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<h1 class="entry-title"><a
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/12/biggest-social-news-sites-censor-alternative-media.html">Biggest
Social Media Sites Censor Alternative News</a></h1>
<div class="entry-meta"> <span class="meta-prep meta-prep-author">Posted
on</span> <a
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/12/biggest-social-news-sites-censor-alternative-media.html"
title="7:39 pm" rel="bookmark"><span class="entry-date">December
14, 2012</span></a> <span class="meta-sep">by</span> <span
class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/author/washingtonsblog"
title="View all posts by WashingtonsBlog">WashingtonsBlog</a></span>
</div>
<h3 style="color: #000099;"><img class="decoded alignleft"
src="cid:part4.00040702.04050203@gmail.com" alt="censorship on
Social Networking Biggest Social Media Sites Censor Alternative
News" title="Biggest Social Media Sites Censor Alternative News"></h3>
<h3 style="color: #000099;">“Unreliable News Source”</h3>
<p>The mainstream media <a title="skews the news to defend the
status quo"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/12/its-not-the-mainstream-media-its-the-old-media.html">skews
the news to defend the status quo</a>, and <a title="serves the
interests"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/09/3-time-emmy-award-winning-cnn-journalist-mainstream-media-takes-money-from-foreign-dictators-to-run-flattering-propaganda.html">serves
the interests</a> of the <a title="rich and powerful"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/07/mainstream-media-presstitutes-for-the-rich-and-powerful.html">rich
and powerful</a>.</p>
<p>But at least web news sources are free of censorship … one would
hope.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, that’s not true.</p>
<p>Facebook <a title="pays low-wage foreign workers to delete
certain content based upon a censorship list"
href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/22/low-wage-facebook-contractor-leaks-secret-censorship-list/"
target="_blank">pays low-wage foreign workers to delete certain
content based upon a censorship list</a>. For example, Facebook
deletes accounts created by any Palestinian resistance groups.</p>
<p>Digg was caught censoring stories which were controversial or too
critical of the government. See <a title="this"
href="http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/news/2007/03/72835"
target="_blank">this</a> and <a title="this"
href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070311084954/http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=20587"
target="_blank">this</a>.</p>
<p>Many accuse Youtube of <a target="_blank" title="blatant
censorship"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_by_Google#YouTube">blatant
censorship</a>.</p>
<p>Reddit – the <a title="119th most popular"
href="http://www.alexa.com/search?q=reddit.com&r=site_siteinfo&p=bigtop"
target="_blank">133rd most popular</a> website worldwide on the
Internet – is also censoring.</p>
<p>I’m not talking about censoring specific websites (For example, I
was informed today that Reddit’s News category censors all stories
from this website. But that’s just an example). I’m talking
about censoring entire <em>categories</em> of news media.</p>
<p>Specifically, Reddit’s WorldNews category has <a target="_blank"
title="2.5 million" href="http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/">2.5
million</a> subscribers. Most tv news shows have <a
target="_blank" title="less than "
href="http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fox-news-2011-tops-in-cable-news-top-13-programs-in-cable-news-but-down-from-2010_b104224">less
than </a>2.5 million daily viewers. So that means that Reddit’s
WorldNews is <em>itself</em> a mainstream media source in terms
of numbers. And many more people see WorldNews stories on the
front page of Reddit, even if they are not subscribers to the
WorldNews subreddit.</p>
<p>(Reddit is owned by the <a target="_blank" title="46th largest"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_Publications">46th
largest</a> company in the United States – Advance Publications
– which owns a number of <a target="_blank" title="mainstream
newspapers and magazines"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_Publications#Publications">mainstream
newspapers and magazines</a>.)</p>
<p>Yet WorldNews censors blogs, and doesn’t consider them real news
sources. Here’s a discussion I had recently with WorldNews
moderators:</p>
<p><a
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Clipboard02.jpg"><img
class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-15501"
title="Clipboard02"
src="cid:part17.05030501.05000205@gmail.com" alt="Clipboard02
Biggest Social Media Sites Censor Alternative News"
height="322" width="724"></a>In fact, the top independent
experts in every field – economics, business, foreign affairs,
military, science, energy, etc. – have their own blogs, making
blogs one of the best sources of information, a good way to
fact-check the mainstream news, and the best way to read the
experts’ insights direct and unfiltered. See <a title="this"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/07/%E2%80%9Cblogs-are-best-at-debunking-myths-that-can-slip-through-a-lot-of-the-traditional-media-outlets.html">this</a>,
<a title="this"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/09/are-financial-blogs-trustworthy.html">this</a>
and <a title="this"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/03/blogs-crucial-or-a-waste-of-time.html">this</a>.</p>
<p>Indeed, the <em>whole reason</em> that news blogs have become
popular is that they get around the censorship which is ubiquitous
in the mainstream television news. And social media is popular as
a news source – <a target="_blank" title="especially among youth"
href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121210080736.htm">especially
among youth</a> – because it <em>pretends</em> that it provides
uncensored news, where a free market of popularity governs.</p>
<p>That’s obviously not the case, where specific websites – and
entire <em>classes of media</em>, such as blogs – are barred.</p>
<p>Reddit holds itself out as a young, hip, progressive news
source. But if it is censoring blogs, it fails to live up to any
of these claims.</p>
<p>The government already <a title="censors and manipulates social
media"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/03/government-power-being-used-to-stifle-dissent-not-to-keep-us-safe.html">censors
and manipulates social media</a>. More proof <a title="here"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/07/pentagon-seeks-to-manipulate-social-media-for-propaganda-purposes.html">here</a>
and <a title="here"
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/02/you-know-those-obnoxious-posters-who-almost-seem-like-alter-egos-of-the-same-person-they-actually-might-be.html">here</a>.</p>
<p>It is sad that the moderators of the social media sites
themselves are doing the same thing.</p>
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