Kominfo telah matikan siaran tv analog di sejumlah kota besar, pada hari Jumat kemarin, 02/12/2022, untuk wilayah Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Semarang, Surabaya, dan Batam.
Komisioner Komisi Penyiaran Indonesia (KPI) Pusat Mohammad Reza mengatakan bahwa pemutusan sinyal TV analog pada lima wilayah dilakukan pada Sabtu, 3 Desember 2022 pukul 00.00 WIB.
"Pemutusan saluran TV analog giliran di wilayah Bandung, Semarang, Batam, Yogyakarta, dan Solo," kata Reza saat dihubungi Kompas.com.
Reza mengimbau kepada masyarakat untuk segera memperhatikan ketersediaan Set Top Box (STB) yang non-bantuan di tiap daerah.
"Lembaga penyiaran swasta dan pemangku kepentingan lainnya sudah menetapkan tanggal untuk penghentian siaran analog, 2 Desember jam 24.00," kata Direktur Penyiaran Kementerian Kominfo Geryantika Kurnia.
Sebelum Kominfo menetapkan tanggal dihentikannya siaran TV analog di enam kota besar Indonesia yakni pada 2 Desember 2022 mendatang, analog switch off (ASO) sudah terlebih dahulu dilaksanakan di Jabodetabek pada 2 November 2022 lalu.
Pada 2 November 2022 tercatat ada 222 wilayah di Indonesia yang siaran tv analognya dihentikan.
Wilayah ini termasuk 9 kabupaten di Jabodetabek dan 173 wilayah yang tidak dijangkau layanan TV terresterial.
Dan untuk 2 Desember 2022 ada enam kota besar yang siaran tv analognya akan dihentikan.
Kota-kota besar yang siaran tv analognya yang sudah dimatikan adalah Bandung, Batam, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Solo dan Surabaya.
Perlu diketahui frekuensi TV digital untuk siaran saluran stasiun televisi seperti RCTI, SCTV, Indosiar akan berubah menyesuaikan satelit Telkom 4.
Dalam perubahan frekuensi TV digital, di sinilah peran penting dari Set Top Box (STB).
Pengguna TV analog bisa mulai mengubah saluran TV digital dengan mengganti frekuensi dari sekarang.
The European Union has reached an agreement on a $60 a barrel price cap for Russian oil after Poland dropped its objections.
Poland previously did not agree with the proposed level of oil prices, demanding its reduction.
The EU may now launch a written approval process for the deal and intends to formally announce it on Sunday, Andrzej Sados, Poland's permanent representative to the European Union, said in a statement.
According to Sados, the agreement also provides for a price review mechanism that will keep the price cap at 5% below market value.
The Czech presidency in the Council of the EU countries has officially confirmed that the EU member states' envoys had reached an agreement on price cap for oil from Russia.
The United States welcomed the reports about the European Union reaching a price cap agreement, according to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
The West stepped up sanctions pressure on Russia over Ukraine, which led to higher prices for electricity, fuel and food in Europe and the United States.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said cheap and reliable Russian energy resources were Europe's competitive advantage, and even a partial rejection of them already had a negative impact on its economy and residents. And the US, pushing through the EU's complete rejection of Russian energy carriers and other resources, is leading to the de-industrialization of Europe, he said.
Commenting on the West's idea to limit prices for Russian energy resources, Putin said Russia would not supply anything abroad if this was contrary to its own interests. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia would not supply oil to countries that set any price cap. He added that such restrictions were interference in market tools, and Moscow was prepared to work with consumers ready for market conditions.
Under the agreement, Western companies will not be able to insure, finance or ship Russian oil unless it is sold for less than $60 a barrel, The Wall Street Journal reported.
EU leaders negotiated for days over the price cap with some nations like Poland and the Baltic States arguing for an even stricter price cap set at $30 a barrel. Nations with direct ties to the shipping industries that help transport Russian oil, like Greece, Cyprus and Malta, pushed for a higher price cap set at $70 a barrel, EuroNews reported Friday.
EU agrees, not Russia agrees. So the price is the result of the Russian offer. And as usual all the western media wrote it as if Russia had agreed to the price with additional sentences, the price was to put pressure on Russia That is a form of Western arrogance that still feels superior.
Flooding Ukraine with weapons is a destructive policy, Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out in a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday, according to the Kremlin press service.
"Attention was drawn to the destructive policy that is being pursued by Western countries, including Germany, who are flooding the Kiev regime with weapons and training Ukrainian troops," the Kremlin press service said in a statement.
According to the Kremlin, "as a result of all this, as well as of the comprehensive financial support for Ukraine, Kiev keeps outright rejecting the very idea of talks." "In addition, it encourages radical Ukrainian nationalists to commit more heinous crimes against civilians," the statement added.
"The Russian president called on Germany to reconsider its approach with regard to Ukraine developments," the statement stressed.
The leaders of Russia and Germany discussed various aspects of the situation around Ukraine. "Putin once again explained the details of Russia’s approach to conducting its special military operation," the Kremlin press service noted.
The conversation was initiated by Germany. Putin and Scholz last held a phone call on September 13.
Biden Wants to Avoid Expanding Conflict in Ukraine, Not Seeking War With Russia - Blinken
US President Joe Biden wants to avoid expanding the conflict in Ukraine, as the US does not want a war with Russia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.
In an interview with the France 2 broadcaster, the US official said that Washington would not determine the terms of negotiations with Russia for Kiev, but would support any decision of the Ukrainians.
Non-Recognition of New Russian Territories by US Impedes Dialogue, Kremlin Says
The United States still does not recognize the new territories of Russia, which significantly complicates the search for mutual ground for discussions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
"The United States still does not recognize the new territories as part of Russia. And, of course, this significantly complicates the search for some kind of mutual ground," Peskov told a briefing.
On Thursday, US President Joe Biden said earlier that he does not plan holding contacts with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future, but is open to such a possibility if the Russian president "shows interest" in ending the conflict in Ukraine.
Anak-anak yang berada di pengungsian terpusat di Desa Mangunkerta, Kecamatan Cugenang, kembali mengikuti Kegiatan belajar mengajar, setelah lebih dari sepekan terhenti karena sekolah mereka roboh oleh gempa bumi 5.6 Magnetudo.
Dengan kondisi yang sangat serba terbatas, namun tidak mengurangi antusias anak-anak untuk belajar. Semangat belajar mereka terlihat sangat tinggi. Seperti yang terlihat pagi tadi, pada hari Jumat, 02/12/2022, dari balik tenda darurat yang didirikan di lapangan bola basker SMP Negeri 1 Cugenang, semangat anak-anak seakan terpancar dari wajah yang berseri-seri.
Dari balik tenda berukuran tak kurang dari 6x10 meter, sorak-sorai anak-anak pun bak memecah lara, mengubah duka menjadi suka.
Satu demi satu, mereka berebut kesempatan menjawab pertanyaan dari guru pendamping. Tak ragu, mereka bahkan turut ambil bagian untuk maju ke depan saat diberi kesempatan untuk bernyanyi dan memperagakan bagaimana cuci tangan yang benar.
Kehadiran tenda belajar itu menjadi pelita harapan bagi anak-anak. Kepercayaan diri mereka bangkit dan seakan menolak untuk larut dalam kesedihan.
Heni, warga RT 03 RW 2, Kampung Cariu, Desa Mangunkerta, Kecamatan Cugenang, yang mengantarkan anaknya untuk ikut belajar dan bermain menuturkan bahwa sebelum ikut sekolah darurat, anaknya sering terlihat jenuh dan melamun di rumah.
Wanita 35 tahun itu kemudian mengajak anaknya untuk ikut kembali belajar agar tidak ketinggalan pelajaran dan tidak jenuh di rumah. Heni mengatakan, sejak satu hari mengikuti belajar di tenda darurat, anaknya kembali ceria.
“Saya antar anak ke sini biar nggak ketinggalan pelajaran, biar tidak jenuh di rumah, biar tidak melamun. Kalau di sini kan banyak teman-temannya dan belajar sambil bermain bersama,” ucap Heni.
Siswa yang mengikuti kegiatan belajar mengajar ini mulai dari Taman Kanak-Kanak, Sekolah Dasar, dan Sekolah Menengah Pertama.
Sebelum memulai belajar, para siswa melaksanakan senam pagi untuk menjaga kebugaran selama kurang lebih 10 menit.
Setelah itu, para siswa akan diberikan materi pelajaran sesuai jenjang pendidikan. Untuk siswa TK maka mereka akan diberi kesempatan untuk bermain sambil belajar. Bagi anak-anak TK, mewarnai gambar menjadi pelajaran favorit mereka.
Untuk usia SD, maka mereka akan diberikan materi pelajaran sesuai tingkatannya seperti berhitung, menulis kata dan kalimat hingga cerdas tangkas. Bagi siswa SMP, pelajaran seperti mengarang cerita pendek, ilmu agama, ilmu pengetahuan umum diberikan secara bergantian.
Sekolah dibuka pada pukul 08.00 sampai 10.00 WIB. Kemudian sore hari sampai petang, mereka mengikuti sekolah agama Islam di tenda pengungsian yang dilanjutkan sampai salat berjamaah bersama.
Pjs Vice President Corporate Communication Heppy Wulansari, menjelaskan bahwa kegiatan ini bertujuan untuk menghilangkan rasa trauma dan sedih bagi para pengungsi, terlebih pada anak-anak.
"Kita adakan bermain bersama anak-anak supaya anak-anak bisa lebih senang dan rileks menghadapi pasca gempa. Hal ini kita lakukan juga untuk membuat mengurangi rasa traumatis akibat gempa yang terjadi di Senin kemarin," ungkap Heppy dikutip dari siaran pers, pada hari Jumat, 02/12/2022.
Heppy menambahkan bahwa kegiatan seperti ini rutin dilakukan di posko Pertamina Peduli. Ia pun berharap, kegiatan trauma healing bisa membantu para pengungsi khususnya anak-anak dari sisi psikologis.
"Harusnya mereka memiliki waktu dan masa bermain yang cukup supaya tumbuh kembangnya tidak terganggu. Kami harap itu (trauma healing) bisa mengurangi dan tidak ada dampak yang buruk bagi psikis anak-anak," tambahnya.
Lina Marlina (40) mengungkapkan terima kasihnya kepada Pertamina karena telah menggelar kegiatan trauma healing. Menurutnya hal ini sangat membantu anak-anak agar tidak trauma pasca mengalami kejadian gempa bumi bermagnitudo 5,6 yang mengguncang Cianjur.
"Alhamdulillah anak-anak jadi senang. Jadi enggak trauma lagi. Jadi semangat lagi. Tadinya sempat trauma, suka takut. Terima kasih untuk Pertamina," kata Lina.
Pada kesempatan yang sama, Fatma (11) salah seorang anak yang tinggal di posko pengungsian Pertamina Peduli mengaku terbantu dengan adanya kegiatan ini. Ia mengaku sudah tidak trauma akan kejadian gempa.
The famous whistleblower has been living in Russia since 2013 after he was stripped of his US passport for leaking classified documents revealing US domestic surveillance programs and an international espionage web.
Edward Snowden has officially become a Russian citizen, taking an oath of allegiance and receiving a Russian passport on Thursday, Anatoly Kucherena, the US-born whistleblower's lawyer, said.
He noted that Snowden is thankful for the opportunity to become Russian, stressing that now he can't be extradited to a foreign state. In the meantime, Snowden's wife is also applying for Russian citizenship, he added.
The official ceremony comes after a September decree by President Vladimir Putin granted Snowden Russian citizenship. The ex-CIA contractor commented on the issue, saying that after "two years of waiting and nearly ten years of exile" obtaining a Russian passport would provide stability for him, his wife, and two sons.
In June 2013, Snowden was charged by the US Justice Department with violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and government property theft, after he exposed classified data to the press. The data showed that US intelligence services and their allies were spying on US citizens and foreign leaders on a grand scale.
Following this, he had to escape the US and his passport was revoked when Snowden was heading to South America. He had to spend a month in Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport until the Russian government granted him asylum.
Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor turned rapporteur, had previously been granted Russian citizenship in September 2022. The news was confirmed in a decree by Russian President Vladimir Putin posted Monday to the Kremlin's website.
Snowden first arrived in Russia in 2013 after leaking secret files that revealed a vast web of domestic and international surveillance by the U.S. government. The Kremlin subsequently granted him asylum, even as the U.S. pursued espionage charges.
In 2020, Snowden announced he and his wife had applied for Russian citizenship as they were expecting their first child during the pandemic.
The whistleblower has maintained — and defended — his silence over the Kremlin's recent actions in Ukraine, saying his views were no longer "useful" after he wrongly insisted U.S. intelligence was flawed in predicting a Russian attack on its neighbor.
"Yes, he got [a passport], he took the oath," Anatoly Kucherena, Snowden's lawyer, told the state news agency TASS.
Snowden, 39, did not immediately reply to a message seeking comment on the report.
Defenders of Snowden hail him as a modern-day dissident for exposing the extent of U.S. spying. Opponents say he is a traitor who endangered lives by exposing the secret methods that Western spies use to listen in on hostile states and militants.
It’s unclear whether Snowden swore the oath of allegiance at the same time as he was granted a passport, but the two are common procedures when foreigners become Russian citizens. The text includes swearing “to protect the freedom and independence of the Russian Federation, to be loyal to Russia, to respect its culture, history and traditions,” and to promise to “perform the duties of a citizen of the Russian Federation for the good of the state and society.”
added that Snowden’s wife, Lindsay Mills, was also undergoing the Russian citizenship application process and that the couple’s children would likely attend Russian schools, when ready. He said he communicated mainly in English with his client but that Snowden also speaks Russian, albeit “not perfectly.”
After being granted citizenship, Snowden tweeted : “After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our SONS. After two years of waiting and nearly ten years of exile, a little stability will make a difference for my family. I pray for privacy for them and for us all.”
After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our SONS.
After two years of waiting and nearly ten years of exile, a little stability will make a difference for my family. I pray for privacy for them—and for us all. https://t.co/24NUK21TAopic.twitter.com/qLfp47uzZ4
He explained his decision to seek dual citizenship on Twitter in 2020 as being necessary to prevent being separated from his son. In an “era of pandemics and closed borders, we’re applying for dual US-Russian citizenship,” he wrote.
“Lindsay and I will remain Americans, raising our son with all the values of the America we love — including the freedom to speak his mind. And I look forward to the day I can return to the States, so the whole family can be reunited,” he added.
Lindsay and I will remain Americans, raising our son with all the values of the America we love—including the freedom to speak his mind. And I look forward to the day I can return to the States, so the whole family can be reunited.
Snowden’s revelations, published first in The Washington Post and the Guardian newspaper in 2013, caused international shock waves and were among the most consequential intelligence breaches in U.S. history.
PM Finlandia, Sanna Marin yang berusia 37 tahun menyerang balik pembawa acara TV selama diskusi tentang video tariannya dengan menyebut dirinya "orang muda" yang ingin "berakting seusianya".
Perdana Menteri Finlandia Sanna Marin kehilangan ketenangannya dalam pertengkaran sengit dengan seorang pembawa acara TV Australia, yang kebetulan berbicara tentang video tariannya yang terkenal.
Saat pembawa acara TV, Sarah Ferguson bertanya kepadanya tentang kontroversi atas foto dan rekaman yang muncul dari tarian Marin awal tahun ini dan diminta untuk mengomentari "kemarahan" yang dipicunya, karena banyak yang menyarankan perilaku seperti itu tidak pantas dilakukan oleh seorang perdana menteri, Marin membalas dengan mengklaim bahwa tidak ada kemarahan.
“Sebenarnya, tidak ada itu. Lebih banyak jurnalis dan media yang membuat tontonan atau hiruk pikuk ini,” tegas Marin.
“Masyarakat sangat mendukung. Mereka akan menghentikan saya di jalanan dan mengatakan bahwa kami mendukung Anda, teruslah menari. Itu mungkin hanya tontonan karena menarik dari sudut pandang media.” klaim Marin.
Marin lebih lanjut menekankan bahwa politisi juga "manusia" dan menyebut dirinya "cukup muda" pada usia 37 tahun.
“Saya ingin bertindak seperti usia saya. Saya bertemu teman-teman saya, saya pergi menari, saya pergi keluar jika saya punya waktu luang, meskipun saya tidak punya banyak waktu luang, ”katanya.
Awal tahun ini, Marin difilmkan menari di klub malam Finlandia dengan cara yang sugestif, yang membuatnya mendapatkan julukan "Party PM" dan "Party Sanna".
Antara lain, dia digambarkan sedang menari mesra dengan influencer media sosial Finlandia Sabina Sarkka, dengan tangan terlipat satu sama lain, serta penyanyi Finlandia Olavi Uusivirta, yang kemudian membantah berselingkuh dengan perdana menteri.
Dalam video lain, teman-teman Marin terdengar berteriak yang banyak diartikan sebagai "geng bedak", dengan "bedak (flour)" menjadi nama slang untuk kokain di Finlandia. Tuduhan tersebut memaksa Marin untuk secara resmi menyangkal menggunakan narkoba dan bahkan melakukan tes narkoba untuk membuktikan bahwa dia tidak bersalah. Itu kemudian kembali sebagai negatif.
Pada bulan November, Marin akhirnya dibebaskan dari pelanggaran setelah penyelidikan resmi berlarut-larut yang berlangsung beberapa bulan.
Namun, Marin harus meminta maaf atas foto dan video yang “tidak pantas” yang diambil oleh teman-temannya di rumah dinasnya. Salah satunya memperlihatkan dua wanita sedang berciuman, dengan kemeja ditarik ke atas dan perut terbuka. Sebuah tanda dengan teks "Finlandia" menyembunyikan salah satu payudara wanita, dengan layar latar belakang biru resmi pemerintah Finlandia terlihat jelas di latar belakang.
Sebelumnya, perdana menteri Finlandia ketahuan berpesta ditengah lonjakan infeksi virus corona, ketika seluruh negara disuruh tinggal di rumah dan "meratakan kurva".
The data comes as part of a Global Witness and NYU Cybersecurity for Democracy study regarding Facebook, Yotube and Tiktok's moderation security. NYU Cybersecurity for Democracy is a part of the Center for Cybersecurity at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. It was formerly known as the Online Political Transparency Project.
Facebook failed to block 75% of ads containing death threats to election workers during the US midterm elections, researchers have found.
The ads were released by the researchers "on the day of or day before the 2022 US midterm elections" to test Facebook, Youtube and Tiktok's moderation capabilities.
The content of all the ads was based on previously reported reals threats, and was submitted as ads in order to let the investigators "schedule them in the future and, importantly, to remove them before they go live, while still being reviewed by the platforms and undergoing their content moderation processes."
They included texts with "statements that people would be killed, hanged, or executed, and that children would be molested", all with corrected grammar. Similarly, the "threats were chillingly clear in their language; none were coded or difficult to interpret... all violate Meta, TikTok and Google’s ad policies."
According to the report, Facebook approved nine of the ten English-language ads and six of the ten Spanish-language ones.
YouTube and TikTok showed better results, with both platforms suspending the accounts from which the ads were released for violating their policies, according to the report.
Meta commented on the findings: ”This is a small sample of ads that are not representative of what people see on our platforms. Content that incites violence against election workers or anyone else has no place on our apps and recent reporting has made clear that Meta’s ability to deal with these issues effectively exceeds that of other platforms. We remain committed to continuing to improve our systems.”
Global Witness and the NYU Cybersecurity for Democracy team called on Meta* to "urgently increase the content moderation capabilities", "publish their pre-election risk assessment for the United States" and "allow verified independent third-party auditing".
Global Witness and the NYU Cybersecurity for Democracy team called on Meta* to "urgently increase the content moderation capabilities", "publish their pre-election risk assessment for the United States" and "allow verified independent third-party auditing".
Twitter owner Elon Musk accused the platform's former leadership of interfering in elections through content moderation and failed public trust on November 30. He promised that Twitter 2.0 will be far more effective, transparent and even-handed.
The Tesla CEO's assertion about Twitter's alleged election interference came in response to comments made by Twitter's former head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth, who claimed that the social media giant was not safer under Elon Musk.
Roth delivered his comments on November 29 at a Knight Foundation conference, going so far as accusing Musk of running the company like a dictator.
Musk's answer wasn't long in coming: "The obvious reality, as long-time users know, is that Twitter has failed in trust and safety for a very long time and has interfered in elections."
Even though Musk did not specify which elections he thought were affected by the social media platform, it was Roth who is considered responsible for suppressing the New York Post's "laptop from hell" story.
The October 2020 bombshell involved both Hunter Biden, the son of then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, and Joe himself. Roth was also behind the decision to ban former President Donald Trump from the platform after the controversial January 6 storming of the Capitol building, according to the US media. The former Twitter exec resigned along with the other employees who did not share Musk's free-speech vision following the takeover.
Deleting 'Russian Bots' Prior to 2018 Midterms
The Musk-Roth row has once again shed light on Twitter and other Silicon Valley giants' apparent meddling in US politics and suppression of free speech in clear violation of the First Amendment.
It was 2018, the year of midterm elections, when Republicans raised the alarm over Twitter's deleting follower accounts and silencing of conservative voices. In the beginning of July 2018, the US mainstream press announced that Twitter would fake accounts to increase the authenticity of the platform.
The move was justified by the alleged activity of "Russian trolls". As a result, many prominent figures, most notably in the conservative camp, lost substantial numbers of followers. Then President Donald Trump lambasted Twitter for "totally discriminating" against Republican Party and conservative users, but Twitter and its CEO Jack Dorsey claimed that the reduction was aimed at bots.
Shadow Banning of GOP Figures Before Midterms
On July 25, 2018, a US conservative media outlet drew attention to the fact that Twitter algorithms were preventing the accounts of prominent Republicans, including RNC Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, from appearing in search results. The list of "shadow-banned" conservatives included GOP Representatives Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan, and Matt Gaetz, as well as Donald Trump Jr.’s spokesman Andrew Surabian.
Previously, Twitter representatives explained that the shadow-banning algorithms were analyzing "account behavior" in order to reduce the visibility of accounts believed to spread bigoted content. The major goal of the tool was to boost the visibility of accounts "contributing to the healthy conversation" in searches.
However, according to the conservative media outlet, the mechanism was also instrumentalized against Republicans while their Democratic peers weren't affected by it. Quite the contrary, Democratic accounts were routinely "auto-populated" in Twitter's drop-down search box.
On July 26, 2018, Trump stepped in, accusing Twitter of political bias.
However, Twitter responded on the same day that it was just a "bug": "We are aware that some accounts are not automatically populating in our search box, and (we're) shipping a change to address this," a Twitter spokesperson said. "The profiles, tweets and discussions about these accounts do appear when you search for them. To be clear, our behavioral ranking doesn't make judgments based on political views or the substance of tweets."
In November 2018, the Dems won the popular vote by more than 9.7 million votes – the largest midterm margin for any party – and took control of the House while Republicans retained their Senate majority.
2020 Elections: Twitter Tagging Trump's Tweets
Still, the row between the GOP and the platform over silencing conservative voices continued. It gained its apogee prior to the 2020 presidential election.
In May 2020 Twitter started editorializing Trump's tweets. In particular, the social media giant tagged a fact-check warning to the president's tweet concerning potential fraud in mail-in voting. The tag, reading "Get the facts about mail-in ballots", took a user to a Twitter page that claims that the US president's statements that mail-in ballots would lead to "rigged elections" are "false." Trump immediately lambasted Twitter for "interfering in the 2020 presidential election."
"Big Tech is doing everything in their very considerable power to censor in advance of the 2020 Election. If that happens, we no longer have our freedom," the president tweeted at the time.
Nonetheless, Twitter continued to editorialize the then-president's posts, in particular, adding warning labels to Trump's tweets concerning the issues related to the COVID pandemic.
Hunter Biden 'Laptop from Hell'
In October 2020, Twitter did its best to suppress the Hunter Biden story, which cast a shadow on his father, the Democratic presidential hopeful. A series of exposés stemming from Hunter's abandoned laptop, later branded the "laptop from hell," shed light on his murky deals with foreign moneybags and alleged trading of his father's political influence for cold, hard cash.
While Facebook* simply limited the circulation of its story on the platform, Twitter went further, completely banning the sharing of the newspaper's Biden story. Moreover, Twitter placed a freeze on the account of the New York Post that broke the story. Later US conservative pollsters found out that a substantial part of Americans believe that if the Hunter Biden saga had not been suppressed, Joe Biden would not have won the election.
'Big Lie' Pretext
The 2020 presidential election was mired in controversy and led to the January 6 Capitol breach with those storming the building believing that the US Congress was about to certify fraudulent votes.
Twitter purges immediately followed. The account of Donald Trump – then sitting president of the US – was banned. Numerous accounts of Trump's MAGA followers and his close associates were permanently deleted.
Simultaneously, many conservatives reported huge cuts in the number of followers which steadily continued for days. Twitter continued its "tagging" policy targeting those who questioned the fairness of the 2020 vote. The platform also later deleted accounts of Republican state legislatures involved in audits of the 2020 election results, largely in line with the Democratic Party's narrative that everyone who doubted that the vote was fair is spreading the "Big Lie."
Twitter & Erosion of Trust
After Elon Musk took the reins of Twitter in October 2022, he promised to reinstate free speech on the platform. On November 19, 2022, the account of former President Donald Trump was restored by Musk.
The new owner of Twitter signalled he was "fine" with Trump not tweeting, even though his account has been revived. "The important thing is that Twitter corrected a grave mistake in banning his account, despite no violation of the law or terms of service. Deplatforming a sitting President undermined public trust in Twitter for half of America," Musk tweeted.
US conservatives don't believe in Big Tech's impartiality and have repeatedly lambasted Silicon Valley giants for being in bed with the Democratic Party.
Elon Musk pledged to restore that trust: "Twitter 2.0 will be far more effective, transparent and even-handed," promised the new CEO.
