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Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

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Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#151

Post by donmcronald »

benmmurphy wrote: post #27
rmrfstar wrote: post #13

Robert Graham [1] pointed out that if the emails are authentic, they can be trivially verified via DKIM. That the email metadata was not released implies the emails are either inauthentic, or that the post did not contact someone with basic competence in computer forensics. Either possibility seriously undercuts the article's credibility. [1] https://twitter.com/ErrataRob/status/1316407424648179717

It wouldn’t prove they were authentic. It would just prove they were sent through gmail’s servers. If you trusted gmail then it would prove the username, time and content was legitimate. All it looks like to me is some Russian username. I don’t see how it ties to a real person. I haven’t read the article so maybe the post explains that bit.

It would be immediately obvious if they were a poor quality fake though. Like if someone typed it up in Word and exported it to PDF they wouldn’t be able to produce the DKIM signature.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#152

Post by runarberg »

partiallypro wrote: post #127
rectang wrote: post #108

For a counterpoint on why this story is likely BS: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/fivepoints/5-points-on-why-the...

It likely is BS, but not definitely. Even some of the points in the TPM article aren't very strong (I'm sorry, but journalists mocking the story isn't a point.) But, even if it is, it's not the role of Facebook to decide it is or isn't, when it is not verify-ably false. Instead they should just elevate critics of the article/scoop like the article you linked.

Extraordinary times calls for extraordinary actions. The coming US election is no small deal, and we have seen in past elections how bad actors have been using social media to undermine democracy (including but not limited to influencing elections). You really can’t blame Twitter and Facebook here for taking the more radical step against an obvious smear campaign that blatantly fails the smell test. I’m sure if this story turns out to be true, we will hear about it from more reliable media, at which point the social media companies can offer an apology and release the links to this article.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#153

Post by likeafox »

_qulr wrote: post #148
likeafox wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a newspaper collaborating with the president's personal lawyer, who is already the subject of investigations into persons in violation of the Foreign Agent Registration Act, during the run up to an incredibly contentious election after these networks - Facebook and Twitter- have already been accused of allowing rampant disinformation campaigns. If they had reason to believe that the information was part of a mal…

> It's a newspaper collaborating with the president's personal lawyer The President is still allowed to tweet almost anything he wants, so this is still very selective censorship.

Evidently Twitter feels that gives him special privileges, but they've been flagging his posts as possible misinformation for months. Clearly they're trying to find a way to navigate a difficult situation. I think they should be erring toward better control of disinformation, certainly not being more laissez-faire about a problem that is destroying the world.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#154

Post by mcintyre1994 »

cft wrote: post #143
gjsman-1000 wrote: post #103

If I was a Twitter or Facebook investor, I have one question: What did you expect was going to happen? Honestly. Did nobody have the foresight at Facebook or Twitter to think that this wouldn't blow up? Did nobody think, just once, that this might invite regulatory action or be in news headlines? And if honestly nobody thought this might happen, I'd want the entire management and "safety" team replaced for having no…

The just consequence should be that they should be considered publishers, rather than the republishers. And thus lose their 230 protection from civil litigation.

Isn’t the entire point of 230 to allow platforms to be moderated without being treated as publishers?

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#156

Post by bjourne »

tboyd47 wrote: post #120
gjsman-1000 wrote: post #103

If I was a Twitter or Facebook investor, I have one question: What did you expect was going to happen? Honestly. Did nobody have the foresight at Facebook or Twitter to think that this wouldn't blow up? Did nobody think, just once, that this might invite regulatory action or be in news headlines? And if honestly nobody thought this might happen, I'd want the entire management and "safety" team replaced for having no…

They probably have been doing this for a while, and this was just the first time they got called out for it. Regulatory action has been in the works for some time. Whether or not it goes through depends only on politics. The mainstream media already doesn't like them for eating their lunch. Twitter has nothing to lose by doing this. It will damage Facebook's brand identity as being a "free speech" platform, but that'…

This time they went too far though. Banning Alex Jones? He's a crackpot. Banning Mila Yannipopoulus? He trolled people. Censoring Trump tweets? Ok... Censoring the very much anticipated October surprise involving Hunter Biden? No way.

I don't think anyone either on the left or the right thinks this move was a good idea. It will just make the Hunter Biden story blow up even harder.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#157

Post by TMWNN »

runarberg wrote: post #133

Just step back a little and consider the alternatives here. NYP is pretty obviously smearing for a major civil event here, a civil event that has the potential of causing serious harm to the second largest democracy in the world. If the social media companies would just allow this smearing to go unhindered, they are basically saying: “We don’t care if bad actors use our platform to undermine our democracy,” which is…

>NYP is pretty obviously smearing for a major civil event here

What makes this "obviously smearing"?

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#158

Post by mcintyre1994 »

likeafox wrote: post #140
_qulr wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The majority of things on Twitter and Facebook are bullshit. How many politicians and "pundits" are allowed to blatantly lie on Twitter? Not sure why this is different.

It's a newspaper collaborating with the president's personal lawyer, who is already the subject of investigations into persons in violation of the Foreign Agent Registration Act, during the run up to an incredibly contentious election after these networks - Facebook and Twitter- have already been accused of allowing rampant disinformation campaigns. If they had reason to believe that the information was part of a mal…

Is that Cohen when you say Trump’s lawyer? Do you have a source for that out of interest? It smells a bit like that National Review article Cohen planted about Cruz’s dad killing JFK or something in 2016.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#159

Post by spoopyskelly »

riffic wrote: post #112
_qulr wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just Twitter, it's also Facebook. (I believe Facebook was actually the first to take action.) What if Google does it too? In the past few years, we've seen these big tech companies operate in a manner that seems collusive. They follow each other's cues. One company is the first to censor, and then the other companies follow very quickly with the exact same censorship. (The quick collective action tends to di…

I don't really care about Twitter or Facebook to be honest. It's not the only game in town. I'd be more concerned if I bought server hosting from AWS, stood up a WordPress blog about my thoughts on capitalism, socialism, sports, and dogs, and Amazon decides to suspend my account due to my writings.

They will do that if your postings are wrongthink enough. And your registrar will fuck your domain too. See: stormer, 8chan, etc.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#160

Post by aokiji »

_qulr wrote: post #148
likeafox wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a newspaper collaborating with the president's personal lawyer, who is already the subject of investigations into persons in violation of the Foreign Agent Registration Act, during the run up to an incredibly contentious election after these networks - Facebook and Twitter- have already been accused of allowing rampant disinformation campaigns. If they had reason to believe that the information was part of a mal…

> It's a newspaper collaborating with the president's personal lawyer The President is still allowed to tweet almost anything he wants, so this is still very selective censorship.

He published a video (still on YouTube) with a unifying message after the death of George Floyd. Jack Dorsey on Twitter deleted it on the basis of copyright claims. If copyright had been truly infringed, it would have been taken down from YouTube.

Twitter is just an extreme example of a social media platform acting like a publisher and applying blatant censorship.

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