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Best of the Web: Cyber-Gestapo: CNN asked Facebook to censor Russia-backed video company at behest of Atlanticist 'think-tank' German Marshall Fund

Kevin Gosztola
Shadowproof
Tue, 19 Feb 2019 17:41 UTC
Maffick media Facebook ban
© CNNJournalist Rania Khalek Screen and Maffick Media chief operating officer J. Ray Sparks in CNN's report on Russia-backed video company Maffick Media.
Disclosure: Kevin Gosztola co-hosts the Unauthorized Disclosure podcast with Rania Khalek, who is a contributor for Maffick Media's Soapbox. Unauthorized Disclosure is entirely listener-funded. Shadowproof is member-supported and funded by reader donations.
CNN went in search for a story about a Russian-funded digital media project that produces viral videos aimed at undermining American democracy. When CNN journalists could not find what they were looking for, they effectively manufactured the news by giving Facebook a pretext for removing the project's pages used to share videos. Now, the cable news network had their story.

Four CNN journalists worked on the report, "Russia is backing a viral video company aimed at American millennials." It appeared online late in the day on February 15 and broke the news that Maffick Media had their Facebook pages for three video channels suspended.

Maffick also produces In The Now, which Facebook took down as well.

Facebook never required pages to include information about their parent companies nor has the social media company ever labeled state-sponsored media, which CNN acknowledged. Yet, since the project involves funding from Russian state media, CNN believed Facebook may want to require the pages to disclose such details.

Comment: RT adds further comment:
"Closing a Facebook account or any internet link of a media, without prior warning, can be considered as an act of censorship opposed by the IFJ," the group's chief Philippe Leruth told RIA Novosti.

His remarks came after Facebook suddenly removed several news and viral video-themed pages with millions of subscribers, managed by Maffick Media, on Friday. It happened immediately after CNN ran a report accusing the agency of being part of a Russian "influence campaign." The reason given was that Maffick is partially owned by Ruptly video agency, a subsidiary of RT which is funded by Russia. Facebook gave no notice or warning before taking down the pages. The company later said that it is launching an update for popular pages and will request them to disclose their ownership.

"Closing brutally any link doesn't respect this normal way of doing [things]," Leruth said explaining that even if a media organization is accused of "spreading fake news," it should be asked for the "rectification" of the information presented, and if it refuses - other steps can be taken, including legal action.

Maffick's team heavily pushed back against Facebook, pointing out that its pages didn't violate any of the social network's rules. News agencies weren't required to display information on their funding and ownership on Facebook, and the social network never came after other state-funded media, like the BBC, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty or Qatari-owned Al Jazeera, they argued.


Four days after taking down the pages Facebook got back to Maffick saying that more information is needed in About section.


RFE/RL updated its page later on Tuesday.


Good for Naouai! If Maffick Media is to be held to such a high standard, then apply it across the board.


Co-founder of the Intercept, journalist Glenn Greenwald also criticized Facebook's actions as "highly disturbing." The company, along with CNN and the US-funded German Marshall Fund, whose opinion was prominently featured in CNN's story, are "working together to selectively censor," he wrote on Twitter.


Speaking to RT, journalist and political commentator Martin Summers said that Facebook's action against Maffick Media brings up a broader question on whether the social media giant "should have the power to decide what people see here."

"When you do internet searches... you're supposed to find the thing that the most people are looking at. But, of course, now they've started talking about changing the algorithms."

"It's quite clear that the 'Russiagate' is out of control," RT's deputy director for creativity and innovation, Ivor Crotty noted. "The narrative, paranoia and conspiracy theories around it are starting to disintegrate."

Maffick Media said that it appealed the removal of its pages immediately after it happened, but has still received no reply from Facebook.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, meanwhile, suggested that Russia shouldn't retaliate in 'an-eye-for-an-eye' fashion but rather focus on maintaining a "comfortable" environment for foreign reporters.
Maffick Media CEO, host slam Facebook's unprovoked 'censorship' after CNN runs hit piece: 'end of free speech'

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Quenelle

Best of the Web: 'I believe Putin': Trump dismissed US intelligence community's advice on North Korea threat, says fmr. FBI Director McCabe

Kate Lyons
The Guardian
Sun, 17 Feb 2019 16:25 UTC
Putin Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a joint press conference following their summit talks at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki on July 16.
A former FBI acting director has alleged Donald Trump dismissed advice from his own security agencies on the threat posed by North Korea's missiles, saying "I don't care. I believe Putin."

Andrew McCabe made the claims in an interview with 60 Minutes, in which he discussed his tenure at the FBI after James Comey was fired by the president in 2017.

McCabe said Trump made the comments in a meeting about the weapons capability of North Korea. McCabe was not in the meeting with Trump and said his FBI colleague told him about it later.

"The president launched into several unrelated diatribes. One of those was commenting on the recent missile launches by the government of North Korea. And, essentially, the president said he did not believe that the North Koreans had the capability to hit us here with ballistic missiles in the United States. And he did not believe that because President Putin had told him they did not. President Putin had told him that the North Koreans don't actually have those missiles," said McCabe.

"Intelligence officials in the briefing responded that that was not consistent with any of the intelligence our government possesses," said McCabe in the interview. "To which the president replied, 'I don't care. I believe Putin.'"


Comment: Trump understands what the vast majority of regular people understand: that Putin is a much more trustworthy source of information than Deep State intelligence officials who are beholden to the War Party and communicate with the president solely to steer him in the direction they want him to go.

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Brain

Best of the Web: Entirely new form of communication observed in the brain: non-linear information transfer via self-propagating electric fields


The Daily
Thu, 14 Feb 2019 00:00 UTC
Brain
Case Western Reserve researchers observe waves 'leap' across cut in brain tissue; 'ephaptic coupling' said to be producing self-propagating waves, unknown until now

Biomedical engineering researchers at Case Western Reserve University say they have identified a previously unidentified form of neural communication, a discovery that could help scientists better understand neural activity surrounding specific brain processes and brain disorders.

"We don't know yet the 'So what?' part of this discovery entirely," said lead researcher Dominique Durand, the Elmer Lincoln Lindseth Professor in Biomedical Engineering and director of the Neural Engineering Center at the Case School of Engineering. "But we do know that this seems to be an entirely new form of communication in the brain, so we are very excited about this."

Until now, there were three known ways that neurons "talk" to each other in the brain: via synaptic transmission, axonal transmission and what are known as "gap junctions" between the neurons.

Comment: Not long to go now till their jaws drop upon discovering that we're wave-reading consciousness units connected to The Information Field...

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Attention

Best of the Web: Haitian protesters call for Russian intervention as they revolt against US puppet government


RT
Sun, 17 Feb 2019 15:31 UTC
haiti protests feb 2019
© AFP / Hector Retamal“Down with Americans, long live Putin!” chanted around 200 demonstrators in the capital Port-au-Prince on Friday, some holding up printouts with the face of the Russian president.
As the poorest Caribbean state descends into chaos caused by the corruption of its elites, protesters on the streets are calling for help from a man who has never set foot in the country - Vladimir Putin.

"Down with Americans, long live Putin!" chanted around 200 demonstrators in the capital Port-au-Prince on Friday, some holding up printouts with the face of the Russian president.

Protesters burned the American flag as criticism of the links between Washington and the unpopular government of President Jovenel Moise. They called Moise, elected in 2016, a US-installed puppet, who is surviving due to US reluctance to exert international pressure.


Comment: What Smedley Butler Found Out in Haiti

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Light Saber

Best of the Web: Yellow Vest protesters who have lost eyes, limbs demand justice from Macron

Igor Ogorodnev
RT
Sat, 16 Feb 2019 23:35 UTC
Yelow vest lost eye
© (L) Facebook / Fiorina Jacob Lignier; (C) Jacob Maxime; (R) YouTube / TVLPhotos show protester Fiorina Jacob Lignier before and after she was struck by a police gas grenade.
France gathered for the 15th week of Gilets Jaunes protests, with the injury toll of the worst civil unrest in decades now resembling that of a small war. Yet despite pleas from victims, Emmanuel Macron is tightening the screws.

"This is not normal. We are in France, one of the oldest and best democracies in the world," says Fiorina Jacob Lignier, who lost her eye at a demonstration in Paris on December 8. "We usually condemn from afar other countries where this occurs, that this is happening here is unbelievable."

Lignier, a 20-year-old philosophy student, traveled from the northern city of Amiens to march on the Champs-Elysees to protest against fuel taxes with her boyfriend, Jacob Maxime.

He told RT that they were marching with a column of peaceful demonstrators, when a group of masked radicals began to vandalize a shopfront more than 50 yards away.

Comment: S.O.S. Russia S.O.S.

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Biohazard

Best of the Web: Parents of woman killed by 'poison used on Skripal' blame... UK govt, British media, but not Russia

Steven Morris and Caroline Bannock
The Guardian
Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:05 UTC
dawn sturgess
© Adrian Sherratt/The GuardianDawn Sturgess died after being poisoned with nerve agent following the Sergei Skripal incident
The parents of the woman who died in the Wiltshire novichok poisonings have broken their silence to express their anger and hurt at losing their daughter in an extraordinary international incident and say they believe there could be more of the nerve agent yet to be found.

Speaking as the first anniversary of the poisonings nears, Stan and Caroline Sturgess also revealed their concerns that the UK authorities chose to settle the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, exposing residents to risk.

The couple told the Guardian they still had many unanswered questions and called for more clarity from the British government about the poisonings. They also spoke passionately about their sense of injustice that Dawn, a mother of three from a very respectable family, was unfairly portrayed as a homeless drug user.
Stan and Caroline Sturgess
© Adrian Sherratt/The GuardianStan and Caroline Sturgess
The Sturgesses have complicated feelings toward Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, who collapsed after being poisoned with novichok in Salisbury and are now in hiding. "I don't know where Skripal is and I don't know what I'd do if I met him. He's still got his daughter," said Stan, a retired bricklayer.

Caroline said: "It's sad they ended up in a coma but they weren't the true victims. He [Skripal] took risks - he must have known there was a chance people were still after him."
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Jet5

Flashback Best of the Web: The Soviets Were Winning Their Afghan War Against US-backed Insurgency Until Gorbachev Pulled Them Out

Mark Kramer
LA Times
Sun, 26 Dec 2004 11:17 UTC
Soviet Mi-24 Hind Attack Helicopter
Soviet Mi-24 Hind Attack Helicopter in Afghanistan in the 1980s
Twenty-five years ago, on Christmas Eve, Soviet troops marched into Afghanistan with the aim of restoring order in a few months. Nine years later they withdrew amid continued violence. In their wake, civil war erupted and the Taliban rose to power, providing a haven to Al Qaeda.

Critics of the U.S. military effort in Iraq often cite the Soviet experience in Afghanistan as evidence that using foreign troops to put down an insurgency is bound to fail. But that "lesson" is misleading because it depends on a depiction of the Soviet-Afghan war that is downright inaccurate.

When Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan, they initially failed to protect their logistical and communications lines. But Soviet commanders quickly corrected these mistakes and brought in better troops, including helicopter pilots trained for mountain warfare. From mid-1980 on, the Afghan guerrillas never seized any major Soviet facilities or prevented major troop deployments and movements.

When Soviet generals shifted, in mid-1983, to a counterinsurgency strategy of scorched-earth tactics and the use of heavily-armed special operations forces, their progress against the guerrillas accelerated. Over the next few years, the Soviets increased their control of Afghanistan, inflicting many casualties - guerrilla and civilian. Had it not been for the immense support - weapons, training, materials - provided to the Afghan guerrillas by the United States, Saudi Arabia, China and Pakistan, Soviet troops would have achieved outright victory.
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Red Flag

Best of the Web: Leftist hysteria continues: French schools to change 'mother & father' to 'parent 1 and 2' under new law


RT
Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:57 UTC
pronouns
French schools are set to replace the words 'mother' and 'father' with 'Parent 1' and 'Parent 2' following an amendment to a law which passed through French Parliament this week.


Comment: You have GOT to be kidding.


The new naming convention is ostensibly aimed at ending discrimination against same sex parents but critics argue that it "dehumanises" parenthood and may lead to rows over who gets classified as 'Parent 1.'

The amendment, passed Tuesday as part of a wider plan to build a so-called "school of trust," will also enforce mandatory school attendance for all three-year-olds.

"This amendment aims to root in law children's family diversity in administrative forms submitted in school," said Valérie Petit, MP for the majority REM party of President Emmanuel Macron.

Comment: And now you have more of an understanding why 80% of the French population supports a movement that wants to sweep the whole political class out of power.

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Airplane Paper

Best of the Web: Millions of Venezuelans sign Maduro's open letter to US with the message 'Hands Off Our Country'


grayzoneproject.com
Mon, 11 Feb 2019 20:34 UTC
letter us
Venezuelans queue to sign open letter to US government
The Grayzone breaks the media blockade inside Venezuela, amplifying the voices of people ignored by the corporate media. By Anya Parampil

Produced in partnership with MintPress News

The Grayzone reported from inside Venezuela, where millions of people waited in long lines to sign an open letter to the US public, strongly rejecting foreign intervention in their country.

Anya Parampil interviewed working-class Venezuelans in Simon Bolivar Square in the capital Caracas, on February 10, 2019.

Read the letter in full below.

Watch our report:


Comment: By February 8th, after just one day, two million Venezuelans had signed the letter, according to the Venezuelan government.

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Quenelle - Golden

Best of the Web: Yellow Vest spokesman hints at next stage: 'Paramilitaries are ready to overthrow the government'


Sputnik
Fri, 15 Feb 2019 18:29 UTC
Christophe Chalençon
Unofficial Yellow Vest spokesman Christophe Chalençon
The so-called Yellow Vest protests have been raging across France since mid-November, with the movement calling for the resignation of French President Emmanuel Macron over his government's policies.

The official Twitter account of an Italian political show, Piazzapulita, released a video of an interview with a man they claim is Christophe Chalençon, one of the leaders of the yellow vests movement.

While the footage, apparently filmed on a hidden camera, shows only the legs of a man, he can be heard speaking about the ongoing unrest in France.

The man, who is alleged to be Chalençon, is heard saying that if anything happens to him, French President Emmanuel Macron would end up on the guillotine.

Comment: Correction: ...which are rapidly turned violent by the police, on Macron's orders. And no, the demonstrators are not "no longer reflecting the group's early demands." The demonstrators are 'the group', which are supported by an overwhelming majority of French people, this crooked poll notwithstanding. France really is that close to a reckoning, and the Italian government is wise to prepare for it.

Assuming that that is Chalençon making those statements, then he is by no means the first to voice similar. Macron's palace guard have had a helicopter on stand-by to airlift him out of the Elysée if necessary! Hundreds of former and current police and military personnel have posted videos online since early December 2018 discussing armed intervention of some kind or another. A dozen retired generals published a letter late last year demanding that Macron get control of the situation, or else...

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