Another video claimed to show Israeli jets bombing targets in northern Gaza. But it was actually footage of fireworks celebrating a football win in Algeria three years ago. In recent weeks, the Israel-Hamas conflict has seen a sharp rise in fake videos and photos being posted to social media in a bid to mislead internet users and sow confusion and doubt. […] The European Commission is ramping up the pressure on social...

Brussels, Oct 11--The EU's digital chief Thierry Breton warned Elon Musk on Tuesday that his platform X, formerly Twitter, is spreading "illegal content and disinformation", in a letter seen by AFP. The letter said concerns had heightened after the Hamas attack against Israel, and demanded Musk respond to the complaint within 24 hours and contact "relevant law enforcement authorities." As the European Union's commissioner for industry and the digital economy, Breton is charged with regulating internet giants that trade within the bloc and can launch legal action. "Following the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel, we have indications...

In a story that has virtually been ignored by the global media, UK police arrested an independent journalist for posting "malinformation" and misinformation about Ukraine.Under the new UK censorship law called the Online Safety Act, the government can order the arrest or detention of anyone said to be "hateful" or judged by fact checkers to be posting "misinformation."Warren Thornton was literally in the midst of streaming an edition of his podcast The Real Truth on Sept. 24 when Bristol police officers came to his front door and demanded he speak with them.The Liberal government of Canada is preparing its own...

Annnd… Here we go. If you have not read the background {Go Deep}, you will not have the appropriate context to absorb the latest revelation about how the Dept of Defense will now conduct online monitoring operations, using enhanced AI to protect the U.S. internet from “disinformation” under the auspices of national security. Gee, who would have predicted that U.S. internet operations would suddenly have a totally new set of enhanced AI guardians at the gateways? 👀 Read Carefully – Eyes Wide Open: The US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has contracted New York-based Accrete AI to deploy software that detects...

Former White House press secretary and current MSNBC host Jen Psaki was named several times by a federal judge who is temporarily preventing White House officials from meeting with tech companies about social media censorship. The injunction said that Psaki "publicly began pushing Facebook and other social-media platforms to censor COVID-19 misinformation" on May 5, 2021. "At a White House Press Conference, Psaki publicly reminded Facebook and other social-media platforms of the threat of ‘legal consequences’ if they do not censor misinformation more aggressively," it continued.

It is a tight contest over which U.S. regulatory agency is most captured by industry. But leading the pack is surely the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Many of us in the past believed the main problem with the agency was the costs it imposed on industry. The situation turns out to be more complicated. Whatever its past, it’s become an industry-dominated vending machine for drug approvals enacted with a very expensive rubber stamp.The ordeal of the COVID vaccine proved it. So long as the check cleared, the FDA was ready with committee-based approvals for which no one in particular...

The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs has released a consultation document containing proposed changes to censorship procedures. Read a sobering commentary by the Free Speech Union HERE. The proposals include the appointment of a chief regulator who will be empowered to decide whether online content – including social media posts – is “harmful.” To do so, he will be empowered to make up his own “guidelines” without the input of parliament. The proposals will also allow fines exceeding NZ$200,000 to be levied on those who don’t comply with his ideas. ... What Exactly Will the Regulator’s Draconian Powers Replace?...

The new Foreign Malign Influence Center oversees efforts that span U.S. military, law enforcement, intelligence, and diplomatic agencies. WITHIN THE FEDERAL government, offices dedicated to fighting foreign disinformation are springing up like daisies, from the Pentagon’s new Influence and Perception Management Office to at least four organizations inside the Department of Homeland Security alone, as well as ones inside the FBI and State Department. To oversee the growing efforts — which arose in response to concerns about the impact of Russian meddling in the 2016 election but have now expanded — the director of national intelligence has created a new...

The New York Times appeared to be tickled pink over liberal-run states shoehorning President Joe Biden’s Disinformation Governance Board idea into their own election governance processes. The Times technology and regulation reporter Cecilia Kang celebrated Connecticut for a reported recent state effort to hire an election “misinformation” expert with a $150,000 salary. Kang’s story painted the idea of Connecticut’s so-called state “misinformation” officer like he or she would be a dogged crime-fighter. The story had a fawning headline: “Help Wanted: State Misinformation Sheriff.” Kang whined how the state faced “a bevy of falsehoods about voting that swirled around online.” To...

As soon as the DHS agency to combat disinformation was created, director Nina Jankowicz found herself on the receiving end of a concerted campaign by the very same forces disinformation her office would face.

Department of Homeland Security is setting up a new board designed to counter misinformation related to homeland security, with a focus specifically on Russia and irregular migration. The board will be called the "Disinformation Governance Board, and will be headed by executive director Nina Jankowicz. Speaking with the House Appropriations DHS Subcommittee on Wednesday afternoon, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said, "Our Undersecretary for Policy, Rob Silvers is co-chair with our Principal Deputy General Counsel, Jennifer Gaskell, in leading a just recently constituted misinformation disinformation governance board. So we're bringing — the goal is to bring the resources of the department...

In a report that advocates governments using “psychological operations” against their own population, the Financial Times asserts, with no proof, that Russia and China are responsible for pushing “anti-vax sentiment” and criticism of lockdown measures in the west.The article quotes Mikael Tofvesson, head of the Swedish Navy’s new Psyops division, who says “foreign aggressors” are trying to “sow division by targeting areas of public concern such as crime, Covid vaccinations, the government’s response to the pandemic, and immigration.”“The most important task in psychological defence is to inoculate the population against believing false information,” states the article, which is written by...

President Obama continued his criticism of Fox News, arguing that the network’s viewers are getting a different set of facts than the rest of the country. During a WTF Podcast with Marc Maron, Obama lamented that the media is “splintered” now, with all kinds of different news outlets. “We’re not in a common conversation,” he said. “If you watch Fox News you inhabit a completely different world with different facts than if you read (the) New York Times,” he said. Obama said media institutions such as Fox News and political organizations were trying to profit from polarization, and that’s leaving the political...