Facebook Bans
Several Pages for Hate Speech
On Thursday, social media giant Facebook announced a number of accounts
that would be permanently banned from their platform for violating their
rules regarding hate speech. The timing and motivation for banning so many
high-profile accounts in one swoop was not immediately explained. From CNN:
“Facebook announced Thursday afternoon that it had designated some
high-profile people, including Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan,
who's notorious for using anti-Semitic language, and right-wing conspiracy
theorist Alex Jones, as ‘dangerous’ and said it will be purging them from
its platforms.
Jones and his media outlet InfoWars had previously been
banned from Facebook (FB) in August 2018,
but had maintained a presence on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook. On
Thursday, Jones and InfoWars will be barred from Instagram as well.
Other people banned on Thursday included Paul Nehlen, an anti-Semite who
unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2016 and 2018, and fringe right-wing
media personalities Laura Loomer, Milo Yiannopoulos and Paul Joseph Watson.
‘We've always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage
in violence and hate, regardless of ideology,’ a Facebook spokesperson said
in a statement provided to CNN Business. ‘The process for evaluating
potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to our decision to
remove these accounts today.’
A Facebook spokesperson told CNN Business the company goes through a lengthy
process and takes into consideration a number of factors before determining
an individual to be ‘dangerous.’”
Facebook has not yet been clear about what specific posts or affiliations
led to the swoop of high-profile banishments.
Dozens of Conservative
Sites 'Blacklisted' by Liberal Journalism Institute
While Facebook was cracking down on their speech “code”, an employee of the
far-left Southern Poverty Law Center created a website for The Poynter
Institute for Media Studies indexing dozens of news websites he labeled as
unreliable, fake, conspiracy, or biased. Most of the websites were
right-leaning. The website initially called for advertisers to “blacklist”
the listed sites, though after many of the included organizations launched
complaints that request was removed. From the Washington Free
Beacon:
“The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, a Florida-based nonprofit
journalism school, released the list on Wednesday and declared dozens of
mainstream conservative sites such as the Washington Free
Beacon, Daily Caller, Daily Signal, CNS News, and Breitbart as
‘unreliable’ while listing few liberal sites," Newsbusters
reports.
The study notes it trimmed the list ‘by removing several sites whose
stories, though highly politicized, were mostly not fake: alternet.org, cato.org, heritage.org, nationalreview.com, thedailybeast.com, the intercept.com, thinkprogress.org, and
weeklystandard.com.’
A majority of the removed sites lean left. Of the removed conservative
sites, the Heritage Foundation, a think tank – and not in itself a news
site — was taken off the list. However, the Daily Signal, which is hosted
by the Heritage Foundation, is included on the list. Another conservative
site that was removed from the list, the Weekly Standard, was
shuttered in December.”
Baltimore Mayor
Finally Resigns
Her long-awaited resignation came via a letter read by her attorney. The
Mayor herself hasn’t been seen since she took a leave of absence a month
ago. From National Review:
“Baltimore mayor Catherine Pugh resigned Thursday amid a mushrooming
corruption scandal. Pugh’s resignation is effective immediately, her attorney
Steve Silverman said at a press conference that she herself did not attend.
‘Dear citizens of Baltimore, I would like to thank you for allowing me
to serve as the 50th mayor. It has been an honor and privilege,’ Pugh said
in a statement read by Silverman. ‘I’m sorry for the harm that I have
caused to the image of the city of Baltimore and the credibility of the
office of the mayor. Baltimore deserves a mayor who can move our great city
forward.’
Pugh, 69, came under fire for selling $500,000 in copies of
her ‘Healthy Holly’ children’s books to the University of Maryland
Medical System (UMMS) while serving on its board. She also sold 20,000
copies of the books to Kaiser Permanente for $114,000 from 2015 to
2018, and 10,000 copies to Associated Black Charities for nearly
$80,000 from 2011 and 2016. She has since resigned her position as a UMMS
board member, canceled that deal, and returned the last $100,000
payment from it to UMMS, according to the Baltimore Sun.”
Friday
Entertainment Center
Why I Respect Alyssa Milano’s Liberal Activism (From Erika
Anderson on Medium)
Peter Mayhew Dies: “Star Wars” Chewbacca Actor was 74 (Deadline)
Arya Stark was the Wrong Choice for Winterfell Hero (From John Martin
for The Federalist)
(I happen to disagree but John wrote a great argument for his side)
“Game of Thrones” Season 8 Episode 4: New Photos Show A Smug Cersei And
Aftermath of War (Deadline)
Petition Demands Captain Marvel Be Played by Gay Woman of Color – Not Brie
Larson (Bounding into
Comics)
Opening This
Weekend: “Long Shot” with Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen. Early reviews are
strong. (Movies &
Shakers)
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