If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. At the World Economic Forum‚ Naomi Oreskes‚ Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University‚ complained about what she said is the spread of disinformation on social media‚ notably attributing a significant part of this issue to social media companies and even President Trump and certain business entities. Her proposed solutions raise alarming implications for free speech and highlight the dangers of censorship. https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/world-economic-forum-2024-trump-social-media-disinformation.mp4 “President Trump; it’s been well written about‚ he had over 30‚000 false or misleading claims in his four years as a president. If that comes from the top‚ is that part of the issue and the problem as well?” asked Urs Gredig‚ the moderator. “Yeah‚ absolutely‚” Oreskes responded. “I mean and it’s one of the reasons this issue has become so vexed in the United States because now ordinary people are getting a lot of disinformation in social media‚ almost much of which is coming from private sector interests‚ but then it gets amplified when it gets reposted and resent by ordinary people who think‚ oh this is interesting‚ I’ll pass this on.” Oreskes complained that what she called “disinformation” was being “amplified at the top” by social media companies‚ and said that the “business community has a big role to play” in challenging this. Despite President Trump and his supporters facing the brunt of online censorship over the last several years‚ Oreskes suggested that it was the opposite and that social media platforms aren’t censoring Trump‚ saying they’re “biting their tongue” because they think Trump will “cut corporate taxes.” Oreskes called upon the elites at the WEF to challenge this and suggested that the private sector should be censoring more. “I really hope that the World Economic Forum will take this issue on board and think harder about the role that the private sector can play in standing up against disinformation‚ even if they might like the fact that that politician would cut their taxes‚” she said. The post World Economic Forum Panelist Harvard Professor Naomi Oreskes Blames Trump for “Disinformation” on Social Media and Asks Private Sector and the WEF To Do Something About It appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The President of the European Commission‚ Ursula von der Leyen‚ delivered an alarming pro-censorship proclamation at the annual Davos World Economic Forum. She expressed her concern that “misinformation” and polarization in societies pose a serious threat to the international business community. https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/wef-2024-ursula-von-der-leyen-public-private-sector-disinformation.mp4 “For the global business community‚ the top concern for the next two years is not conflict or climate‚” she said in her speech to elites. She argued that the bigger problem is “disinformation and misinformation‚ followed closely by polarization within our societies.” Related: Bill Gates Hopes AI Can Reduce “Polarization‚” Save “Democracy‚” Ignores Censorship Implications In her exhortation‚ Leyen said that there needs to be partnerships formed between governments and the private sector to curb “disinformation.” “Many of the solutions lie not only in countries working together but‚ crucially‚ on businesses and governments‚ businesses and democracies working together‚” she said. Leyen suggested that it was especially important as 2024 will be “the biggest electoral year in history.” She added: “Even as the insidious spread of misinformation and disinformation threatens the cohesion of societies‚ there is a risk that some governments will act too slowly‚ facing a trade-off between preventing misinformation and protecting free speech‚ while repressive governments could use enhanced regulatory control to erode human rights.” The post European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen Calls for Public-Private Collaboration To Fight 2024 Election “Disinformation” appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The World Economic Forum (WEF) annual gathering of elected and unelected elites from around the world is once more under way in Switzerland’s Davos‚ and this year AI is unsurprisingly garnering a fair share of attention. More precisely‚ how to harness its power‚ including through new regulation‚ but as one participant‚ DeepLearning.AI founder Andrew Ng put it‚ not of the tech itself‚ but rather of its “applications.” Related: Bill Gates Hopes AI Can Reduce “Polarization‚” Save “Democracy‚” Ignores Censorship Implications A natural stance‚ some may say‚ for a person selling some version of AI. Ng told the WEF that while there is amplification of warnings about problems arising from AI‚ calling them hypothetical‚ and of risk assessments that are sensationalist – what he says as the real potential issues get overlooked. So let’s not vilify AI – but let’s still seek to control‚ i.e.‚ regulate it‚ via “applications.” And here Ng seems to go straight for the sensationalist‚ only under a different pretext‚ mentioning rather broadly defined “systems that can emotionally manipulate people for profit” as something that would be justified to regulate. DeepLearning.AI founder’s opposition to regulating AI tech itself is explained touching on all the right concerns (in terms of hypothetical new rules)‚ such as that they may stand in the way of open source‚ innovation‚ competitiveness. So – let the technology run free‚ supposedly for these noble reasons – but then tighten the screws when it comes to how it can be used. And here‚ Ng wants “AI applications‚” (uses) to be designated according to “degree of risk.” The way to do it is to make this designation “clear” – and at first‚ Ng was doing rather well‚ mentioning “actually risky” cases‚ such as medical devices. But then‚ his “clear” identification becomes muddier‚ and we finally meet our old friend “disinformation” again. According to him‚ “chat systems potentially spewing disinformation” is something that can not only be straight-forwardly identified‚ but is also “actually risky” – and needs to be censored‚ i.e.‚ regulated in a “tiered” manner. Ng is also not a fan of proposals to do this taking into account the size of a model used by an AI project‚ and believes that both small and large ones can be equally dangerous when it comes to the two things he seems “stuck” on – “bad medical advice” and‚ “generating disinformation.” The post Davos Attendee Calls for AI Regulation To Prevent Chatbots From “Potentially Spewing Misinformation” appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The Government Accountability Project‚ which bills itself as a leader in whistleblower protection‚ including advocacy and litigation‚ has announced a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request aimed at shedding light on alleged censorship involving online posts concerning the Norfolk Southern train derailment. The accident happened in East Palestine‚ Ohio‚ in early February 2023‚ and attracted attention online considering that as many as 38 train cars loaded with “hazardous” materials were involved – and some of them kept burning for several days. Finally extinguishing these poisonous flames brought trouble – the fumes released prompted the authorities to evacuate people from within a mile radius. It was pretty serious and it’s not entirely clear as in all the pertinent information – so‚ it’s something people might well be expected to try to learn more about and discuss online‚ in this day and age. Well‚ not so fast. Facebook (Meta) was‚ according to the Government Accountability Project‚ fairly quick to try to suppress – by means of deleting or flagging – posts that raised the issue of possible health risks related to the derailment. Another thing that ended up derailed here‚ the FOIA filing suspects and wants clarified‚ may have been the proper democratic process where the government keeps its citizens informed and aware. However‚ the FOIA requests suspect the opposite has happened – namely‚ the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Facebook engaging in “communication” – which eventually saw posts from personal accounts‚ and the “East Palestine Off the Rails” page‚ censored. The need for information sought via the request to be revealed is explained by whistleblower and scientist Scott Smith “(discovering) elevated dioxin levels in East Palestine” – and then when posting about it on Facebook‚ only to get his “public figure” account flagged. Resident Jami Rae Wallace previously tagged him as she was sharing a link to a mainstream media article. Prior to that‚ the advocacy group says Wallace “received a text from Mark Durno‚ EPA Region 5 leader on the ground and Homeland Security Advisor‚ telling her to remove her Facebook post where she posted to think critically about answers the EPA was giving residents regarding their health.” Facebook was not sure about the merit of any of this – but Facebook apparently no longer errs on the side of its own rules. “This post may go against our guidelines on suggested content‚” the notice said. Facebook also showed that its “guidelines” may now be next-level nonsensical: “This post may show content that is broadly disliked‚” the note further stated. At least Scott Smith seems to be able to put together a non-Orwellian newspeak sentence or two‚ to argue his case: “Anyone who cares about their constitutional rights and free speech needs to pay attention to what is happening in East Palestine‚ Ohio. That is why we need EPA records to shine light on any coordination with Facebook to suppress the free sharing of information on what is currently happening to residents there. The government should not be serving as a mechanism of censorship to protect multi-billion-dollar corporations.” The post Advocacy Group Seeks EPA Records on Facebook Censorship of East Palestine Train Derailment Posts appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Sign Up To Keep Reading This post is for Reclaim The Net supporters. Gain access to the entire archive of features and supporters-only content. Help protect free speech‚ freedom from surveillance‚ and digital civil liberties. Join Already a supporter? Login here The post The Biden Administration‚ an Alliance With the Censorship-Driven German Government‚ and the “Media Literacy” Programs Pushed in Schools appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

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An animation of an asteroid's close approach to Earth has attracted a lot of views over the last few days‚ largely because of just how close it appears. The animation‚ shared by Facebook page Cosmoknowledge on Sunday‚ shows asteroid 99942 Apophis's path‚ culminating in its closest approach on April 13‚ 2029. To be clear‚ there is nothing to fear from this asteroid‚ which is predicted by NASA not to hit Earth in 2029‚ nor in another close approach in 2036. However‚ the animation is still what is known as a nailbiter.        IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.In April 2029‚ Apophis is predicted by NASA to come within 32‚000 kilometers (20‚000 miles) of the Earth's surface. Closer than some satellites‚ it should be visible from the Eastern Hemisphere without the aid of a telescope or binoculars.It may sound close (in terms of space that is‚ not in terms of a jaunt) but astronomers are not concerned. In 2021‚ Apophis made a flyby of Earth‚ at which point astronomers made powerful radar observations in order to better define its orbit. Before that‚ NASA believed that it had a chance of impact later in the century‚ but the observations ruled that out.“A 2068 impact is not in the realm of possibility anymore‚" Davide Farnocchia of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies said of the asteroid‚ "and our calculations don’t show any impact risk for at least the next 100 years."Other animations‚ a little closer and from a different angle‚ are more reassuring. NASA's Eyes On Asteroids website also provides more detailed views of this and other asteroids‚ for anyone who has a bit of free time and fancies feeling at the mercy of random space rocks.    NASA is going to use the 2029 flyby to take a better look at the asteroid‚ named for the Egyptian serpent deity that wanted to devour the Sun‚ using the spacecraft that returned samples from asteroid Bennu. A little science cherry on top of the main treat? That we aren't going to be hit by a big rock from space.