Facebook’s handling of Alex Jones is a microcosm of its content policy problem

A revealing cluster of emails leaked to Business Insider offers a glimpse at how Facebook decides what content is objectionable in high profile cases. In this instance, a group of executives at Facebook went hands on in determining if an Alex Jones Instagram post violated the platform’s terms of service or not. As Business Insider […]

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YouTube starts to fact-check search results

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YouTube is dealing another blow to conspiracy theorists and disinformation peddlers.

 The video platform has started rolling out text prompts, known as “information panels,” that provide fact checks when users search certain terms or phrases. The feature is currently being rolled out to a limited number of users in India, one country in particular where the spread of fake news has fatal consequences.

An example of YouTube's information pane feature which fact checks search results on the platform.

An example of YouTube’s information pane feature which fact checks search results on the platform.

Image: YouTube

YouTube provided the screenshot above as an example. In this case, a user searches for information regarding a well-known internet hoax about the painkiller paracetamol carrying a hemorrhagic disease called the “Machupo” virus. At the top of the search results page, the user receives a prompt with information debunking the claim. Read more…

More about Youtube, Hoax, Conspiracy Theories, Misinformation, and Fact Check

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Denver airport leans into conspiracy theories with elaborate gargoyle prank

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The Denver International Airport is elaborately trolling travelers once again — this time with an animated gargoyle statue.

Over the years, the airport, which many people know of because of all the wild conspiracy theories surrounding it, has done a truly impressive job of embracing the chaos. 

For its latest prank, the airport installed a talking gargoyle statue right in the middle of “Illuminati Headquarters” to throw shade, tell jokes, and confuse the hell out of travelers. 

According to the airport, the statue is there to “clear the air on all the conspiracies at DEN,” and travelers seem to love it. Read more…

More about Travel, Pranks, Culture, Conspiracy Theories, and Denver International Airport

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YouTube demonetizes anti-vaccination videos

YouTube will demonetize channels that promote anti-vaccination views, after a report by BuzzFeed News found ads, including from health companies, running before anti-vax videos. The platform will also place a new information panel that links to the Wikipedia entry on “vaccine hesitancy” before anti-vax videos. Information panels (part of YouTube’s efforts to combat misinformation) about […]

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YouTube promises to stop recommending flat Earth and 9/11 truther videos

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Even without Alex Jones, harmful conspiracy theory videos were running rampant on YouTube. Now, the company says it’s going to take action.

In a blog post published on Friday, YouTube said it would be making changes to its recommendations algorithm to explicitly deal with conspiracy theory videos. The company says the update will reduce the suggestion of “borderline content and content that could misinform users in harmful ways.”

YouTube clarified what kind of videos fit that description by providing three examples: “videos promoting a phony miracle cure for a serious illness, claiming the earth is flat, or making blatantly false claims about historic events like 9/11.” Read more…

More about Youtube, Conspiracy Theories, Fake News, Flat Earth, and Recommendations

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Study: Twitter isn’t doing enough to combat ‘fake news’

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Almost two years since the 2016 presidential election, misinformation campaigns are still running rampant on social media. Now, a new study claims that things are looking especially grim on Twitter.

A study by the Knight Foundation published Thursday found that “more than 80 percent” of Twitter accounts that were involved in spreading disinformation and falsehoods during the 2016 election campaign are still active on the platform. 

The report found 6.6 million tweets linking to misinformation and fake news publishers just one month ahead of the 2016 election. In addition, from mid-March to mid-April 2017, the study estimates 4 million tweets linked to fake news websites. Fast forward to today, the report finds that “these top fake and conspiracy news outlets on Twitter are largely stable.” Read more…

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Denver International Airport ~knows~ about the conspiracy theories and is trolling us all

If you’ve ever been to the Denver International Airport or even seen photos, you can probably tell it’s a bit, uh, creepy.
In case the giant blue mustang statue with devilishly red eyes that GLOW wasn’t enough to send chills down your spine, over the…

View More Denver International Airport ~knows~ about the conspiracy theories and is trolling us all

New WordPress policy allows it to shut down blogs of Sandy Hook deniers

WordPress has taken down a handful alt-right blogs, according to several complaints from affected blog owners and readers who claim the sites were removed from WordPress.com, despite not being in violation of the company’s Terms of Service. Some site owners also said they were not notified of the shutdown in advance and have lost their […]

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Why some baby boomers are eating up the QAnon conspiracy

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QAnon — an all-encompassing right-wing conspiracy theory about everything from the JFK assassination to pedophile rings based on the vague writings of an anonymous internet poster — has now fully broken into the mainstream, thanks mostly to the alarming number of Trump supporters who showed up to the President’s most recent rallies decked out in “Q” gear. 

So what’s QAnon

The QAnon conspiracy theory revolves around an anonymous internet poster going by the name “Q.” This Q (who may be more than one person!) claims to be a high-ranking government official, supposedly with Q clearance, which would theoretically give them access to material classified as top secret. Q’s posts are usually vague on specifics, but the general narrative is that everything President Trump does is part of a secret mission to take down a global pedophile ring, expose the deep state, and who knows what else. Read more…

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Here’s Twitter’s position on Alex Jones (and hate-peddling anti-truthers) — hint: It’s a fudge

The number of tech platforms taking action against Alex Jones, the far right InfoWars conspiracy theorist and hate speech preacher, has been rising in recent weeks — with bans or partial bans including from Google, Apple and Facebook. However, as we noted earlier, Twitter is not among them. Although it has banned known hate peddlers […]

View More Here’s Twitter’s position on Alex Jones (and hate-peddling anti-truthers) — hint: It’s a fudge