Deception Watch: AstroTurf, Lobbying, and Dirty Politics
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-03-01 13:42:51 UTC
- Modified: 2014-03-01 13:42:51 UTC
Media Bias
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The BBC has been accused of yielding to political pressure since the last election and allowing a right-wing bias to emerge in its journalism.
The serious criticism by a distinguished media professor suggests that the BBC has compromised its impartiality by depending too heavily on sources from business, the media, law and order and politics.
Covert Marketing
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Two-time "Worst Company In America" winner Electronic Arts isn't doing its publicity department any favors. The company's new freemium game Dungeon Keeper tricks frustrated players into leaving bad reviews on its own site, instead of on the Google Play Store, Gamasutra reports.
Politics
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Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., is defending his actions after he physically threatened a reporter at the Capitol after President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.
The confrontation began Tuesday when Michael Scotto, a reporter for New York cable news station NY1, asked Grimm about a Justice Department investigation into his campaign finances.
After cutting the interview short, Grimm told Scotto, "You ever do that to me again I'll throw you off this (expletive) balcony." He also threatened to "break (Scotto) in half."
NY1 posted video of the incident on its website.
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The Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity (through its Wisconsin Reporter and Watchdog.org websites) has aggressively attacked the "John Doe" probe into possible campaign finance violations during Wisconsin's 2011 and 2012 recall elections. Its outlets have also published new information about the apparent targets of the investigation, but they have omitted an important detail: Franklin Center has close ties to individuals and groups that may be caught up in the John Doe.
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Google, the tech giant supposedly guided by its “don’t be evil” motto, has been funding a growing list of groups advancing the agenda of the Koch brothers.
Organizations that received “substantial” funding from Google for the first time over the past year include Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, the Federalist Society, the American Conservative Union (best known for its CPAC conference) and the political arm of the Heritage Foundation that led the charge to shut down the government over the Affordable Care Act: Heritage Action.
South Korea
Revisionism
Consumerism and Distraction
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This ad strongly promotes the values of consumerism, and implies that consumerism leads directly to happiness. In the ad, the girls bought these shoes, are wearing them, and are now fashionable, popular, and happy. This message encourages the belief that spending money and obtaining material goods is the only path to happiness for girls. This big lie will lower girls’ self-esteem and perhaps cause them to purchase unnecessary goods in their quest to appear cool and likeable.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Microsoft Collapses While GNU/Linux Rises in Bulgaria, According to statCounter
- Microsoft is losing across all sectors
- The Fall of the Open Source Initiative (OSI): An Introduction
- In a nutshell: there's a massive conflict inside the OSI and the OSI stooges (staff serving Big Sponsors like Microsoft) try to hide it
- Paraguay: GNU/Linux Surging to New Usage Levels (7%), According to statCounter
- Notice that the gains are at Microsoft Windows' expense
- Social Control Media as a Rapid Race to the Bottom - Part I - That Sinking Feeling
- When you realise you made an error and things you adopted more than 15 years ago became utterly bad
- Microsoft's Entryism as Mortal Risk/Danger: The Example of the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
- Microsoft is a cult
- FSF Amicus Brief: Aspose.PDF for .NET 24.2.0, OOXML (.docx), and Microsoft Word (Proprietary)
- Could the FSF not find any law firm that, in addition to talking about or for Free software, does not use .NET, OOXML, and almost everything Microsoft?
- New Interview With Richard Stallman in Italy (Manuel Cuda News)
- Due to Google's growing aggression against Free software and proper APIs, this cannot be downloaded and converted to a free format
- The UEFI hype and Microsoft's lies
- By Sami Tikkanen
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- In Central African Republic Windows Has Pretty Much Fallen to Zero
- We need to focus on Software Freedom
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- Chad: All-Time Lows for Windows, According to statCounter
- According to statCounter, many in Chad moved to Android
- Links 04/03/2025: Universities Are Under Attack, Windows Attracts Ransom Against Ministry of Health
- Links for the day
- Links 04/03/2025: Microsoft Issues Policy Instructions to the Cheeto Mussolini Administration, Cloudflare Engages in Mass Censorship Again
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 04/03/2025: Athens, Fedora 41, and Yelling at Clouds
- Links for the day
- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Belatedly Comments on Case That Tests Copyleft in the United States
- "The Free Software Foundation (FSF) announced today it has submitted an amicus brief in the case entitled Neo4j"
- If They Try to Censor You on Some Topic, Then You Should Cover This Topic Even More
- OSI is only a small part of it
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 03, 2025
- IRC logs for Monday, March 03, 2025
- Thorsten Glaser & Open Source Initiative (OSI) resignations due to AI whitewashing
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Gemini Links 03/03/2025: Copyrights, GrapheneOS, and SpaceBeans
- Links for the day
- Links 03/03/2025: Europe Rallies Behind Ukraine, Measles Flourishes in US Again
- Links for the day
- Microsoft Windows Down to 8.5% in South Africa
- South Africa and Egypt are strategic in Africa
- After Fund-raising Campaign the Free Software Foundation Still Raises About $13,000 Per Week (Without Campaigning for New Donors/Members)
- Richard Stallman in the Board is not a liability
- Links 03/03/2025: 'Monetisation' Myth' and Microsoft's LLMs Helping Criminals
- Links for the day
- The New Series About the Open Source Initiative (OSI) and the Microsoft Entryism in OSI is Closely Related to the SLAPP Against Techrights
- Also based on the leading publication that they want removed
- New Series: A Deep Dive Into the Severe Corruption of the Open Source Initiative (OSI), Nowadays a Front Group and Lobbyist of Microsoft
- There's a lot to show
- Links 03/03/2025: Mass Layoffs in IBM China, Intel Still in Trouble
- Links for the day
- 3 Out of 4 in Cuba Use Linux to Access the Web
- Maybe change does come about...
- Doing Free Software for a Living in an Era or a Time of Abundance of Code (and Fast Internet to Pass It Around Freely) or Writing When the Web is Attacked by LLM Slop
- Tailoring code to needs is the key
- Links 02/03/2025: Day Off, POWER9, Console Challenge
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 02, 2025
- IRC logs for Sunday, March 02, 2025
- Microsoft Windows Falls to All-Time Low in Thailand
- We're seeing many all-time records like these so far in 2025
- Gemini Links 02/03/2025: Snowdrop Flower and Hostile Leaders
- Links for the day
- Links 02/03/2025: Microsoft Outlook Goes Offline, Foreign-Owned Social Control Media Interfering With Fair Elections
- Links for the day
- According to statCounter, Windows Falls Off a Cliff in Maharlika, GNU/Linux Surges to 5%
- But mobile is king
- New Video Clip of Richard Stallman's Latest Visit to and Talks in Italy
- Richard Stallman or RMS giving his latest talk last week
- Windows Used by Only One in Six Asians to Access the Web, According to statCounter
- maybe more governments in Asia should move away from Microsoft
- GNU/Linux Reaches 5% in Brazil, an All-Time High According to statCounter
- There are hundreds of millions of people in that country
- Google Already Dominates the Global South (via Android/Linux)
- If one puts aside Russia and east Europe, not many countries exist that still connect to the Web from Windows more than from Android
- GNU/Linux Widespread in Finland, Sweden, and Norway
- Sweden has many Chromebooks in schools3 nations
- Germany's Incoming Leader Said He'd Seek More Independence from the US, GNU/Linux Soars to 6%
- Last month it was 5%
- For the First Time GNU/Linux is Measured at Over 4% in Europe (Not Counting ChromeOS/Chromebooks)
- Europe, on average, is now estimated to have GNU/Linux on 1 in 25 Web-connected laptops/desktops
- Over 2 Years of LLM Hype and Nothing to Show for It
- People still use search, not chatbots
- Apple's iOS Almost Bigger Than Windows Now (Internationally), Windows Falls to 22% According to statCounter
- Without Windows domination, there's not much left going for Microsoft
- Putin's Loyal DOGE
- We hereby crown Arvind Krishna "Putin's DOGE"
- The Media Barely Reported This (Late Friday): IBM Lays Off About 2,000 More Workers, Effective Hours Ago
- Maybe some diversity programs can help IBM recruit slaves or grossly-underpaid staff
- Microsoft Money Being Spent to Bully Techrights Only Legitimises Techrights
- The longer it goes on for, the greater the Streisand Effect
- Suing One's Way Out of Real Trouble Won't Work (It Merely Increases the Trouble)
- "Guns for hire" in London can only issue "legal" threats
- Microsoft Writing Articles About Microsoft, Using Microsoft LLMs
- Right now there are many articles about Microsoft Outlook being down completely
- Gemini Links 02/03/2025: OFFLFIRSOCH 2025 and Programming
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 01, 2025
- IRC logs for Saturday, March 01, 2025