Tag: extremists

Report Finds Extremists Did Use Facebook to Plan Capitol Attack

NBC News reports: A number of pro-Trump extremists used Facebook to plan their attack on the U.S. Capitol, a watchdog organization has found, contradicting claims by Facebook’s leadership that such planning was largely done on other sites. Private Facebook groups spent months advising one another about how to “take down” the U.S. government, particularly after Joe Biden was elected president, according…

Parler Booted Off Amazon’s AWS Hosting Service, Suspended by Apple

“Apple has suspended Parler until the makers of the app solve its content moderation challenges,” reports Forbes, citing a statement from Apple saying “there is no place on our platform for threats of violence and illegal activity. Parler has not taken adequate measures to address the proliferation of these threats…” Meanwhile, BuzzFeed News reports: Amazon notified Parler that it would be…

Google Suspends Parler From App Store; Apple Gives 24-Hour Warning

New submitter yuvcifjt writes: As of Friday 6pm EST (11pm GMT), The Verge reported that Apple and Google are under pressure and receiving complaints to deplatform Parler — the social media platform favored by the right-wing and extremists — from their app stores. BuzzFeed has since broken news that Apple has served notice to Parler’s executives to implement a full moderation…

What Hunting Bigfoot Taught a Republican Congressman about Misinformation, Political Extremists, and Grift

Republican congressman Denver Riggleman was once a defense contractor for America’s National Security Agency. But in 2004, he paid more than $5,000 to join an amateur expedition searching for Bigfoot. Not because he believed in the mythical ape-like creature said to live in the woods, according to the Washington Post, but “to indulge a lifelong fascination: Why do people — what…

Facebook Must Better Police Online Hate, State Attorneys General Say

Twenty state attorneys general on Wednesday called on Facebook to better prevent messages of hate, bias and disinformation from spreading, and said the company needed to provide more help to users facing online abuse. From a report: In a letter [PDF] to the social media giant, the officials said they regularly encountered people facing online intimidation and harassment on Facebook. They…

Hoax That Fooled Armed Protesters Was Created By a Socialist Troll on Food Stamps

Remember that anonymous online hoaxster who urged hundreds of armed protesters to counter a non-existent flag-burning event at America’s historic Civil War battefield at Gettysburg? An investigation by the Washington Post reveals that the hoaxster had in fact been a “lifelong Democrat” before instead registering in 2015 with the Socialist Party — and that he now collects food stamps:
Adam Rahuba, a…

New Free Speech Site Gets in a Tangle Over … Free Speech

The social network bills itself as a ‘no censorship’ bastion — but it’s already had to remind users what is and isn’t allowed. From a report: In recent weeks, Donald Trump has started having his tweets factchecked and published with disclaimers when they contain misleading information. Katie Hopkins, the woman who once compared migrants to cockroaches and called for a “final…

White Supremacists Built a Website To Doxx Interracial Couples

White supremacists have reportedly built a website that names, shames, and effectively promotes violence against interracial couples and families — “and it’s been circulated in some of the darkest corners of the internet, including in neo-Nazi Discord servers and accelerationist Telegram channels,” reports VICE News. An anonymous reader shares the report: The website was created in April but was taken offline…

Petition Calls On Pornhub To Prevent Non-Consensual Videos From Being Posted

A petition with over 350,000 signatures is calling on Pornhub to stop posting non-consensual videos and marketing them as “pornography.” Kate Isaacs writes via The Guardian: Pornhub’s argument that “extremists” are lobbying to shut them down is ridiculous. I’m non-religious, liberal and sex positive and in no way “anti-porn.” I started the #NotYourPorn campaign after a friend had her iCloud account…