Social Media Archives - Page 4 of 10

October 6, 2021October 6, 2021

Public Media Alliance, Brussels Declaration, Protecting Journalists & “Media Freedom”

The Public Media Alliance claims that harassment, threats, and violence towards journalists is a serious concern. This organization also thinks the media isn’t independent enough. While that is certainly true, it seems this NGO is less than sincere in what it states it supports.

For some even more Orwellian organizations, check this piece on: (a) Journalism Trust Initiative; (b) Trusted News Initiative; (c) Project Origin: and (d) The Trust Project. There’s also this article on the Coalition For Content Provenance And Authenticity.

So-called public service media, or PSM, refers to media outlets that are either run by, or heavily financed by the respective Governments. The PMA is quite blunt about this.

Financial models for public media organisations vary but an element of public funding is central. This is usually provided by either allocation from general government resources or via a general charge on users (licence fee). Public media organisations also supplement declining public resources with external revenue in order to maintain quality.

However, what will become clear is that the PMA doesn’t really advocate for a free and open media. Instead, it calls for media — and publicly funded ones — that operate within their own ideologies.

Within the PMA, there is a subgroup called the Global Task Force, or GTF.

The GTF claims its values are: access, accuracy, accountability, creativity, impartiality, independence and high standards of journalism. All these underpin an informed and healthy democracy. Many of these are under assault by various forces, both private and public.

It also says on its webpage that “public service media must develop a coordinated global response mechanism in order to defend and promote core values.” At face value, there is nothing that catches attention.

The Global Task Force exists to defend the values and the interests of Public Media.
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The Global Task Force (GTF) was formed to develop a consensus and single, strong voice around the issues and challenges facing public media worldwide. An industry led initiative, the GTF offers a perspective that spans countries, languages and cultures.

The 8 members of the “Global Task Force” have openly supported the Brussels Declaration, which they claim is a new global initiative to protect journalists and media freedom.

David Anderson, Managing Director, ABC (Australia)
Thomas Bellut, Director General, ZDF (Germany)
Delphine Ernotte Cunci, President & CEO, France Télévisions (France)
Tim Davie, Director General, BBC (United Kingdom)
Jim Mather, Chair of the Board, RNZ (New Zealand)
Hanna Stjärne, Director General, SVT (Sweden)
Catherine Tait, President & CEO, CBC/Radio-Canada, GTF Chair (Canada)
Yang Sung-dong, President & CEO, KBS (South Korea)

This is by no means the entire list who endorsed the Brussels Declaration. In fact, dozens of broadcasters, mainly publicly funded, have already signed on to it. These include:

Radio-Télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF) – BEL
Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT) – BEL
Radio-Canada – CAN
CBC/Radio-Canada – CAN
France Télévisions – FRA
Radio France – FRA
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) – GBR
Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO) – NLD
European Broadcasting Union (EBU) – INT ORG
Public Media Alliance (PMA) – INT ORG
Les Médias Francophones Publics – INT ORG
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) – DEU
Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ARD) – DEU
International Federation of Journalists – INT ORG
European Federation of Journalists – INT ORG
Knowledge Network Corporation – INT ORG
Die Schweizerische Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft (SRG SSR) – CHE
Médias multiplateforme éducatif et culturel du Québec – CAN
Sveriges Utbildningsradio – SWE
France Médias Monde – FRA
Yleisradio – FIN
Sveriges Television (SVT) – SWE
Asia – Pacific Broadcasting Organisation – INT ORG
Lituanian National Television and Radio – LTU
TV5 Québec Canada – CAN
TV5MONDE – FRA/INT ORG
Televisión América Latina (TAL, Union of Latinamerican Public, Educational and Cutlural Broadcasters) – INT ORG
Sindicato Nacional de Periodistas de Costa Rica – CRI
Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) – KOR
Radio New Zealand (RNZ) – NZL
Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) – CHE
Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina – BIH
Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) – AUT
Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) – PRT
NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) – JPN
Australian Broadcasting Corporation – AUS

That is quite the list, and it will surely grow in time.

Now, what is the Brussels Declaration? Primarily, it revolves around 5 points and commitments, claiming to want to protect a free and independent media worldwide.

[1] We improve the safety of journalists and other media staff
[2] We stand up for the independence of public broadcasters
[3] We encourage well-informed democratic debate
[4] We support a strong and diverse news media landscape
[5] We promote diversity, fairness and inclusion within our own organisation and in the society we serve

On the surface, there is nothing objectionable about any of this. In fact, these are great goals to work towards. However, when we see these principles applied in practice, and the rampant double standards, questions start to come up.

Each point could be an entire article by itself, but we will try to make this short, and more manageable. Considering the content of the Brussels Declaration, it’s fair to ask who wrote certain parts of Trudeau’s legislation over the last several years.

1. Enhancing the safety of journalists, crews and media professionals

All journalists, crew members and media professionals need to be able to safely perform their duties. To that end, the signatories commit to providing the resources and support their employees need to protect themselves from physical violence and online harassment, while raising public awareness about the impact of those attacks on democracy.

No one supports having physical harm come to journalists. However, legitimate criticism (and trolling) is often conflated with violence or attacking. By doing this, it undermines efforts to hold reporters accountable for what they publish, especially things that are provably false.

That said, there is little to no coverage of protests in Australia, Europe, and elsewhere. Nor do mainstream outlets cover police brutality towards peaceful demonstrators. It’s almost as if there was a certain narrative to push.

2. Standing up for the independence of public service media

The signatories commit to publicly condemning any attempt to undermine the independence of public service media — whether it’s through political pressure, financial threats or retribution, harassment or attacks against employees, or antimedia rhetoric. They also commit to improving understanding of the distinction between public and state broadcasters.

Public service media is independent? Watch 2:25 to 4:40 in particular, from this October 2020 video. Not a peep from any of the “journalists” there. Tam openly admits that: (a) journalists are asked to promote their agenda; (b) social media directs people to certain sites; (c) taking down content; (d) demonetizing content; and (c) manipulating the algorithm to bury certain content . However, not only are there no objections, but no one seems even the slightest bit surprised by this.

As for the independence of public service media, would it be too much to ask that it be made obvious that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a major donor of the BBC? It’s not like this was difficult to find, or that it’s even much of a secret at this point.

3. Fostering an informed and civil democratic debate

In response to the global disinformation crisis, the signatories commit to providing trusted news and information, supporting fact-checking initiatives, boosting media literacy, and monitoring and removing hate speech from their platforms. They also pledge to call on social media companies and regulators to eradicate online hate on third-party platforms.

Calling on social media companies to remove “hate”, whatever that is? This raises the obvious question of who actually writes legislation in Parliament to call for such things.

Should the Government be financing the fact-check organizations that keep it in line? Moreover, should political operatives be running such groups? How is there real accountability when the media and the groups monitoring them are funded by the same people? Isn’t it just a dog-and-pony show at that point? It’s not independent if funding depends on pushing a narrative — regardless of who’s pushing it. While too numerous to name here, below are recent articles on exactly this subject.

4. Supporting a strong news ecosystem with a diversity of sources

A diverse mix of public, community and private news media is fundamental to a strong news ecosystem and healthy democracy. Consequently, the signatories commit to collaborating with other domestic media outlets to protect local journalism — including sharing best practices on journalist safety and speaking with one voice on common challenges.

Quite interesting. Last April, CBC reported that Dominic LeBlanc, President of the Privy Council, was openly considering laws to ban “misinformation” around the so-called pandemic. Although nothing seems to have happened (yet), this is absolutely chilling. Nonetheless, CBC seemed relatively uninterested, and only gave this a passing mention. Moreover, these outlets seem rather blase about the steady erosion of civil rights, and the ever changing narratives.

Also, how is it exactly that there is a diversity of sources, when they are all being financed to some degree by the Government? Just like the fact-checkers, the media itself is bought off. This extends to many smaller and “independent” news sources. See below.

5. Promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within our organizations and in the societies we serve

In order to uphold the ideals of pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness that underpin democratic societies, the signatories commit to more accurately reflecting the diverse makeup and perspectives of the populations they serve, both in their programming and workforce — while also leading efforts to make their workplace inclusive for everyone.

This presumably means forced diversity. In the West, it means less whites, and in particular, less white men. And that’s pretty twisted, considering how few whites there are in general in the mainstream press.

(a) https://canucklaw.ca/press-forward-anti-white-independent-media-controlled-and-funded-by-the-establishment/
(b) https://canucklaw.ca/hirebipoc-replacing-whites-in-the-media-industry-all-at-taxpayer-expense/

In any event, it’s great news knowing that the CBC and some other outlets have signed the Brussels Declaration. It’s so relieving to know that strong, independent media will continue for the years to come.

Sarcasm aside, it doesn’t appear that the Public Media Alliance, the Global Task Force, or any of these groups actually care about having an independent media. This seems more like an effort to protect their dominance, while ignoring the assault on true reporters.

(1) https://www.publicmediaalliance.org/
(2) https://www.publicmediaalliance.org/global-task-force/
(3) https://www.publicmediaalliance.org/about-us/what-is-psm/
(4) https://www.publicmediaalliance.org/about-us/what-is-psm/content/
(5) https://www.publicmediaalliance.org/brussels-declaration-pma-joins-public-media-and-international-organisations-to-call-for-journalist-safety-and-media-freedom/
(6) https://brusselsdeclaration2021.com/
(7) https://brusselsdeclaration2021.com/declaration
(8) https://canucklaw.ca/journalism-trust-initiative-trusted-news-initiative-project-origin-the-trust-project/
(9) https://canucklaw.ca/coalition-for-content-provenance-and-authenticity-c2pa-project-origin-content-authenticity-initiative/
(10) https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/covid-misinformation-disinformation-law-1.5532325
(11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jr_rkzzr2Q
(12) https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaaction/about/annual-reports

September 29, 2021

Coalition For Content Provenance And Authenticity (C2PA), Project Origin, Content Authenticity Initiative

The “Content Authenticity Initiative” claims to be setting the standard for digital content attribution. There are a few groups that seem to be working together to promote this. The CAI …. sounds a bit like CIA, doesn’t it?

The major goals involve being able to instantly and accurately trace a piece of media to its source. Photographs, images, videos, words, and other elements are to be encoded, and be able to get tracked. Welcome to Project Origin.

While this is sold as some sort of trust in media, there is another, more disturbing way to look at things. Will this not also directly connect people to things that are shared online? Won’t it mean the end to anonymous sharing of important information? Will it now become easier to track people for their thoughtcrimes?

1.2 Background At Adobe MAX 2019, the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) was announced by Adobe in partnership with The New York Times Company and Twitter. Since that time, this group has collaborated with a wide set of representatives from commercial organizations (software tools, publishers, social media), human rights organizations and academic research to produce this paper and the approach it describes.

5.1.3 Establishing Trust One key component in establishing trust in the CAI system comes from the entities whose certificates are used for signing the claim. To ensure that only assets signed by trusted actors can be considered properly attributed, it is necessary to create a list of trusted certificates or their certification authorities (CAs). Similar to the EU Trust List, the Adobe Approved Trust List, and similar lists used by web browsers and operating systems, the members of the CAI will establish their own Trust List of certificates that can be used to sign claims. Details on the governance of the Trust List is outside the scope of this paper. In many cases, the holder of the certificate will not the individual who created (or edited) an asset, but instead will be the entity responsible for the hardware or software that they used. The signing certificate belongs to the actor (e.g. Truepic Camera, Adobe Photoshop, BBC, etc.) that performed the actions on behalf of someone else. This model allows CAI to provide anonymity (and/or pseudonymity) where desired. For scenarios where the certificate holder is able to reliably establish the identity of the individual, and the individual wishes their identity associated with an asset, an identity assertion is used.

5.1.4 Identity One of the assertion types that can be present in a claim is Identity. This digital identity (also sometimes referred to as a Subject or an Entity) is present when an individual (or organization) is making a clear statement about their association with this claim. Digital identity fundamentally requires digital identifiers — strings or tokens that are unique within a given scope (globally or locally within a specific domain, community, directory, application, etc.). In order to support a variety of use cases, including those where identity might be anonymous or pseudonymous, it is important that various schemes for the identifiers are available for use. Fortunately, most common identity formats such as Decentralized Identifiers-DID, WebIDs, OpenID, ORCiD and others are all based on URIs. This enables an identity assertion to be expressed in the standard format described in RFC 3986.

5.1.6 Redaction of Assertions: In many workflows, there is a need for assertions to be removed by subsequent processes, either because publishing the assertion would be problematic (e.g. the identity of the person who captured a video) or the assertion is no longer valid (e.g. an earlier thumbnail showing something that has since been cropped out). The CAI allows for the redaction of these assertions in a verifiable way that is also part of the provenance of the asset. In the process of redacting an assertion, a record that something was removed is added to the claim. Because each assertion’s reference includes the assertion type, it is clear what type of information (eg. thumbnail, location, etc.) was removed. This enables both humans and machines to apply rules to determine if the removal is acceptable. NOTE: Assertion redacted only applies to assertions that are part of the CAI data. It does not have anything to do with removal of other metadata (XMP, EXIF, etc.).

9 Conclusion: The collaborators on this paper have explored the challenges of inauthentic media through problem definition, system design and use case research. The results of the exploration are expressed in the design of the CAI provenance system. To achieve widespread adoption we have based the design on existing standards and established techniques, and acknowledge that the system will need to include simple and intuitive user experiences. However, even an optimally designed system cannot ultimately succeed in a vacuum. We now begin the important work of deeper, more expansive collaboration with leaders in technology, media, academia, advocacy and other disciplines. With this first step towards an industry standard for digital content attribution, we look optimistically to a future with more trust and transparency in media.

The CAI white paper is certainly worth a read.

Microsoft and the BBC explain Project Origin in their own words. It all sounds so harmless, doesn’t it? It’s all about ensuring that people can trust what they observe in the media is accurate and reliable. Who could possibly disagree with that?

This “coalition” claims to be interested in being able to authenticate media images, videos, and bits of data to identify where it came from. If one was to work in a a vacuum, this sounds completely reasonable and well intentioned.

However, what all too often gets left out of the equation is the rampant corruption, collusion, and financial interests pushing certain narratives. Authenticating photos, while ignoring the bias and fake narratives leaves out the bigger picture. No way is this done by accident.

Have a look through some of the articles at the bottom. These are the bigger issues that so often get (unsurprisingly) ignored. Hard to have an independent media when they are all on the public dole. Even harder when political operatives work within many of them.

But hey, things like a global vaccine passport, are just crazy conspiracy theories, right? Just like the Vaccine Credential Initiative, or the ID2020 Project.

IMPORTANT LINKS:
(1) https://c2pa.org/
(2) https://c2pa.org/about/charter/
(3) https://contentauthenticity.org/
(4) https://www.originproject.info/
(5) https://c2pa.org/about/resources/
(6) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W3Om9Xbj2k
(7) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdTTl-C4PTM
(8) Content Authenticity Initiative WhitePaper

September 6, 2021October 28, 2022

TSCE #9(F)(2): 2021 Parliamentary Hearings On Pornhub, CSAM, Digital Fingerprinting, Databases

When the issues of internet privacy and child protection intersect, sorting things out can be fairly tricky. It was only a decade ago when “Conservative” Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews, decided that having basic protections of browsing history amounted to coddling pedophiles. Nonetheless, these concerns don’t go away just because someone else is now in office.

Now, it’s the group Pornhub that is under the public spotlight. It is just one such site owned by MindGeek. The porno empire of MindGeek includes (but isn’t limited to):

Pornhub
RedTube
YouPorn
Brazzers
Digital Playground
Men.com
Reality Kings
Sean Cody
WhyNotBi.com

Allegations have come up that actual sexual abuse as been published on this site, as well as revenge porn, and videos featuring minors. All of that is illegal. As for the hearings:

The above videos are clipped from the this hearing. The transcript of that day’s hearing is available here.

From January to June 2021, there were Parliamentary hearings held in Ottawa based on what was happened with Pornhub. It turned out that a very large amount of their content involved non-consenting parties, or minors, or both. After an outrage in December 2020, and threatened with the loss of payment processors like Visa and Mastercard, there was some serious damage control.

To be clear, the whole pornography uploading industry is disgusting. This is especially true as it’s fairly easy to allow content of minors to be included, and non-consensual content as well. That being said, the hearings were interesting, but for additional reasons.

One notable topic was the level of software available to scan images and videos, to implement “digital fingerprinting”, and to collaborate with other social media sites. Furthermore, Mindgeek explained they knew exactly who is uploading to their site, and where it’s happening from.

(February 5, 2021, 13:05)
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We are also working to ensure that once content is removed, it can never make its way back to our platform or to any platform. The revictimization of individuals when their content is re-uploaded causes profound injury that we are working fiercely to prevent. We are attacking this problem in two ways. First, our people are trained to remove such material upon request. Second, we digitally fingerprint any content removed from our website so that it cannot be re-uploaded to our own platform.
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For the last two years, we have been building a tool called “SafeGuard” to help fight the distribution of non-consensual intimate images. As I sit before you today, I am pleased to report that this month we will be implementing SafeGuard for all videos uploaded to Pornhub. We will offer SafeGuard for free to our non-adult peers, including Facebook, YouTube and Reddit. We are optimistic that all major social media platforms will implement SafeGuard and contribute to its fingerprint database. Such co-operation will be a major step to limit the spread of non-consensual material on the Internet.

(February 5, 2021, 13:10)
Mrs. Shannon Stubbs:
How do you know?
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Mr. Feras Antoon:
It’s because every single piece of content is viewed by our human moderators. Number two, it goes through software that we have licensed from YouTube, like CSAI Match, and from Microsoft, like PhotoDNA for pictures. It goes through a software called Vobile.
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Mrs. Shannon Stubbs:
But then why, for example, do Pornhub’s terms of service say, “we sometimes review Content submitted or contributed by users”?
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Mr. David Tassillo (Chief Operating Officer, Entreprise MindGeek Canada):
Mrs. Stubbs, I would like to add to what Feras mentioned.
I’m not too sure where it says that in the terms of service, but I can guarantee you that every piece of content, before it’s actually made available on the website, goes through several different filters, some of which my colleague made reference to.
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Depending on whether it comes up as a photo or as a video, we go through different pieces of software that would compare it to known active cases of CSAM, so we’ll actually do a hash check. We actually don’t send the content itself over; they create a digital key per se that’s compared to a known active database. After that, it’s compared to the other piece of software that Feras mentioned, Vobile, which is a fingerprinting software by which anyone can have their content fingerprinted. Any time MindGeek would find the piece of infringing content, we’d add it to that database to prevent the re-upload.
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Once it passes the software queue…. If anything fails at the software level, it automatically doesn’t make it up to the site. Once that piece has gone through, we move over to the human moderation section. The human moderators will watch each one of the videos, and if they deem that the video passes, it will be—

Essentially, all of the material, whether uploaded or not, will become part of a huge database. Who will have access to it, and for what reasons could content be released?

And software is used, including stuff provided by YouTube and Microsoft. Will they have access to it? Can the material be stored somewhere else?

The Adult Industry Laborers and Artists Association wrote to Parliament, essentially arguing that the porn industry was better at regulating itself than the Government. Also, it was a large sector of the economy which people relied on to provide for their families.

The Sex Workers of Winnipeg Action Coalition actually wrote to Parliament advising AGAINST mandatory identification for using and uploading onto such sites. They argue that it’s too easy to compile and save the data to be used to nefarious purposes (and cite Clearview AI). In terms of material uploaded without consent, they actually have a point.

The Free Speech Coalition wrote to the hearing and recommended working with sites like Pornhub. They claim that illicit material will just be shared elsewhere if this were shut down.

In MindGeek’s written submissions, they spelled out — at least broadly — the technical tools they had to combat illicit material and keep it from being shared:

Our human moderators are supported by a growing suite of technical tools, which fall into two broad categories: those that detect previously identified CSAM and non-consensual content using a fingerprint technology and those that use artificial intelligence to detect unreported CSAM content.

MindGeek’s fingerprinting tools rely on a unique digital fingerprint to match a video or photograph to those already identified in a database of banned content. These tools include YouTube’s CASI Match, Microsoft’s Photo DNA, Vobile’s MediaWise, and MindGeek’s own SafeGuard. All items caught by these tools as CSAM or non-consensual are immediately blocked from the website and handled by our second level review team.

That’s quite the list of electronic tools. And keep in mind, Pornhub knows exactly who the people are uploading to their site. How exactly would this artificial intelligence work, and what would it be programmed to look for?

The Parliamentary Report has also been issued on this subject. Now, this smut shouldn’t be around at all. However, if it can’t be removed, these are some decent recommendations to help the problem somewhat.

Recommendation 1 concerning liability
That the Government of Canada explore means to hold online platforms liable for any failure to prevent the upload of, or ensure the timely deletion of child sexual abuse material, content depicting non-consensual activity, and any other content uploaded without the knowledge or consent of all parties, including enacting a duty of care, along with financial penalties for non-compliance or failure to fulfil a required duty of care.

Recommendation 2 concerning the duty to verify age and consent
That the Government of Canada mandate that content-hosting platforms operating in Canada require affirmation from all persons depicted in pornographic content, before it can be uploaded, that they are 18 years old or older and that they consent to its distribution, and that it consult with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada with respect to the implementation of such obligation.

Recommendation 3 concerning consultation
That the Government of Canada consult with survivors, child advocacy centres, victim support agencies, law enforcement, web platforms and sex workers prior to enacting any legislation or regulations relating to the protection of privacy and reputation on online platforms.

Recommendation 4 concerning section 3 of the Mandatory Reporting Act
That the Government of Canada, in collaboration with the provinces, amend section 3 of An Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service to make the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre the designated law enforcement agency for the purpose of reporting under that section and that it ensure that the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre has the resources it needs to investigate the increased referrals of child sexual abuse materials

Recommendation 5 concerning reporting obligations
That the Government of Canada invest resources to ensure the compliance of access providers, content providers and Internet content hosting services with their reporting obligations under An Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service through education and awareness initiatives.

Recommendation 6 concerning section 11 of the Mandatory Reporting Act
That the Government of Canada consider amending section 11 of An Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service to extend the period of time to commence prosecution for an offence under this Act.

Recommendation 7 regarding compliance under the Mandatory Reporting Act
That the Government of Canada call upon the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other police services to ensure the compliance of Internet service providers, as defined in An Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service, with their reporting obligations under that Act, and that compliance be absolute with no means for providers to opt out

Recommendation 8 concerning requirements for uploaders of content
That the Government of Canada set requirements for uploaders of content to provide proof of valid consent of all persons depicted and that the new regulations include penalties severe enough to act as an effective deterrent.

Recommendation 9 regarding pornographic content and age verification
That the Government of Canada develop clear regulations that require Internet service providers, as defined in An Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service, to utilize a robust process for age verification of all individuals in uploaded pornographic content, including content generated by individuals, studios or contract partners.

Recommendation 10 concerning proactive enforcement of Canadian laws
That the Government of Canada proactively enforce all Canadian laws regarding child sexual abuse material and the posting of non-consensual material and that in particular, it enforce section 3 of An Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service by requiring all Internet service providers, as defined in the Act, to report child sexual abuse material directly to an officer, constable or other person employed for the preservation and maintenance of the public peace.

Recommendation 11 concerning accessible mechanisms for the removal of online content
That the Government of Canada develop accessible mechanisms that ensure that Canadians victimized by the posting of an image or video online without their consent on sites like Pornhub have the right to have that content removed immediately and to be given the benefit of the doubt with respect to the non-consensual nature of the content, and that the Government of Canada provide all the necessary resources required to put in place these accessible mechanisms.

Recommendation 12 concerning a potential new pattern of sexual violence
That the Government of Canada work with key stakeholder groups such as Canadian sexual assault centres, women’s rights organizations and representatives from LGBTQ2 communities to determine if the posting of non-consensual material depicting sexual violence on sites like Pornhub is reflective of, and contributing to, a new pattern of sexual violence, and that it report its findings, including recommendations for further action, to Parliament.

Recommendation 13 concerning the accountability of websites regarding the downloading and re-uploading of pornographic content
That the Government of Canada hold accountable websites that allow the downloading and re-uploading of pornographic content that erases the identity of the source material, thereby preventing authorities from assessing those accountable for the material.

Recommendation 14 concerning a new legal framework to impose certain obligations on Internet service providers hosting pornographic content
That the Government of Canada create a legal framework that would compel Internet service providers that host pornographic content to:
• implement and use available tools to combat the flagrant and relentless re-uploading of illegal content;
• hire, train and effectively supervise staff to carry out moderation and content removal tasks at an appropriate scale;
• maintain detailed records of user reports and responses that can be audited by authorities;
• be legally accountable for content moderation and removal decisions and the harm to individuals that results when efforts are inadequate; and
• build in and design features that prioritize the best interests and privacy rights of children and vulnerable adults

Admittedly, these are some good proposals. Will anything come of these hearings when the next Parliament sits? I guess we will have to wait and see in the new session.

Again, this is not defend this disgusting industry. However, even with safeguards, there are still plenty of children and non-consenting people who are victimized here. It’s not much of a consolation to say that “it will just go elsewhere” if these sites are shut down.

Even for young adults, what happens in 5 or 10 years when they grow up and realize they’ve made a serious mistake? How easy (or possible) will it be to get this information scrubbed?

August 30, 2021October 2, 2021

Poynter: Self Claimed “Factchecking Group” Funded By Media Giants

Ever get the impression that all major media is controlled by a few people? Well, meet Poynter, the factchecking group that is financed by media conglomerates. There’s no conflict of interest here.

In short, these groups act as a form of counterintelligence groups. Their mission being to discredit and deflect from real truth, in order to promote what Governments and corporations are saying. This is little more than propaganda in today’s society.

By supporting the Poynter Institute, you fortify journalism’s role in a free society. Poynter champions freedom of expression, civil dialogue and compelling journalism that helps citizens participate in healthy democracies. We prepare journalists worldwide to hold powerful people accountable and promote honest information in the marketplace of ideas.

Founded in 1975, Poynter is an inspirational place but also a practical one, connecting the varied crafts of journalism to its higher mission and purpose. From person-to-person coaching and intensive hands-on seminars to interactive online courses and media reporting, Poynter helps journalists sharpen skills and elevate storytelling throughout their careers.

We bring together Poynter faculty and industry experts to explore the intersection of journalism, technology and the public interest. Poynter specializes in:
-Ethics and fact-checking
-Reporting and storytelling
-Developing journalism’s leaders
-Advancing newsroom diversity
-Strengthening local news companies

Poynter claims it prepares journalists to hold powerful people accountable. That’s interesting, considering who their donors are. Also, if truth is important, why the focus on storytelling? This group is noticeably silent on the topic of media and social media censorship. As an example, Kevin Chan of Facebook Canada bragged about removing 16 million pieces of information in 2020.

This group is part of the Coronavirus Facts Alliance, whose mission it is to route out “misinformation”, which is pretty much anything that contradicts the official narrative.

As for their major donors, at least they are open about it:

BIGGEST FUNDERS

Charles Koch Foundation
Democracy Fund
Environmental Defense Fund
Facebook
Foundation to Promote Open Society
Gill Foundation
Google News Initiative
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Lumina Foundation
MacArthur Foundation
Miami Foundation
National Endowment for Democracy
Newmark Philanthropies
Newton & Rochelle Becker Charitable Trust
Omidyar Network | Luminate
Rita Allen Foundation
Robert R. McCormick Foundation

LARGEST CUSTOM TRAINING PARTNERS IN 2019-2021

American Society of Business Publication Editors
Charles Koch Institute
ESPN
Facebook
Huffington Post
Marketplace
MRC Media
Middle East Broadcasting Networks
National Public Radio
Newsweek
New York Times
Pinellas County School District
Southern Newspapers Publishers Association
The Washington Post
TikTok
USA Today Network
Vice
Voice of America – Broadcasting Board of Governors

Do you get it now? This is just another group of fact checkers doing what they can to ensure that the “correct” opinions and points of view are promoted. These aren’t independents, or even quasi independents.

(1) ttps://www.poynter.org/
(2) https://www.poynter.org/major-funders/
(3) https://www.poynter.org/about/

July 25, 2021July 25, 2021

Press Forward: Anti-White “Independent” Media Controlled And Funded By The Establishment

This is a media group called Press Forward. While it’s nice to see independent media covering events in Canada, even if we may ideologically disagree, this is not the case here. While presenting itself as a group of indy/alt media outlets, this is anything but.

Press Forward has a list of criteria for membership in their group. Most raise no eyebrows, and are in fact very reasonable. However, #8 catches attention for all the wrong reasons.

8. Members must have a publicly posted diversity, equity and inclusion policy in place and be willing to report publicly on the composition of their organization. If you do not have a policy or self-reporting process yet, Press Forward can provide a template and assistance.

While other requirements such as transparency, ethics policies, privacy policies, and trying to generate revenue are sensible, this last one is not. This isn’t a call to make decisions purely on merit, and to ignore traits like race, gender, age, or nationality. On the contrary, it’s a call to make decisions BASED ON those traits.

The site does go on to provide a template for their diversity, equity and inclusion policy. And wow, it’s quite a doozy.

SAMPLE DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION POLICY
We recognize that systemic discrimination based on age, class, cultural and/or linguistic background, ability, economic status, gender, race, religion and sexual orientation have contributed to an environment where the voices of many people in Canada aren’t uplifted. We are committed to reporting on stories that reflect the country’s diversity, as well as hiring and promoting journalists from a variety of underrepresented backgrounds.
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Diversity: PUBLICATION will integrate equity principles into its decision-making processes. Equity and diversity will inform short-, mid- and long-term editorial planning, source cultivation, editing practices, art direction, etc. Our reporting sheds light on systemic barriers and historic challenges and will reference these issues when contextualizing breaking news.
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Inclusiveness: As an employer, PUBLICATION will foster a welcoming, barrier-free environment, and build and nurture relationships with writers, editors, photographers and illustrators, as well as other consultants, from a variety of underrepresented groups.
.
Leadership: PUBLICATION’s leadership will strive to ensure it reflects the full diversity of Canada. This includes senior leadership, staff, freelancers, interns and volunteers, as well as featured sources, guests, speakers, etc.
.
Accountability: PUBLICATION will collect on the demographic makeup of the organization and will make a concerted effort to sensitively survey employees, freelancers and audiences on equity and diversity issues. PUBLICATION will then relay this information to the public via regular equity reports.

This is actually the template provided. To be part of Press Forward, it’s necessary to have a policy such as this, which comes across as anti-white. When they talk about factoring diversity into the hiring practices and stories covered, it means non white.

When they say organizations should reflect the full diversity of Canada, it means whites should be replaced. It also means that men, especially white men, are a thing of the past.

Truly independent media outlets don’t need to report on their racial or gender makeup. They don’t need to report the sexual habits of their members. Yet, Press Forward does. Strange, in a country that has all kinds of laws to enshrine equal rights, apparently minorities are oppressed.

This isn’t the hallmark of a collective of indy authors. This comes across as someone, like a Government, trying to implement social policy in how media outlets are composed, and what is written.

Now, about the groups themselves: what are the media outlets that are part of this organization? Where are they located?

Canada’s National Observer (Observer Media Group)
La Converse
The Coast Halifax Weekly
Committee Trawler (Halifax)
The Discourse
The Independent (Newfoundland & Labrador)
The Local (Toronto)
The Narwhal
New Canadian Media
Oakville News
The Sprawl (Calgary)
Sun Peaks Independent News
The Tyee
Village Media
West End Phoenix

And who is running Press Forward?

Emma Gilchrist, Chair, Editor-in-Chief, The Narwhal
Stacy Lee Kong, Vice-Chair, Deputy Editor, West End Phoenix
Jeremy Klaszus, Editor in Chief, The Sprawl
Brent Jolly, National News Media Council
Lela Savić, La Converse, Discourse Media
Karyn Pugliese, Assistant Professor, Ryerson University
Rachel Pulfer, Executive Director, Journalists For Human Rights

Narwhal is Registered Journalism Organization with the Canada Revenue Agency. At the time of writing this, there are only 3, although over a hundred have applied. This means that Narwhal is entitled to special tax breaks most companies wouldn’t be able to get.

A quick search shows a number of recent grants by the Federal Government. Remember, Governments typically don’t hand out money to groups which are a potential threat. Would they give money to media outlets that will hold their feet to the fire?

MEDIA OUTLET	DATE	AMOUNT
Discourse Media	Jul. 17, 2018	$1,520
Discourse Media	Apr. 1, 2020	$161,795
Journalists for Human Rights	Jun. 1, 2019	$250,691
Journalists for Human Rights	Oct. 11, 2019	$11,764,838
Journalists for Human Rights	Jul. 14, 2020	$1,479,856
New Canadian Media	Oct. 1, 2018	$42,555
New Canadian Media	May 1, 2019	$66,517
New Canadian Media	Oct. 1, 2019	$66,800
New Canadian Media	Apr. 1, 2020	$9,471
New Canadian Media	Apr. 1, 2020	$69,300
New Canadian Media	May 1, 2020	$31,900
New Canadian Media	Aug. 1, 2020	$40,000
Observer Media Group	Apr. 1, 2020	$253,594
Observer Media Group	Apr. 1, 2021	$100,000
Sprawl Media Ltd.	Apr. 1, 2020	$30,258
Sun Peaks Independent News Inc.	Jun. 5, 2020	$3,504
Sun Peaks Independent News Inc.	Apr. 1, 2020	$63,452
The Tyee	Apr. 1, 2020	$360,469
Village Media Inc.	Jul. 25, 2016	$88,000
Village Media Inc.	May 1, 2018	$156,000
Village Media Inc.	May 18, 2018	$140,000
Village Media Inc.	Sep. 2, 2019	$190,000
Village Media Inc.	Sep. 2, 2019	$260,000
West End Phoenix	Apr. 1, 2020	$140,134

Canadians object to their money being spent on things they consider wasteful. Fair enough. But here, money is being given to organizations that put diversity above talent and results. Journalists are so restricted that they can get their work subsidized by the public.

This isn’t all of them of course. Still, several have received substantial amounts of money from Ottawa to promote their work. Press Forward is supported (financed in part) by the Trottier Family Foundation Foundation. More on them soon enough.

The Misinformation Project provides Canadian journalists and journalism students with digital investigation and media literacy training in online misinformation. The program is a continuation of JHR’s Combating Misinformation Project, which was funded in part by the Government of Canada in 2020. During this six month program, sixteen professional journalists will hold online training sessions for Canadian news organizations. These sessions cover the information landscape, responsible reporting and digital verification with the goal of helping participants integrate the skills into their daily reporting.
.
The Misinformation Project is funded by the McConnell Foundation, the Trottier Family Foundation and the Rossy Family Foundation.
.
JHR partnered with First Draft News, a global leader in misinformation research and training, to implement the project.

JHR, Journalists for Human Rights, is running the “Misinformation Project“, which was partially funded by the Government of Canada. It gets additional funding from the Trottier Family Foundation, the McConnell Foundation, and the Rossy Family Foundation. Misinformation, of course, are things that contradict the official narrative.

What does this have to do with Press Forward? Rachel Pulfer, Executive Director, Journalists For Human Rights, is on their Board of Directors.

In this earlier piece, it was laid out how various groups trying to “fight misinformation” were actually run by political operatives, and they were getting public money. JHR is led by Peter Donolo, longtime Liberal Party operative. He has been a handler for Jean Chretien, Michael Ignatieff and Justin Trudeau. This corruption crosses all parties.

JHR also runs another group called “Disinfowatch“, in conjunction with the Koch-funded MacDonald-Laurier Institute for Public Policy.

Of course, this isn’t all the money that gets spent on this. Here are some more grants courtesy of the taxpayers. And you think it was going towards roads and schools.

In March 2020, Ryerson University announced that it would be conducting research into “misinformation”, how it spreads, and how to contain it. This would be funded by the Canadian Government. Strangely, this would be run out of the business school, and not the journalism school.

Karyn S. Pugliese, the Director at Press Forward, has been a reporter on CBC and CTV, and is a former reporter at Parliament Hill. An interesting addition to this group.

The Narwhal, which gets special tax breaks because of its status with the Canada Revenue Agency, is also a member of the organization Covering Climate Now. There are many partners in the group, including mainstream names.

CCNow collaborates with journalists and newsrooms to produce more informed and urgent climate stories, to make climate a part of every beat in the newsroom — from politics and weather to business and culture — and to drive a public conversation that creates an engaged public. Mindful of the media’s responsibility to inform the public and hold power to account, we advise newsrooms, share best practices, and provide reporting resources that help journalists ground their coverage in science while producing stories that resonate with audiences.

By their own admission, CCNow wants to insert the climate change issue into everything, and use that to shift the culture. This isn’t media, it’s indoctrination. Just a thought, but this partnership may be why the CRA is so willing to grant the RJO status to Narwhal. One of their Directors is Alex Himelfarb, a former Privy Council Clerk.

Another Director is a member of the National News Media Council. They describe themselves as a “self-regulatory ethics body for the news media industry in Canada”. Now there’s nothing wrong with having different views, but this seems pretty inconsistent for Press Forward, which claims to be pushing independent journalism.

The Sprawl, based in Alberta, seems to be about the closest thing to independent. It is willing to take submissions from a broad group of people. However, it bleats the “diversity” drum to such a degree that everything else seems secondary. A quick look through recent articles show an incredibly leftwing streak.

This is hardly a complete rundown, however, it’s difficult to consider this group “independent” in any way, considering some of the people running it.

Instead of calling for stories based on talent, hard work, or creativity, all of this takes a backseat to “diversity and inclusion”. It seems done to deliberately drive up sentiments about being persecuted or taken advantage of. And we all know what the goal is.

It also has to be said, none of these outlets ask critical questions about the “pandemic” that has been going on for the last 18 months or so. Instead, the official narratives get promoted in their work. Perhaps that’s another reason for the subsidies.

(1) https://pressforward.ca/
(2) https://pressforward.ca/about-us/
(3) https://archive.is/YpLNi
(4) https://archive.is/YQYFh
(5) https://pressforward.ca/sample-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-policy/
(6) https://pressforward.ca/team/
(7) https://pressforward.ca/membership/
(8) https://pressforward.ca/membership-criteria-2/
(9) https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/charities-giving/other-organizations-that-issue-donation-receipts-qualified-donees/other-qualified-donees-listings/list-registered-journalism-organizations.html
(10) https://search.open.canada.ca/en/gc/
(11) https://jhr.ca/jhrs-misinformation-project
(12) https://archive.is/9Ed4r
(13) https://canucklaw.ca/media-subsidies-to-counter-online-misinformation-groups-led-by-political-operatives/
(14) https://canucklaw.ca/taxpayer-grants-to-fight-misinformation-in-media-including-more-pandemic-bucks/
(15) https://www.ryerson.ca/news-events/news/2020/03/ryersons-social-media-lab-tackles-misinformation-amid-pandemic/
(16) https://thenarwhal.ca/about-us/
() https://coveringclimatenow.org/about/
(17) https://coveringclimatenow.org/partners/partner-list/
(18) https://thenarwhal.ca/alex-himelfarb
(19) https://www.mediacouncil.ca/
(20) https://www.sprawlalberta.com/policies

July 18, 2021October 6, 2021

Postmedia Gets Next Round Of “Pandemic Bucks” From Taxpayers In 2021

The Postmedia empire got its most recent batch of handouts on April 1, 2021. Any wonder that this organization is so consistently supportive of the Governments (Federal, Provincial, Municipal).

People like Lorrie Goldstein “claim” that they oppose having the public bail out the media industry, yet, these feelings aren’t strong enough to make him quit.

Just a thought on why he supports the vaxx agenda.

NAME	AMOUNT
Clinton News Record	$15,629
The Cochrane Times-Post	$21,449
Drayton Valley Western Review	$30,227
Exeter Lakeshore Times-Advance	$42,191
The Fairview Post	$19,984
Goderich Signal Star	$53,353
Hanna Herald	$11,724
Huron Expositor (Seaforth)	$14,793
The Lucknow Sentinel	$14,828
The Mayerthorpe Freelancer	$12,288
The Mid-North Monitor	$12,037
The Mitchell Advocate	$33,859
The Nanton News	$10,503
Ontario Farmer	$817,081
The Pincher Creek Echo	$12,273
Record-Gazette	$16,080
Shoreline Beacon	$30,263
The Standard (Elliot Lake)	$39,545
The Vulcan Advocate	$17,417
The Whitecourt Star	$17,624
The Wiarton Echo	$21,881

Wild idea, but maybe this is why Postmedia is still on board with Trudeau and Ford. The pandemic bucks are still coming in, and Postmedia continues to cash in. Can you really trust “journalists” who are being subsidized by the Government? Always be following the money.

(1) https://twitter.com/sunlorrie/
(2) https://twitter.com/sunlorrie/status/1416736920374284288
(3) https://search.open.canada.ca/en/gc
(4) https://search.open.canada.ca/en/gc/?sort=agreement_start_date_s%20desc&page=1&search_text=postmedia
(5) https://archive.is/OF0pW

1. Enhancing the safety of journalists, crews and media professionals

2. Standing up for the independence of public service media

3. Fostering an informed and civil democratic debate

4. Supporting a strong news ecosystem with a diversity of sources

5. Promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within our organizations and in the societies we serve

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