Well, it looks like NBC News’ Verification Center tried to go after conservative news sites and ended up peddling fake news instead. It comes after a story they pushed claiming that Google has demonetized The Federalist. Yet, Google denied they did any such thing, even refuting it on their Twitter account. This forced NBC News to edit their piece:
Google has banned ZeroHedge, a far-right website that often traffics in conspiracy theories, from its advertising platform over policy violations found in the comments section of stories about recent Black Lives Matter protests.
Google also issued a warning on Tuesday to The Federalist over comments on articles related to recent protests.
A Google spokesperson said in an email on Monday that it demonetized the websites after determining they violated its policies on content related to race.
“We have strict publisher policies that govern the content ads can run on and explicitly prohibit derogatory content that promotes hatred, intolerance, violence or discrimination based on race from monetizing," the spokesperson wrote. "When a page or site violates our policies, we take action. In this case, we’ve removed both sites’ ability to monetize with Google.”
After publication of this story, Google backtracked Tuesday, clarifying that The Federalist had been warned about policy violations but still had time to address them.
The Federalist was never demonetized.
— Google Communications (@Google_Comms) June 16, 2020
We worked with them to address issues on their site related to the comments section.
— Google Communications (@Google_Comms) June 16, 2020
I feel like maybe some people aren't very good at their jobs. Maybe a whole lot of people.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) June 16, 2020
It's fuckups all the way down. pic.twitter.com/IwRKTJPCNS
The NBC News Verification Center appears to be a brand new project of NBC News. Its twitter account was created in April 2020.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) June 16, 2020
Nice work, if you can get it. Oh, btw, don't forget to pay for journalism. It's important. https://t.co/y8GegRV77c
The Federalist removed their comments section. Yet, upon publication of this story, which was a train wreck from the start, Adele-Momoko Fraser, who wrote the piece, thanked the UK-based Center for Countering Digital Hate and their Stop Funding Fake News campaign for their “hard work and collaboration.” Was there collusion here? We shouldn't be shocked, but the best part is that Fraser's attempt to clarify only made the situation worse. I mean, she did pretty much admit this was a 'woke' social justice move:
NEW -- from @NBC_VC. Thanks to @SFFakeNews and @CCDHate for their hard work and collaboration! https://t.co/dorhdZy1t1
— Adele-Momoko Fraser (@AMFraserNBC) June 16, 2020
1/ To clarify this earlier tweet, we obtained this research exclusively from @SFFakeNews but we did not collaborate on the research itself. https://t.co/RH4TeZJSYr
— Adele-Momoko Fraser (@AMFraserNBC) June 17, 2020
2/ Additionally - after the publication of this story, Google backtracked, clarifying that The Federalist had been warned about policy violations but still had time to address them. It now has three days to remove the violations before a ban goes into effect. //
— Adele-Momoko Fraser (@AMFraserNBC) June 17, 2020
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 17, 2020
To clarify: You coordinated w activists in the UK & abused your platform to try to punish a US outlet you didn't like by reporting them to Google for stuff in their comments section while pretending they had published something that would be worthy of a ban. Then you celebrated. https://t.co/3TA7EqvNkW
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) June 17, 2020
Your own reporter admitted this was an activist effort by her and others to try to demonetize a competing news outlet. We now know it wasn't even based on anything that outlet published, but comments in an article. Is NBC News now responsible for any comments on their site? https://t.co/ibwYjNRmRr
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) June 16, 2020
You thanked them for their hard work & collaboration in their efforts to compromise The Federalist, a publication that’s a bit too Republican-ish for your tastes. And then you threw up a Black Lives Matter hashtag. It’s OK to be an activist but don’t call yourself a journalist. pic.twitter.com/SVdR776n9s
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) June 17, 2020
SMDH. The incompetence is staggering.
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) June 17, 2020
Remember to the Left, words are violence. Silence is violence. And therefore, anything that makes them uncomfortable is violent and hateful and any pieces criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement could slate you for demolition by the left-wing mob. Coach Mike Gundy of Oklahoma State University is under siege because he simply wore a One America News T-shirt that criticized the movement. Cornell Law Professor William Jacobson is now facing calls for his firing after his blog, Legal Insurrection, published a couple of posts criticizing BLM.
These people hate us, folks. You all know that, though someone should probably tell Sen. Marco Rubio. Show no mercy for you shall receive none. That should be the first rule in dealing with the American Left.
Also, this NBC News Verification Center looks like a fairly new venture. A huge round of applause for this rake-stepping moment.
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