Internet Media

Google Blocks Russian Media Propaganda – Fined

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Article in The Register by Iain Thomson, 10/29/24

Headline: “Russian court fines Google $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000”

Subhead: “Don’t hold your breath Putin”

“The bizarre amount has been calculated after a four-year court case that started after YouTube banned the ultra-nationalist Russian channel Tsargrad in 2020 in response to the US sanctions imposed against its owner. Following Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022 more channels were added to the banned list and 17 stations are now suing the Chocolate Factory, including Zvezda (a TV channel owned by Putin’s Ministry of Defence), according to local media.”

“. . .The court imposed a fine of 100 thousand rubles ($1,025) per day, with the total fine doubling every week. Owing to compound interest (Einstein’s eighth wonder of the world), Google is now on the hook for an insane amount of money, or what the judge on Monday called “a case in which there are many, many zeros.”

https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/29/russian_court_fines_google/

Which Podcasts are Reliable?

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From Ad Fontes Media 10/24/24

Headline:  “Junk News is Like Junk Food”

Subhead:  “We love them, but both damage our health and our society as a whole. What can we do?”

“We, as humans, have basic needs for several things. One of them is food. Another is information. We are always, by necessity and want, taking in both.”

“. . .Ad Fontes Media has known for years that podcasts, as well as YouTube and other social media platforms, have become a popular place for people to get their information. For that reason, we began analyzing news and news-like podcasts for their bias and reliability in 2021.

“As Podcasts Grow in Popularity, Harris and Trump Appear as Guests to Reach New Audiences

“Find out which shows can be trusted on the October Media Bias Chart for podcasts.

“Our team has now rated more than 740 of them, and 48 are featured on the October Media Bias Chart® for podcasts that was released earlier this week. Learn more about the chart, including which eight podcasts are included for the first time:”

https://adfontesmedia.com/podcasts-grow-popularity-oct-24-chart/?utm_source=Ad+Fontes+Media&utm_campaign=348e0cf117-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_07_17_01_44_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-e5ace1450d-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&goal=0_7489d5d067-348e0cf117-433946301&mc_cid=348e0cf117

Can Missouri Decide What’s on Internet Media?

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Article in Ars Technica by Jon Brodkin 10/25/24

Headline:  “Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said he is investigating Google, claiming that the tech giant censors conservative speech and manipulated search results about Donald Trump.”

“BREAKING: ‘I am launching an investigation into Google—the biggest search engine in America—for censoring conservative speech during the most consequential election in our nation’s history. Google is waging war on the democratic process. It’s time to fight back,’ Bailey wrote on X, the social network owned by notable Trump supporter Elon Musk.”

“. . . Many Republican government officials want more authority to regulate how social media firms moderate user-submitted content. Republican officials from 20 states, including 19 state attorneys general, argued in a January 2024 Supreme Court brief that they ‘have authority to prohibit mass communication platforms from censoring speech.’ ”

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/missouri-ag-claims-google-censors-trump-demands-info-on-search-algorithm/

Traditional Media Diminished

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Article in AP by David Bauder 10/24/24

Headline:  “By moving to podcasts, Harris and Trump are turning away from legacy media to spread their messages”

“During this truncated campaign, some of the traditional giants of journalism are being pushed aside. The growing popularity of podcasts and their ability to help candidates in a tight race target a specific sliver of the electorate is a big reason why.”

“. . . In general, television networks don’t have the audience they once did. CNN, for example, reached 1.24 million viewers per evening during the third quarter of 2016, when Trump first ran, and 924,000 this year, according to the Nielsen company. Broadcast networks are so named for their ability to reach a broad audience; sometimes candidates need that, often they don’t.

“The picture is more dire at newspapers, which collectively boasted 37.8 million in Sunday circulation in 2016 and dropped to 20.9 million by 2022, the Pew Research Center said. Candidates once submitted to tough interviews with newspaper editorial boards in the hope of winning an endorsement; now many newspapers don’t even bother making that choice.”

https://apnews.com/article/trump-harris-media-podcasts-a5a0870943177ea9320389748fe2fa5c

Tax on Tech Media for News Posts?

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Article by Rod Sims on TechXplore, 10/23/24

Headline: Should a big tech tax fund news? A new report reopens debate on platforms and media

What will Australia do?

“Meta’s announcement nearly eight months ago that it would no longer do commercial deals under the News Media Bargaining Code has led to much speculation as to how the government would respond.

“The code became law in 2021. Facing the threat of designation under it—which would involve further legal obligations platforms may wish to avoid—both Google and Facebook (now Meta) did deals with news media businesses worth up to A$250 million per year.”

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-big-tech-tax-fund-news.html

S.O.S.! Someone Wants to Burn Down the Media

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Article in the New York Times by By Michael M. Grynbaum and David McCabe, 10/21/24

Headline:  “Trump Ratchets Up Threats on the Media”

Subhead:  “Presidents are not all-powerful, but, if elected, Donald Trump would have some influence with the federal regulators who oversee major television networks.”

“Threatening the news media is nothing new for former President Donald J. Trump. He has accused major news outlets of defamation, blocked journalists from rallies and White House events, goaded followers into profane chants about CNN and popularized the term “fake news,” now embraced by autocrats around the world.

“. . . Broadcast networks like ABC, CBS and NBC do not actually need a license to produce or publish news content. But the local affiliate stations that carry their broadcasts do require licenses. Those licenses are overseen by the F.C.C., which is independent from the White House.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/21/business/media/trump-media-broadcast-licenses.html

“Who me, I’m Innocent?” – Said to the Media

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Article in AP by Emma Burrows, 10/17/24

Headline: “Tech firms remove social media accounts of a Russian drone factory after an AP investigation”

“Google, Meta and TikTok have removed social media accounts belonging to an industrial plant in Russia’s Tatarstan region aimed at recruiting young foreign women to make drones for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

“Posts on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok were taken down following an investigation by The Associated Press published Oct. 10 that detailed working conditions in the drone factory in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, which is under U.S. and British sanctions.”

https://apnews.com/article/alabuga-russia-africa-ukraine-war-shahed-drones-bc175c4c98d752dc298c23434637417e

Shaping Media Through AI – Sinister or Sincere?

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Article in 404media by Emanuel Maiberg, 10/16/24

Headline:  “AI-Powered Social Media Manipulation App Promises to ‘Shape Reality’ “

Subhead:  “A prototype app called Impact describes “A Volunteer Fire Department For The Digital World,” which would summon real people to copy and paste AI-generated talking points on social media.”

“Impact, an app that describes itself as ‘AI-powered infrastructure for shaping and managing narratives in the modern world,’ is testing a way to organize and activate supporters on social media in order to promote certain political messages. The app aims to summon groups of supporters who will flood social media with AI-written talking points designed to game social media algorithms.

“In video demos and an overview document provided to people interested in using a prototype of the app that have been viewed by 404 Media, Impact shows how it can send push notifications to groups of supporters directing them at a specific social media post and provide them with AI-generated text they can copy and paste in order to flood the replies with counter arguments.”

“.  .  . ‘Coordinated groups of people can show up and help, or coordinated groups of people can show up and harass,’ Shapiro said. ‘We don’t think coordination is in any way a bad thing. We think it’s a great thing, because you can get stuff done, and if you’re doing good, truthful things, then I don’t see any problems.’ ”

https://www.404media.co/ai-powered-social-media-manipulation-app-promises-to-shape-reality-4/

Media Hate Speech Isn’t Just for Humans Anymore

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Article in TechXplore by by Kristina Radivojevic – University of Notre Dame, 10/15/24

Headline: “AI bots easily bypass some social media safeguards, study reveals”

Subhead: “Potential risks of unregulated MFM-Powered (digital recording) chatBots on platforms”

“While artificial intelligence (AI) bots can serve a legitimate purpose on social media—such as marketing or customer service—some are designed to manipulate public discussion, incite hate speech, spread misinformation or enact fraud and scams. To combat potentially harmful bot activity, some platforms have published policies on using bots and created technical mechanisms to enforce those policies.

“But are those policies and mechanisms enough to keep social media users safe?”

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-ai-bots-easily-bypass-social.html

False Claims Spread in Some Media

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Article in Media Matters  by Gideon Taaffe, 10/11/24

Headline:  “Right-wing media spread false claim that Kamala Harris used a teleprompter during town hall”

This article lists media outlets that used the lie.

“After Vice President Kamala Harris’ Univision town hall, right-wing media incorrectly claimed that Harris was using a teleprompter. Even though the host of the town hall and the Univision News president quickly debunked the claim, the lie spread rapidly among prominent right-wing media personalities.”

https://www.mediamatters.org/kamala-harris/right-wing-media-spread-false-claim-kamala-harris-used-teleprompter-during-town-hall