Monday, December 12, 2016

Ghost Banning on Social Media – the start of systematic censorship...

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We are told alternative news outlets and social media are sources of “fake news” that intentionally corrupt, distort, and disrupt the public sphere. Indeed, there are those who disseminate false narratives and generate false stories. For the most part those who are engaged in these practices peddle “click bait” for the sole purpose of generating traffic and cash. Thankfully “click bait” is almost always easy to spot – it may entertain at times, but rarely is it actually believed. To ameliorate the damaging impact of “click bait” is to strike against any and all who deviate from the “established truth” pontificated by the political elites and their echo chamber mainstream media.

Employing “ghost banning” is a sign of weakness and even crowdedness. Targeting harmful fake news is not the goal. What is in play is how mainstream media has lost the confidence of global audiences. They are no longer believed and trusted. Not being believed and trusted has created the opening for others to do the job and service the mainstream media no longer performs – and that is telling the truth and informing the public.

This frontal attack on alternative media is a very dangerous strategy. With confidence in ruling elites crumbling, audiences will now have even more reasons to come to the conclusion they are being deceived and lied to. Censorship is not the answer – an open dialogue of competing ideas is. Full story...

Related posts:
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  2. Ron Paul: Fake news comes from our own govt...
  3. The "fake news" con: a case study...
  4. ‘Fake news’ & Russian ‘sophisticated propaganda machinery' 
  5. Snowden to the world: Stop letting Facebook control your news...
  6. Fake company, Facebook, to battle fake news?
  7. Facebook’s fake news crisis deepens...

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