International Media

Gotta Pay the Right News Outlets

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Article in Reuters by Maayan Lubell, 12/10/24

Headline:  “Netanyahu assails media as he testifies for first time in his corruption trial”

“. . .The leader of the right-wing Likud party, Netanyahu assailed the Israeli media for what he called its leftist stance and accused journalists of having hounded him for years because his policies did not align with a push for a Palestinian state.

” ‘I have been waiting for eight years for this moment to tell the truth, ‘ Netanyahu told the three-judge court. ‘But I am also a prime minister … I am leading the country through a seven-front war. And I think the two can be done in parallel.’ ”

“Netanyahu was indicted in three cases involving gifts from millionaire friends and for allegedly seeking regulatory favours for media tycoons in return for favourable news coverage. He denies any wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty.”

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/netanyahu-take-stand-his-corruption-trial-first-time-2024-12-09/

Media Whitewashed Tyrant

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Just a regular guy – but will it happen here?

Article in The Guardian by Zoe Williams, 12/9/24

Headline:  “They ‘didn’t look the type’: how the media was fooled by Bashar and Asma al-Assad”

Subhead:  “Some journalists underestimated the threat of the brutal president, while his first lady was glamorised in a Vogue feature”

“When the Syrian spring erupted in 2011, Vogue magazine ran a profile of Asma al-Assad titled A Rose in the Desert. Her husband had already killed more than 5,000 civilians, including hundreds of children, when Asma was described as ‘the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies’. The journalist, Joan Juliet Buck, went on to note that ‘her style is not the couture-and-bling dazzle of Middle Eastern power but a deliberate lack of adornment’ ”.

“. . . Vladimir Putin was, around the same time, trying to cast himself as an action hero, releasing photos of himself on horseback, bare-chested, on a Harley, with a tiger. Who needs to have a stick up their arse about kleptocracy when it looks like so much fun? If an autocrat doesn’t look or act like one, if he looks instead like a giraffe (as people said about Bashar al-Assad), or a joker, or a clown, or a reality TV showman, maybe it won’t be such a bad life under him after all.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/09/how-media-was-fooled-bashar-asma-al-assad

TikTok – Medium of Free Speech or Espionage?

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Update:

Article in Washington Post by Madalin Necsutu and Anthony Faiola, 11/6/24

Headline:  “Romanian court annuls presidential vote after Russian interference claims”

Subhead:  “Calin Georgescu won the first round of the election after being propelled by TikTok. Romania’s security services pointed to ‘Russian hybrid actions.’ “

“The Constitutional Court took the extraordinary step of annulling Romania’s presidential election Friday after the country’s security services assessed that the nation had been the target of ‘Russian hybrid actions’ that used TikTok to promote a candidate who has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/12/06/romania-court-annuls-presidential-election/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

Headline:  “Appeals court upholds nationwide TikTok ban-or-sale law”

Subhead:  “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit made the expedited decision ahead of the TikTok ban’s looming Jan. 19 deadline, in a high-profile case pitting national security concerns against free speech.”

“A federal appeals court has turned away a challenge to a fast-approaching nationwide ban of short-video app TikTok unless it divests from Chinese ownership, placing national security before free speech concerns and bringing the app’s 170 million U.S. users closer to losing access to the wildly popular platform.

“he U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday sided with the Justice Department, which argued that the U.S. government has the authority to ban TikTok based on the national security risk that TikTok could be pressured by the Chinese government to expose Americans’ data or influence what they see. TikTok’s parent, ByteDance, is based in China.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/06/tiktok-ban-court-ruling-justice-department-bytedance/

Media Pigeon

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Article in Raw Story by Travis Gettys, 12/6/24

Headline:  “Russian media claims Tucker Carlson acting as ‘carrier pigeon’ between Putin and Trump “

“The former Fox News host returned to Moscow this week for a second time to interview Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and pushed the Kremlin narrative that the U.S. should stay out of the war in Ukraine to avoid setting off a global nuclear crisis, but some Kremlin insiders believe Carlson had other business, reported The Daily Beast.

“While the former Fox host is positioning himself as a dove of peace, toiling to prevent a nuclear war, Putin’s acolytes say he is also acting as a carrier pigeon for the Russian president and privately delivering his messages to Trump,” wrote Julia Davis, who monitors Russian state-run media.

https://www.rawstory.com/tucker-carlson-russia-2670348682/

Media Workers Arrested

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Article by Committee to Protect Journalists by Staff, 12/5/25

Headline:  “Taliban detains 7 Arezo TV journalists, seals network’s offices in Kabul”

“Dozens of Taliban agents from the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) raided the offices of private broadcaster Arezo TV on December 4 in the capital, Kabul, questioned staff members for four hours, and detained seven journalists and media workers. Woman journalists were expelled from the premises, and the network’s offices were sealed, according to a journalist familiar with the situation in Kabul, who spoke to CPJ anonymously, citing fear of reprisal.”

https://cpj.org/2024/12/taliban-detains-7-arezo-tv-journalists-seals-networks-offices-in-kabul/

Media Stand Firm

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Article in the New York Times by Daisuke Wakabayashi and Su-Hyun Lee, 12/4/24

Headline:  “Martial Law Didn’t Silence South Korea’s Media. It Empowered Them.”

“Journalists criticized the president’s attempt to place the press under military control, hardened by years of challenges to press freedoms by the country’s political leaders.

“When President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea shocked the nation by declaring martial law, he placed news organizations under the rule of military command and outlawed “fake news.” It was a striking escalation of his long-running feud with media critical of his administration.

“But when faced with censorship by the military, the Korean press did not acquiesce. News organizations spanning the political spectrum — even right-leaning publications more aligned with Mr. Yoon’s conservative People Power Party — stood united in criticism of his actions and any efforts to limit a free press.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/business/south-korea-news-media-martial-law.html

Stopping Teen Social Media

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Article in TechXplore by Lara Chuung, 11/29/24

Headline:  “Social media companies slam Australia’s under-16 ban”

“Social media giants on Friday hit out at a landmark Australian law banning them from signing up under-16s, describing it as a rush job littered with “many unanswered questions”.”

“. . .One of the biggest issues will be privacy—what age-verification information is used, how it is collected and by whom.”

“. . .Social media companies remain adamant that age verification should be the job of app stores, but the government believes tech platforms should be responsible.”

“. . . The legislation will be closely monitored by other countries, with many weighing whether to implement similar bans.”

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-11-social-media-companies-slam-australia.html

Another Journalist Abduction

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Article in Common Dreams by Jessica Corbett, 11/28/24

Headline:  ” Rights Groups Alarmed by Arrest of Pakistani Journalist Matiullah Jan”

Subhhead:  “Amnesty International said that his arbitrary detention ‘on trumped up charges after he was abducted in the late hours of November 27 is an affront on the right to freedom of expression and media freedom.’ “

” Human rights and press freedom groups on Thursday expressed concern after Pakistani journalist Matiullah Jan’s family said he was “abducted,” and then a judge placed him in police custody for a terrorism and narcotics case that critics call “bogus.”

” ‘Matiullah Jan has been abducted from the parking of PIMS tonight at around [11:00 pm] by unmarked abductors in an unmarked vehicle ‘ Jan’s son, Abdul Razzaq, said on the journalist’s X account . . .”

” ‘This follows his courageous coverage of the protests in Islamabad. I demand that my father be let go immediately and his family immediately be informed of his whereabouts,’ added the son, who later posted a video on social media.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/matiullah-jan

No More Social Media for Kids

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Update in UPI by Alasdair Pal and Cordelia Hus, 11/29/24

Headline:  “Australia’s under-16 social media ban sparks anger and relief”

“Australians reacted on Friday with a mixture of anger and relief to a social media ban on children under 16 that the government says is world-leading, but which tech giants like TikTok argue could push young people to ‘darker corners of the internet’

“Australia approved the social media ban for children late on Thursday after an emotive debate that has gripped the nation, setting a benchmark for jurisdictions around the world with one of the toughest regulations targeting Big Tech.”

 

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Article in New York Times by Victorieia Kim, 11/28/24

Headline:  “Australia Has Barred Everyone Under 16 From Social Media. Will It Work?”

Subhead:  “The law sets a minimum age for users of platforms like TikTok, Instagram and X. How the restriction will be enforced online remains an open question.”

“Australia has imposed a sweeping ban on social media for children under 16, one of the worlds most comprehensive measures aimed at safeguarding young people from potential hazards online. But many details were still unclear, such as how it will be enforced and what platforms will be covered.

“After sailing through Parliaments lower house on Wednesday, the bill passed the Senate on Thursday with bipartisan support. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that it puts Australia at the vanguard of efforts to protect the mental health and well-being of children from detrimental effects of social media, such as online hate or bullying.

“The law, he has said, puts the onus on social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent anyone under 16 from having an account. Corporations could be fined up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (about $32 million) for ‘systemic’ failures to implement age requirements.

“Neither underage users nor their parents will face punishment for violations. And whether children find ways to get past the restrictions is beside the point, Mr. Albanese said.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/28/world/asia/australia-social-media-ban-law.html

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AP article by By ROD MCGUIRK, 11/28/24

Headline:  “Social media ban for under-16s passes the Australian Senate and will soon be a world-first law”

“The law will make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts.”

https://apnews.com/article/australia-social-media-children-ban-safeguarding-harm-accounts-d0cde2603bdbc7167801da1d00ecd056

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Article in Al Jazeera by staff 11/28/24

“Australia’s Parliament has passed a law banning children aged under 16 from using social media, one of the strictest regulations targeting the platforms in the world.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/28/australia-passes-legislation-banning-under-16s-from-social-media

What ?! – Chinese Media News Sites Are Fake?

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Article in Forbes by Emma Woolacott, 11/25/24

Headline:  “Hundreds Of Fake News Sites Pulled From Google Search”

“Google has blocked hundreds of fake news services and websites from its search results on the grounds that they were serving up Chinese propaganda.

The firm’s Threat Analysis Group said that an umbrella group of four companies, dubbed Glassbridge, has been creating and operating hundreds of domains that pose as independent news websites from dozens of countries.

In fact, though, the content involves narratives aligned to the political interests of the People’s Republic of China — and the company has now blocked more than a thousand Glassbridge-operated websites from appearing in Google News features and Google Discover.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawoollacott/2024/11/25/hundreds-of-fake-news-sites-pulled-from-google-search/