Bonum Certa Men Certa

Wikipedia Demotes CNET Due to Chatbot-Generated Spew as 'Articles'; It Should Do the Same to ZDNet (Also Red Ventures, Also Microsoft Propaganda)

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Mar 02, 2024

Redmond Ventures?

Santa Woman With A Laptop

AS we recently showed, ZDNet had become somewhat of a spamfarm and its sister site CNET has reportedly been demoted by a marketing site called Wikipedia, citing concerns about how CNET "content" is produced. See for instance:

  1. AI-generated articles prompt Wikipedia to downgrade CNET’s reliability rating
  2. Wikipedia No Longer Considers CNET a "Generally Reliable" Source After AI Scandal
  3. Wikipedia no longer considers CNET a «reliable source» — after scandal with AI-generated articles
  4. Wikipedia downgrades CNET's reliability rating due to AI generated content
  5. AI-generated articles have no place on the web: Wikipedia and Google consider complacent publications generally unreliable in seismic shift

We recently showed that CNET was also deleting articles critical of Microsoft, especially very old articles. In other words, Redmond [sic] Ventures was rewriting history.

Well, Wikipedia is politically and commercially selective [1, 2] when it comes to enforcing rules; they might want to take a closer look at ZDNet. How's this for example:

 5 ways AI will change the game for sales relationships (infographic)

There are many more pages just like this. That's the real business model of Redmond [sic] Ventures. It's a marketing/spam site, not a news site. It's all about manipulating public perceptions for a fee.

Speaking of which, consider what Facebook does at a far large scale (as does Wikipedia, which takes bribes for bias).

An associate explains this is noise about 'conservative' opinions, these oftentimes-abhorrent opinions being a red herring. Facebook shadow-bans across the spectrum, as do the other branches of social control media, the associate notes.

They are throttling too, not just shadow-banning, as it's not a neutral platform. They get to decide what people see and what people don't see (or see a lot less of). Even if nobody gets banned or hidden (shadow-banned), some companies are still in control of public opinion, e.g. by means bypassing the communication channels, acting as a medium or a filter. In the context of Mastodon or the Fediverse, some people complain about panes with "trending" or similar, biasing the pages and letting the administrators control/shape narratives/focus. The same goes for infinite scrolling interfaces (addiction). █

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 25/10/2026: TMZ Revisits Epstein's Connections to Bill Epsteingate, "Italy Hit by New Cost of Living Protests"
Links for the day
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XIV - Six Years of Learning Irish, But the Real Issue Was Microsoft-controlled 'Secure' (Restricted) Boot
Had I not opposed back doors in Linux, not of this would come about
Microsoft Sort of Tried to Sell XBox Piecewise (Offloading Microsoft)
XBox is in a morbid state
 
Another Form of Microsoft Silent Layoffs: Workers That 'Expire'
When the media becomes a lapdog, not a watchdog, false narratives gain traction
Carte Blanche for GPL Violations 4 Days Ago (by Torvalds)
Slop disclosure is no longer required for the Linux Kernel
There Are No Women That Are Kernel Developers Sent by Corporations Which Claim to Champion Diversity
As noted the other day
Sites with "Linux" in Their Name Cannot Slop and Retain Readers
if they write about "linux "(or "Linux") using LLMs they will be caught, then shunned
At Microsoft, the Silent Layoffs Impact Executives Also
Microsoft hid the real story of Helen Chiang
Linus Torvalds Defected to Enshittification
Linus Torvalds is betraying a generation of high(er) standards
Microsoft’s Spin About Mass Layoffs and Shutdowns: They "Never Should Have Existed"
Microsoft-sponsored spin
It's Slop
Maybe we'll exclude It's Slop from our curation. It's a Linux Foundation outpost of sorts, an apologist of sloppy code and plagiarism.
Gemini Links 25/10/2026: Moana (2026) and OpenBSD Updates
Links for the day
The Netherlands Fast to Adopt GNU/Linux, "Market Share" Rises to Two-Digit Value (on Desktops/Laptops)
It peaked at around 20% yesterday
DST Still Needs to Get Abolished
Get rid of DST, efficiency will improve and systems will become more reliable
PHP2Shell as Paid-for FUD Campaign (Intended to Help Sell Slop and Fake "Market Value" of Slop Pushers)
PHP2Shell considered overhyped [...] Remember all the paid-for hype regarding Mythos? What happened to all that?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 24, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, October 24, 2026
Gemini Links 24/10/2026: Arch Linux Journey and Amin Bandali's Priorities
Links for the day
Bluewashing as a Form of Silent Layoffs
IBM will continue to shed off loads of workers while its debt climbs
Turning 20 in 2 Weeks and Upcoming Network Maintenance
That ought not interrupt our anniversary
Microsoft Shutdowns Accelerating, More Shutdowns Revealed (Not Connected to Gaming)
Silent layoffs disguised as "voluntary" "exits"
Links 24/10/2026: Microsoft Blackmail and Lingering Unrest in France:
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/10/2026: From Bendigo to Kerang, Enshittification of Radio and Music in the UK
Links for the day
Red Hat Sinks With the Blue (IBM) Ship
As IBM's debt continues to soar so do the silent layoffs
Linux is Not Controlled by Linus (Torvalds)
Torvalds has become "90% marketing hype"
The "No Pain No Gain" Expectations in Publishing
Sometimes truth hurts; but that does not mean it mustn't be told
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XIII - Censorship by All Means Available in a Continent So Far Away, as 'Secure' (Restricted, Restriction by Microsoft) Boot Has a Crisis of Legitimacy
it's about America controlling sites and computers everywhere
Links 24/10/2026: Oligarchs Already Buy US Elections, GAFAM Front Group "EFF" Speaks of "Vulnerability Apocalypse"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/10/2026: Automobile Differential Tire Movement, Samsung Washer Woe, and Slop Scraping
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 23, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, October 23, 2026
As Usual, Late on a Friday XBox (Microsoft) Releases Evidence of Its Demise
We covered several such Friday announcements earlier this year
Gemini Links 24/10/2026: Break/Fix and OpenStreetMap
Links for the day
Links 23/10/2026: Slop "is Scaling Transnational Repression" and Infringement and DMCA Suits Against Suno/Anthropic (Plagiarism Blenders)
Links for the day
More Shutdowns at Microsoft, Hundreds of Workers Impacted Shortly
It's not the entire wave, just part of it
The Register MS: About 60 Mentions of "AI" in One Day Are Paid-for Spam (Sponsored Hype, Composed by the Companies Covered)
The Register MS is a dying site
Links 22/10/2026: MElon (Elon Musk) Election Interference and Perl/Raku Foundation by the Numbers
Links for the day
Techrights Audience Grew as a Function of the Intensity of Attacks on Its Existence
We try to publish fewer stories but better (not necessarily long but at least important) stories
TechRepublic is Becoming a Slopfarm
It seems like TechRepublic became LLM slop (maybe all of it, maybe only some of it for now)
Techrights is Not About GNU/Linux, Tux Machines Is
When we say "GNU/Linux" we emphasise the GNU
The World Needs Activists With Social Skills and Perseverance
An everyday activist makes life better for everybody, everywhere (not for personal gain or even credit)
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XII - Lawfare to Cover Up Microsoft's Restricted Boot Calamity (Microsoft as Authority Over Linux), Garrett Wants to Talk About Penises Instead
When lawsuits become a political weapon
Without Microsoft's Monopoly (and Monopoly Rents) the Inevitable Microsoft Mass Layoffs Carry on Endlessly
Microsoft Windows is not retaining the dominance it once had
IBM's Debt Grew About $2 Billion in 3 Months
The silent layoffs still seem to impact Red Hat
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 22, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, October 22, 2026