[HN Gopher] Twitter Appears to Shadowban Videos of Italy's First...
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       Twitter Appears to Shadowban Videos of Italy's First Female
       Incoming PM Meloni
        
       Author : that
       Score  : 75 points
       Date   : 2022-09-30 18:22 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.dailywire.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.dailywire.com)
        
       | stuaxo wrote:
       | So there is a facism filter.
        
       | that wrote:
       | Wish I could find a more neutral source, but this is what is
       | available. I was surprised to see this, I had thought that
       | shadowbans on twitter were like those on reddit, so only used for
       | non-human bots.
        
         | tinus_hn wrote:
         | A shadowban does not hide comments from the bot account but
         | does hide it from not logged in users. It's trivial to code a
         | check for.
         | 
         | Shadowbans only work against annoying humans that don't pay
         | attention.
        
         | praisewhitey wrote:
         | I'm seeing a lot of results (USA). Is this a region specific
         | issue?
         | 
         | https://twitter.com/search?q=Giorgia+Meloni+filter%3Avideos&...
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | tarakat wrote:
       | I can confirm I get the same results. Testing for other leaders,
       | I get plenty of results for e.g. Emanuel Macron. Ironically, the
       | first result is a speech of Meloni addressing Macron.
       | 
       | By the time they fix the "accidental bug triggered by anomalously
       | high search volume" (or some similar excuse), the interest spike
       | in Meloni will have passed, and her videos' reach will have been
       | successfully stifled.
       | 
       | And they'll learn their lesson, and next time will just reduce
       | the visibility of her and her associates' posts. Assuming they
       | haven't already also done that.
        
       | diebeforei485 wrote:
       | As always, the "mistakes" are always in the same direction.
        
       | Jackpillar wrote:
       | Daily Wire and Hacker News - what an increasingly weird yet
       | fitting combination.
        
       | sn0w_crash wrote:
       | YouTube took down her videos then apologized and reinstated them.
       | 
       | This is the democratically elected head of a state. Their first
       | female PM.
        
         | stefantalpalaru wrote:
        
         | andirk wrote:
         | In the eyes of the neoliberal, you're only supposed to use
         | identity politics to attack your enemy, not as a means of
         | stating basic facts such as she's Italy's first female PM.
        
           | andijcr wrote:
           | nit: she is the head of the party that received most votes.
           | She will probably be prime minister, but for now no
           | government was proposed to the president, even the new
           | parliament will not start for another week
        
         | kennywinker wrote:
        
           | JSdev1 wrote:
           | You may want to turn off the MSNBC, step outside and get some
           | fresh air
        
             | kennywinker wrote:
             | I've never watched MSNBC outside of on silent in an airport
             | bar. Your comment is unhelpful.
        
           | jrsj wrote:
           | What you are saying basically amounts to "My political
           | opponents are Nazis and so is anyone who associates with
           | them, so they should all be silenced."
           | 
           | And yet _you 're_ not taking the extreme position there.
           | Interesting how that works.
        
             | lazyeye wrote:
             | Its the only form of hate that's still acceptable.
             | Ascribing the worst possible motives to the people you
             | disagree with.
        
               | kennywinker wrote:
               | Sometimes it's ascribing the worst possible motive to
               | someone you disagree with - sometimes you disagree with
               | someone who has the worst possible motives. You're saying
               | it's the former, I'm saying recently we've seen a lot of
               | the latter.
        
             | kennywinker wrote:
             | I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with:
             | 
             | 1. The premise that ideologies exist in the world that are
             | so extreme and violent in their nature that they should
             | receive zero tolerance (e.g. nazism, fascism).
             | 
             | 2. The premise that people who tolerate an ideology are
             | tainted by that association.
             | 
             | 3. That Georgia Meloni is a fascist.
             | 
             | Because 1 and 2 are not extremist views. They're held quite
             | widely, and I don't think there are many people who believe
             | you should sit down and listen when a nazi talks.
             | 
             | You say that my view is "My political opponents are Nazis"
             | - but that's not what I've said at all. I believe that
             | nazis are nazis, fascists are fascist, and these SPECIFIC
             | ideas are beyond tolerance. Not just any idea I disagree
             | with - there are plenty of ideas that I am politically
             | opposed to that I strongly disagree with but I will gladly
             | tolerate. Just not core premises like "do these people
             | deserve to live" or "do these people deserve dignity".
        
       | yrgulation wrote:
       | She hasnt even started as a pm yet the eu issued warnings.
       | Apparently Ursula "has tools". You can't make this shit up.
        
         | mark_l_watson wrote:
         | +1 I was also shocked to hear in a news conference the EU
         | president Ursula von der Leyen threaten the Italian voters
         | right before the election. Seriously, I was shocked. So much
         | for believing in democracy.
         | 
         | I am very liberal politically, but I 100% support people on the
         | right wing who run into trouble with the Neoliberal overlords.
         | 
         | We need to have respect for all people's opinions (that are
         | non-violent, etc.) and support all people's rights to vote as
         | they wish. I think the Neoliberals must envy China's
         | authoritarian control of their population, because that is what
         | I think the Neoliberals want also.
         | 
         | BTW, I joined the World Economic Forum for a while just to read
         | directly what they were up to.
        
           | yrgulation wrote:
           | Likewise, left leaning and i find it shocking. And as much as
           | i want to not criticise the eu and its politics i simply
           | can't. Always sanctions and threats what happened to
           | cooperation and mutual understanding?
        
           | arinlen wrote:
           | > _+1 I was also shocked to hear in a news conference the EU
           | president Ursula von der Leyen threaten the Italian voters
           | right before the election._
           | 
           | This is the very first time I've heard such a thing. Do you
           | have a source showcasing what you claim to be threats?
        
             | tarakat wrote:
             | _During a conference on Thursday at Princeton University,
             | an attendant pointed out to von der Leyen that "figures
             | close to Putin" were among candidates for the upcoming
             | legislative election on Sunday. "We'll see," she replied.
             | "If things go in a difficult direction -- and I've spoken
             | about Hungary and Poland -- we have the tools."_ -
             | https://www.politico.eu/article/italy-election-candidate-
             | war...
        
               | arinlen wrote:
               | > _"If things go in a difficult direction -- and I've
               | spoken about Hungary and Poland -- we have the tools."_
               | 
               | Please explain what led you to interpret this as a threat
               | of any form. The Orban reference was pretty clear.
               | 
               | From the article:
               | 
               | > _" This is a clear reference to the ability of the
               | European Commission to cut funds allocated to member
               | countries when they are deemed to be violating the rule
               | of law."_
        
               | miguelazo wrote:
               | Cutting funds allocated to member countries for not
               | voting the way you want seems like a pretty clear threat
               | to me!
        
               | detaro wrote:
               | They can't cut funding for "not voting the way they
               | want". Funding can be held back if governments violate
               | treaty obligations, after a lengthy process.
        
             | PatentlyDC123 wrote:
             | I found this article to cover the quote in her recent
             | speech about "tools." [0]
             | 
             | [0] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eus-von-der-leyen-
             | deliv...
        
               | arinlen wrote:
               | Here's the quote from the article.
               | 
               | > _My approach is that whatever democratic government is
               | willing to work with us, we 're working together," von
               | der Leyen said at Princeton University in the United
               | States on Thursday, responding to a question on whether
               | there were any concerns with regard to the upcoming
               | elections in Italy._
               | 
               | > _" If things go in a difficult direction, I've spoken
               | about Hungary and Poland, we have tools," she added._
               | 
               | So a liberal democratic organization is prepared to
               | protect itself from sabotage from fascist organizations
               | that are actively manipulated by external actors to
               | undermine them. That's your threat.
        
               | miguelazo wrote:
               | I assumed that you were using "liberal democratic
               | organization" in jest, but now I am not sure. Would you
               | like to elaborate on your "actively maniuplated by
               | external actors" statement? Is this something like the
               | Russiagate hoax? Are you suggesting Italian voters aren't
               | capable of voting in their own interests?
        
               | yrgulation wrote:
               | A corrupt liberal democratic organisation that has no
               | right to intervene in the democratic processes of
               | sovereign member states that have formed an alliance to
               | create the said organisation. I dont agree with polands
               | or hungarys politics but that is not my business. The us
               | is not sanctioning texas or florida for its politics and
               | looney governors. Why is the eu which is not even a
               | federal government daring make such interventions? Who
               | gave them the right? Who voted ursula in in this so
               | called "democracy"?
        
             | miguelazo wrote:
        
       | andirk wrote:
       | Facebook and Twitter outright admitted to blocking content
       | related to Hunter Biden's laptop before the election 2020. They
       | claimed it was for privacy concerns. And then after the election,
       | there was no worry so that rule went away. All of these decisions
       | are of a neoliberal view of the world which is mainly "yes war,
       | identity politics when convenient, block dissent otherwise". This
       | will only continue.
        
         | boppo1 wrote:
         | Not sure why this is downvoted, Zuckerberg himself acknowledged
         | the legitimacy* of the H. Biden laptop story and that it was
         | mistakenly blocked. Something like "There was a lot of BS going
         | around at the time and we had to make a call on it quickly and
         | we were wrong." It was fairly level headed if I recall.
         | 
         | *to some extent. I know there were people claiming the laptop
         | tied the Bidens into some sort of demon worshipping child
         | eating cult or something, obviously that's a joke.
        
           | A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote:
           | At the time it happened, I noted that a lot of goodwill tech
           | companies managed to accumulate over the years will be
           | squandered on an election drama. I agree that the post-fact
           | discussion was better, but real-time panic was palpable. Just
           | doing all that stuff in tandem with Twitter moved the story
           | from conspiracy theory to a simple 'they are colluding so it
           | must be true'.
           | 
           | It is nothing that an average information analyst would not
           | predict. I can only assume reasonable voices were ignored.
        
         | arinlen wrote:
         | > _Facebook and Twitter outright admitted to blocking content
         | related to Hunter Biden 's laptop before the election 2020.
         | They claimed it was for privacy concerns. And then after the
         | election, there was no worry so that rule went away._
         | 
         | Isn't that "story" pure bullshit propaganda fabricated in a
         | desperate attempt to manipulate elections?
        
           | PatentlyDC123 wrote:
           | It was later admitted by the Times that it was real.
           | 
           | https://www.wsj.com/articles/all-the-news-thats-finally-
           | fit-...
        
             | arinlen wrote:
             | > _It was later admitted by the Times that it was real._
             | 
             | No, not really. That opinion piece just refers to "Hunter
             | Biden's business dealings", which is quite the strawman
             | when compared to the original baseless accusations and
             | conspiracy theories fabricated around hypothetical emails.
             | 
             | The bullshit propaganda fabricated around the laptop's
             | conspiracy theory has bee extensively debunked and widely
             | reported as being nothing more than propaganda.
             | 
             | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Biden_laptop_controver
             | s...
        
               | tarakat wrote:
               | That's the same trick used on the great replacement. Pick
               | the most conspiratorial, unlikely version of it (evil
               | Jews meeting in secret, plotting to cause immigration to
               | turn whites into an oppressed minority in their own
               | lands, and _no other reason_ ), show that there is no
               | evidence of that, the apply the label of "debunked" to
               | anything that can be vaguely called replacement (relative
               | demographic reduction of white population due to
               | immigration policies enacted since the 1960s).
               | 
               | In other words, an offensive motte and bailey strategy.
               | Attack the motte, then claim you've destroyed the bailey.
        
               | miguelazo wrote:
               | You meant the bullshit propaganda about it being some
               | Russian intel plant was debunked, I presume? Because the
               | contents were confirmed as legit, which makes sense since
               | the Bidens never once denied they were authentic.
               | Hunter's business dealings in Ukraine are quite well
               | known and relevant to current events. ;-)
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | nunobrito wrote:
       | I've tested the same video search from a twitter account in
       | Portugal and confirm the same (zero) results. My country lived
       | through a dictatorship not long ago where someone in power
       | decided what citizens could read or not, for "our own good" of
       | course.
       | 
       | To whoever supports this censoring: please remember to remain
       | consistent when these platforms start to shadowban you.
        
       | Sunspark wrote:
       | The people who make these decisions, who are the ones signing off
       | on this sort of thing?
       | 
       | Somehow I doubt this went to the board of directors level to ask
       | if they have sign-off on low-key blocking a head of state in a
       | market publicly-traded Twitter Inc. is active in.
        
         | akomtu wrote:
         | It's a VP level thing. Some lowly offshore "content watcher"
         | flags suspicious posts, the important flags bubble up in a
         | email chain to a VP, who makes the decision. That's for high
         | visibility dissenters. This email chain is discoverable if
         | anyone bothers to sue and convince the judge.
        
           | epivosism wrote:
           | In the leaked Elon texts, there were mentions of a suspected
           | cabal that would keep these kind of decisions from the board.
           | So I'm not so sure that leaders trust their own censorship
           | orgs to do the right thing.
        
           | Arnt wrote:
           | Or ML.
           | 
           | If a user/keyword/whatever gets negative karma because
           | previously-blocked nazis fawn over it, newly posted Giorgia
           | Meloni videos will carry a heavy burden, even if that
           | particular video isn't anything to complain about. The ML
           | will guess that the nazis are going to like it, and load the
           | new videos with negative karma.
        
             | akomtu wrote:
             | Oh, please. I've seen this in action. If ML is used, it's
             | only to flag suspicious posts: bans are handed by corp
             | managers.
        
       | guywithahat wrote:
       | Never thought I'd see a daily wire article here.
       | 
       | The unfortunate bit is what'll happen is twitter will go "oops we
       | made a mistake", but never acknowledge why this happened in the
       | first place (which is likely because they were doing something
       | nefarious to her ranking on twitter).
        
         | miguelazo wrote:
         | Of course it was intentional-- Twitter and the rest of the
         | social media companies are infested with former (if not
         | current) spooks, many hired for precisely this sort of work --
         | "content moderation" policy. Meloni is viewed as not "reliable"
         | for pursuing the proxy war against Russia.
         | (https://www.mintpressnews.com/how-the-cia-has-infiltrated-
         | so...)
        
         | moralestapia wrote:
         | The only thing I'd like to see out of the whole Musk-Twitter
         | affair is some transparency on how they actually "rank" things
         | on their site. And I'm sure there's a lot of mud in there.
        
       | popilewiz wrote:
        
       | lazyeye wrote:
       | Its surprising how effective media censorship can be. Anything
       | the media wilfully chooses to ignore immediately becomes a
       | "fringe conspiracy theory" no matter how real it might be. And
       | any attempt to discuss the subject is viewed in this way.
        
         | tamentis wrote:
         | Try to bring it up to friends and family in a week. Anybody
         | trying to google that fact will struggle to find any
         | information about it.
        
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       (page generated 2022-09-30 23:01 UTC)