Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#721

Post by ibeckermayer » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 5:29 AM UTC

felipemnoa wrote: post #658

Karunamon wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an angle I hadn't even considered, but I'm surprised Twitter didn't. SV social media companies, of all the organizations in the world , should understand the implications of a Streisanding. If they had just left it alone, maybe attached the standard "this might be false" disclaimer, it would likely have passed as yet another partisan thing , but now they've gone and infused it with a bunch of power it didn't h…

>>but now they've gone and infused it with a bunch of power it didn't have prior. I don't know. I think the people that are going to believe these kinds of stories at face value would have found this story on their own regardless. It is not like the NY Post is some obscure paper. It may make this story stronger with those that are already inclined to believe this stuff. I think by this time people have already made t…

What about the story should I not be taking at face value? I just read the email, seems pretty clearcut that the Burisma bigshot asked Hunter to "use your influence" to fight off the "general prosecutor". Ultimately Biden did get the prosecutor general fired by withholding foreign aid, and bragged about it on camera.

IIRC Trump was impeached for supposedly threatening to withhold foreign aid from Ukraine unless they investigated this incident.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#722

Post by JamesBarney » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 5:35 AM UTC

millstone wrote: post #673

frob wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The New York Post is not a serious newspaper; it is a sensationalist tabloid. Sometimes the NYPost will report on real news, but I believe absolutely nothing they report until it is verified by the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, or other major broadcast outlet with actual journalistic standards.

Do not dismiss tabloid journalism. There's a long and happy history of Democrats being undone by lurid tabloids. Think Drudge Report breaking the (Bill) Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, or National Enquirer breaking the John Edwards affair, or NYPost breaking the Anthony Weiner sexting. This is tabloid journalism at its best. The difference is those stories had supporting details, with the reporters attempting to follow up.

His point is not that if a NYPosr posts it's untrue. He's saying that they also post a lot of untrue stuff.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#723

Post by bduerst » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 5:39 AM UTC

ianai wrote: post #74

kube-system wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really hope AT&T starts censoring these damn spam calls. I've had 5 today.

They can’t. Because that actually is a technology not built to be moderated.

Only because the FCC recently loosened caller ID spoofing restrictions. It used to be possible.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#724

Post by hashtagmarkup » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 5:40 AM UTC

If the president of the USA is allowed to keep posts up that are internally labelled as having broken their terms of service (generally regarding misinformation), and the posts are kept up in the name of public interest, I don't see how blocking the #8 newspaper in the USA benefits the public interest in any way. An obvious argument could be made that it detriments the public interest.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#725

Post by cable2600 » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 5:45 AM UTC

quest88 wrote: post #176

throwawa3495 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's honestly irrelevant about the credibility of the emails and other data at this point, its the blanket censorship of this article that's now the real story.

But what should be done about tech enabling the spread of false information?

Fact check the information to see if it is false and then add an disclaimed that it was fact checked and proven to be false.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#726

Post by nullc » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 5:46 AM UTC

srtjstjsj wrote: post #474

Rebelgecko wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you just speculating, or is there actual proof that the article is fake? Twitter seems to think it contains at least some authentic material that was obtained illicitly. The FBI has confirmed the authenticity of subpoenas in the past and I'm confident that they'd be able to do so before November. Determining if the pictures are photoshopped is trickier but could probably also be done relatively quickly Edit- I hi…

The supposed leaker has contradicted his own claims about the material, has refused to release evidence (like cryptographic signatures) that might prove whether the emails actually passed through email servers, and he is a zealous Trump booster, (supposedly) hid the information from the public for a year in order to maximize campaigns impact instead of sharing it immediately upon discovery, and none of the Republican…

> That a Mac repair shop owner violated all ethical standards to spy on a customer laptop.

Repair shops look through equipment all the time-- they're one of the largest sources of reports for child pornography.

> instead of the FBI.

I think you've just proved you didn't even read the NY POST article? It claims he gave the laptop to the FBI and includes a supposed "federal subpoena showing the computer and hard drive were seized by the FBI". The continues, "before turning over the gear, the shop owner says, he made a copy of the hard drive and later gave it to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s lawyer, Robert Costello"

I have no idea if this stuff is bullshit or not-- presumably the FBI will come out and debunk it completely shortly.

But I don't think the discourse is furthered by opinionated comments from people who don't even give an appearance of having read the article.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#727

Post by gorgoiler » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 5:53 AM UTC

A presidential lackey says the emails came from an abandoned, unencrypted laptop.

How dull. Is it too much to ask that these “breaches” involve some more elaborate spy tradecraft?

At least tell me that they were wearing wigs when they screwed the HDD into a USB enclosure and just mounted it.

Edited to add this article, which isn’t something I’d swear an oath on, but which has a great SoundCloud link in it interviewing the laptop tech himself: https://www.thedailybeast.com/man-who-reportedly-gave-hunter...

...where he literally talks anxiously about needing to “find people who are better [than me] at political spy craft.”

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#728

Post by duckMuppet » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 5:59 AM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #713

labster wrote: post #702

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but this is what makes the situation so dangerous in the U.S. If no one’s mind is changed over events like these, then we’re at a point where there are essentially two citizenries which both see the other side as toxic. We’re slouching towards civil war. Most people don’t want war, but do see the other side as harmful, so we have to try hard to avoid it. Maybe we’re all looking at it wrong, maybe a civil war i…

I had assumed it was just that people were consuming two entirely different media streams. But I’ve had conversations recently where college educated people won’t even concede basic factual points left out of a media narrative. Like, things that can be established just by looking at some publicly available document, which I have given them. They keep just circling back to the narrative. It’s scary.

You're mistake was thinking that being college educated leads to critical thinking.

On the contrary, college and the University system in general is largely a credentialing and signaling system now.

Very often, the public education system in the US at least removed much of the critical thinking for thinking in narratives.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#729

Post by pnw_hazor » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 6:00 AM UTC

shripadk wrote: post #111

frob wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The New York Post is not a serious newspaper; it is a sensationalist tabloid. Sometimes the NYPost will report on real news, but I believe absolutely nothing they report until it is verified by the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, or other major broadcast outlet with actual journalistic standards.

> New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, or other major broadcast outlet with actual journalistic standards. "Actual journalistic standards" yeah right! They literally carried out a fake news story about Nick Sandmann without any sort of verification. CNN settled 250 million $ lawsuit followed by Washington Post. Other publications are in the line next. They have zero credibility... especially after causing irrep…

Not too mention The 1619 Project.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#730

Post by nullc » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 6:01 AM UTC

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #85

I can't really wrap my head around about how shortsighted of a move this is. Just two weeks ago(!) there was a hearing about Section 230 and Facebook and Twitter were saying it was necessary, and they submitted testimony about misinformation at that hearing. They've now blown any credibility they had left with half of Congress, possibly more, and have attracted 10x the attention and 10x the perceived credibility to t…

Well, for one S230 has nothing to do with this. You could revoke S230 today and they would be still completely free to do this... you'd just make it much more likely that not-for-profit and smaller venues like HN which allow users to share links to the NY post article couldn't stay in operation.