Obvious bias from Big Tech?

Tech Talk Internet
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I know some of you will roll your eyes and say - “Damn, he’s at it again” :slight_smile:

But, here is yet another bias on the part of big tech… 3 weeks BEFORE an election… Negative information comes out about someone running for president, and it gets pulled down? Who is it about? Take a guess…

This is the kinda stuff that happens in China…

And, it’s damn irritating that they get away from this, and even more irritating that so many see nothing wrong with this…

I know some will claim that it is from FOX News, so it cannot be true. But we have been back and forth about bias among big tech companies on this forum, with several members here claiming it never happens. Well, it does…

Funny how the reverse is never true…

Another story:

Interestingly enough - up to now, the Biden Campaign doesn’t dispute this stuff… But, they now say it’s just another “Russian disinformation campaign.”

Now - believe this is true or not true. You decide… That’s what most people would do, right?

Well, the New York Post had their entire Twitter account frozen today because they broke this story… Yes, because of this story… Turned off. Off… Frozen…

Once again - Twitter turned off the Twitter account of a major newspaper in the USA because of this story… 3 weeks before the election…

But, there is no bias?

Twitter also prevented anyone from sharing the link, and also banned sharing it in private messages…

Most news agencies didn’t even report on the story or the blockage by Big Tech…

The Biden campaign calls the story “discredited,” because of the actions of big tech. But no reporter has discredited it. Because Big Tech claims it is false or not credible and must be fact checked, that gives cover to say its not true…

What about thousands of stories over the past 3 years from “anonymous sources?” Were those blocked from Facebook and Twitter and Google? Did they block them until they were “fact checked?” I’ll give you a hint… No, they were not… And most of those we now know were false…

By tomorrow, it will probably be classified as one of those “mistakes” once again… Yes, “another” one of those mistakes that only goes one way…

These mistakes only flow one way with Big Tech…

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Facebook and Google have also been banning and eliminating info on Covid 19… Many videos have been posted by doctors…

Real medical doctors…

But, they say something contrary to the national media, and the videos get removed by Google on Youtube and on Facebook… And stories get delisted on Google.

Very interesting that Facebook and Google know more than real medical doctors do…

And, the majority of news stations never even cover this fact, so many in the public don’t even know this is happening. Why would this be covered in the news by the mainstream when they want it buried?

It’s not right what is happening.

I was tempted to start a thread on those covid videos pulled down a few months ago, actually. I don’t see how some here can deny the bias in 1 direction, but they do… Whenever Twitter or Google get caught pulling something down for conservatives… It’s always a “mistake” - But it never seems to happen the other way around. Ever…

After seeing stories about the various covid videos, made by doctors, being scrubbed by the web… Months ago… I went back and tried to find them…

Curious enough - if you google: “doctor video about covid pulled from youtube” - ALL you find are stories calling the videos “false.” Stories that say these videos are biased and not true…

Here is a story about the video:

And, while some may not give it credit, a story about it on Fox News:

https://www.foxnews.com/media/youtube-video-removed-coronavirus-free-speech

And another:

https://www.foxnews.com/media/tucker-carlson-youtube-coronavirus-censorship-science

If I remember right, one of the things these doctors talked about was the fact that their bosses were pressuring them to report deaths due to covid when they were not really from covid (that’s why I don’t believe that 200,000 victims who died in the USA number at all - there have been numerous other doctors who have come forward who have said the same thing).

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There was another video pulled down as well.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/dr-scott-atlas-youtube-censorship-coronavirus

Agree or disagree with this doctor, why are such things being scrubbed from the internet? Think there isn’t an agenda? Yet for years, we could see videos of people being beheaded in the middle east by terrorists - and that was allowed…

This is a doctor on the White House Corona Taskforce… Pulled down….

And, there was another video pulled - one of several doctors who were standing outside, holding a press conference. These are all medical doctors - but Facebook knows more than they do, apparently. After it was pulled, every effort was made to discount these doctors as quacks… Here is such a story:

And, another view of it - the opposite view of the story above:

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/big-tech-censors-covid-19-video-tucker-carlson

Aren’t we supposed to see and hear different views. And, these are not some quacks - they are doctors. Medical doctors… Why hide this from people?

Really?

Who decides these doctors are not credible? Google?

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Why have I posted all this? For a year now, I have had people dispute posts I have made about Big Tech being biased in favor of the left. I’ve been discounted for doing so… And, it’s rather irritating…

I’ve posted some facts more than once, with examples, and some of those posts have been flagged and deleted on this very forum as a result (interesting result on a tech forum)

Well, there is no more perfect example of this than what is happening today. If you don’t get it now, then you just don’t want to believe it because of personal bias…

Please open your eyes up. This is not right…

We’ll see if this post or thread gets flagged like many of my past ones…

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All I can say is follow people, not platforms. Everyone should have journos that they follow, trust and contribute monetarily to, if possible.

For 1000s of years it took considerable effort to communicate en-masse, and people took that effort as a de-facto sign of credibility. Over the last 5 years that mechanism has been completely flipped on its head. Who knows how long it will take before society reconciles with this change?

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Had no idea Hunter Biden is running for President.

Anyway, I think Big Media should come clear and declare “we are biased, we are favoring decent and sane people”

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The story is that despite his claims to the contrary, Joe had something to do with his son’s mucho paying jobs… And, influence was purchased from the vice president.

And if that is your answer and take away to all of those things i posted above… Including the ones about covid… You are fine with this? Then that’s pretty sad.

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Twitter even locked the account of the White House Press Secretary today:

Damn, can you imagine the sheer meltdown if this was done in the opposite fashion? The fake outrage on the part of the media would be off the charts…

Something seriously wrong is going on here…

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Considering the 20,000 lies coming directly from the president leaving aside the ones from administration and his minions I have very little interest to debunk this BS.

And you got it right, we don’t actually care, Trump’s nepotism in the White House is at unprecedented levels at least in recent US history, this kind of accusations are never going to stick.

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Have you read the Twitter statement here? In summary their position is a number of terms were violated. Posting personal/private info (email addresses, phone numbers) and images of hacked material.

For info, a Team Trump campaign video on the same subject has not been taken down, pinned by DJT.

The medical stuff is a special case I think due to the pandemic. We have a worldwide consensus from science on how we should be responding. If medical experts don’t agree they follow the usual process - publish their work, have it peer reviewed etc.

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The other thing is, at least in the UK and Germany, the press has to be able to prove what they are reporting is accurate. There are times when the wool gets pulled over their eyes (The Hitler Diaries being a case in point), but generally they have to ensure that the story is accurate and that they can prove all their sources are valid.

With YouTube & Facebook, anybody can say pretty much anything without backing it up. I don’t know the doctors in question, I haven’t checked their medical backgrounds and their specialities to see whether they actually know what they are talking about.

If what they had to say was valid, why didn’t the mainstream press show it, even if they caveat it as being a differing opinion?

There are medical experts in Germany that are also saying that some of the measures being put in place are overkill. They are given time in the national news to put their point across and their credentials are discussed. The news services then get the doctors who are setting policy to comment as a rebuttal. In some cases the point being made are valid and the doctors responsible for policy have had to agree that there is merit to what the others have been saying. Some of it comes down to being over cautious and some of it down to ministers’ decisions.

In either case, they are heard out and not ridiculed. There was one doctor saying that masks kill children. He was given time to say his piece and then the officials gave their rebuttal (there was no evidence that masks kill children and the child that died after wearing a mask died of causes unrelated to masks and the respiratory system).

I can understand Twitter and Facebook taking the side of caution at the moment with so much contradictory information being proffered with little or no evidence to back it up. It is not strictly right, but in these inflammatory times and the gullibility of many, I’m not sure I’m 100% against such videos and articles being removed, or at least being marked as coming from questionable sources with no evidence that their content is accurate, if their content can’t be backed up with facts.

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In an earlier post, you stated that Twitter was automatically banning accounts that were spreading the post, so I’m guessing they didn’t lock out Kayleigh McEnany per se, but that she fell into an automatic filter to lock accounts.

This is part of the other discussion, that Big Tech just uses filters and machine learning to enforce its decisions, instead of doing things properly.

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Yes, I have read the statement. It came out on the news AFTER I started this thread. So now, enough controversy has come out and they have to say something.

Interestingly enough - this laptop was not hacked. If you or I dropped off a shirt to be dry cleaned and never returned to pay for it… It eventually becomes the property of the dry cleaner… That is what apparently happened with the laptop.

The guy with the laptop gave it to the FBI WAY back in Dec 2019… When nothing ever happened with that laptop publicly, the guy started contacting other people/groups. And, he made a copy of it before he gave it to the FBI… In case it went away like Hillary Clinton’s emails did…

The laptop was never hacked. It was NOT a hack… In my opinion, this is just a convenient excuse that could be fallen back on just so they could stop the story.

Donald Trump’s supposed tax records were obtained illegally, and a story was written about just a few weeks ago. Did Twitter or Google block that? No.

Thousands of made up “anonymous sources” stories have come out for years - stories we now know were made up. Where was the standard there? Yea, that was not from a hack, but neither is this. Their excuse is just an excuse.

Facebook is limiting the story until it could be “fact checked.” When did they ever decide to do that about a story concerning people on the right? A story about the president? Never… Because he is not a Democratic presidential candidate.

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The news story said she was locked out of her account completely. So, whether it was automated or not - it wasn’t just that 1 tweet didn’t go thru. When I looked at the story last night - a screen capture was part of the story. The entire acct was frozen.

WHy should someone’s acct be frozen for posting that story?

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Well, your post shows tremendous bias on the issue then. Obviously, I am biased the other way since I started this thread.

However - It SHOULD bother you that this is happening, whether you are on the left or the right. The fact that it doesn’t is telling in and of itself.

You are free to your opinions, as am I. But Big Tech has chosen a political side, and it is harming others for simple politics. That should bother everyone. They do not deserve the protections they have right now legally, because they are basically editorializing and choosing political sides now.

And if a candidate has taken payoffs for politcal favors… Someone who could be president in 3 weeks… That is okay for you because his opponent is Trump? That is what you are saying…

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Your points assume the whole laptop in the repair shop story actually happened. Who knows? Also not convinced that the shirt at the dry-cleaners argument can be applied to my personal data? NYT have repeatedly stated that all of the information they obtained was provided by sources with legal access to it.

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That is true. But, at the current time. That is the story. I am sorry, but the excuse does not add up. It is an excuse…

Instead of agreeing that this trend on Big Tech’s part is troubling. Very troubling. The excuse sounds better, right? Look at all the examples I posted above…

It is very disappointing to see the lack of interest on the matter here…

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So a member of the Corona Virus Taskforce, put together by the President of the country, is an unreliable source?

I’m not dumb, I understand that 1 could argue that politics are involved. But once again, this only goes one way… And he is a government official. Since when does Twitter and Facebook know more than he does? Google gets to totally scrub that from the Web? We don’t all get to see it and make up our own mind?

They should not get to decide such matters. This is a very troubling trend

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This is a concern, yes.

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And Google, Facebook and Twitter get to decide that?But only in 1 direction. None of the other stories that were lies get blocked.

They know more then medical doctors… We can’t have another view? It’s decided by a company and not doctors… No longer can we hear multiple points of view and decide for ourselves. They know better…

This is not the only time they have done such things either… Hoy don’t have a problem with this?

Google execs have been caught saying they will actively do what they can to stop Trump’s reelection. Conservative websites are getting delisted on Google… So, so many examples to see if you open your eyes…

Ok. See I’m wasting my time here.