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Month: July 2018

VICE News says Twitter is shadow banning prominent political figures

VICE News says Twitter is shadow banning prominent political figures

Shadow banning is the term describing a “hidden ban”. The user still thinks their account is active but their content may not be visible to others. In this example, Twitter is said to be excluding some prominent accounts from search results which has the same effect as a shadow ban. “We are aware that some accounts are not automatically populating in our search box and shipping a change to address this.” Asked why only conservative Republicans appear to be affected…

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Hmmm… Forbes deletes an opinion column after librarians complain about the column

Hmmm… Forbes deletes an opinion column after librarians complain about the column

After much backlash, Forbes appears to have pulled an article saying libraries have no value. Source: Forbes deleted an op-ed arguing that Amazon should replace libraries — Quartz Librarians used to be the front line arguing for freedom of speech, but apparently only for speech they agree with. Forbes deleted the column after librarians complained about the column’s content. The response to speech we do not like is more speech, not censorship. That librarians would advocate censorship of speech is…

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Broward public schools seeks to hire a propaganda specialist to “fix” the public, rather than fix the problem

Broward public schools seeks to hire a propaganda specialist to “fix” the public, rather than fix the problem

When everything is wrong, hire a propaganda specialist to persuade others that things are great because … propaganda! The South Florida Sun Sentinel has reported on how Stoneman Douglas under-reported crime on campus, how the school failed to provide adequate special education services to killer Nikolas Cruz; and how a culture of leniency has allowed unruly students to receive countless second chances. The school district also struggled to defend its controversial PROMISE program, which offers alternatives to arrests for some…

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UK government says Facebook’s friend of friends data was accessed from Russia and other countries

UK government says Facebook’s friend of friends data was accessed from Russia and other countries

Not surprisingly, the leaky data sieve that is Facebook, had its trove of personal data accessed from Russia and other countries (which likely includes the U.S.?): The now infamous Facebook data set on tens of millions of Americans gathered by a Cambridge University scientist for a firm that went on to worked for Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign was accessed from Russia, a British member of parliament tells CNN. Source: Cambridge Analytica’s Facebook data was accessed from Russia, MP says As…

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Fictional News about opioids and the workforce

Fictional News about opioids and the workforce

Powell cited research from Princeton economist Alan Krueger, who conducted a survey and found that 44 percent of men reported that they had taken some form of pain medication the previous day. Source: Fed’s Powell: Opioids people out of the workforce Actual study text: Fully 44 percent of prime age men who were out of the labor force acknowledged taking pain medication on the previous day, although this encompasses a wide range of medications. Pain medication, per the study, included…

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