Free Republic

Say, remember when the government and the media treated the lab-leak hypothesis of COVID-19's origin as a conspiracy theory? At the time, social-media platforms suppressed discussion and debate over that explanation. The media treating anyone who noticed that a deadly and novel coronavirus had emerged in the same place where biologists just so happened to be conducting gain-of-function research on --ta da! -- coronaviruses.The question of origin became so important to foreign policy and epidemiological strategy that Joe Biden ordered the US intel community to do an analysis to pin down the origins of the deadly pandemic. That review concluded...

This Misinformation bill could change everything. The government is pushing for unprecedented power to silence anyone they accuse of spreading so-called “false information” – except, of course, the mainstream media and the government themselves. They’ll give themselves a free pass! A large group of Aussies rallied recently in Melbourne to protest this dangerous bill. These famous idiots of parliament received their power from the unintelligent party faithful, YES vote. To reclaim your freedom from the entrenched duopoly LIB/LAB dictatorship, arm yourself with a politician’s most feared weapon, the INK pen, then vote NO to the duopoly and support the freedom...

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) is calling on Big Tech to censor alleged election misinformation, conveniently ignoring his own history of propagating the debunked Trump-Russia collusion narrative. Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff is now demanding that major tech companies take aggressive action to combat the spread of so-called “misinformation” and “disinformation” ahead of the 2024 election. However, Schiff’s sudden concern about election integrity rings hollow given his prominent role in spreading one of the most damaging political conspiracy theories in recent memory — the Trump-Russia collusion hoax. In a letter sent this week to the CEOs of Meta, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok,...

These measures will help to combat the harmful use of deepfakes in political ads and other content, one of several areas in which the state is being proactive to foster transparent and trustworthy AI’

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed three bills Tuesday to crack down on the use of artificial intelligence to create false images or videos in political ads ahead of the 2024 election. A new law, set to take effect immediately, makes it illegal to create and publish deepfakes related to elections 120 days before Election Day and 60 days thereafter. It also allows courts to stop distribution of the materials and impose civil penalties. “Safeguarding the integrity of elections is essential to democracy, and it’s critical that we ensure AI is not deployed to undermine the public’s...

With inflation easing, the wages of working-class Americans are finally moving into the plus column. Average hourly pay for production and nonsupervisory workers — who make up four-fifths of employees — hit $30.27 in August, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to my organization’s analysis, working-class Americans’ wages, adjusted for inflation, have just edged higher than they were on Election Day, 2020. The average working-class American can now answer “Yes” to the question, “Are you better off now than you were under Donald Trump?” That’s obviously important for political symbolism. But the milestone for...

"There needs to be deterrence"

A Washington Post ‘reporter’ on Monday asked Karine Jean-Pierre what Biden is going to do to stop Trump’s live X interview with Elon Musk on Monday night. President Trump is back on X after taking some time away from the social media platform. Trump tweeted a campaign ad ahead of his highly anticipated live interview with Elon Musk on Monday evening at 8 pm ET. Washington Post reporter Cleve Wootson wants the government to intervene to shut Trump down with just a few months to go until Election Day. “One more, Elon Musk is slated to interview Trump tonight on...

Schools in the United Kingdom will begin to teach students how to spot fake news and extremist content in the aftermath of riots that spread across the country last week. Schools across the U.K. will look to revamp their curriculum to help children identify and dismiss extremist content by "embedding" critical thinking lessons in subjects such as English and math, according to a report by The Telegraph. "It’s more important than ever that we give young people the knowledge and skills to be able to challenge what they see online," Bridget Phillipson, the U.K.'s secretary of state for education and...

Governor Kathy Hochul today met with State Commissioner of Education Betty A. Rosa and leaders from the State Education Department to discuss the ongoing development of a ‘Media Literacy’ toolkit for educators to help teach students HOW TO SPOT MIS/DIS/MAL-INFORMATION online. Following a surge in online hate speech in November 2023, Governor Hochul directed the State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services to work with experts to develop and distribute an ideologically neutral product which gives teachers resources to develop students’ ability to analyze, evaluate, and assess all forms of media, including information delivered through social media. “The rising...

Five secretaries of state plan to send an open letter to billionaire Elon Musk on Monday, urging him to “immediately implement changes” to X’s AI chatbot Grok, after it shared with millions of users false information suggesting that Kamala Harris was not eligible to appear on the 2024 presidential ballot. The letter, spearheaded by Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and signed by his counterparts Al Schmidt of Pennsylvania, Steve Hobbs of Washington, Jocelyn Benson of Michigan and Maggie Toulouse Oliver of New Mexico, urges Musk to “immediately implement changes to X’s AI search assistant, Grok, to ensure voters have...

Like something right out of Nazi Germany, the Michigan Bureau of Elections is demanding that citizens … “Do your part!” about election misinformation. “Just as election officials have a duty to detect election misinformation and quickly provide correct information based on the law,” the posting reads, “voters have a responsibility to proactively seek out reliable sources of information and encourage productive and honest dialogue.” Did you know that? Did you know you have that “responsibility?”

Foreign state actors may be amplifying online disinformation that has fuelled a week of riots on the streets of Britain, Downing Street has suggested. Russian state media were among those sharing false claims that the suspect accused of killing three young girls in Southport last Monday was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK on a small boat. Channel3Now, which purports to be a legitimate American news outlet but acts as an “aggregator” for fake claims, wrongly named the attacker as Ali Al-Shakati, believed to be a fictitious name. The subsequent unrest has prompted calls for greater efforts...

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...