This has been written about many times before, but maybe if free citizens keep yelling, we can stop it
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Back to the future in just 40 yeARS
In the name of ‘fake news,’ NewsGuard extorts sites to follow the government narrative
Lee Fang
Half a century ago, George Orwell, writing on literary censorship, wrote that “unpopular ideas can be silenced, and inconvenient facts kept dark, without the need for any official ban.”
That dynamic now broadly extends to an opaque network of government agencies and self-proclaimed anti-misinformation groups that have repressed online speech.
There’s no official ban on discussing the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines or criticizing American involvement in the Ukraine-Russia war, but editors and journalists have realized that writing on such topics can come at a cost.
News publishers have been demonetized and shadow-banned for reporting dissenting views and the bureaucratic means for enforcing this form of control are under increasing scrutiny.
NewsGuard, a for-profit company that scores news websites on trust and works closely with government agencies and major corporate advertisers, exemplifies the problem.
The startup was founded in 2018 and quickly gained favor among establishment voices concerned with “fake news.”
NewsGuard’s core business is a misinformation meter, in which websites are rated on a scale of 0 to 100 on a variety of factors, including headline choice and whether a site publishes “false or egregiously misleading content.”
Such an endeavor might appear as an objective public service, but the devil is in the details.
Editors who have engaged with NewsGuard have found that the company has made bizarre demands that unfairly tarnish an entire site as untrustworthy for straying from the official narrative.
The Daily Sceptic, a libertarian-leaning British site, is one such example. In a series of emails over the last two years, editor Toby Young reached out to NewsGuard, hoping to improve the Daily Sceptic’s 74.5 rating.
NewsGuard took issue with the website’s criticism of lockdowns, calling them “unnecessary, ineffective and harmful,” and cited academic literature on the topic.
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Young went so far as to add postscripts to his articles, relaying the issues raised by the fact-checkers and providing additional information.
For his good-faith interactions, Young was rewarded with a downgrade. NewsGuard updated his rating to 37.5 on its scale.
NewsGuard wanted nothing other than a retraction of the articles they objected to, despite the fact that further research has documented the harmful effects of lockdowns.
It was an experience that other publishers have echoed.
The ratings are not just a scarlet letter, but a cudgel to coerce conformity.
n an email to one of its government clients, NewsGuard touted that its ratings system of websites is used by advertisers, “which will cut off revenues to fake news sites.”
But perhaps the greatest danger is posed by NewsGuard’s extensive ties to the government. Internal documents I obtained through the “Twitter Files” show that the founders of NewsGuard privately pitched the firm to clients as a tool to engage in content moderation on an industrial scale, applying artificial intelligence to take down certain forms of speech.
The proposal noted that the service is already used by “intelligence and national security officials,” “reputation management providers” and “government agencies.”
There is little hope that the Biden administration, which has labeled online misinformation as a national security threat, will reverse course. Hope may be found in the courts.
Earlier this year, Consortium News, a left-leaning site, charged in a lawsuit that NewsGuard’s serves as a proxy for the military to engage in censorship.
The lawsuit brings attention to the Pentagon’s $749,387 contract with NewsGuard to identify “false narratives” regarding the war between Ukraine and Russia, among other forms of foreign influence.
There’s much more in Fang’s report, including details how this censoring and demonetizing conservative web sites is rampant in Europe. And NewsGuard is just one tool of the government: Google, Facebook and, pre-Musk, Twitter are other instruments. Here’s just one of 8 pages detailing articles appearing in PJ Media that have been demonetized. From COVID’s origins, the efficacy of face masks and lockdowns, Ukraine, transgenderism, criticism of various green initiatives: anything that goes against the official state narrative is being silenced.
Nov 2, 2023 – Worse, that "systemic political bias" quote links back to Instapundit — a site that Google has completely demonetized in the past … don't have to be concerned about demonetization.But what if VIP is something more than just a hiding place for the stories Big Tech … If not, please at least enjoy this one last chuckle at my expense: Google is going to demonetize this one, too, you can bet.Thank you…
Nov 9, 2023 – Here at PJ Media, we constantly see articles demonetized by Big Tech because we dare to question The Narrative™ on issues like … There will be more suppression, more demonetization, and more censoring of our content as Election Day 2024 approaches, and if we want…
Nov 2, 2023 – questions about whether there may be a connection between COVID vaccinations and the increase in infant mortality.If this post is demonetized…
Nov 15, 2023 – homophobic or transphobic or something, and so you better believe this article will ultimately be flagged by social media censors and demonetized…
Dec 6, 2023 – to keep a close eye on the situation to prevent a repeat of what happened in 2020.Editor's note: This article will most likely be demonetized…
Nov 13, 2023 – *Editor's note: Every article that PJ Media publishes is automatically demonetized by our "good friends" at Google.…
Nov 3, 2023 – protests on college campuses and elsewhere are any indication, towards explicitly terrorist organizations like Hamas.Recommended: Demonetized…
Nov 6, 2023 – Every week, we find out that articles about certain topics are being demonetized, which means we don't make money on them, even though…
Nov 20, 2023 – to report the truth and share a perspective that doesn't exist in too many quarters of the media.On a regular basis, advertisers demonetize…
Nov 24, 2023 – They are pretending it is due to "kly matt chainj" (I have to do that so this article isn't demonetized by the stool samples at Google…
Nov 2, 2023 – Because this article discusses verboten topics such as ballot box stuffing and election fraud, it will probably be demonetized by Google…
Dec 6, 2023 – As a columnist who has had his work suppressed and demonetized more times than I care to think about, I hope this suit drives a stake…
Nov 3, 2023 – Demonetized, Angry, and Ready to Tell Big Brother to Get Stuffed#Priorities.…
Oct 25, 2023 – Outlets censor our reporting and demonetize us for daring to speak the truth.…
Oct 18, 2023 – It demonetized the article so that we can't derive any revenue from it. … (Other topics that often get us demonetized are climate change, COVID-19, and transgenderism — they all end up in the "dangerous" or … Are they demonetizing pro-Hamas sites that are celebrating the attacks on Israel? I'm not going to hold my breath.…
Oct 25, 2023 – We promise to stay true to the truth, and we won't be swayed by Big Left's directives or demonetization.…
Oct 25, 2023 – There Appear to Be Iranian Spies in the State Department, and No One Is Doing Anything About It Russell Brand was demonetized from…
Oct 17, 2023 – Your membership dues directly support our reporting here and help us to keep the lights on in the age of social media throttling and demonetization…
Oct 8, 2023 – know that this article, like any PJ Media article covering COVID, transgenderism, or “climate change,” will assuredly be instantly demonetized … Demonetizationmatters because Google ads and memberships from readers like you are the two ways that PJ Media generates revenue.…
Oct 6, 2023 – This article is almost certainly going to be demonetized by Google ads. … Intrepid editor Paula Bolyard informed me recently that I am the most demonetizedwriter for PJ Media, an impressive distinction, in … my view, given the heavy demonetization of many writers here writing on a variety of topics from COVID-19 to the climate change scam…
Oct 10, 2023 – Every week, we editors receive a list of stories that advertisers have demonetized, and there's always something new on that list.…
Oct 7, 2023 – Related: You Won’t Believe How Much LGBTQ Content Disney Produced Last Year Once again, this article will very probably be demonetized…
Oct 6, 2023 – And for that, we risk demonetization and being censored by Big Tech.…
Oct 6, 2023 – PJ Media has been demonetized out the wazoo by Google and completely throttled on social media, which means we're on an extremely tight…
