In a statement that could have been issued by Stalin or Mussolini, the President of the United States called journalism “an evil propaganda machine” with “false, biased & evil” reporting. The catalyst? A leaked @NYTimes town hall that debated his racism: pressthink.org/2019/08/bad-he…
Hard to start a Sunday morning with a new low in authoritarian rhetoric from a American President instead of a message of peace, grace, kindness, charity, or love.
Sadly, this what is what unhinged, unchecked, pathological narcissism & anti-social personality disorder looks like.
When a debate at a town hall with the journalists of a newspaper of record focuses on the question of *how* to report on Trump’s well-documented racism: nytimes.com/interactive/20… instead of *if* he is a racist, the jig is up. He knows it. So he attacks the @nytimes’ credibility.
Trump was warned about the global impact of a @potus calling journalists the “enemy of the people” making “fake news.” But he’s doubled down. Today, he called journalism “evil,” contradicting US govt policy on the role of the press in democratic societies: sunlightfoundation.com/2017/03/08/the…
@POTUS “Fake news” is journalism he doesn’t like.
“Enemies” are journalists who expose his lies & corruption.
Both are intentional:
“I want to demean you and discredit you so that when you do negative stories about me, no one will believe you.”-@realDonaldTrump
No @POTUS should do this
I hope @PostBaron or @deanbaquet or @murraymatt or @nicole_carroll understand what Trump is doing, & has done. What it means to have an racist, xenophobic autocrat as president. Their papers’ role is not just reporting on his words, acts & impact, but warning the public of risks.
And I hope that @JoeBiden@BernieSanders@ewarren & other politicians vying for the Democratic nomination understand how important it is to defend the role of the press in democracies. sunlightfoundation.com/2017/05/25/ame… Nuanced critique welcome, but not attack or indictment of “the media.”
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Cold take: The arrest of Pavel Durov is not a global threat to freedom of expression, but rather a threat to executives of tech companies who behave with impunity when a platform they operate is abused by organized criminals or corrupt politicians. civic-texts.ghost.io/what-the-arres…
This is not the “end of global social media,” as @semaforben suggested, but it may be the beginning of the end of impunity for tech billionaires who behave as if they are beyond the reach of accountability for harms that their unregulated platforms cause offline.
“We have spent many hours at 404 Media discussing amongst ourselves why there is so much crime on @Telegram itself and why Telegram has continued to let blatant criminal organizations operate on its platform in open, unencrypted channels. The only theory that makes any sense thus far is that the company sees itself as operating entirely outside the law.” 404media.co/how-telegrams-…
Transparency & accountability have not been a priority for a @WhiteHouse that briefs on background & relegates open government to a compliance exercise.
Opacity atop secrecy: @politico granted US officials anonymity to say @DeptofDefense did not tell @POTUS @JakeSullivan46 & NSC aides @SecDef was hospitalized for 3 days,
Austin recognized he “could have done better job” informing the public.
@politico @DeptofDefense @POTUS @JakeSullivan46 @SecDef Official opacity: @Axios granted the @WhiteHouse anonymity to claim that President Biden & Austin had “a warm conversation” & that @POTUS “has full confidence in @SecDef & is “ looking forward to him being back at the Pentagon.”
I heard a thunderclap in DC on a sunny day.
It appears it was a sonic boom from @DeptofDefense fighters scrambled from Andrews @airforce Base to intercept an unresponsive Cessna that overflew DC.
This is the least useful PSA I’ve encountered in some time, @AlertDC — could you please investigate and then elaborate when you confirm what has happened, @DC_HSEMA@SafeDC ?
🚨✈️🛫💨💥?
I take it back, @AlertDC: it was useful to hear that “there is no great at this time,” but being aware of reports of a loud “boom” doesn’t add much context for millions of people wondering what we heard.
If you know there was a sonic boom from scrambled fighters, please say so.
I’m at the historic @WarnerTheater in DC to bear witness what @PowerUSAID invited all Americans to learn about this morning:
How Ukraine is delivering services online in a democracy at war with @USAID. @karaswisher live now: usaid.gov/diiaindc
19M Ukrainians using DIAA now
As @karaswisher said, there has a been backpack against disruptive technologies like the Internet, smartphones, & social media.
We now worry about AI.
But all governments must harness these technologies to provide critical info & deliver services to networked publics, everywhere.
Today, @PowerUSAID says delivering services showed how “robust & secure digital public infrastructure” enabled Ukrainians to access services in a war while minimizing corruption.
She says @USAID supported in e-gov in Ukraine since 2016. “
The result: “Government in a smartphone.”
I find it encouraging to see @USAID@StateDRL rejoining international open government circles.
It’s discouraging @OpenGovPart@OGP_IRM have said so little about @WhiteHouse45@WhiteHouse acting contrary to process after @POTUS45 made a mockery of the US being in “good standing.”