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Rotten Tomatoes Explains Decision to Remove Audience Interest Score

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[Image: 2019.02.27-02.44-boundingintocomics-5c76a247199ad.png]

Rotten Tomatoes Explains Decision to Remove Audience Interest Score
John F. Trent
February 27, 2019
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Following a number of news stories that blatantly lied to their audience about individuals “review bombing” Disney’s upcoming Captain Marvel film, Rotten Tomatoes rolled out a new redesign for their website which removed the audience interest score for films that had not been released to theaters yet.

In a blog post on their website, Rotten Tomatoes explained their reason for redesigning the website:

Quote:“Over the past 18 months, we’ve made a number of updates at Rotten Tomatoes, all in an effort to streamline the site and provide users with a more enriched experience. These updates include the launch of a new visual identity (you don’t hate the red anymore, right?); the creation of new original editorialvideo, and social content (check us out on TwitterFacebookInstagram); and a revamped Tomatometer critics criteria that better reflects the current media landscape, increases inclusion, and more fully serves the global entertainment audience.”




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They would continue:
Quote:“Starting this week, Rotten Tomatoes will launch the first of several phases of updates that will refresh and modernize our Audience Rating System. We’re doing it to more accurately and authentically represent the voice of fans, while protecting our data and public forums from bad actors.

As of February 25, we will no longer show the ‘Want to See’ percentage score for a movie during its pre-release period. Why you might ask?  We’ve found that the ‘Want to See’ percentage score is often times confused with the ‘Audience Score’ percentage number. (The ‘Audience Score’ percentage, for those who haven’t been following, is the percentage of all users who have rated the movie or TV show positively – that is, given it a star rating of 3.5 or higher – and is only shown once the movie or TV show is released.)”

T
hey then show a screenshot from Jaws of what you will now see on each movie’s page.

[Image: 2019.02.27-02.26-boundingintocomics-5c769e25b82fb.jpg]


They then announced they will also remove their comment function on movies before release.

Quote:“What else are we doing? We are disabling the comment function prior to a movie’s release date. Unfortunately, we have seen an uptick in non-constructive input, sometimes bordering on trolling, which we believe is a disservice to our general readership. We have decided that turning off this feature for now is the best course of action. Don’t worry though, fans will still get to have their say: Once a movie is released, audiences can leave a user rating and comments as they always have.

Last but not least, you will notice we are making some layout changes to the site. Through our research department we have learned that our users would prefer a cleaner, less cluttered, presentation of the Tomatometer and Audience Score. Don’t worry, the information and data are still there (promise!).”

While Rotten Tomatoes implies these redesigns have been in the works over the past 18 months, the website faced intense pressure from a number of outlets including The Hollywood Reporter, ComicBook.com, ComicBookMovie.com, The Verge, Inverse, SyFy Wire, Cracked, The Mary Sue, ScreenRant, Comic Book Resourse, The Mirror, and more who claimed Disney’s Captain Marvel film was being review bombed by “trolls” with many of the websites describing these trolls as “sexist.” As Rotten Tomatoes notes in their press release these websites were confusing the ‘Want to See’ percentage score with the ‘Audience Score’ percentage number. And it’s more likely they were doing so deliberately as many of them referred to the Want to See score as a review even when screenshots they provided in their articles showed users only indicating whether or not they were interested in seeing the film.


Following their announcement, the policy was heavily criticized.

Quote:As Rotten Tomatoes, Netflix and other platforms remove downvotes (and comments) they ARE silencing ‘trolls’. But they’re also silencing customers.

Market research costs MILLIONS, and the internet generates it for free. Deleting everything to purge a few opinions seems excessive. pic.twitter.com/sxxkGY7Mcx
— ????? ????????? ?✨ (@BlakeNorthcott) February 26, 2019
Quote:It’s stupid & it’s cutting off their own nose to spite their face. Sorry they don’t like the answers but they are now reaching the point where they’ve forgotten 1 simple truth:

“Reality does not always afford you a truth to your liking”

So they’re trying to deny it & silence it
— The Doktor (@ScienceJesus) February 26, 2019
Quote:Not to draw too fine a point but:
THE SITE LITERALLY TAKES ITS NAME FROM THE VAUDEVILLE AUDIENCE PRACTICE OF THROWING ROTTEN TOMATOES AT BAD PERFORMANCES!

It’s moniker is born from the idea of “down voting” in what could be considered a very trollish manner. pic.twitter.com/RhdkC6R9gq
— ❌Darth Vegan❌ (@OneLastEcho) February 27, 2019
Quote:Tomatoes became an aggregate for agendas, not movies. Next they’ll hide or take away the Audience Score which is more often skewed against the “pros” especially if a film is being held up for some social stance, not on its quality.

— ЩILDCΛЯD (@WildcardJosh) February 26, 2019
Quote:ROTTEN TOMATOES protects CAPTAIN MARVEL for DISNEY and then LIES ABOUT IT!https://t.co/xI9MXAHLVQ
— Ethan Van Sciver (@EthanVanSciver) February 27, 2019
Quote:When you actually break it down it’s so stupid. The politics don’t matter. Lots of people are no longer interested in seeing a movie for whatever reason, RT thinks it’s wrong to not want to see this movie so they take away that option.
— Josh Cowart (@JoshCo82) February 27, 2019

What do you make of Rotten Tomatoes new policy? Do you agree with their decision to remove the audience interest score and remove comments from films that have not yet been released?

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Rotten Tomatoes Deletes Over 50,000 Captain Marvel Reviews – They Appear to Be Bot Reviews

Quote:Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes appears to have deleted over 50,000 reviews for Captain Marvel.

A screenshot taken this morning around 9:30 AM ET shows the film had over 58,000 user reviews with an Audience Score of 32%
[Image: 2019.03.08-02.51-boundingintocomics-5c828181024f2.jpg]
A screenshot of the website taken at around 1:50 PM ET shows there are only just over 4,000 user reviews. The deletion of these 50,000 user reviews appears to have boosted Captain Marvel’s user score by a 4 points to 36%.
[Image: 2019.03.08-06.55-boundingintocomics-5c82ba8f6ec72.jpg]
Jeremy Conrad of MCU Cosmic believed people were using bots to give Captain Marvel bad reviews.

Quote:Just a few hours after opening user reviews on @RottenTomatoes, #CaptainMavel has over 58k reviews. Infinity War, a movie released a YEAR AGO only has 53K total.
Hey @RottenTomatoes are you ever going to stop people from using bots to spam your site or do you just not care? pic.twitter.com/RmGMgZ9C23
— Jeremy Conrad (@ManaByte) March 8, 2019

His thoughts would be echoed by Forbes writer Scott Mendelsohn.

Quote:Fun fact: #CaptainMarvel already has 58,000 user reviews on @RottenTomatoes with a “shockingly low” score of 31% (average user rating – 2/5). For reference, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3 (which has been out for nearly a month just in North America) has just 51k user reviews. pic.twitter.com/JlL3Hj8bxi
— Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) March 8, 2019

There is something to this idea as a number of the reviews simply stated “I_am_Robbie_the_synthetic_comment.” However, the scores attached to reviews with that comment varied widely from five stars simply just a half star.

 
[Image: 2019.03.08-07.06-boundingintocomics-5c82...40x956.jpg]
[Image: 2019.03.08-07.06-boundingintocomics-5c82...40x956.jpg]

Rotten Tomatoes recently radically altered their website after a number of false and misleading reports from a number of entertainment websites that claimed people were “review bombing” Captain Marvel when in fact they were only marking whether or not they were interested in seeing the film. They were not actually reviewing the movie, and could not review the movie at the time because the film was not in theaters.


Rotten Tomatoes explained the decision in a blog post:

Quote:“Over the past 18 months, we’ve made a number of updates at Rotten Tomatoes, all in an effort to streamline the site and provide users with a more enriched experience. These updates include the launch of a new visual identity (you don’t hate the red anymore, right?); the creation of new original editorialvideo, and social content (check us out on TwitterFacebookInstagram); and a revamped Tomatometer critics criteria that better reflects the current media landscape, increases inclusion, and more fully serves the global entertainment audience.”

They would continue:

Quote:“Starting this week, Rotten Tomatoes will launch the first of several phases of updates that will refresh and modernize our Audience Rating System. We’re doing it to more accurately and authentically represent the voice of fans, while protecting our data and public forums from bad actors.

As of February 25, we will no longer show the ‘Want to See’ percentage score for a movie during its pre-release period. Why you might ask?  We’ve found that the ‘Want to See’ percentage score is often times confused with the ‘Audience Score’ percentage number. (The ‘Audience Score’ percentage, for those who haven’t been following, is the percentage of all users who have rated the movie or TV show positively – that is, given it a star rating of 3.5 or higher – and is only shown once the movie or TV show is released.)”

They also announced they were disabling commenting on movies before they release to theaters.

Quote:“What else are we doing? We are disabling the comment function prior to a movie’s release date. Unfortunately, we have seen an uptick in non-constructive input, sometimes bordering on trolling, which we believe is a disservice to our general readership. We have decided that turning off this feature for now is the best course of action. Don’t worry though, fans will still get to have their say: Once a movie is released, audiences can leave a user rating and comments as they always have.

Last but not least, you will notice we are making some layout changes to the site. Through our research department we have learned that our users would prefer a cleaner, less cluttered, presentation of the Tomatometer and Audience Score. Don’t worry, the information and data are still there (promise!).”

Following their announcement, the website was accused of shilling for the movie studios.

Quote:@RottenTomatoes is rotten indeed. Too the core. #censorship #shill #scammers
— VB_Joker (@vb_joker) February 27, 2019
Quote:yikes rotten tomatoes, way to shill out
— Justin Bliss (@juicetinbliss) February 26, 2019

However, there were also calls for Rotten Tomatoes to take down Audience Scores altogether. SyFy Wire’s Editor-in-Chief Adam Swiderski stated:

Quote:I think they should get rid of fans review entirely. It’s not a right. They run a website. They run a business. Critic reviews are critic reviews and that’s fine. And listen this isn’t me saying fans can’t have an opinion. But this is a tool. It’s obviously being abused more than it is being used constructively especially around particular films that politically rub some people the wrong way for certain reasons. It’s why we can’t have a nice thing. It would be nice if people used it the way it’s supposed to be used, but no one is. So screw it, goodbye.

His statement echoes Captain Marvel actor Samuel L. Jackson’s own thoughts on the matter:

Quote:“The mere fact that you give a voice or a platform to people who normally don’t have a platform is part of the problem. You can have an opinion that you don’t really have to be responsible for because nobody’s going to see you, nobody’s going to challenge you on it and if you want to bring somebody down or just ruin somebody’s day, you can say anything. Everybody doesn’t want to be uplifting and that’s pretty much what that problem is.”

What do you think about Rotten Tomatoes taking down these reviews? Do you think a lot of these were disingenuous reviews created by bots?

Or do you think Rotten Tomatoes had more nefarious reasons for removing the reviews?

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Quote:What do you think about Rotten Tomatoes taking down these reviews?

Do you think a lot of these were disingenuous reviews created by bots?
Or do you think Rotten Tomatoes had more nefarious reasons for removing the reviews?

Both.

I've been monitoring this situation and I suppose it's easy in these days of society-segregation for any
position on a movie to be countered by another opinion.

But it's the low-brow paradigm of this particular setting that is surprising, a fictional movie about a character
from a comic book. I can only hope that when the below sentences are read, the reader will see what is truly
happening today.
......................

Captain Marvel was originally created as a male (1967) and then for whatever reasons, the fictional rendered
character was changed to a female (1982). This revamped Captain Marvel then changed again into a male (1993).

In 2004, the drawn comic-figure became a female again and after the story was written that Captain Marvel would
perish, the next time the creators of the comics decided to resurrect the character, they drew it as a female (2007).

With a little story-line-chicanery, the Captain Marvel character has been altered to suit the ever-dwindling customers
over the many years of first-world social change, but the one reality that is ignored is that none of it is real.
......................

It's just shyster marketing to prey on current bogus outrages to ensure their salaries are paid.
The elite classes are using the multitudes of minorities are using a platform to fight against an imagined majority and
also amongst those assumed groups.

Those of wealth are laughing at all of us and we're eating their designed narratives as if we're enlightened beings that
have discovered these supposed disparities.
.....................

I suggest we wake up and see what reality really is. And the movie...? If you've got doubts about whether it's entertaining,
don't go and see it. It's not like its real or anything. Nobody died and everyone was paid.

Now please send copious amounts of cotton-candy to PO Box **** because I might get triggered (Is being triggered still
trendy?)
tinysurprised
Here's a small example of how the media can relate something that is partly-true, but at the same time,
give off unverified information for the sake of a biased agenda.

The UK leaving the European Union is deemed by the majority of Westminster politicians and London-based
Journalists as a bad idea and without resorting to using the expression 'Project Fear', the colouring of how
the EU (which is really Germany and France) is constantly maintained.

The riots, the no-go areas and the increased crime in mainland Europe are rarely touched upon and instead,
certain members of the established UK media -which many of them have property in France, portray Europe
as a place of easy-going folk who want Britain to remain in the 'club'.

At a time when genuine news is being looked at warily, you'd think the BBC Journalists would try to keep to
the line of sincerity -especially when the story is merely a re-jig of a story from another media-outlet.

Forget the subject of the article, it's not important in the manner of explaining of imposition that the
'Man-Bites-Dog' story is padded out with. It's the additions to the article that concerns me and why.

Here's the original, a French account of a light-hearted story involving chickens turning tables on a fox.
If it's a butter-patted metaphor for the Yellow-Jackets in France beating-up on Macron, I cannot say!


Quote:Unusual. Surprised by chickens, a fox killed at pecking.

'This is an unusual story, a fox was found the body riddled with pecking on the farm of the Gros-Chene High School
in Pontivy which has 6 000 chickens.

Usually, it's the opposite situation. A fox was killed by the chickens at Le Gros-Chêne high school in Pontivy, on the
night of Wednesday 6 to Thursday 7 March 2019.

"The fox had to return during the night, by one of the access gates of the breeding of laying hens which gives on 2.4
ha of pasture which is reserved for them" , explains Pascal Daniel, director of the exploitation , who still can not
believe this extraordinary event.

The animal was surrounded, then killed in a corner of the building that brings together 3,000 chickens: "It is a juvenile
of 5 or 6 months, about 60 cm long. He did not seem sick and in any case, he did not have scabies, " says Pascal
Daniel, who notes however that " the hens can arrive en masse and the fox, surprised, could panic in front of the number.

The hens have been there since July, so for more than seven months and have probably learned to defend themselves, "
says the farm manager, especially since this is not the first time an animal is introduced without being invited:
"A fox hidden in the nests has already been discovered, a year and a half ago  ! ".

[Image: attachment.php?aid=5433]
It is in the left corner that the fox was found, dead, the body riddled with punctures | WEST FRANCE


Pigeons devoured
Other predators also threaten the breeding: "We pay a tribute to the buzzards that attack the hens every week, but I think
that there too, they face. Pigeons are also victims and we find regularly regularly devoured, " notes Pascal Daniel.

A living naturalist from Brittany who was contacted , is also surprised by this turnaround: "There may be a group effect,
but also other reasons: the fox was young so inexperienced. It could already be weakened, even injured, and we know
that chickens go easily on a weak animal " .

Still, that night, no hen was a victim of predation...'
Ouest-France: -A Google Translation.

There we have it, a simple story with some indications that an incident held the farmer's suggestions like 'did not
seem sick', 'the the hens can arrive en masse' and 'could panic in front of the number'.
All conjecture and with some rationality, but not fact.

Pascal also explains that a section of pasture is reserved for the chickens and yet, the photograph above shows the
hens inside a building during daylight. The image is relevant as the wording beneath it describes which corner the dead
fox was discovered.

"So what...?!" -I hear you say. But hear me out. Here's the BBC's version of the same story.


Quote:Chickens 'gang up' to kill intruder fox on French farm.

'Chickens in a school farm in north-western France are believed to have grouped and killed a juvenile fox.
The unusual incident in Brittany took place after the fox entered the coop with 3,000 hens through an automatic
hatch door which closed immediately.

"There was a herd instinct and they attacked him with their beaks," said Pascal Daniel, head of farming at the
agricultural school Gros-Chêne.

The body of the small fox was found the following day in a corner of the coop.
"It had blows to its neck, blows from beaks," Mr Daniel told AFP news agency.
The farm is home to up to 6,000 free-range chickens who are kept in a five-acre site.

The coop is kept open during day and most of the hens spend the daytime outside, AFP adds...'
BBC:

Why put in the final sentence? Mr. Pascal Daniel never states the poultry live outdoors every day and
the comment is only identified as being said from 'AFP' (Agence France-Presse).

'Free-Range' poultry in the UK are portrayed as happy-go-lucky chickens running around in a grassy
field and retiring to their nests at night on their own volition. The reality is a little different.
Free-range chickens are not in cages, although they may be kept in a large warehouses for most of the time.
(see image below)

[Image: attachment.php?aid=5434]
SOURCE of Image:

So using the information from both articles, we have 6,000 chickens kept in two buildings (It states only 3,000
hens nailed the fox), an automatic door that only closes when an animal steps INTO the building and a photograph
of one of Pascal's chicken coops taken during the day.

The BBC do this regularly, they twist stories to suit narratives, sometimes bland puff-pieces that mean nothing in
regards of informative knowledge, but hold a meaning that will touch areas unseen by the standard reader/viewer.

My only surprise is that the BBC didn't mention whether Mr. Pascal was a disabled transsexual of colour with ginger
hair, or not.
tinysure
(03-09-2019, 12:24 AM)Armonica_Templar Wrote: [ -> ]They are leaving stupid footprints

The excuse is that well they have not seen the movie, they are leaving reviews
The truth is it was
I am not seeing


A BBC Arts critic says...


Quote:'....Maybe that is the trajectory of Marvel movies: more introspection, less action.

We'll find out soon enough when Avengers returns next month featuring Brie Larson as Captain Marvel.
Has she done for the #MeToo movement what Black Panther did for African American cinema? Is Captain
Marvel as culturally significant as that first ever Oscar-winning MCU film?

No, in short.

It is not as good a film.

I very much doubt it will follow in Black Panther's award-wining footsteps. But it is not as far behind in terms of
reflecting a shifting attitude in Hollywood as some would have you believe. This is an incarnation of a thoughtful
superhero who operates on her own terms, or, seeing as we are in the mid-'90s, knows how to assert her girl
power...'
BBC:

It's another example of sh*t-show marketing that they believe will hide the truth that the movie is crap.

An imaginary vehicle of female-empowerment from a place where women sometimes blow an influential
Hollywood mover-and-shaker to get a job in the picture-business.

Oh the layers of erroneous smugness!!!
What with the latest divisive massaging of facts regarding Donald Trump, the Mosque shootings, a supposed rise
in white-supremacy and Brexit, it's nice to know that propaganda isn't a new thing. Of course it went on and of course,
the enemy and the people who read the false articles knew it was manipulative. 
And you wonder why the kids aren't watching the TV and buying newspapers anymore?!!

Quote:'Fake news' sent out by government department.

'British government officials forged documents to produce "fake news stories" during the Cold War, newly released files
show. The Information Research Department (IRD) was the Foreign Office's secret propaganda unit.

[Image: attachment.php?aid=5468]


For 30 years it fed information to journalists and had its own news agencies too...'

And the same Journalists took it without any research...? Or did they just do as they were told to and knowingly supported
a narrative that secured their jobs? Press 'A' to agree!

Quote:'...Almost 2,000 of its files have been transferred to the National Archives since the start of 2019.

"Cold warrior"
The files cover the early 1960s -the heyday of the IRD, when it employed between 400 and 600 people, according to Paul
Lashmar, author of Britain's Secret Propaganda War. In 1978, Mr Lashmar was part of the team of journalists who revealed
the existence of the IRD. He says this is the first time their role faking documents has been exposed.

The team was funded by the so-called "secret vote" -where government money not subject to parliamentary scrutiny was used.
Part of the project involved working abroad, but it also fed information to London-based academics and correspondents.
Among the newly released files are lists of trusted journalists...'

"London-based academics and correspondents"... 'trusted Journalists".... trusted by whom?!!
A fine example of the Establishment and it's conduits that maintain a certain order.

Quote:'...In 1960 that included Neal Ascherson -then a young reporter at the Observer newspaper who was introduced to the IRD
by Edward Crankshaw, a more senior Soviet specialist. "I was taken to a London club and we had a nice lunch with Edward
and myself and this gentleman," Mr Ascherson remembered.
"After I'd been looked over and tested... I was allowed to receive the news bulletin of eastern European 'product'."

The IRD information was delivered by hand and treated as secret -but Mr Ascherson said he "very rapidly discovered it was
completely useless", since it contained "stale, out of date" news. He found the analysis "childish… very cold warrior", and says
he never relied on the information.

Faked notepaper
According to Mr Lashmar, the officials at the IRD were enjoying the game, competing with the other side.
One complex scheme involved faking a press release from the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFYD), a Communist
-backed organisation based in Budapest.

In 1963, African students in Bulgaria made international news. Scores had left the country, claiming racial discrimination, and the
IRD decided to use this to "intensify indignation... against Bloc countries".

On fake headed notepaper, the IRD circulated a press release to hundreds of newspapers and opinion formers -sending the
releases via the British diplomatic bag which meant they would have the right postmark. The press release -reprinted in full by
a news agency in Zanzibar -included an offensive statement that the Africans "emerging from the jungle darkness of want,
[they] were not equipped to understand that food, fuel and clothes were not freely attainable..."

African students were furious. The Nigerian student union said this was a declaration of "white superiority".
Some weeks later, the WFYD insisted it had been a fake release...'


Fancy that...! a Government using racial and assumed cultural differences to cause negative reactions in another country and
using several aspects of the mainstream media to do it. I apologise for not reminding the reader that this is from 1963 and being
currently reported in 2019 by an established media, things have changed since then.
mediumfacepalm

Quote:"Trotskyists" in Islington North
Most of the IRD's efforts were concentrated on foreign news, but occasionally they were employed in the UK.

In 1962 Labour MP for Islington North, Gerry Reynolds, asked for their help.
He feared his local Labour party was being taken over by "a well-organised group of extreme left-wing malcontents, probably
Trotskyists", and wanted the IRD to dig up any information on the individuals concerned.

The IRD turned to the security services, which confirmed that Dorothy Hayward had been a member of the Revolutionary Communist
Party in 1947; that Sidney Lubin had endorsed a Communist council candidate in 1951; and that Francis Dunne had distributed a
Trotskyite newsletter.

This information was "a bit stingy", wrote one IRD officer whose disappointment suggested he had expected more information.
Nonetheless, he passed it on to Mr Reynolds, who remained the MP there until 1969.
It is not known what -if anything -happened to those people the IRD had named...'


A Journalist could have always investigated into... aw forget it.

Quote:'Faked posters
The files show the IRD manufactured and distributed statements from the International Institute for Peace in Vienna on several occasions.
It also faked posters from the International Union of Students, replacing the acronym "US" with Chinese characters, to turn an anti-US
nuclear campaign into an anti-Chinese one.

[Image: attachment.php?aid=5469]


This is the first time that IRD's own forgeries have been revealed.
At the time, it was keen to highlight forged documents produced by the Communists. They were known to be prolific: at one point a forged
British cabinet paper was being circulated amongst African leaders.
In North Korea and East Germany, such fakes were produced on an industrial scale, according to files recently released.

[Image: attachment.php?aid=5470]


Mr Lashmar said: "Should a democracy be secretly putting out fake or forged material? No. If totalitarian people are manipulating things…
that doesn't mean we should follow suit."...'
BBC:

Totalitarianism is to blame... Journalists were duped, but they're smarter now.
tinysurprised
Kiwi Farms operator Josh Moon doubles down on rebuttal to help New Zealand police with Christchurch terror attack investigation

Quote: Video Player is loading.

This is a modal window.
This video is restricted from playing in your current geographic region
Error Code: PLAYER_ERR_GEO_RESTRICTED
Session ID: 2019-03-20:d6a4433da10381b1e945ea37 Player Element ID:player--content-newshub-en-home-new-zealand-2019-03-kiwi-farms-operator-josh-moon-doubles-down-on-rebuttal-to-help-new-zealand-police-with-christchurch-terror-attack-investigation-jcr-content-par-video


Credits: Video - Rekieta Law; Photo - Creative Commons
The man who operates the Kiwi Farms website has joked about the backlash to his refusal to help New Zealand police in the ongoing Christchurch terror attack investigation.

Joshua Conner Moon, who goes by the username Null on Kiwi Farms, also says he has been contacting ISPs in Aotearoa and demanding to know why they are blocking his website for Kiwi users.

Very quickly after a gunman livestreamed part of his attack on two mosques in Christchurch on Friday that left 50 people dead, the video appeared on Kiwi Farms.


While Facebook, Twitter and Youtube were quick to remove the video from their platforms, Kiwi Farms kept it up - and responded with insults and expletives when contacted by a New Zealand police officer for assistance.


Despite having 'Kiwi' in its name, the website has no association with New Zealand; rather, the name was adapted from its former title of 'CWCki Forums'.


Moon laughs about the situation in a three-hour interview posted on YouTube by Nick Rekieta, a lawyer based in the US state of Minnesota.
"Your website has seemingly attracted the attention of the biggest and most terrifying of governments that the world has ever known," says a giggling Rekieta.

"Did they 'haka' you via email?"

The pair joke about New Zealand's response to the Christchurch terror attack footage and suggest that if Moon was extradited to Aotearoa, Sir Peter Jackson may pick him up from the airport to have him play a hobbit in his next film.


Applauding Moon's reply to the police email about New Zealand being a "shithole country" with "f****t law", Rekieta says: "The way you have to deal with police and government coming at you is with force".

Also in the video, Moon complains about New Zealand ISPs blocking his website at a DNS level, in an attempt to limit internet users in Aotearoa from accessing the video of the Christchurch terror attack.

"It's preposterous... It's hard to tell if this is a conscious effort by the ISPs themselves, or a request of the government," says Moon.

"I contacted three ISPs in New Zealand that people said had been DNS black-holing Kiwi Farms... the one that replied was Spark."

He then incredulously reads out the email he got from a Spark customer service representative, which explains why it is trying to block video of
the Christchurch mass shooting.

Moon and Rekieta both agree that child pornography is the only type of content that should not be allowed to be shared online - arguing strongly that graphic videos of murder, even when they're terrorist propaganda, are in the public interest to be uncensored and freely available.

"Everything should be accessible, all the time," says Moon.


"I agree, 100 percent," says Rekieta.

"As long as it's not illegal - and I mean not illegal in the US, because I don't trust any other existence right now to have the free speech protection to say that 'illegal' means it should be illegal.


The video of the Christchurch mosque shooting was linked to in a post made seemingly by the gunman himself on 8chan, a notorious online forum that has similar content and a similar history to Kiwi Farms.


In the Rekieta interview, Moon explains that he was informed of the 8chan post so quickly he was able to access the video before it was removed from Facebook.


"I clicked through to the Facebook link and it's still up, so I'm like 'Oh shit'. I have my archive tools on standby, live 24/7... so I [download the video], immediately, throw it up on the site and create a thread," says Moon. 


He goes on to say his hosting of the video stayed up while most other websites removed it - resulting in a huge increase in traffic to Kiwi Farms, resulting in bandwith problems.


"My little website, you do want attention for it, but you don't want to be the 'school shooter website'. We've made the news multiple times now, because of our affiliations with - like it's three times at this point."

He then mentions two times users of Kiwi Farms had either carried out fatal shootings, or been thwarted in attempting one.
Meanwhile, Moon's response to the New Zealand police has been reported on elsewhere, with other alleged actions of his also being brought into the spotlight.

"Before he founded Kiwi Farms, Moon was sacked as an administrator for 8chan for allegedly promoting paedophilia. He is notorious for his online stalking and harassment campaigns, which have featured threats to 'rape, murder and dismember' his mainly female victims," reports news.com.au.


"In 2016, Moon was linked to a series of online threats to harm children in Florida, where he shares a home with his mother, forcing dozens of schools into lockdown."


Kiwi Farms users are posting links to the coverage and joking about it, particularly instances of media referring to them as 'incels', or involuntary celibates - an online subculture of men who claim they are unable to find sexual or romantic partners.


More allegations about Moon's online behaviour and its connection to real-world violence are posted on several websites online.

Newshub.

Reddit


It gets better
2019-03-17 - New Zealand Police: "We would like to preserve any posts and technical data including IP addresses, email addresses etc" -

Quote:On 3/17/2019 6:12 AM, MICHAEL, John (JP) wrote:


Good afternoon

I am hoping that you can help us with an investigation the New Zealand Police are working on.

On 15 March 2019 there was a shooting in New Zealand with multiple fatalities at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.

The alleged offender in this matter is a Brenton TARRANT.

At around the time of the shooting there were a number of posts and links posted on kiwifarms.net <http://kiwifarms.net> relating to the shooting and TARRANT

We would like to preserve any posts and technical data including IP addresses, email addresses etc linked to these posts pending a formal legal request .

Could you please advise what legal process you require for this request and also confirm preservation of the data requested pending legal process.

Kind regards

John

John Michael_
_Detective Senior Sergeant*
*E-mail: john.michael@police.govt.nz <mailto:john.michael@police.govt.nz>

===============================================================

WARNING

The information contained in this email message is intended for the addressee only and may contain privileged information. It may also be subject to the provisions of section 50 of the Policing Act 2008, which creates an offence to have unlawful possession of Police property. If you are not the intended recipient of this message or have received this message in error, you must not peruse, use, distribute or copy this message or any of its contents.

Also note, the views expressed in this message may not necessarily reflect those of the New Zealand Police. If you have received this message in error, please email or telephone the sender immediately

---

Is this a joke? I'm not turning over information about my users. The person responsible for posting the video and manifesto PDF is myself.

I feel real bad for you guys, you've got a quiet nation and now this attack is going to be the first thing people think of for the next 10 years when they hear the name New Zealand, but you can't do this. Tell your superiors they're going to make the entire country and its government look like clowns by trying to censor the Internet. You're a small, irrelevant island nation barely more recognizable than any other nameless pacific sovereignty. You do not have the clout to eradicate a video from the Internet and you do not have the legal reach to imprison everyone whose posted it. If anyone turns over to you the information they're asking for they're not only cowards, but they're fucking idiots.

My name is Joshua Moon, I'm a US Citizen living overseas. My company is contained within a Florida company. If you need an address to send physical documents to this works.

Lolcow LLC
913 Beal Pkwy NW
Suite A-1017
Fort Walton Beach, FL 32547

If you're wondering, no. Kiwi Farms has nothing to do with New Zealand. Our name is a pointed jab at some of the mushmouthed autistic people we make fun of. Absolutely nothing about our community is NZ oriented.

And I don't give a single solitary fuck what section 50 of your faggot law say about sharing your email. Fuck you and fuck your shithole country.

- Josh

---

Hi Josh

Appreciate your quick response.

Will definitely consider what you have said.

Regards

John

John Michael
Detective Senior Sergeant
E-mail: john.michael@police.govt.nz
 

that is the letter
Website Kiwi Farms refuses to surrender data linked to accused Christchurch terrorist Brendan Tarrant A notorious web forum has refused requests to surrender data from posts about the accused NZ terrorist, instead unleashing a profane rant.

Quote:[Image: marnie-oneill.png]
Marnie O’Neill@marnieoneill7
[img=0x0]https://i1.wp.com/pixel.tcog.cp1.news.com.au/track/component/author/86e4cdf929f450a650d886f1315cb16f?t_product=tcog&t_template=s3/ncatemp/authorBlock@2.0.0[/img]news.com.auMarch 19, 201911:00am
0:10
/
1:55
Christchurch Shooting: The rise of the far-right?
[img=0x0]https://i1.wp.com/pixel.tcog.cp1.news.com.au/track/news/content/v2/48dcbf454672ddffbc6ce037d94ce816?t_product=newscomau&t_template=../video/player[/img]
The American operator of a controversial website has smacked down a request by New Zealand police to hand over data linked to posts and video links that appeared on the site as the Christchurch terrorist attack unfolded.

In an obscenity-laden email, Kiwi Farms founder Joshua Moon dismissed the plea by Detective Senior Sergeant John Michael as “a joke”, labelling New Zealand “a small, irrelevant island nation” and “s***hole country”.

Moon is a former administrator of 8chan, the online message board where Brenton Tarrant posted details of his sick plan, along with a 73-page manifesto, hours before allegedly carrying out New Zealand’s deadliest terrorist attack.

Kiwi Farms, 8chan and a third online message board called Voat are popular with incels (involuntary celibates), an online subculture of men who claim they are unable to find sexual or romantic partners.
[Image: 39d27f0cf69bd1105fe2a182b61f1042?width=650]
Joshua Conner Moon, 28, is a serial stalker who was linked to a 2016 spate of school shooting hoaxs in Florida. Picture: Creative CommonsSource:Supplied

Australian national Tarrant, 28, is in custody on murder charges after the massacre of 50 worshippers at two Christchurch mosques, which left 50 dead and dozens more wounded.

Moon — an alt-right, anti-feminist, pro-white Trump supporter who claims he set up Kiwi Farms for the “gossip and exploitation of the mentally handicapped for amusement purposes” — published the exchange with Detective Michael without bothering to hide the officer’s email address.

“I am hoping that you can help us with an investigation the New Zealand Police are working on,” Det Michael wrote in an email dated March 17.

“On 15 March 2019 there was a shooting in New Zealand with multiple fatalities at two mosques in the city of Christchurch. The alleged offender in this matter is a Brenton TARRANT.

“At around the time of the shooting there were a number of posts and links posted on kiwifarms.net relating to the shooting and TARRANT.

“We would like to preserve any posts and technical data including IP addresses, email addresses etc linked to these posts pending a formal legal request.”
[Image: a94fff8bd3ccc6aba4b522e344e59bc1?width=650]
New Zealand Police confirmed the email exchange between Detective Michael and Kiwi Farms operator Joshua Moon was genuine. Picture: Kiwi FarmsSource:Supplied

Moon shot back: “Is this a joke? I’m not turning over information about my users.

“The person responsible for posting the video and manifesto PDF is myself.”

He continued: “I feel real bad for you guys, you’ve got a quiet nation and now this attack is going to be the first thing people think of for the next 10 years when they hear the name New Zealand, but you can’t do this.

“Tell your superiors they’re going to make the entire country and its government look like clowns by trying to censor the internet.

“You’re a small irrelevant island nation barely more recognisable than any other nameless pacific sovereignty. You do not have the clout to eradicate a video from the internet and you do not have the legal reach to imprison everyone who posted it.

“If anyone turns over to you the information they’re asking for they’re not only cowards but they’re f***ing idiots.”
[Image: a0b460069b62455978a5f40083d40ef9?width=650]
Joshua Moon’s foul-mouthed rant at Christchurch Police Detective Senior Sergeant John Michaels. Picture: Kiwi FarmsSource:Supplied
[Image: 4c7a07abd952d4329d59d00ae6e2d549?width=650]
Christchurch terrorist attack investigator Detective John Michael’s measured response to Moon’s obscenity filled tirade. Picture: Kiwi FarmsSource:Supplied

Moon followed up with another email abusing New Zealand authorities for their efforts to remove footage of the rampage, which was livestreamed by Tarrant and has been circulating online ever since.

Facebook says it has removed more than 1.5 million videos from the social media platform but uncensored footage continues to be reskinned and shared on Kiwi Farms, 8chan and another message board called Voat.

That’s despite a warning from New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern that anyone caught downloading or distributing such material — especially the killer’s 17 minute bodycam footage — faces up to 10 years jail.

“I don’t give a single solitary f**k what section 50 of your faggot laws say about sharing your email,” Moon ranted in the second email.

“F**k you and f**k your s***hole country, Kiwi Farms has nothing to do with New Zealand. “Our name is a pointed jab at some of the mushmouthed autistic people we make fun of. Absolutely nothing about our community is NZ oriented.

To his credit, Det Michael refused to bite, replying instead with a polite acknowledgment of Moon’s views.

“Hi Josh,” he wrote. “Appreciate your quick response. Will definitely consider what you have said. Regards, John.”

New Zealand police verified the authenticity of the email exchange in a statement to news.com.au.

“I can confirm New Zealand Police made contact with the website as part of the ongoing investigation into the Christchurch terror attacks,” a spokeswoman said.

Before he founded Kiwi Farms, Moon was sacked as an administrator for 8chan for allegedly promoting paedophilia. He is notorious for his online stalking and harassment campaigns, which have featured threats to “rape, murder and dismember” his mainly female victims.

In 2016, Moon was linked to a series of online threats to harm children in Florida, where he shares a home with his mother, forcing dozens of schools into lockdown.

0:00
/
4:23
Social media AI struggles to detect inappropriate video content: former Facebook CEO


no proof of half this womans statements
Not all spies are Russian.


Quote:NSA contractor pleads guilty to retaining top secret data.

'A US government contractor accused of stealing vast quantities of highly classified information over
more than two decades has pleaded guilty, the Department of Justice said.

Under the terms of an agreement with prosecutors, Harold Martin, 54, agreed to plead guilty to the willful
retention of national defense information but not espionage, a statement said Thursday.
He will likely be sentenced to nine years in prison at a hearing on July 19.

Martin was arrested in August 2016 after having worked for 23 years as a contractor for numerous federal
agencies including the NSA, which specializes in the interception of global communications.
He held a security clearance that allowed him to have access to top secret and sensitive compartmented
information at various times.

Investigators did not establish whether he had transmitted this information to anyone and his motives were
not made public. Following his arrest, police found documents and data stored on computer equipment at
his home in the suburbs of Washington and in the trunk of his vehicle.

According to press reports, there were more than 50 terabytes of data, including ultra-secret computer codes
used by the NSA to hack into foreign government networks. At the time, he was employed by Booz Allen Hamilton,
a large private firm that provides contractors to US intelligence agencies.

The case had been an embarrassment for the NSA, whose massive surveillance programs were revealed worldwide
in 2013 by another Booz Allen Hamilton contract employee: Edward Snowden.
Accused of treason by the United States, Edward Snowden has since been living in exile in Russia...'
MSN:
(03-29-2019, 02:32 PM)BIAD Wrote: [ -> ]Not all spies are Russian.


Quote:NSA contractor pleads guilty to retaining top secret data.

'A US government contractor accused of stealing vast quantities of highly classified information over
more than two decades has pleaded guilty, the Department of Justice said.

Under the terms of an agreement with prosecutors, Harold Martin, 54, agreed to plead guilty to the willful
retention of national defense information but not espionage, a statement said Thursday.
He will likely be sentenced to nine years in prison at a hearing on July 19.

Martin was arrested in August 2016 after having worked for 23 years as a contractor for numerous federal
agencies including the NSA, which specializes in the interception of global communications.
He held a security clearance that allowed him to have access to top secret and sensitive compartmented
information at various times.

Investigators did not establish whether he had transmitted this information to anyone and his motives were
not made public. Following his arrest, police found documents and data stored on computer equipment at
his home in the suburbs of Washington and in the trunk of his vehicle.

According to press reports, there were more than 50 terabytes of data, including ultra-secret computer codes
used by the NSA to hack into foreign government networks. At the time, he was employed by Booz Allen Hamilton,
a large private firm that provides contractors to US intelligence agencies.

The case had been an embarrassment for the NSA, whose massive surveillance programs were revealed worldwide
in 2013 by another Booz Allen Hamilton contract employee: Edward Snowden.
Accused of treason by the United States, Edward Snowden has since been living in exile in Russia...'
MSN:
Not All Spies Are Russian,,,,,,, ROFLMAO  smallroflmao  So True,,,,, just ask my husband and me.[Image: IdolizedImmaculateAnura-small.gif]
(03-29-2019, 06:31 PM)guohua Wrote: [ -> ]Not All Spies Are Russian,,,,,,, ROFLMAO  smallroflmao  So True,,,,, just ask my husband and me.[Image: IdolizedImmaculateAnura-small.gif]

Ah yes, but you came to terms with the fact that your real goal -that of true love, was only a knife-throw away!
tinysurprised
(03-29-2019, 10:17 PM)BIAD Wrote: [ -> ]
(03-29-2019, 06:31 PM)guohua Wrote: [ -> ]Not All Spies Are Russian,,,,,,, ROFLMAO  smallroflmao  So True,,,,, just ask my husband and me.[Image: IdolizedImmaculateAnura-small.gif]

Ah yes, but you came to terms with the fact that your real goal -that of true love, was only a knife-throw away!
tinysurprised
More like Three Shots into the Thigh/Hip,,,,, because he Scared Me!!!!
Tut-tut, the staged events are not being well-hidden these days.


Quote:Family accused of staging an anti-Semitic attack has been facing financial troubles

' Winnipeg family accused of staging an anti-Semitic attack at their cafe has been facing financial troubles,
including a six-figure lawsuit. Oxana and Alexander Berent, along with their son Maxim, have denied police
allegations they faked an attack last Thursday inside the BerMax Caffe and Bistro.

[Image: attachment.php?aid=5665]
(Left) BerMax Caffé owner Maxim Berent, 29, has been charged with public mischief in Canada
along with his parents Alexander and Oxana. (Right)


They were charged Wednesday with public mischief, after police investigated a report that their cafe was
spray-painted with hateful graffiti and Oxana was assaulted. The family told CBC they did not stage the incident,
and that while they have had to put their home and cafe up for sale in order to pay off loans, that would not lead
them to falsify an attack.

Court records show the parents were ordered last August to pay $112,000 to the Business Development Bank of
Canada for a loan that had not been repaid. More recently, their adult son was sued by the Royal Bank for $43,000
in alleged credit card debt. That statement of claim has not been tested in court and Maxim Berent has not responded
to it.
The family members have been released on a promise to appear in court in May...'
CBC:
Other Link To Story: SOURCE:
Here's one that makes me smile.
With the title 'Journalist' being used for anyone who can look into a camera and lie without flinching, the veteran once-Journalist
-turned-TV-Presenter, showed once more, how the shite they call information is relayed to the public.

Nicholas Witchell has been around for some time and due to that cozying up with the Establishment, accepted the role of an
outdated position in the media of 'Royal Correspondent'! In my view, his only saving-grace was that he produced a book about
the history of the Loch Ness Monster... but eh, that's just me.

With the birth of Prince Harry and Meghan's baby coming after some newspapers had gone to press, the wished-for 'home-birth'
was thwarted by the overdue 'Baby Sussex' demanding his mother released him in a hospital. The mainstream media had for weeks.
butter-patted the wish for the Meghan to have her child at Frogmore Cottage, a small ten-bedroom home that was granted to her
grandson by the Queen, but the baby had different thoughts.

Comments of how a home birth would save pressurising the already-struggling National Heath Service were banded about and
the reality that the royal couple would actually be using London's private £15,000-per-night Portland Hospital was coughed and
spluttered out to the public.

Being a trade that sticks together these days due to social-media killing the traditional jobs, this fact was deliberately dissolved
beneath the pushed-joy of having a duel-national, mixed-race royal. On top of that, was the constant suggestions of what the new
addition to the Windsors would be called also helped in keeping the public from learning that reality and what the MSM want you
to think, are very far apart.

So, from outside any property owned by the Royal family, sniffing News-Readers and wrapped-up television Presenters told the
world of the birth and offered opinions that the viewers are supposed to think are personal.

That is, unless the auto-cue goes tits-up.

Quote:'What just happened to Nicholas Witchell?' BBC royal correspondent worries viewers with stumbling
discussion of Baby Sussex before he hands back to the studio halfway through bizarre piece to camera.

'The BBC's royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell has concerned viewers after a rambling and stuttering broadcast
outside Buckingham Palace this evening. The veteran broadcaster had to hand back early to Ben Brown in the studio
after he repeatedly struggled to get his words out.

Mr Witchell was telling viewers about Harry and Meghan's Baby Sussex, the first Anglo-American birth in the British Royal
Family.

[Image: attachment.php?aid=5722]


In the piece to camera, he spoke of how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex considered themselves 'global ambassadors'
and they might spend time in Africa later this year. But then the royal correspondent appeared to trip over his words and
told viewers: 'Excuse me, let me just collect my thoughts.'

But on the second time of trying, he still failed to express what he was trying to say.
He said: 'I'm so sorry, let me just once again hand back to you Ben.'

After the BBC cut back to the newsreader in the studio, viewers started to air their concerns on social media for Mr Witchell's
well-being, which resulted in the broadcaster trending on Twitter...'
More in link: Daily Mail:
Footprints

I post this one here for a reason

Dr. Eoin Lenihan twitter thread

Quote:We mapped the social interactions of 58,254 Antifa affiliated accounts on Twitter based on an initial seed of 16 self-identifying and verifiable Antifa accounts (and Mark Bray who chose not to confirm if he is a member of Antifa but whose book makes a solid case for inclusion).







A mapped out network of sources

I will let it speak for itself
(05-17-2019, 07:51 PM)Armonica_Templar Wrote: [ -> ]...A mapped out network of sources

I will let it speak for itself

I never thought for one moment that Antifa and certain sections of Journalists weren't working
hand-in-hand. Look at the amount of British Journalists who become politicians, it's far-deeper
than most think.

Over here in the UK -during the soccer hooliganism years, you could be paid £20 to just go and
punch someone for a newspaper Photographer!
There’s A New Tommy Robinson Channel On YouTube That Bypasses Restrictions On His Main Account

Quote:“YouTube are a complete disgrace”, Labour chair of the home affairs committee Yvette Cooper told BuzzFeed News.

Posted on May 16, 2019, at 9:15 a.m.
[Image: markdistefano-v2-28009-1466776414-0_larg...ality=auto]
Mark Di Stefano
BuzzFeed News Reporter
Share On facebook  
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[email=?subject=There%E2%80%99s+A+New+Tommy+Robinson+Channel+On+YouTube+That+Bypasses+Restrictions+On+His+Main+Account&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2Fmarkdistefano%2Fyoutube-called-disgrace-over-tommy-channel%3Futm_source%3Ddynamic%26utm_campaign%3Dbfshareemail%0A%0AGet the BuzzFeed App: https://bzfd.it/bfmobileapps]Share On email  [/email]
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Share On copy  
  [Image: sub-buzz-15513-1558022349-1.jpg?downsize...size=360:*]
Peter Summers / Getty Images Anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson is asking for donations and support for his European election campaign on a new YouTube channel that bypasses sweeping restrictions the platform placed on his main video channel last month.

The new channel called “Vote Tommy Robinson MEP for North West, England” was launched two weeks ago, just a few weeks after the video platform introduced measures to restrict the visibility of Robinson’s main channel by removing it from search results and preventing him from live-streaming on it.
  [Image: sub-buzz-8023-1558022649-5.png?downsize=...size=360:*]
YouTube When approached about the new channel, YouTube declined to comment on the record, but BuzzFeed News understands that the company believes it doesn’t breach its guidelines.

Labour MP Yvette Cooper, the influential chair of the Commons home affairs select committee told BuzzFeed News that YouTube was a “complete disgrace”.


“On a day when governments across the world are pledging action against far-right extremism online, YouTube are exposed once again for promoting online hatred and racist abuse.


“They have repeatedly claimed to us that they put restrictions on channels like this but it’s clearly a joke if the restrictions are this easy to get around.”

[Image: sub-buzz-8166-1558022702-1.jpg?downsize=...ality=auto]
Dan Kitwood / Getty Images Labour MP Yvette Cooper.

The new channel’s main page and each video page includes a disclaimer: “This account in not run by Tommy Robinson”, but Robinson has been distributing the videos on his TR News website and to his Telegram channel. On several occasions in recent days, TR News has featured YouTube videos on the channel.

The channel also carries multiple links to his main campaign website.

Shortly before this article was published, and after BuzzFeed News approached YouTube for comment, another line was added to the channel's main page: "This account is operated by the campaign to elect Tommy Robinson as MEP for North West, England."


Unlike Robinson’s main channel which features YouTube’s black warnings at the start of each video and doesn’t feature in recommendations or searches, the new channel has all the regular YouTube features enabled.


Videos show up in search and can be recommended to users, while the channel can also live-stream – one of the most effective ways Robinson was able to gain more than 300,000 subscribers on the main channel. The new one is much smaller with just over 5,000 so far.


In the last 48 hours, five Robinson videos have been posted, including one titled “Tommy Robinson NEEDS your help”, which features the former
English Defence League leader asking for money to help his campaign and directing viewers to the donation page on his website.

The ease with which the new channel has got round YouTube’s restrictions on Robinson illustrates how US tech platforms are struggling to come up with policies on the hoof that deal with UK far-right personalities posting on their platforms during the EU election campaign.

[Image: sub-buzz-6901-1558022773-1.jpg?downsize=...ality=auto]
Geoff Caddick / AFP / Getty Images UKIP candidate Carl Benjamin and former Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos campaigning in Exeter.

Last week, YouTube de-monetised UKIP candidate and Gamergate leader Carl Benjamin’s Sargon of Akkad account after he made comments about raping Labour MP Jess Phillips.

Twitter, meanwhile, removed campaign accounts in the name of Benjamin and Robinson — both men have been previously banned from Twitter — which had many thousands of followers.


Cooper has been focusing her committee’s efforts on getting more information from YouTube and its parent company Google on how it deals with hate speech and extremist content.


This week, she wrote to YouTube’s director of public policy for Europe, Marco Pancini, in the wake of his latest appearance before MPs..


In the letter seen by BuzzFeed News, Cooper asked for further information about a dozen issues, including the Christchurch mosque attack and the removal of “hateful and abusive” content from the platform.

She also asked for more information about YouTube’s suggested video algorithms and how the platform serves up far-right videos to users who
are not searching for them.

“What action YouTube is taking to address the recommendation of offensive and controversial to users by its algorithms, including why YouTube promotes and recommends videos and channels featuring the likes of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka ‘Tommy Robinson’) and Carl Benjamin (aka ‘Sargon of Akkad’),” Cooper wrote.


“Why YouTube users who have never watched similar videos have right-wing and far-right content recommended to them.”


Cooper told BuzzFeed News that YouTube had “repeatedly failed to act” on what she called “pushing this poison”.


“We have raised this issue with YouTube time and time again, yet they’ve repeatedly failed to act,” Cooper said.


“We know what can happen when extremist, far-right content is allowed to proliferate online and yet YouTube and other companies continue to profit from pushing this poison.


“It’s just not good enough. Other social media companies are at least trying to tackle the problem but YouTube and Google aren’t taking any of this seriously enough. They should be accountable for the damage they are doing and the hatred, racism and extremism they are helping to spread”.


UPDATE: On Friday, YouTube released a statement, which said the company wouldn't be taking action against the new Tommy Robinson channel.


May 17, 2019, at 4:56 a.m.

“Balancing freedom of expression with our priority of ensuring that YouTube remains a safe environment for community is not always straightforward," said a YouTube spokesperson.

"That’s why we’ve applied tougher treatment to Tommy Robinson’s channel in keeping with our policies on borderline content.


"The third-party run ‘Vote Tommy Robinson MEP for North West of England’ channel shares information about an official political candidate running for public office. We’ll take swift action should content on the channel violate our policies.”


I edited this in

where I found it
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