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Trump Accuses Social Media Firms of 'Silencing Millions' (reuters.com)

U.S. President Donald Trump accused social media companies on Friday of silencing "millions of people" in an act of censorship, but without offering evidence to support the claim. From a report: "Social Media Giants are silencing millions of people. Can't do this even if it means we must continue to hear Fake News like CNN, whose ratings have suffered gravely. People have to figure out what is real, and what is not, without censorship!" Trump wrote on Twitter, not mentioning any specific companies. Trump also criticized social media outlets last week, saying without providing proof that unidentified companies were "totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices." Mr. President's Friday remarks comes days after he expressed concerns over Twitter and Facebook regulating the content on their own platforms. He found such practice "very dangerous."

34 of 570 comments (clear)

  1. Old man yells at cloud by JoeyRox · · Score: 4, Insightful
    1. Re:Old man yells at cloud by amicusNYCL · · Score: 2, Insightful

      People have to figure out what is real, and what is not, without censorship!

      Huge chunks of the US have repeatedly shown that they are incapable of determining what is real and what is not. Evidence of this is the fact that people believe Trump. More evidence is the fact that Snopes needs a page for this.

      Cue the cloud and old man.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
  2. He is not wrong tho by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    regardless of your opinions, he is right. of course they have the right to do so, but people are being silenced

    1. Re:He is not wrong tho by Narcocide · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If it was actually people being silenced by the millions instead of just astroturf bots, he would have a point.

    2. Re:He is not wrong tho by jellomizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The real problem is everyone is talking but no one is listening. So to be heard they talk louder and try to be more shocking to get attention. The one who gets attention is listed to. But only the most outrageous arguments are being heard, so for those who oppose those ideas will either go as far in the other direction or just not listen causing such escalation. From Free Speech of idea sharing, to trolling.

      Free Speech has moved from long conversations of opposing ideas, to bumper sticker slogans.
      Not all ideas will have a consensus, not all view points are right. But we have fallen into such tribalism we are seeing the opposite party as these evil goblins who are out to kill our way of lives.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    3. Re:He is not wrong tho by ganjadude · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Agreed. I know for a fact my twitter is shaddow banned and ive had numerous posts on FB removed and banned a number of times for innocent posts simply for going against groupthink.

      either everything goes, or they are no longer innocent in what is allowed on their platforms. choice is yours.

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    4. Re: He is not wrong tho by tattood · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Fox can choose to not broadcast \ report any news that doesn't fit their world view, and so can Twitter.

      Fox is the company that is generating the content of the new reports that they broadcast (they tell the news anchor what to say). Twitter does not create the content of user's tweets, so it is not the same. A correct parallel would be if Fox were a public access TV network, then they would not be the ones creating the content.

      --
      WTB [sig], PST!!!
    5. Re:He is not wrong tho by farble1670 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      ive had numerous posts on FB removed and banned a number of times for innocent posts simply for going against groupthink.

      No, you haven't. No one is naive enough to think that FB removed your posts just because you offered a different opinion.

    6. Re:He is not wrong tho by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Dissagree. The people being shadowbanned and deleted are assholes or bots. There's a terms of service that all users agree to abide by, and those being removed are simply failing to abide by what they agreed to.

      It's not the social media sites fault that the people being abusive and racist are far more quantitatively republican/conservative.

      Right.

      Because anyone posting an opinion that doesn't hew to the "progressive" mandated line must be an asshole or a bot.

      And anyone thinking that big-nanny-goverment statism is bad must be RAAAAACIS'. Because FEELZ!

      Grow a brain.

    7. Re: He is not wrong tho by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      sadly when all my non technical friends are on those services, I still need to use them at least from time to time.

      You don't "need" to use any of that stuff.

      If you cannot maintain contact with friends without using social networks, those people you're trying to maintain contact with are not real friends and your "friendships" are not real friendships either.

    8. Re: He is not wrong tho by mi · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is exactly why Usenet and IRC are — and always have been — a better alternative.

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    9. Re: He is not wrong tho by farble1670 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, and the truth of your statements is obvious by the fact that you offer no supporting evidence and are afraid to even post under a pseudonym. You might live in a world where saying shit makes it true, but the rest of us don't.

  3. From the other side of the big pond by Epeeist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It looks as though you have someone who is completely out of control as president of your country.

    1. Re: From the other side of the big pond by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      All going to the wealthy with stagnation of wages vs inflation for the rest....and let's not forget the gains started with Obama

    2. Re:From the other side of the big pond by barc0001 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Can you point to a Trump policy that fostered that growth? If you want him taking the credit for it, show his work. All the rest of us see is any time he tries anything on money policy or trade, there are stories in the paper a few weeks later about the sector he touched tanking or offshoring. Like Carrier, Harley Davidson, GE, various appliance makers, Coors raising prices because of aluminum tariffs, soybean farmers, tourism down, auto manufacturers in the Carolinas having slumps because of China's reverse tariffs, etc.

      So maybe the economy as a whole is shambling along on momemtum like an oil tanker whose engine cut out an hour ago and is still cruising at 15mph, but many sectors of the economy sure do sound like they're getting hit with enormous unnecessary pain as a result of someone's mouth...

    3. Re:From the other side of the big pond by XXongo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      We have the strngest economy in 20 years. How you doin?

      To be more specific, we had the strongest economic growth in 20 years under Obama, and Trump hasn't torpedoed the economy (yet).

      http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/economic-growth-remains-steady-falls-short-trumps-vows
      https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2018/05/17/trump-lags-behind-his-predecessors-on-economic-growth/
      https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/jul/02/donald-trump/donald-trump-base-describing-gdp-growth-his-watch/

    4. Re:From the other side of the big pond by penandpaper · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I wonder, could conservatives find someone, anyone, among the ~400M Americans, that is able to uphold their values without being a loud mouth egotistical maniac troll?

      Are you serious? Let's see the last few how the media portrayed them. Romney was a sexist. McCain was a racist. Bush was Hitler that stole the election.

      There is not a single Republican that the Left would not think as some kind of *ist. Every single one this century has been labeled evil by some ism or ist. Go figure that eventually the loud mouth egotistical maniac troll is thrown in like a hand grenade. I don't think any decent Republican can run the way the media operates and treats them. Even Paul Ryan was demeaned as some evil hater of immoral isms by left media. The most tame Republicans are not safe from the medias slander.

      I really do dislike this kind of sanctimonious "why can't republicans put forward people I like" garbage. The only good republican is a non-threatening one. One that doesn't run for office. Any time one tries for office they instantly become evil.

  4. Hypocrite by barc0001 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Trump: People should be able to say whatever they want on private platforms that have no connection to the government.

    Also Trump: Football players should be fined and fired for daring to take a knee.

    So in one case he wants the First Amendment to apply to private companies, and in the second wants to force silence on non-govermental employees.

  5. Re:I'd propose a trade by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Heck if he just shut up I bet his approval ratings would go up 10 points.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  6. As someone inside the US by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It looks as though you have someone who is completely out of control as president of your country.

    That seems like accurate description of the situation. Though upon closer inspection, we also have a chickenshit congressional majority who refuses to do their duty to keep the president in check.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:As someone inside the US by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They can't. Trump's built a system where going against him equates with going against conservative values in general. Any politician that doesn't agree with him even slightly is "not on the team" and loses. Conservatives are all-in on Trump. Trump is conservatism in America.

      You seem to misunderstand what duty means. They swore an oath and now they are failing to uphold it.

      Just because something will destroy you politically doesn't mean you should refuse to execute your responsibilities.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  7. Re:Bots and Fakes [Re: He is not wrong tho] by jythie · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yeah, but bots and fake accounts are REALLY important to the right. Their whole self image is based on the idea that they are the majority, that they represent 'the real people'. Anything that threatens that belief by decreasing the raw numbers they can point to cuts them too their core.

  8. Re:Only one person needs to be silenced, by hey! · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't think DJT ought to be silenced. I think people should stop listening to him.

    DJT is proof of Terry Pratchett's observation that hate and love are both forces of attraction, because people who hate DJT hang on his every word, even when it makes them sick with outrage and that makes his followers feel empowered, which of course shows the people who love him and the people who hate him are equally irrational.

    Now I think Donald Trump is a miserable human being unworthy of the office. But I don't *hate* him; as far as I'm concerned if he goes back to being a successful reality TV star that's fine, because I don't feel compelled to pay attention to him. As long as he's president I do have to pay some attention to what he says, but since I don't hate him I have the luxury of not having to react emotionally to every bit of manipulative BS that comes out of his mouth.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  9. Re:Bots and Fakes [Re: He is not wrong tho] by RhettLivingston · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This can be verified very easily by digging into the followers of Trump's Twitter account - even by hand. Pick a few, look at their posts, likes, friends, etc., and you can easily see that a high percentage are fake accounts. The likes are very inconsistent, the friends are also fakes, the comments are generic or inconsistent with what is being commented on, etc. One funny aspect is that it is astonishing how many muslims allegedly follow him :)

    I've been watching them for a couple of years now and have been impressed with the technological development of some of them. There is a large mix that makes it obvious that multiple organizations with differing resource levels and sophistication are creating them. The best though are much less detectable by an algorithm now, but they are still easily discerned by a real person.

  10. Re:I'd propose a trade by Darinbob · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seems odd to me. CNN basically stopped being a news network a decade ago and instead have talking heads. I don't consider it left or right, it's pretty much bland.

  11. Re:Trumpies hate any fact checking media source by Darinbob · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Fact checking would go more smoothly if Trump just bothered to check his facts before twitting.

  12. Re: ALEX JONES ISSUED INCITED VIOLENCE PERSONALLY by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    But all of them fully condone allowing the violent liberal hate group ANTIFA on their services, you know, that group that actually commits violent acts on anyone who doesn't agree with them.

    But Jones must be silenced!

  13. Re:I'd propose a trade by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1, Insightful

    its feels kinda strange having a US president saying what he thinks and lying all the time.

    FTFY?

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  14. Re:I'd propose a trade by gtall · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Or worse, he actually believes what he's saying.

    Fox and the rest of the right wingnuts regularly get taken to the cleaners by repeating what some yahoo says because it gins up ratings. Then the truth comes out, they look like idiots...except to their viewers who by that time have moved on to the next faux outrage Fox, et. al. are promoting. And there is a never ending supply of molehills they can masquerade as mountains. It's the closest thing yet to a perpetual motion machine....a perpetual propaganda machine.

  15. Typical Leftist Jive by alternative_right · · Score: 1, Insightful

    The people being shadowbanned and deleted are assholes or bots.

    "His opinion is not egalitarian, so it is a meany opinion, which means he is an asshole and should be excluded from polite society."

  16. Re: I'd propose a trade by reiterate · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I dom't watch either, but my initial searches are showing CNN to be overwhelmingly more reliable and factual than fox news, like 4:1. Can they honestly be compared? Genuinely asking, personally I trust AP articles and that's about it.

  17. Trump's entire administration is a distraction by rsilvergun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Trump is quietly dismantling Obamacare and with it protections for pre-existing coverage. He's cut the VA. 83% of his tax cut went to the 1% and it's causing run away inflation which the Fed will combat with rising interest rates making home, car and credit card debt more expensive for consumers. His Trade War has a net negative job effect and is itself a distraction from the effect of automation (we've doubled manufacturing output in 50 years while cutting 2/3rds of the jobs, we've lost more to robots than outsourcing).

    I could go on. The beauty of Trump is that his outrageousness masks a lot of very real and very bad things that will hurt the American working class.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  18. I'm listening by rsilvergun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've listened to a lot of what comes out of the Trump Administration. Not Trump himself, his Administration. And it scares me. I'm most worried about how he's letting a challenge to the ACA's protection of pre-existing conditions go through. I've got friends and family who live and die by it. Nobody's talking about it. The lawsuit is quietly proceeding like nothing happened. Meanwhile his Supreme Court nominee will likely strike it down when it passes his desk. And on the off chance Bernie Sanders & the Dems get us Medicare for all ending the farce of our healthcare system once and for all that same nominee will likely kill it. In the process they might kill Medicare & Medicaid too...

    The shouting isn't there because they're not being listened to. It's a distraction from what the ruling class is doing to the working class...

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  19. Re: I'd propose a trade by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I voted for Hillary, and I fucking hate CNN. It's 90% clickbait racist garbage.