Free Speech

NewsGuard co-CEO Steven Brill claimed that NewsGuard’s goal is “not to block anything,” but “just [to] give people straight information.” However, in a recent interview, he revealed NewsGuard’s real game of demonetizing anything the “credibility” arbiter deems “misinformation.”

YouTube censored the “Ukraine on Fire” (2016) documentary showing the purported history of U.S. involvement in Ukraine.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order to ensure government oversight of cryptocurrency and to ensure that it is “equitable” for groups categorized as historically marginalized.

Does biased NewsGuard automatically favor state-affiliated media? The liberal online “credibility” arbiter gave seven traditionally non-autocratic state-affiliated media outlets around the world an average score of 98.6/100.

It’s Episode 28 of CensorTrack with TR. This week we talked about how YouTube censored The Hill for reporting on the news, and censored Media Research Center for posting about the shift of national COVID-19 conversation.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas called upon his fellow justices to rethink how a 1996 law protects Big Tech companies from liability on their platforms. Thomas may have opened Pandora’s Box for Big Tech CEOs by calling to take a fresh look at Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said she’s happy that NewsGuard highly rates some news outlets that have been critical of her. And her group’s new partner was right by her side.

Live-streaming platform Twitch is reportedly instituting stricter bans on “misinformation,” including supposed COVID-19 “misinformation.”

TikTok is suspending new videos and livestreams from Russia, citing the Russian government’s new “fake news” laws. 

Snapchat launched a show aimed at challenging media that is “hostile” to transgender identity. The platform partnered with Pink News, a popular UK-based site for LGBT+ news, to host “Pure Trans Joy.”

Visa and Mastercard have both suspended operations in Russia as tensions escalated in the war with Ukraine. The effort was aims to crack down on Russia and encourage an end to the war.

Russia reportedly banned the BBC to stop the spread of so-called “misinformation” regarding its war against Ukraine. According to Reuters, Putin has complained that western media organizations have unfairly covered the conflict. Russia's communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, said it blocked the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Deutsche Welle, and other media…

In an interview Thursday with The New York Times, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy demanded Big Tech platforms turn over “misinformation” about COVID-19 by May 2, saying they “have the opportunity to be open and transparent with the American people about the misinformation on their platforms.

If tech giant Google succeeds in a new project, devices will not even need cameras to track a user’s every movement.