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Two of the biggest executives at Twitter said they are planning on introducing new tools to help prevent users from saying hateful things on the platform.

Making Twitter a safer place is our primary focus and we are now moving with more urgency than ever, said Ed Ho, the companys vice president of engineering, in a string of tweets. We heard you, we didnt move fast enough last year; now were thinking about progress in days and hours not weeks and months, Ho continued.

While Twitter purged a number of provocative accounts from the social media company in recent months, it apparently wasnt enough for Ho or otherusers of the revolutionary platform. (RELATED:Twitter Suspends Its CEO At Same Time As Alt-Right Purge)

Well be rolling out a number of product changes in the days ahead. Some changes will be visible and some will be less so, Ho tweeted, later adding that there is a need for long overdue fixes to mute/block.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey also chimed in, highlighting a new approach.

The social media company has received tons of criticism from both ends of the debate, some arguing that it is not doing enough to remove offensive comment or the offensive commenters themselves, and others arguing that it is censoring content and not acting as a medium for free speech. (RELATED:Twitter Doesnt Rule Out Banning Trump If He Gets Too Unruly)

Twitter is currently dealing with a number of problems, namely, anumber of high-level staff departures in just the span of a few months, including its CTO, COO, vice president of product, and director of media partnerships and head of news, government and elections. (RELATED:Twitter Seems To Be Treading Water After A Rough Past Few Months)

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Twitter Says It's Developing New Tools For Online Censorship - Daily Caller

If you were watching ABC News last night, you may have seen something strange happen during a segment on Trumps Muslim ban. Some viewers report the feed was cut, and when it got rolling again, a completely different story was being told.

One Reddit user detailedthe incident in a post titled, Last night, ABC News was silenced:

I was watching the news with my sisters family and David was telling a story. He started it about Trump and the immigration problems going on right now and once the lady speaker started telling a story about a man who was a translator overseas for the US Gov., the picture went away and eventually her voice was slowly turned down to completely cut off. David showed back up and continued with a completely different story. He didnt tell what happened with that story and it seemed like 10 minutes later, they told the same story with a different script.

The threadgarnered hundreds of replies, many from people saying they saw the peculiar cut as well. Many, however, were skeptical it was censorship and pondered alternate explanations. Although the post was eventually labeled questionable information and locked to disable commenting because it broke several of the forums rules, it had already been upvoted thousands of times and made it to Redditsfront page. And as it goes on the internet, the information spread to other sites where it was presented as fact.

But what some feared to be censorship was no more than a technical glitch, according to a source at ABC News.

The source told the Observer that 10 minutes of the 23-minute show were focussed on immigration and that the glitch was fixed for later feeds, meaning anyone who watched later in a different time zone or online wouldve seen a typical broadcast.

While we were confirming the glitch with ABC News, theoriginal Reddit post was removed and the thread was updated to say the following: After reviewingthe video provided by OP we have come to the conclusion that this was most likely a technical glitch. As such, the post has been removed. If other evidence is found, please feel free to message us.

As for an explanation for why it seemed the script had been altered after the glitch, one Redditor, who claims to have worked in TV news as an anchor,reporter and producer, gave the following insight, which was then corroborated by more broadcast news professionals:

This was David not handling a live feed cutting out well. This happens quite often. From the producers standpoint, theres not much to do but move onto the next story and try and get the live feed back up for later in the show. David shouldve said something like, Having some technical problems, well revisit that story later in the show. Its likely both he and the producer panicked and just went right onto the next story. Uncommon for talent at that level to panic, but theyre only human. Sometimes theres not enough time to go back to a story. Also quite common.

While Trump has done many controversialthings in his 11 days as president, this new broadcast was safe from his executive orders.

More:
No, Trump Didn't Censor ABC News Last NightHere's What Really Happened - Observer

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Charlie Nash: Do you think censorship and public outrage is becoming a prominent problemagain in society? Have you faced any censorship issues while trying to maintain complete creative control overyour movies?

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Tom Six: Absolutely! Society has grown to a disgustingly mediocre and politically correct way of thinking. Like, the movie world only makes play-it-safe movies now. In Hollywood it is all about a producer with a calculator who wants to please everyone and is only concerned about making money. They have a system where you can type in words like Brad Pitt and Action and the computer will calculate the box-office. I think it is the worst way to make movies, that is not what film-making and art is all about. I believe in movies that bite, burn, shock, hurt, and are unconventional. Where a filmmaker is still a warrior fighting the mediocrity. I want audience to smell the dirty laundry.

In the UK, censors cut many minutes from The Human Centipede 2 by law. It feels like I made a comedy and they cut out all the good jokes. Its appalling. Nobody is forced to see a movie. Give audiences their own choice to watch it or not. The upside is they make great free worldwide publicity for me and they are losing their grip, like standard distribution companies lose their power because of theinternet. So Im unstoppable and I keep making the horrific movies I wanna make.

Six Entertainment Company

CN: Your new horror flickThe Onania Clubis coming out soon.Will your fans be even more horrified by your new movie than they were with the Human Centipede trilogy? Have you managed toachieve the impossible by outdoing your previous films?

TS: The Onania Club is a totally different movie than my human pedes. I want to stay very original, like all pede parts were totally different. I dont consider my movies typical horror films, but they are horrific and have pitch black humor (I came up with the Vanta black genre, meaning the blackest black possible). The Onania Club will go beyond everything evil you have ever seen on a psychological level. But I dont shock just to shock. Its just the way I think, and trust me it will divide audiences again from intense love or intense hate. It will certainly have a huge impact and stir things up, exactly the way it should be in these awful politically correct times. It will be a bit of polluted air in fresh environment.

CN: What would you say to the people who want to censor or shut down movies that try to push the envelope and shockaudiences?

TS: I want to Human Centipede them. My dear people, it is a fucking movie. It is all fictional. Not real. It is all make-belief. Its art. Dont treat grown-ups like children. Let people decide for themselves whether they want to see a movie or not. Nobody is forced to watch movies. Fuck them!

CN: You have an impeccable fashion taste, and have become almost as well-known for your vintage gentleman-style fits as your movies.What brands are your favorite?

TS: I do not care for brands. I dont want to pay them a lot of money for free advertisement.I love to shop at vintage stores or have my suits made. I love bespoke suits and when I buy a vintage suit, I will have it adjusted by my Amsterdam tailor. For me style is everything! I am decaying in style. What the hell happened? In the 40s and 50s people dressed great, but nowadays people walk around dressed like homeless people. I wish there was a fashion police that would execute people who wear torn denim jeans when not working in the coal mines and baseball caps backwards when not playing baseball.

Charlie Nash is a reporterforBreitbart Tech. You can follow himon Twitter@MrNashingtonorlike his page at Facebook.

Read some of Charlie Nashs previous exclusive interviews below:

Excerpt from:
EXCLUSIVE: 'Human Centipede' Director Tom Six on Political Correctness, Censorship, Fashion, and 'The Onania Club' - Breitbart News

BANGKOK A leader of the ruling junta said Monday that it will push ahead with new regulations decried by journalists as an attempt to gain control of the media.

The law, which would for the first time require all media professionals to obtain licenses, is being deliberated by junta lawmakers under the claim it would instill responsibility and ethics among reporters. Thirty Thai media associations gathered Sunday to announce their opposition to the bill, which stopped short of criticizing the junta for introducing it.

Deputy junta chairman Prawit Wongsuwan said their dissent is misguided.

The [junta] has never thought about controlling the media. We only want the media to speak the truth, Gen. Prawit said, despite its record of censoring and threatening critical reporters. I have never lied to reporters. I have always spoken the truth, and I want reporters to speak the truth, too.

Prawit also said the bill, called the Protecting Liberty and Promoting Ethics and Professional Standards of Media Profession Act, will be deliberated by the so-called National Reform Steering Assembly as planned.

Read:Thailands Media Protests Law to License All Journalists

Though proponents of the bill argue it is necessary to rein in the medias widespread disregard for basic ethics, representatives from more than 30 media organizations who gathered in protest at the Thai Journalists Association said the measures would go too far.

[The bill] was not based on the basic principles of protecting rights and liberty of media professions, read a joint statement released at Sundays news conference. Instead, it focuses on controlling the media by using state power to interfere with its independence.

The statement demanded that the bill be scrapped immediately, otherwise media associations would escalate measures in opposing the draft of this law to the very end.

But the tone at yesterdays protest was far from confrontational. In fact, a key media rep even struck a conciliatory note with the junta, saying that hes far more worried about potential abuse by a civilian governments to follow the current military regime.

I believe the current government wont use this law, Thepchai Yong, president of the Thai Broadcasting Journalists Association, told reporters. But the people who will abuse the law are the politicians who will come to power after the election.

He added, Politicians want this kind of law to control the media. Its just they cannot issue this kind of law under a democratic regime.

The draft of the law calls for registration of all reporters across all media platforms. The task of issuing, regulating and revoking such licences would fall to a committee which sources indicate would be made up of media professionals, unspecified experts and high-ranking government officials.

The bill also establishes guidelines for what is acceptable reporting. Section 27 specifically requires reporters to only present information that does not violate the morals of society, does not cause more harm than benefit and does not consider the publics benefit above all else.

Reporters found guilty of violating the media guidelines would be fined or even stripped of their licenses.

Related stories:

Prayuth Named Press Freedom Predator Again

Govt Deplores Foreign Media Coverage, BBC Coverage Blocked

Junta Grants Authorities Legal Immunity to Regulate Media

Read more from the original source:
Genteel Protest to Media Censorship Swatted Aside - Khaosod English

CDC headquarters in Druid Hills, Georgia.

When a long-planned 2017 climate change summit, slated to be held at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was abruptly canceled without explanation about a week before Pres. Donald Trumps inauguration, it was not because of a specific directive from his administration. But individuals involved with the conference say political worries influenced the decision.

The CDC had not responded to an e-mailed request for comment by the time of publication on Friday, and it was impossible to confirm any official reason for the altered plans. Some scheduled participants and a former CDC official, however, linked the agencys move to concerns about attitudes within the Trump administration.

Comments from Trump and some of his cabinet nominees about human-caused climate change (Trump has called it a hoax) had underscored their skepticism, and conference planners preemptively nixed the conference to prevent political backlash, says physician Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association and a scheduled opening speaker at the event. The decision was informed by the political environment, Benjamin says. Obviously it was informed by the fact that there were a lot of mixed messages about support for climate change [science], and during the campaign there was a lot said on that, he adds.

It was canceled because of political nervousness about the new administration's attitudes toward climate change work," says Howard Frumkin, former director of the CDCs National Center for Environmental Health and currently an environmental health professor at the University of Washington's School of Public Health.

In an e-mail to speakers, the CDC summit planners simply wrote, Unfortunately, we are unable to hold the Summit in February 2017 as scheduled. We are currently exploring options so that the summit may take place later in the year. We will provide additional details in early 2017, according to a copy of the e-mail seen by Scientific American.

The conference is now back onbut not at the CDC. Former Vice Pres. Al Gore will instead host the event on February 16 at the nonprofit Carter Center in Atlanta. It remains unclear, however, whether any governmental scientists will attend or speak, Benjamin says.

The new conference will be abridged to a one-day summit instead of the original three-day program, and will be sponsored by nongovernmental groups including the Harvard Global Health Institute and the Turner Foundation, along with Gores education and advocacy group, the Climate Reality Project.

I think its deeply problematic that the meeting was canceled in the first place, says Ed Maibach, director of the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, who had also been scheduled to speak at the CDC conference. I hope that our nations public health agenciesand by that I mean CDC, National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agencywill be allowed to participate in the replacement meeting, but I dont know if thats the case. Im glad that there is an alternative to the original meeting, but Im a little concerned that it will be perceived as a political eventnot a public health and science eventbased on the change in sponsorship.

Dina Fine Maron

Dina Fine Maron is an award-winning journalist and the associate editor for health and medicine at Scientific American. She is also a contributor to the publication's podcasts and Instant Egghead video series. She is based in Washington, D.C.

Credit: Nick Higgins

See the original post here:
CDC's Canceled Climate Change Summit Raises Self-Censorship Concerns - Scientific American