TikTok was slapped with a $370 million fine by the European Union Friday for mishandling children’s privacy data on the social media app.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission issued the ruling on behalf of the EU, saying that the Chinese-owned video platform didn’t adequately protect children’s privacy or provide transparency on how it handled data of users 17 and younger, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/15/business/tiktok-european-union-fine.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Data Protection Commissioner for Ireland Helen Dixon <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66819174" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> BBC News that the investigation into TikTok found that the accounts of those ages 13-17 were automatically made public when they registered, which violated the EU&#8217;s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) privacy law.
&#8220;That is precisely at the hands of TikTok because of the way they designed the platform, and we say that infringed the data protection by design and by the default requirements of the GDPR,&#8221; Dixon said.
TikTok pushed back and argued that the regulators focused on features that TikTok changed before the investigation began. The investigation focused on the last five months of 2020.
&#8220;The criticisms are focused on features and settings that were in place three years ago, and that we made changes to well before the investigation even began, such as setting all under 16 accounts to private by default,&#8221; a spokesman for the social media giant said.
The large fine isn’t the first TikTok has faced for its handling of children’s privacy. In 2019, the social media platform, then known as Musical.ly, agreed to a $5.7 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission for violating U.S. rules relating to data protection for children. Then, earlier this year, TikTok was fined $15.8 million by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktok-facing-potential-massive-fine-from-u-k-watchdog-over-failure-to-protect-childrens-privacy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">British regulators</a> for allowing children under the age of 13 to sign up, according to the Times. 
TikTok has faced waves of criticism from city, state, and federal government officials in the U.S. and governments around the world that are concerned about the Chinese-owned app’s privacy settings. More than two-thirds of U.S. states have banned the social media platform from being downloaded on government devices. India completely <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/tiktok-ban.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banned</a> the app in 2020, and other countries such as the U.K., Canada, Australia, France, and New Zealand have banned the app from government devices. 
Some U.S. lawmakers are pushing for more than just a ban on government-issued devices, pointing to the threat of China and arguing that TikTok needs to be completely banned from app stores. 
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“China’s totalitarian regime hates the United States and is bent on displacing us as the world’s greatest power,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/think-again-rubio-warns-americans-against-tiktok-wants-it-banned" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> last month. “If TikTok users believe their sensitive data are safe in Beijing’s hands — that Beijing wouldn’t use those data to influence, coerce, extort or spy on them in the case of a geopolitical conflict­­ — they need to think again.”

TikTok

TikTok Fined $370M For Failure To Protect Children’s Privacy

TikTok Fined $370M For Failure To Protect Children's Privacy

Big Tech

Children

European Union

Privacy

U.S.

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/dr-phil-mcgraw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Phillip C. McGraw</a>, commonly known as Dr. Phil, told Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) this week that social media companies are attacking the family unit in the U.S. by targeting children with &#8220;toxic information&#8221; that causes them to suffer from a wide range of mental health problems.
McGraw made the remarks during a special appearance on Cruz&#8217;s &#8220;Verdict&#8221; podcast this week in response to Cruz noting that the &#8220;pressures that are on our kids right now are qualitatively different from what we experienced.&#8221;
&#8220;I mean, they&#8217;re just assaulted online with social media, they&#8217;re confronted with themes and messaging and influence that is deliberately poisoning them, and what about that worries you?&#8221; Cruz asked. &#8220;And what should parents be doing about that?&#8221;
McGraw said that &#8220;a lot about it worries me because it&#8217;s not just that there&#8217;s competing information out there.&#8221;
&#8220;One of the things I talk about is the fact that our children aren&#8217;t just being exposed, they&#8217;re being targeted,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And when I say targeted, I wrote a book in I think 2004 called &#8216;Family First.&#8217; And at that time, I said the family in America is under attack, that families in America are under attack, the family unit, the family values, everything that families stand for in America are under attack. This was 20 years ago. Let me tell you, it is so much worse now than it was then.&#8221;
&#8220;And when I say they&#8217;re under attack, one of the ways is what&#8217;s happening on the internet, what&#8217;s happening on the social media platforms,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;People don&#8217;t understand algorithms, including me, but I got myself in touch with experts that do understand this. And a good example of what I&#8217;m talking about, research was done where they put together some accounts, put a girl&#8217;s name on it, 14 years old, just her name, 14 years old, opened this account. And within a matter of a few hours, she started getting targeted with toxic information. By that, I mean information that led her to eating disorder sites, suicidality sites, different kinds of things that were really unhealthy.&#8221;
McGraw said that researchers pushed things further by opening another account and including on the account somewhere the words &#8220;weight loss.&#8221;
&#8220;The amount of toxic feed that went to her content, that went to her, went up multiplicatively within the first few hours,&#8221; he said &#8220;The algorithm picked up those words and what they do is they feed you what you will click on. So, it was like 10 times more toxic information.&#8221;
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McGraw said that children were being &#8220;targeted&#8221; despite social media companies knowing that what they will click on &#8220;creates anxiety, depression, loneliness, confusion, self-hatred.&#8221;
&#8220;And if you want to create chaos in a society, where do you start? You attack the children,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If you get them to hate themselves, be questioned about who they are, what they are, what&#8217;s that going to do to the next generation and the next generation? And right now, we have the highest levels of anxiety, depression, and loneliness among our young people.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="The Dr. Phil Interview - Part One | Verdict Ep. 179" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vtrKKQzthpM?start=556&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Dr. Phil Ted Cruz

Dr. Phil To Ted Cruz: If You Want To ‘Create Chaos In Society,’ You Start By ‘Attacking The Children’

Dr. Phil To Ted Cruz: If You Want To 'Create Chaos In Society,' You Start By 'Attacking The Children'

Dr. Phil McGraw

Social Media

Ted Cruz

Tesla CEO and X owner <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> says in a forthcoming biography that a far-left school that his son attended in Los Angeles turned him against the tech mogul.
The comments are contained in &#8220;Elon Musk,&#8221; from Walter Isaacson. The Wall Street Journal featured an excerpt from the book on Thursday.
The excerpt was about what was behind Musk&#8217;s drive to purchase Twitter, which is now X.
&#8220;Musk’s swelling concern with the dangers of what he called the &#8216;woke mind virus&#8217; that he believed was infecting America&#8221; was a crucial factor behind Musk&#8217;s desire to acquire the company, the excerpt said.
&#8220;Unless the woke mind virus, which is fundamentally anti-science, anti-merit, and anti-human in general, is stopped, civilization will never become multiplanetary,” Musk told Isaacson.
Isaacson then <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/elon-musk-twitter-x-takeover-walter-isaacson-5f553fa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> about Musk&#8217;s child who became transgender:
<blockquote>Musk’s anti-woke sentiments were partly triggered by the decision of his oldest child, Xavier, then 16, to transition. “Hey, I’m transgender, and my name is now Jenna,” she texted the wife of Elon’s brother. “Don’t tell my dad.” When Musk found out, he was generally sanguine, but then Jenna became a fervent Marxist and broke off all relations with him. “She went beyond socialism to being a full communist and thinking that anyone rich is evil,” he says. The rift pained him more than anything in his life since the infant death of his firstborn child Nevada. “I’ve made many overtures,” he says, “but she doesn’t want to spend time with me.”
He blamed it partly on the ideology he felt that Jenna imbibed at Crossroads, the progressive school she attended in Los Angeles. Twitter, he felt, had become infected by a similar mindset that suppressed right-wing and anti-establishment voices.</blockquote>
Musk has previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-blames-marxists-for-turning-his-transgender-child-against-him" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slammed</a> the political Left for turning his son against him.
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“It’s full-on communism . . . and a general sentiment that if you’re rich, you’re evil,” says Musk. “It [the relationship] may change, but I have very good relationships with all the others [children]. Can’t win them all.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/every-parent-should-watch-this-elon-musk-retweets-what-is-a-woman-to-his-140m-followers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘Every Parent Should Watch This’: Elon Musk Retweets ‘What Is A Woman?’ To His 140M Followers</a>

Elon Musk Visits Germany

Elon Musk Blasts School Turning His Son Trans And Into ‘A Full Communist’

Elon Musk Blasts School Turning His Son Trans And Into 'A Full Communist'

Communism

Elon Musk

Transgender

A stunning new study from Media Research Center (MRC) shows just how biased Google search results are when it comes to the world of politics.
By typing in just one query, “Presidential campaign websites,” Google returned only Democratic Party candidates — some of which are not even running in 2024. A notable Democrat who does not appear is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., even though the controversial scion of Camelot is second in the Democratic race.
No Republican candidates appeared on the first page of results even though the search was conducted the day before the first GOP debate — a time when Americans are looking to the internet for more clarity on the candidates.
The results of <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Google-Search-Bias-Presidential-Campaign-Websites-MRCFSAM-1.pdf-1692812372019-1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the analysis</a> would almost be funny if they weren’t such a threat to democracy. Not surprisingly, Joe Biden’s campaign pops up first but after that? Marianne Williamson, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. Seriously.
The research was done using a clean algorithm that is not impacted by prior searches or cookies, so what we are seeing is Google’s baseline for results, and it clearly shows that while Americans expect Google to act as a neutral resource, it is anything but one.
MRC’s Vice President for Free Speech Dan Schneider put it this way, “Google has erased every threat to Joe Biden. We know that Google pulled out all the stops to put Hillary Clinton in the White House and they have continued to interfere in our elections ever since. Compared to social media platforms, it is harder to document what Google does in secret but we at MRC Free Speech America have caught them red handed again.”
And this isn’t the first time. Back in October of 2020 MRC found Google’s <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/midterm-elections-google-manipulates-search-engine-results-against-republicans-media-research-center-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thumb on the scale</a> in search results leading up to the midterm election. And wouldn’t you know, then as now, the stifling of speech went only in one direction, against conservative voices.
According to Schneider, “Google has consistently stood apart from all other search engines, and not in a good way. We have repeatedly seen Google and Big Tech social media platforms treat Republican candidates harshly compared to their Democrat opponents.”
There are really only two things that can be going on here: either these biased results are intentional, which Google denies, or the implicit Left wing bias of the software engineers and others in the company is seeping into the search engine.
According to <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Open Secrets</a>, 88% of political donations from Google employees go to Democrats. So should we really be surprised when the product they produce pushes a liberal agenda?
It should also come as no surprise then that Democrats in Congress have opposed almost any investigation into, or legislation targeting Big Tech political bias, after all, it&#8217;s working to their benefit.
It is also working not just to harm conservatives, but the entire country. Whether in regard to elections, COVID, Critical Race Theory, or the trans issue, perfectly reasonable positions have been throttled by Google.
Over 90% of the world uses Google as its primary search engine, so how can voters be properly informed on the candidates and the issues if the ultimate arbiter of online relevance is stacked against one side?
The time for Congress to act is now, first by continuing to haul the Big Tech bosses to Capitol Hill to explain why this is happening and why it&#8217;s not changing, and then to pass meaningful legislation cracking down on ideological bias in the industry.
Search engine bias is a silent form of censorship, a lie of omission if you will.That makes it no less perilous to our politics, because people don’t know what they don’t know, and Google seems happy to keep its users in ignorant bliss, as long as it helps the Left.
Conservatives can no longer throw up their hands on this issue and pretend it just isn’t happening. Google searches are too entwined in the daily lives of Americans for this rank bias to stand. To some degree, in today’s age, Google search results are reality itself.
For better or worse, Big Tech — and Google in particular — is now the gatekeeper of information. The 1st Amendment can give us all the right to free speech, but what use is that if the tech titans and social media barons manipulate what average Americans actually see?
The bias is real, the bias is proven, and whether by the hand of the industry or the government, the bias has to stop.
David Marcus is a West Virginia based columnist and author of “Charade: The Covid Lies That Crushed A Nation”
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire. 
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Google Threatens to Remove Search in Australia as Spat Escalates

New Study Finds Google Favors Democratic Campaigns, Buries Republican Websites

2024 Election

Censorship

Elections

Google

Presidency

Readers Pass

House Judiciary Committee Chairman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jim-jordan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jim Jordan</a> (R-OH) announced on Thursday subpoenas against the leaders of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-justice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Justice (DOJ)</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI</a> as part of his investigation into alleged government collusion with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/big-tech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Big Tech</a> companies.
Cover letters sent to <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2023-08-17-jdj-to-doj-re-subpoena-cover-letter.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Attorney General Merrick Garland</a> and <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2023-08-17-jdj-to-fbi-re-subpoena-cover-letter.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI Director Christopher Wray</a> faulted their agencies with &#8220;woefully inadequate&#8221; responses to past requests for communications with private companies and other third-party groups.
&#8220;Numerous documents that have been made publicly available reflect the weaponization of the federal government’s power to censor speech online directly and by proxy,&#8221; Jordan said in each letter attached to a post to X on the &#8220;Censorship Investigation Over Big Tech Collusion.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a>: Chairman <a href="https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Jim_Jordan</a> subpoenas FBI and DOJ in Censorship Investigation Over Big Tech Collusion
📍Read the subpoena cover letter to Garland here: <a href="https://t.co/5UmJs8Ob7H">https://t.co/5UmJs8Ob7H</a>
📍Read the subpoena cover letter to Wray here:<a href="https://t.co/26XLuemk9v">https://t.co/26XLuemk9v</a> <a href="https://t.co/0rs1qmBhhc">pic.twitter.com/0rs1qmBhhc</a>
&mdash; House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) <a href="https://twitter.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/1692242463497339387?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The chairman stressed that it is &#8220;necessary for Congress to gauge the extent to which&#8221; DOJ and FBI officials &#8220;have coerced, pressured, worked with, or relied upon social media and other tech companies to censor speech.&#8221;
&#8220;The scope of the Committee’s investigation includes understanding the extent and nature of&#8221; the DOJ’s and FBI&#8217;s &#8220;involvement in this censorship,&#8221; he added.
Though the subpoenas themselves were not disclosed in the release, Jordan&#8217;s letters said he demanded the committee&#8217;s &#8220;highest priority documents and information&#8221; while citing rules in Congress governing oversight that relates to protecting civil liberties.
Jordan&#8217;s letters make reference to an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-administration-scores-victory-against-order-blocking-contact-with-social-media-companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ongoing Missouri v. Biden</a> case brought by GOP state attorneys general over alleged collusion between the federal government and social media companies to censor speech in violation of the First Amendment.
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He said the DOJ and FBI have only so far produced a single document in response to his requests from April seeking voluntary cooperation for information on content moderation discussions: a publicly available transcript of a civil deposition of FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Elvis Chan from Missouri v. Biden.
&#8220;Through its investigation, the Committee has uncovered evidence that contradicts several statements in Agent Chan’s deposition, particularly as they relate to his communications with social media platforms,&#8221; Jordan noted.
&#8220;This production is woefully inadequate and omits voluminous responsive material, including communications between FBI and tech companies, internal communications, and communications between FBI and other executive branch entities,&#8221; Jordan wrote.
The Daily Wire reached out to the DOJ and FBI seeking comment.
&#8220;The Department, including the FBI, does not censor content on social media platforms,&#8221; a DOJ spokesperson said in response. &#8220;Private companies have the sole authority to make decisions to protect their platforms and users. As with all the Committee’s various requests, the Department remains committed to working with the Committee to fulfill their informational needs.&#8221;
“The FBI remains committed to cooperating with the committee in good faith. The FBI does not censor content on social media,&#8221; the FBI said in a statement. &#8220;We are a law enforcement and intelligence agency responsible for working with companies in a lawful way to protect our communities from child predators and terrorists, as well as hostile foreign countries like China, Russia, and Iran who are looking to exploit social media platforms to commit crimes or threaten national security. When the FBI identifies information that a hostile foreign actor is behind a social media account, we share that information with the company. Social media companies independently decide what, if any, action to take on their own platforms for their own customers.”
Jordan has already <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jim-jordan-subpoenas-big-tech-executives-in-collusion-investigation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">subpoenaed</a> the heads of Big Tech companies Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft seeking documents and communications “relating to the federal government’s reported collusion with Big Tech to suppress free speech.&#8221;
Last month, the chairman began <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jim-jordan-unleashes-the-facebook-files-social-media-giant-censored-americans-because-of-biden-white-house-pressure" target="_blank" rel="noopener">releasing</a> internal Meta documents that he said were evidence of the White House improperly pressuring Facebook and Instagram into censoring posts, dubbing the disclosure &#8220;The Facebook Files.&#8221; The fourth installment explored how Chan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/facebook-docs-reveal-fbi-agent-made-completely-false-congressional-statements-involving-hunter-biden-laptop-jordan-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allegedly made “completely false” statements</a> during a congressional deposition about the FBI&#8217;s role in suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story on social media platforms during his November 2022 deposition.
A White House official <a href="https://apnews.com/article/social-media-protected-speech-lawsuit-injunction-148c1cd43f88a0284d5a3c53fd333727" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told the Associated Press</a> that the Biden administration &#8220;has promoted responsible actions to protect public health, safety, and security when confronted by challenges like a deadly pandemic and foreign attacks on our elections.&#8221;

Jim Jordan

Jordan Subpoenas DOJ And FBI Leaders In ‘Big Tech Collusion’ Probe

Jordan Subpoenas DOJ And FBI Leaders In 'Big Tech Collusion' Probe

Christopher Wray

Department of Justice

Merrick Garland

Big tech streaming platform <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/apple" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple</a> removed Blaze Media founder Glenn Beck&#8217;s nationally syndicated American culture and politics program from its iTunes platform on Wednesday for an unknown issue.
Beck, who is one of the first conservatives to venture out and create alternative media from the mainstream, announced in a <a href="https://twitter.com/glennbeck/status/1691872607820251600" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> posted on X that he received an email from the Apple Podcasts Team that &#8220;The Glenn Beck Program&#8221; had been removed after they had &#8220;found an issue with [his show] &#8230; which must be resolved before it&#8217;s available on Apple Podcasts.&#8221;
&#8220;I have a feeling these &#8216;issues&#8217; with @Apple and others will keep happening the more we&#8217;re over the target,&#8221; Beck <a href="https://twitter.com/glennbeck/status/1691873812571177405" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on his X account.
The email reportedly directed Beck to follow a link for additional details, but only repeated that Apple Podcasts removed his program.
&#8220;Well, we got that one, dummy,&#8221; Beck said. &#8220;I mean — I cannot imagine what they are — what they&#8217;re basing this one on. I mean, have we even had strikes? Nothing, right? This is crazy. Crazy.&#8221;
Beck had been preparing for another episode of his program on Wednesday when his team found out they potentially became another example of big tech companies censoring conservative programs and personalities.
&#8220;This is absolutely freedom of speech,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There&#8217;s nothing that we have said that would warrant any removal.&#8221;
According to his media company, the podcast host&#8217;s next episode is titled &#8220;Trump vs. Biden: Which is the Crime Family?&#8221; The summary describes Beck&#8217;s deep dive reviewing former President Donald Trump’s fourth indictment and the implications it could have on freedom of speech while comparing it to alleged evidence revealed regarding Hunter Biden and President Joe Biden.
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&#8220;Maybe that&#8217;s what it is &#8230; maybe they&#8217;re just smoked because, you know, I&#8217;m pointing out the real crime family tonight,&#8221; he said.
Although Apple has not issued a formal response, Beck appeared to give the company the benefit of the doubt by calling it a potential &#8220;glitch.&#8221;
&#8220;But it&#8217;s amazing how we have to have a whole bunch of people point out the glitch before the glitch is found, and it&#8217;s put back,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Man, this is — this is huge.&#8221;
&#8220;I think the closer and closer we get to this election, the more and more glitches are going to happen,&#8221; he added.
Blaze Media did not return requests for comment.
BlazeTV host Steve Deace <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveDeaceShow/status/1691885877100716065" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on social media, &#8220;Oh my. Even if it is a glitch, these &#8216;glitches&#8217; only seem to go one way.&#8221;
Daily Wire Co-Founder Jeremy Boreing <a href="https://twitter.com/JeremyDBoreing/status/1691892131072262552" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>, &#8220;This must be a mistake. Glenn is one of the best men in the business and perhaps the greatest living broadcaster. Make this right.&#8221;
“The Glenn Beck Program” podcast remains available on his BlazeTV service, as well as other streaming platforms Spotify, YouTube, and Stitcher.
Six hours after Beck&#8217;s show was removed from the platform, the podcast host said Apple restored over 3000 episodes to iTunes but did not provide &#8220;clear answers&#8221; for the unknown issue.
&#8220;I want to thank everyone (on the left, right and everyone in between) who spoke up today,&#8221; he <a href="https://twitter.com/glennbeck/status/1691943416542675201" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. &#8220;I wish I had better answers from Apple on what happened, but you gave me hope that the issue of censorship is still bigger than politics.&#8221;

Key Speakers At Conservative Political Action Conference

Blaze Media Founder Glenn Beck Says Apple Removed His Podcast From iTunes Without Warning

 Apple Removes Blaze Media Founder Glenn Beck's Podcast From iTunes Without Explanation 

Apple

BlazeTV

Conservative Media

Glenn Beck

YouTube on Friday reversed course and halted its limited monetization enforcement of Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro&#8217;s first episode of his new series, &#8220;Facts,&#8221; which takes on the powerful entities trying to censor so-called “misinformation” and dictate what media is “safe” for advertising.
The reversal came after Media Research Center (MRC) Free Speech America <a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/free-speech/luis-cornelio/2023/08/11/youtube-wont-admit-it-demonetized-ben-shapiro-bombshell">pressed</a> YouTube about why monetization of Shapiro’s video was suppressed. MRC said YouTube effectively refused to acknowledge that the platform had limited the video in the first place. Notably, The Daily Wire was in communication with YouTube when the media company twice appealed YouTube’s suppression of the limited monetization and a manual review upheld the suppression, suggesting YouTube’s demonetization was intentional and not in error. 
“In order for a video to monetize on YouTube it must comply with our<a href="https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6162278?hl=en#zippy="> advertiser-friendly guidelines</a>, which are publicly accessible and apply to all creators,” a YouTube spokesperson told MRC. “Upon review, the video in question is currently monetizing.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ana-kasparian-lauds-shapiros-fairness-after-being-mocked-again-for-speaking-with-him">Shapiro</a> announced on Thursday that YouTube suppressed monetization of the “Facts” video, which was first released on July 29. 
&#8220;Ironically, YouTube has suppressed monetization for Episode 1 of my new YouTube series, Facts, because it &#8216;discusses New World Order, which is a non-monetizable &#8220;conspiracy theory&#8221;&#8216; under [YouTube’s] Dangerous Acts in ad-friendly guidelines,'&#8221; Shapiro posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. 
&#8220;Except nothing in the video is a conspiracy theory at all,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;Watch for yourself and get the facts about who is controlling ad revenue on YouTube and all of the largest Big Tech platforms&#8211;including this one.&#8221;
In the episode, Shapiro <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ben-shapiro-takes-on-corporations-behind-censorship">explains</a> how the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), which <a href="https://wfanet.org/knowledge/item/2017/01/30/Agency-Trading-Desks-still-dominate-programmatic-but-advertisers-are-demanding-a-new-more-transparent-relationship">represents</a> 90% of “global marketing communications,” and the World Economic Forum are behind a large-scale effort to influence how advertisers spend their money.
“There’s a group of people who control what you are allowed to see, the news you read, the videos you watch, the posts you engage with,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You haven’t heard of them. You don’t know their names, but they determine through methods, both direct and indirect, whether you are allowed to be exposed to particular messages. Their decisions can bankrupt companies, silence voices, and fundamentally shift cultural norms.&#8221;
Notably, Shapiro even remarks during the episode that the video could be censored based on the ambiguous and clearly biased framework entities like GARM and NewsGuard operate under.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Ironically, YouTube has suppressed monetization for Episode 1 of my new YouTube series, Facts, because it “discusses New World Order, which is a non-monetizable ‘conspiracy theory’ under [YouTube’s] Dangerous Acts in ad-friendly guidelines.” 
Except nothing in the video is a… <a href="https://t.co/rPj5d1JhA2">pic.twitter.com/rPj5d1JhA2</a>
&mdash; Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1689668037719261185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Shapiro’s announcement about the suppressed monetization and the subject matter of his “Facts” episode gained much attention online, including from Tesla and X owner Elon Musk, the world’s second richest man. 
“I think the solution here is to price so-called ‘safe’ advertising higher than ‘unsafe,’” Musk responded to Shapiro on Friday. “My companies will happily buy the latter.” 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I think the solution here is to price so-called “safe” advertising higher than “unsafe”. 
My companies will happily buy the latter.
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1689938510935887872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;
Shapiro countered Musk’s take, stating, “‘Safe’ and ‘unsafe’ are dog whistles designed to enable censorship and demonetize ‘wrongthink.’”
“GARM has subjective guidelines for what it considers ‘safe’ for advertising, and its corporate partners seem to be interpreting these convoluted rules to fit a narrative,” he explained. 
The host added a screenshot of GARM’s “Brand Safety Floor,” outlining the content the group deems “not appropriate for any advertising support.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
2/ GARM has subjective guidelines for what it considers “safe” for advertising, and its corporate partners seem to be interpreting these convoluted rules to fit a narrative. Here&#39;s their “Brand Safety Floor” &#8211; “content not appropriate for any advertising support.” <a href="https://t.co/bfhEvwWSFE">pic.twitter.com/bfhEvwWSFE</a>
&mdash; Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1690132296332955648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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“How are [L&#8217;Oréal Groupe] (Garnier) &amp; Mastercard’s sponsorships of bondage &amp; strippers at this NYC Pride Parade not ‘Adult &amp; Explicit Sexual Content,’ and a ‘Sensitive Social Issue?’ Is this ‘safe?’” Shapiro posed. 
The author noted that GARM member TikTok sponsored the 2022 LA Pride Parade, “where a half naked bondage group walked through &amp; a man in drag performed for children on a giant eggplant.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
4/ Is this “safe?” GARM member <a href="https://twitter.com/tiktok_us?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TikTok_US</a> sponsored the 2022 LA Pride Parade, where a half naked bondage group walked through &amp; a man in drag performed for children on a giant eggplant 📹 <a href="https://twitter.com/DrewHLive?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DrewHLive</a> <a href="https://t.co/l2XaTq8OeT">pic.twitter.com/l2XaTq8OeT</a>
&mdash; Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1690132301194072064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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“[Meta] thinks this video of [trans activist Dylan] Mulvaney appropriating &amp; insulting womanhood, a ‘Debated Social Issue’ that obviously ‘demeans’ women, is ‘safe,’” Shapiro highlighted. 
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5/ <a href="https://twitter.com/Meta?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Meta</a> thinks this video of Mulvaney appropriating &amp; insulting womanhood, a “Debated Social Issue” that obviously “demeans” women, is “safe:” <a href="https://t.co/1ZZ3UJXh1J">pic.twitter.com/1ZZ3UJXh1J</a>
&mdash; Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1690132303958130688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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“But GARM member [Youtube] apparently thinks [Daily Wire host Michael Knowles] discussing loving ways to respond to gender confused young people is so ‘unsafe’ they deleted it from their platform,” he said, captioning the video of Knowles. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
6/ But GARM member <a href="https://twitter.com/YouTube?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YouTube</a> apparently thinks <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MichaelJKnowles</a> discussing loving ways to respond to gender confused young people is so “unsafe” they deleted it from their platform. <a href="https://t.co/6wVuzK00px">pic.twitter.com/6wVuzK00px</a>
&mdash; Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1690132306948739073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Shapiro further noted that Daily Wire hosts “can’t even present the case for why much of the trans content is harmful to children or demeaning to women — because that gets forcibly deleted by [YouTube] too. Are these ‘unsafe?’” 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
7/ <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDailyWire</a> hosts can’t even present the case for why much of the trans content is harmful to children or demeaning to women — because that gets forcibly deleted by <a href="https://twitter.com/YouTube?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YouTube</a> too. Are these “unsafe?” <a href="https://t.co/1prjNjAyzX">pic.twitter.com/1prjNjAyzX</a>
&mdash; Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1690132312699138050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Shapiro then posted video of Disney “apparently paying a grown man to dress up as a cartoon female mouse whose primary audience is meant to be little children,” adding, “Is this ‘safe’?” 
“These guidelines aren’t designed to keep brands ‘safe,’ but to advance a specific (and extreme) narrative,” he finished the thread. “The mass implementation of these “brand safety” guidelines demands serious scrutiny.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
7/ <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDailyWire</a> hosts can’t even present the case for why much of the trans content is harmful to children or demeaning to women — because that gets forcibly deleted by <a href="https://twitter.com/YouTube?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YouTube</a> too. Are these “unsafe?” <a href="https://t.co/1prjNjAyzX">pic.twitter.com/1prjNjAyzX</a>
&mdash; Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1690132312699138050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Shapiro, and The Daily Wire more broadly, are no strangers to censorship &#8212; like most conservative media. In fact, memos obtained this month by the House Judiciary Committee reveal the Biden White House pressured another Big Tech platform, Facebook, to stifle The Daily Wire’s reach in an effort to promote the administration’s policy goals related to the COVID vaccines.
One note, dated April 14, 2021, reveals that the White House met with Facebook executives to pressure the tech giant to change its algorithm to downgrade posts from The Daily Wire and other “polarizing” entities. White House digital director Rob Flaherty asked Facebook to promote what he called “authoritative” media, such as The New York Times, over The Daily Wire. 
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“If you were to change the algorithm so that people were more likely to see NYT (New York Times), WSJ (Wall Street Journal), any authoritative news source over Daily Wire, Tomi Lahren, polarizing people. You wouldn’t have a mechanism to check the material impact?” Flaherty said to Facebook executives.
Another note reveals Flaherty becoming frustrated that Facebook couldn’t provide some of the data the White House wanted, so he pushed the platform to “play ball.”
“I feel like we’re running around in circles. Some partners give us lots of information, some partners tell us to f*** right off,&#8221; Flaherty said. &#8220;This feels like we’re chasing our tails. If you don’t want to give information, just say that. I don’t want to feel like I’m going to a dog and pony show. My dream [is] for [Facebook] to play ball. It’s about, will we get out of this f***ing mess.”
Additionally, House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/jim-jordan-outlines-facebooks-cozy-relationship-biden-white-house-how-censored-free-speech">revealed</a> that a Facebook employee in April 2021 circulated an email for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg that said, &#8220;&#8216;We are facing continued pressure from external stakeholders, including the [Biden] White House’ to remove posts.&#8221; 
Shapiro last week responded to the release of the memos, which he said expose a clear First Amendment violation.
“We are absolutely pleased to look into the effect on our business of the Biden White House, engaging in an absolute First Amendment violation,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There&#8217;s no question this is a First Amendment violation. It is as simple as that. It is a First Amendment violation because the federal government cannot force or even pressure a private company into censoring information &#8212; that is a First Amendment violation, pretty clearly.”
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ben-shapiro-takes-on-corporations-behind-censorship">Ben Shapiro Takes On Corporations Behind Censorship</a>

FACTS – Ep 1 Newsguard Final v2 NO TEXTURE

YouTube Reverses Course After Throttling Ben Shapiro’s Video Uncovering Corporations Behind Censorship

Ben Shapiro

COVID-19

Politics

Social Media Censorship

The Daily Wire

YouTube

X owner Elon Musk said on Saturday night that his company would go to bat for people who are punished by their employers for things they do on his social media platform.
&#8220;If you were unfairly treated by your employer due to posting or liking something on this platform, we will fund your legal bill,&#8221; Musk said. &#8220;No limit. Please let us know.&#8221;
Musk later added that his company would also wage a public relations war against companies that punish their employees for what they do on X.
Musk posted, &#8220;And we won’t just sue, it will be extremely loud and we will go after the boards of directors of the companies too.&#8221;
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And we won’t just sue, it will be extremely loud and we will go after the boards of directors of the companies too
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1688051512843395072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2023</a></blockquote>
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X filed a <a href="https://www.pacermonitor.com/view/NV3GMHQ/X_Corp_a_Nevada_Corporation_v_Center_for_Countering_Digital__candce-23-03836__0001.0.pdf?mcid=tGE3TEOA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a> last week against a non-profit organization accusing it of unlawfully accessing private data and cherry-picking posts to show a rise in hate speech on the social media platform under Musk’s ownership.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the social media company formerly known as Twitter claims the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) — a British non-profit that researches so-called online hate and disinformation — orchestrated a “scare campaign to drive away advertisers from the X platform” by publishing so-called hate speech reports.
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Holy smokes. YUGE <a href="https://t.co/2mYKJIfNjK">pic.twitter.com/2mYKJIfNjK</a>
&mdash; Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1688084906696695808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2023</a></blockquote>
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“CCDH has done this by engaging in a series of unlawful acts designed to improperly gain access to protected X Corp. data, needed by CCDH so that it could cherry-pick from the hundreds of millions of posts made each day on X and falsely claim it had statistical support showing the platform is overwhelmed with harmful content,” the lawsuit reads.
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The complaint comes just hours after a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/x-lawyer-threatens-legal-action-against-non-profit-targeting-hate-speech-on-platform" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> from X attorney Alex Spiro threatening legal action against the non-profit organization made recent headlines.
Spiro reportedly wrote in the July 20 letter that the center made “a series of troubling and baseless claims that appear calculated to harm Twitter generally, and its digital advertising business specifically,” citing eight examples that X reportedly called “false, misleading or both” from improper research methods.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/x-corp-sues-non-profit-over-scare-campaign-designed-to-drive-advertisers-away-from-social-media-platform-report">X Corp. Sues Non-Profit Over ‘Scare Campaign’ Designed To Drive Advertisers Away From Social Media Platform: Report</a>

Twitter’s Larry The Bird Logo Changed To X By Elon Musk

Elon Musk Vows To Go To War Against Companies That Punish Employees For Activity On X

Business

Lawsuit

Twitter

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) released his third edition of the &#8220;Facebook Files,&#8221; saying the Biden administration pressured the social media giant to stifle speech the White House didn&#8217;t like, including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-pressured-fb-to-suppress-daily-wire-content-push-users-to-legacy-outlets-newly-released-docs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">limiting The Daily Wire’s reach</a> on the platform and boosting the reach of legacy media outlets.
In a tweet thread Thursday, Jordan highlighted newly released documents obtained by the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, which he chairs. The documents, which were reviewed by The Daily Wire, show that Facebook repeatedly confirmed to the White House that it was working to re-engineer its platform in order to accomplish the administration’s directives on suppressing content that clashed with its COVID vaccine agenda.
&#8220;Newly subpoenaed internal notes of meetings between Facebook executives and Biden Admin officials reveal more about the lengths the Biden White House wanted to go to control true speech on Facebook,&#8221; Jordan began.
&#8220;In 2021, the White House wanted to control what narratives and true content was posted on Facebook surrounding [COVID-19],&#8221; the congressman said. &#8220;President Biden went so far to say that Facebook was &#8216;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/16/politics/biden-facebook-covid-19/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killing people</a>&#8216; for allowing certain statements to be published on the site.&#8221;
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THE FACEBOOK FILES PART 3.
Newly subpoenaed internal notes of meetings between Facebook executives and Biden Admin officials reveal more about the lengths the Biden White House wanted to go to control true speech on Facebook.
🧵 Thread: <a href="https://t.co/AeXrs1U8wr">https://t.co/AeXrs1U8wr</a>
&mdash; Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1687116316073930752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Rob Flaherty, President Biden’s then-Director of Digital Strategy, repeatedly put pressure on Facebook to explain its content decisions,&#8221; Jordan said.
“We have to explain to President, Ron, people, why there is misinfo on the internet…&#8221; Flaherty told Facebook employees during one meeting on April 14.
&#8220;For example, Flaherty questioned whether Facebook was doing enough to reduce traffic from sites like the [The New York Post],&#8221; Jordan said. 
“I’m curious – NY Post churning out articles every day&#8230; What is supposed to happen to that from Policy perspective. Does that article get a reduction, labels?” Flaherty asked.  
&#8220;But that wasn’t enough for the Biden White House. Flaherty wanted Facebook to go a step further,&#8221; Jordan added. &#8220;He wanted Facebook to kick people off its site.&#8221;
&#8220;The Biden White House’s effort to censor opposing viewpoints only grew,&#8221; said Jordan. &#8220;So, they upped the pressure. Flaherty demanded that Facebook &#8216;play ball&#8217; and work with the Biden White House on censorship. But that’s not all. The Biden White House wanted to control what you saw on Facebook.&#8221;
They questioned whether Facebook could change its algorithm so users saw more posts from the New York Times and less from [The Daily Wire] and [Tomi Lahren],&#8221; Jordan said. &#8220;Why did they do that? Because they didn’t think you were smart enough to decide for yourself.&#8221;
&#8220;President Biden’s head of strategic communications and public engagement for the [COVID-19] response, Courtney Rowe, mocked Real America’s ability to determine what&#8217;s true and what isn’t,&#8221; Jordan added. &#8220;Facebook knew it had to act. One employee tried to explain to the White House that if the company couldn’t &#8216;remove&#8217; content, it could at least &#8216;contain it.&#8217; But Flaherty continued to press for more content moderation and CONTROL on so-called &#8216;bad&#8217; content.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
But Flaherty continued to press for more content moderation and CONTROL on so-called “bad” content.
Read ⤵️ <a href="https://t.co/OpmcIktt0K">pic.twitter.com/OpmcIktt0K</a>
&mdash; Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1687116332536619009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;And of course, Facebook caved. The company ADMITTED to the White House that it reduced content of certain posts – even if the posts didn’t violate the company’s terms and contained TRUE information,&#8221; Jordan said. &#8220;Just read this from a Facebook employee.&#8221;
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Just read this from a Facebook employee. <a href="https://t.co/IXMKmzAEvE">pic.twitter.com/IXMKmzAEvE</a>
&mdash; Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1687116335686516736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;These newly subpoenaed meeting notes continue to show the Biden White House’s desire to direct and control content on Facebook. More evidence of the censorship-industrial complex. To be continued…&#8221; Jordan concluded.

Jim Jordan Releases New ‘Facebook Files,’ Highlights How Biden Admin Sought To Suppress Daily Wire Content

Jim Jordan Releases More 'Facebook Files,' Highlights How Biden Admin Sought To Suppress Daily Wire Content

Biden Admin

Daily Wire

Facebook

X Corp. accused a non-profit organization and its backers in a <a href="https://www.pacermonitor.com/view/NV3GMHQ/X_Corp_a_Nevada_Corporation_v_Center_for_Countering_Digital__candce-23-03836__0001.0.pdf?mcid=tGE3TEOA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a> filed Monday of unlawfully accessing private data and choosing specific posts to show a rise in hate speech on the social media platform under Elon Musk&#8217;s ownership.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the social media company formerly known as Twitter claims the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) — a British non-profit that researches so-called online hate and disinformation — orchestrated a &#8220;scare campaign to drive away advertisers from the X platform&#8221; by publishing so-called hate speech reports.
&#8220;CCDH has done this by engaging in a series of unlawful acts designed to improperly gain access to protected X Corp. data, needed by CCDH so that it could cherry-pick from the hundreds of millions of posts made each day on X and falsely claim it had statistical support showing the platform is overwhelmed with harmful content,&#8221; the lawsuit reads.
The complaint comes just hours after a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/x-lawyer-threatens-legal-action-against-non-profit-targeting-hate-speech-on-platform" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> from X attorney Alex Spiro threatening legal action against the non-profit organization last month made recent headlines.
Spiro reportedly wrote in the July 20 letter that the center made &#8220;a series of troubling and baseless claims that appear calculated to harm Twitter generally, and its digital advertising business specifically,&#8221; citing eight examples that X reportedly called &#8220;false, misleading or both&#8221; from improper research methods.
Last month, the center <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2023/a-new-era-of-transparency-for-twitter1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> X — before taking on its new brand — failed to act on 99% of &#8220;toxic&#8221; tweets involving &#8220;racist, homophobic, neo-Nazi, antisemitic, or conspiracy content&#8221; posted by Twitter Blue subscribers.
CEO Linda Yaccarino and X officials have labeled the report &#8220;false,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/musks-x-sues-nonprofit-that-fights-hate-speech-2023-08-01/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters</a>, adding that it was based on &#8220;a collection of incorrect, misleading, and outdated metrics, mostly from the period shortly after Twitter&#8217;s acquisition.&#8221;
Months after purchasing the platform for $44 billion last year, Musk said the company saw a decrease in &#8220;hate speech impressions,&#8221; paired with a graph seemingly derived from internal data showing the downward trend dropped by roughly 30%.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Hate speech impressions down by 1/3 from pre-spike levels. Congrats to Twitter team! <a href="https://t.co/5BWaQoIlip">pic.twitter.com/5BWaQoIlip</a>
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1595630109116989440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The social media platform also accused the CCDH of using unlawfully accessed data to &#8220;falsely claim it had statistical support showing the platform is overwhelmed with harmful content.&#8221;
According to the lawsuit, X is seeking a jury trial and unspecified monetary damages and wants to block the non-profit and any of its backers or employees from accessing data provided by X to the social media listening platform Brandwatch.
&#8220;Recently Brandwatch made X aware that the CCDH gained access to X&#8217;s data without Brandwatch&#8217;s authorization, and that the purported CCDH &#8216;research&#8217; cited in a Bloomberg article &#8216;contained metrics used out of context to make unsubstantiated assertions about X (formerly Twitter),'&#8221; the company wrote in a <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2023/a-new-era-of-transparency-for-twitter1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blog post</a>. &#8220;Additionally, the CCDH has recently scraped X&#8217;s platform, which is a violation of our terms of service.&#8221;
CCDH founder and chief executive Imran Ahmed told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musks-x-corp-sues-nonprofit-group-tracks-hate-speech-rcna97511" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC</a> News in a statement the &#8220;latest legal threat is straight out of the authoritarian playbook — he is now showing he will stop at nothing to silence anyone who criticizes him for his own decisions and actions.&#8221;
&#8220;The Center for Countering Digital Hate&#8217;s research shows that hate and disinformation is spreading like wildfire on the platform under Musk&#8217;s ownership and this lawsuit is a direct attempt to silence those efforts,&#8221; Ahmed added. &#8220;Musk is trying to &#8216;shoot the messenger&#8217; who highlights the toxic content on his platform rather than deal with the toxic environment he&#8217;s created.&#8221;
Musk previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/read-it-elon-musk-explains-why-he-bought-twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he bought the company to combat content &#8220;fueled and catered&#8221; by legacy media outlets.
Musk previously said, &#8220;it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence.&#8221;
&#8220;There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society,&#8221; he added.

Twitter X Photo Illustrations

X Corp. Sues Non-Profit Over ‘Scare Campaign’ Designed To Drive Advertisers Away From Social Media Platform: Report

X Corp. Sues Non-Profit Over 'Scare Campaign' Designed To Drive Advertisers Away From Social Media Platform

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Canadians’ access to news on Facebook and Instagram will be cut off in the coming weeks after Meta said Tuesday that a “fundamentally flawed” law is forcing the company to make the tough decision. 
Canada’s Online News Act, passed by its leftist legislature earlier this summer, requires Big Tech companies to negotiate agreements with Canadian news outlets and pay them for news content shared on social media platforms, Reuters <a href="https://ca.movies.yahoo.com/meta-starts-process-end-news-164645853.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Meta spokesman Andy Stone slammed the law in a tweet on Tuesday and said ending access to news on its platforms was the only option. 
“Today we&#8217;ve begun the process of ending news availability in Canada. Changes will roll out over a few weeks,” Stone said. “As we&#8217;ve always said, the law is based on a fundamentally flawed premise. And, regrettably, the only way we can reasonably comply is to end news availability in Canada.”
Both Meta and Google said in June that they would fight the law by blocking access to news in Canada. The country’s move is part of a global trend to force Big Tech companies to pay for news shared on their platforms, according to Reuters. Australia passed a similar law in 2021, while <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/deeply-irresponsible-canada-pm-justin-trudeau-slams-facebooks-flawed-argument-against-paying-for-news-380681-2023-05-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">France and Spain</a> also have social media news laws on the books.
The trend is making its way to the U.S. as well, as lawmakers in California have advanced a bill with bipartisan support mirroring Canada’s Online News Act. Meta has also <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/01/meta-says-it-will-block-news-in-california-if-bill-becomes-law.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> to block news in California if the bill, dubbed the “Journalism Preservation Act,” passes the state Senate and gets signed into law by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.  
“If the Journalism Preservation Act passes, we will be forced to remove news from Facebook and Instagram, rather than pay into a slush fund that primarily benefits big, out-of-state media companies under the guise of aiding California publishers,” Stone said in a statement in May. “The bill fails to recognize that publishers and broadcasters put their content on our platform themselves and that substantial consolidation in California’s local news industry came over 15 years ago, well before Facebook was widely used.”
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In Canada, Meta argued that news articles made up less than 3% of the content in users’ feeds and said news lacks economic value, but Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shot back, <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/deeply-irresponsible-canada-pm-justin-trudeau-slams-facebooks-flawed-argument-against-paying-for-news-380681-2023-05-10">saying</a> that Meta’s argument was “not just flawed, but dangerous to our democracy, to our economy.” Trudeau also accused the social media giant of being “deeply irresponsible and out of touch.” 
Google said that Canada’s law is even broader than those passed in Australia and Europe, as it also can apply to outlets that do not produce news. In June, the tech company <a href="https://blog.google/intl/en-ca/company-news/outreach-initiatives/an-update-on-canadas-bill-c-18-and-our-search-and-news-products/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it “informed the Government that we have made the difficult decision that when the law takes effect we will be removing links to Canadian news from our Search, News, and Discover products and will no longer be able to operate Google News Showcase in Canada.”

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Meta Begins Removing Canadians’ Access To All News On Facebook, Instagram

Meta Begins Removing Canadians' Access To All News On Facebook, Instagram

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<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/san-francisco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">San Francisco</a> authorities are tangling with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> after he renovated the headquarters of his social media company, X, without proper permitting.
A giant, flashing “X” logo was removed from the top of X’s headquarters on Monday after the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection launched an investigation into its unpermitted installation, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/twitter-x-sign-lightup-san-francisco-elon-musk-fa81d70c13c98a2cc7f03c2561a01258" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a>. The department acted after it received two dozen complaints about the sign.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Our HQ in San Francisco tonight <a href="https://t.co/VQO2NoX9Tz">pic.twitter.com/VQO2NoX9Tz</a>
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1685211486669484032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Musk recently rebranded the social media site formerly known as Twitter into X, with plans to expand the platform to include banking, a virtual marketplace, and other features. The billionaire tech entrepreneur began renovating the site’s headquarters by stripping away an old Twitter logo and lettering from the outside of the San Francisco building last week.
Work on removing the Twitter trappings was paused when city officials noticed the changes were being made without proper permitting. City officials <a href="https://apnews.com/article/twitter-san-francisco-building-x-elon-musk-4e0ae2a3b1b838b744bb2dc494f5b23c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the work needed approval to ensure it is “consistent with the historic nature of the building.”
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City officials <a href="https://gizmodo.com/twitter-bars-san-francisco-inspection-of-bright-x-sign-1850691776" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued</a> a notice of violation against X’s new signage, the X logo in lights on the top of the building, for being “unsafe.” The work done to remove X’s sign on Monday was also unpermitted, but the city allowed the sign to be removed and the proper permitting taken care of later because of safety concerns.
“Over the weekend, the Department of Building Inspection and City Planning received 24 complaints about the unpermitted structure, including concerns about its structural safety and illumination. This morning, building inspectors observed the structure being dismantled. A building permit is required to remove the structure but, due to safety concerns, the permit can be secured after the structure is taken down,” department spokesman Patrick Hannan <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/31/tech/x-sign-twitter-elon-musk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> CNN in an email.
“The property owner will be assessed fees for the unpermitted installation of the illuminated structure. The fees will be for building permits for the installation and removal of the structure, and to cover the cost of the Department of Building Inspection and the Planning Department’s investigation,” he added.
Musk rebranded one of the most well-known companies in the world to fit his vision of turning the social media platform into X, the “everything app.” In a statement on the site explaining the rebranding, CEO Linda Yaccarino <a href="https://twitter.com/lindayacc/status/1683213895463215104" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said,</a> “X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.”
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-reveals-whether-x-will-move-out-of-san-francisco">Elon Musk Reveals Whether &#8216;X&#8217; Will Move Out Of San Francisco</a>

Giant, Flashing ‘X’ Removed From HQ As Elon Musk Tangles With San Francisco Over Permits

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