Fourth installment of Twitter files reveals secret US government Twitter portal for censoring COVID-19 material

America First Legal has obtained a fourth set of documents alleging the Biden administration is using a secret Twitter portal to censor social media posts related to COVID-19. Documents reveal the Biden administration coordinated with companies such as Mafindo —an Indonesian fact-checking company partnered with Facebook— to suppress what was deemed “disinformation.“

The social media giant started a third-party fact-checking program in 2016 that includes certified fact-checkers from around the globe. According to the International Fact-Checking Network website, a nonpartisan, transparent fact-checking system is one of the most powerful instruments for accountability journalism. However, most of their advisory board appears to be from liberal media outlets.

According to the documents, Facebook deleted posts deemed “false and likely to cause violence or physical harm ” by the CDC or any other public health authority. Topics discussed included: the COVID-19 test is not as dangerous as the common flu or cold test, and the infection cannot be cured or prevented. Also included in the content deemed “debunked” were statements about vaccines causing illness and the safety of natural immunity over vaccines.

Repeat offenders would face restrictions, including reduced distribution, removal from recommendations, or removal from the social media site, despite evidence that vaccines do not prevent transmission.

The third and sixth installment of Elon Musk’s release of internal Twitter communications can be found here and here.

Read: https://www.theepochtimes.com/documents-uncover-secret-twitter-portal-us-government-used-to-censor-covid-19-content_4924270.html


Indian Tax Administration Requires Citizens to Link Aadhaar ID to their Permanent Account Numbers

India’s income tax administration has warned that all non-exempt Permanent Account Number (PAN) holders must “link their PAN with (their) Aadhaar before 31 March 2023,” as “from 1 April 2023, the unlinked PAN shall become inoperative,” the department tweeted. The PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric number issued by the Income Tax Department. Indian citizens require a PAN to create bank accounts, deposit money, trade stocks, and sell real estate.

The Aadhaar card is a 12-digit number issued by the Indian government as proof of address and identification. By making citizens link their PAN and Aadhaar, the income tax administration hopes to improve tax compliance across the nation. Indians can link the two forms of ID on the tax department’s website for a Rs. 1,000 fee ($12).

Residents of the states of Meghalaya, Assam, Kashmir, and Jammu who do not have an Aadhaar are exempted from the new requirement. Senior citizens aged 80 or over and foreign nationals living in India are also exempt.

Read: https://reclaimthenet.org/india-digital-id-account-link/


How PayPal went from Democratizing Financial Services to Becoming a Cornerstone of Our Emerging Social Credit System

Rupa Subramanya reported on Tuesday at The Free Press how several people, after an internal review with PayPal’s Risk and Compliance Department, were having their PayPal accounts suspended or banned with zero explanation. Flagged customers were reportedly receiving emails that simply told them “You can no longer do business with PayPal.” Banned accounts were having to go so far as to file a subpoena to find out why they had even been banned in the first place.

When PayPal was launched in 1998, one of its founders, Peter Thiel, hoped that it would “give citizens worldwide more direct control over their currencies than they (had) ever had before.” PayPal’s founding vision was to connect more people to the global economy by removing barriers to access like hefty credit card fees and inflationary policies of poorly run governments. Nearly 25 years later, 58% of Americans use PayPal for their various financial activities. Yet today, warns Subramanya, the company is slowly evolving against its original ideals.

PayPal’s current leadership seems to have locked people who have slipped out of “acceptable discourse” out of its financial system, writes Subramanya. Today’s PayPal seems to have a clear bias towards supporting progressive political policies, such as those around race and gender and the COVID lockdowns. This is even more evident through the example of PayPal’s new Acceptable Use policy, which could hand out fines of up to $2500 to anyone whose language or politics the platform deems “objectionable.”

Subramanya writes that anyone who protests the current liberal status quo is at risk of being de-platformed. What usually starts as a legitimate moderation policy, she says, slowly evolves into a form of political censorship. She concludes that if there is to be any real overhaul of the system, it must come from within the technocracy itself.

Read: https://www.thefp.com/p/what-the-hell-happened-to-paypal


Elon Musk accused of “doxxing” someone on Twitter

On Wednesday, Elon Musk suspended Twitter accounts sharing “doxxed real-time location info” after linking @elonjet to his family’s surveillance. Tesla’s CEO elaborated on the “mad stalker” who followed a car transporting his two-year-old kid X ə A-Xii, known as X. “Blocked the automobile & climbed up on the hood,” he stated.

Musk posted a video of a person in full black wearing a mask sitting in a white Hyundai, apparently filmed by his driver (Musk maintained he wasn’t in the car).

“Is this the person that jumped in the hood?” inquired a billionaire. Musk said, “Yes.”

Musk warned, “it is a physical safety violation” to disable location-tracking accounts and will sue @elonjet’s operator Jack Sweeney. Musk said, “legal action is being taken against Sweeney [the youngster who runs @ElonJet] & companies who encouraged harm to my family.”

Musk added, “Doxxing real-time location information violates physical safety and will result in account suspension. Posting areas someone drove to on a slightly delayed basis isn’t a safety risk, thus is allowed,” he said.

Elon Musk “suspended” the college kid who founded the @ElonJet Twitter account before he bought it.

Last Friday, Jack Sweeney noted that @ElonJet was “search banned” but had been “search banned for months before Elon’s takeover.” However, the account that disclosed publicly available Musk private aircraft locations and had over half a million followers has been “suspended.”

Nearly a year ago, we informed readers about Sweeney and how Musk asked the college kid to delete the account due to security concerns. Sweeney told Musk that @ElonJet would cost a “Model 3.” Musk replied, “I don’t relish the notion of being shot by a nutcase.“

Hedge funds watch CEOs’ private jets. Some traders spend $100k to get deal-maker flight data. We suggested Sweeney sell his invention to a hedge fund or Quandl, a flight-tracking startup. Account deleted.

Read: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/twitter-account-tracking-elon-musks-private-jet-suspended


An update to Drupal addresses vulnerabilities in the H5P protocol and file paths

A security update has been released by Drupal to address vulnerabilities in H5P and File (Field) Paths modules for Drupal 7.x. These vulnerabilities could be exploited to access sensitive information and remotely execute code.

If you’re running Drupal – read advisories SA-CONTRIB-2022-064 and SA-CONTRIB-2022-065 and upgrade if necessary.

Read:
https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/current-activity/2022/12/15/drupal-releases-security-updates-address-vulnerabilities-h5p-and

 

Elsewhere Online:



Google is under pressure to remove protest anthems from search results in Hong Kong
Read: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/12/hong-kong-google-protest-anthem-searches-china

Xnspy: The data thief that you never knew existed
Read: https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/12/xnspy-stalkerware-iphone-android/

The need for a federal privacy law: Interview with Mitzi Hill, Partner Taylor English Duma
Read: https://www.securityweek.com/potential-and-pitfalls-federal-privacy-law

Cash registers at Intersport were disabled by a Ransomware attack claimed by the Hive ransomware gang
Read: https://www.bitdefender.com/blog/hotforsecurity/hive-ransomware-gang-claims-responsibility-for-attack-on-intersport-that-left-cash-registers-disabled/

New variant of Janicab malware targets travel and financial entities
Read: https://thehackernews.com/2022/12/hack-for-hire-group-targets-travel-and.html

 

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