Social media have dropped some hate speech rules
There’s a suitable description for the news cycle we’re exposed to in our MSM: ‘every day they chase a new sow through the village’. As yesterday is already well in the past and therefore a different country where things were done differently, yesterday’s sow can be disregarded and discarded by the MSM and the politicians. There’s a new sow to be driven through yon village – more on that below.
In this emotional, irrational hothouse of ‘public opinion’, kept at boiling point by politicians and MSM hacks, the rules relating to ‘hate speech’ and ‘hate crime’ no longer apply. “META”, that conglomerate driving most social media, known for censoring ‘hate speech’, known for suspending and deleting accounts, has suspended their censorship rules.
They finally dropped their mask of being benign bystanders in the public political theatre who only act to ‘protect’ potential victims. The News Agency Reuters, certainly not a Russian propaganda outlet, reports:
“As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’ We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. The calls for the leaders’ deaths will be allowed unless they contain other targets or have two indicators of credibility, such as the location or method, one email said, in a recent change to the company’s rules on violence and incitement.” (link)
Reuters is too refined to give details, but TASS isn’t, and even if “we” don’t believe a word they say, here they only report what a META spokesperson tweeted:
“The company will also not delete calls for death of the presidents of Russia and Belarus, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, made in Poland, Russia and Ukraine. Company spokesperson Andy Stone confirmed the information in a Twitter post,” (link)
However, META is still ‘kind’ and gentle, because this dropping of their rules only applies to certain countries which Reuters name in their report, also writing that “The Hate Speech policy continues to prohibit attacks on Russians,” the email stated.”(link). Now isn’t that nice and caring! So if someone in countries not on their ‘hate speech exemption’ list were to attack an ordinary Russian it won’t be the fault of META, will it!
But there’s more, and if anyone were in doubt that neo-nazism has now become acceptable they better let this sink in:
“Emails also showed that Meta would allow praise of the right-wing Azov battalion, which is normally prohibited, in a change first reported by The Intercept. The Meta spokesperson previously said the company was “for the time being, making a narrow exception for praise of the Azov Regiment strictly in the context of defending Ukraine, or in their role as part of the Ukraine National Guard.” (link)
Words fail me! So ‘our nazis’ are good nazis because they fight the dreadful Russians? Will META permit me to be offended by items praising that Azov Regiment, a regiment using the civilians in Mariupol as human shields and remove them? I don’t think so! Some victims and some hate speeches are clearly more equal than others.
Speaking of Mariupol: isn’t funny how the sow, the ‘barbaric air strike on a maternity hospital’, has now been chased out of the village! We had the concerted uproar by western politicians and MSM who took the Ukrainian PM’s words for the bare truth, keeping the emotional temperature at boiling point.
Various bloggers pointed out yesterday that the building had been emptied long ago, that ‘the good nazis’, the Azov regiment, had used it as military base, that the videos circulated by western media showed empty rooms, no blood anywhere, and that the actual damage couldn’t be due to a direct hit by an air strike but looked like blast damage which another explosion somewhere else might have caused.
Of course, “we” don’t believe a word reported by RT, and moreover, we don’t believe a word Mr Lavrov said, do we, when he observed that:
“The hospital in question has been for days under the control of a Ukrainian paramilitary group and Moscow presented evidence of this to the UN Security Council several days ago, […] “The Azov Battalion and other radicals kicked out all the expectant mothers, the nurses and other staff members. It was the base of the Azov ultra-radicals,” he said, speaking after meeting his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Turkey’s Antalya.” (link)
So this is now forgotten, but here’s the new sow which we must keep our eyes on. We’re warned, not least by our PM, that the Russians are allegedly planning chemical attacks. That would be ‘a red line’:
“Nato could intervene if Vladimir Putin crosses a red line on chemical weapons, a minister has suggested. James Heappey, the armed forces minister, implied that the alliance could consider a change to its approach if the Russian president was to deploy such weapons in his war on Ukraine.” (paywalled link)
Is this perchance a self-fulfilling prophecy, a green light to certain groups in the Ukraine to go ahead because “we” already know it’s the Russians who will do it? Moreover, I can’t help but think that we’re being prepared for a NATO intervention.
My reason for this suspicion is based on a report published in yesterday’s OffGuardian. Under the headline “NATO White Helmets follow al-Qaeda to Ukraine” (link) Vanessa Beeley writes that 450 al Qaeda extremists from Idlib (Syria) have travelled to Ukraine – via Turkey, a NATO country. In their company are the infamous White Helmets whose involvement in false-flag chemical attacks in Syria has been well documented.
Her conclusion ought to be a warning to all of us because the possibility of a false-flag ‘chemical attack’ has become a bit more probable:
“In 2018 during an interview with the Corbett Report I alluded to the potential for a White Helmet global franchise. It appears that my prediction is coming true in Ukraine. Effectively, the war against the Syrian alliance has been switched to Ukraine and Ukraine and its people are being weaponised by NATO member states to carry out their dirty work against Russia.” (link)
That, for me is a warning to be extra vigilant and not allow us to be taken in by the Westminster critters who seem to be too eager to get our country involved in this war, no matter the costs, no matter the state of our Armed Forces, our Navy, our Air Force, run down since 1997 even while fighting in Afghanistan.
How and where we’ll find the £10bn a tank tank says “we” need if we don’t want to be overtaken by German rearmament (paywalled link) thats irrelevant. How and where we’ll get the raw materials to produce this rearmament when Russia won’t provide them “because: sanctions” – that’s another inconvenient question.
How “we” would manage to pay for all that, given the rising inflation and exorbitant home energy costs – that is something our virtue-signalling politicians conveniently overlook. But then again, isn’t Rishi raking it in, thanks to VAT on energy costs? Never mind that, according to the BoE, by the end of the year inflation might be three times as high as the rise in state pension our dear Rishi has gracefully allotted to our elderly.
It’s just another ‘little sacrifice’ we’re all happy to make, isn’t it!
I use 4.5461 I regularly keep a check on my MPG
Further to the clip I posted earlier, today’s UK Column was entirely devoted to Ukraine, and did their usual comprehensive debunking of politicians and narratives, and the Mariupol hospital was amongst them.
Their lady contributor mentioned that as recently as 2020 the UN General Assembly passed a resolution combatting the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and related practices of racism, xenophobia and intolerance. Yet Zuckerberg has now allowed Twitter posters to do just that. Only two countries refused the resolution outright: America and Ukraine. Well, well. The UK abstained by the way; so apparently we no longer abhor Nazis. How will the Left manage without that slur.
She also mentioned that when she pointed out to the BBC that a clip they showed of a Ukranian military trainer of civilians was wearing the badge of the SICH battalion, created by Svoboda the ultra nationalist Nazi party in Ukraine, her Twitter account was immediately suspended.
They also showed a clip of Zelensky, from his stand-up comedian days, ‘joking’ about how the country was riddled with Nazis.
It is a long programme but worth a watch.
Really interesting presentation. Watched the presentation the whole way through. Not being a regular visitor to the site I was really impressed with links to all the key references of the presentation so selected snips can be passed on to others.
Yep. Agreed Viv, 101%.
Particularly the bit about abolishing the triple lock just when it becomes most needed.
Instead of that he should abolish VAT on energy and all the rubbish charges on suppliers who are not ‘green’ enough.
Excellent, informative update Viv Thanks very much.
My pleasure, Jake! Thank you!
So what you’re saying, Viv, is: Azov now, the gloves are off. (Sorry!)
And further to the Mariopol hospital ‘outrage’. I cannot vouch for this. Fake news? You will need to make up your own mind.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/y4ABumCQIQ0d/
And more examples of the group psychosis.
A guest on Mark Steyn’s show (now unmissable, the only rational and knowledgeable show on the subject, or in fact on most subjects) pointed out that aircraft are delivered suitable for a specific market. Those Polish Migs, were likely quite different era and design from ones the Ukrainians had, if at all. The cockpit configuration would be quite different and in Polish for a start. They would have to be refitted taking weeks/months for that quantity to be rendered usable by Ukranians. The thought-free and ignorant knee-jerk view of media and many politicians (in Name Only) was clearly of Battle of Britain pilots gallantly racing for their Spits and trundling across fields and into the skies over Biggin Hill. Talk about generals always re-fighting the last war. Flying a plane competently, and a very different plane and in a battle situation, takes inordinate training for that equipment. In micro, have you driven an unfamiliar foreign car in another country and as a sudden storm hits, thought, oh bother [sic], where’s the wiper switch? In a fighter plane, too late you’re dead.
Reminds me of the terrorists who apparently piloted those apparent Jumbos into the twin towers, executing manoeuvres that 20 or so trained Jumbo pilots were unable to duplicate on simulators, and that would have broken the planes at those speeds anyway, after a couple of flights in a Cessna. Yeah right.
We are also told that Putin can simply switch oil and gas to China. An analyst pointed out that the entire oil and gas network is built facing westward. Look how long it has taken to build just one new pipeline over a much shorter distance. And LNG infrastructure as an alternative would have to be ramped up, again taking years. And just think, pulling out all the stops, as if it were, say, er, wartime, we could have shale gas beginning in about six months, and ramping up after that. Whilst John Kerry, up to his neck in Ukranian corruption, thinks we can beat Putin by reducing motorway speeds to 55mph.
I think there should be a daily “you couldn’t make it up’ slot.
Phil O’Sophical…..I have to say Mark Steyn is growing on me as well. I thought initially he was a bit stilted and wooden and tended to talk over people he was interviewing, but now I feel that perhaps a better grasp of the facts than even Nigel Farage dare I say it, and that Nigel’s star is somewhat waning a bit. Once or twice over the past week Farage has been shown up by some of the people he has interviewed and has come across as a bit wet. In addition to this he has disappointed me and a number of others by joining forces once again with Tice who has as much charisma as a damp lettuce leaf. Constantly banging on about ‘Vote Power not Poverty’ and a referendum on Net Zero and holding rallies around the country charging £5.50 per person to attend is not the way forward in my opinion. This referendum will never get off the ground with the present government, and the best way to have got something positive done about the issue was to have sponsored a petition on the UK Government website, and get it debated in parliament, but what do I know……
Thanks for reminding me Colin. I meant to have a look whether there are any petitions against the net zero policy.
Pauline……….none that I could see. This is what Nigel Farage should do in my opinion. More likely to gain a quicker result than trying to force a referendum upon a government that is not listening to the electorate on just about every issue that one might care to mention. He could then promote the petition on his own website, You Tube channel and on Reform UK websites, Facebook and Twitter etc etc. If the golden number of 100,000 signatures were accumulated then it would force a debate in the House of Commons.
Pauline……..in fact there is one but I can’t understand how I didn’t see it. It was created last year and gained a government response on 29th November 2021, but the petition so far has only accumulated a little over 23,000 signatures, but is nowhere near enough to force a debate in parliament. It is the following petition.parliament.uk/124104705
And the other side of the social-media-coin is that tweets by Russian officials, like e.g. the Russian embassy in London, are removed because what Russians say is ‘fake news’, be they ever so factually correct.
Here’s the report.
Just passing this on from a bloger ‘down sarf ‘ who commented that he had just bought the most exoensive petrol ever, £9.60 for five litres of V. Power.
Five litres is not even one gallon!
4.54 litres = 1 Imperial gallon
Beg pardon Biscotte I always get that wrong. Bloody metrication!