fascism is not an opinion - fascism is a crime!

‘Propaganda arm’: TikTok search glitch stokes fear over Trump’s new alliance with tech titans – #censorship

Meanwhile, Meta users also reported election related search terms being blocked. Users on TikTok said they have been unable to access search results for terms including “Donald Trump rigged election” in the wake of the president’s inauguration yesterday. Instead, they were met with a sad robot face and a message reading “No results found.” Users were also warned that such phrases “may be associated with behavior or content that violates our guidelines.” The pop-up comes following negotiations to revive access to the app, which was briefly blocked this weekend as a ban loomed. Following the reinstatement, U.S. TikTok users were greeted with a message thanking President Donald Trump for his “efforts,” which included an executive order promising companies wouldn’t be punished for not enforcing the ban. And that left users speculating that the censorship of Trump-specific terms was tied to the app and the president’s new closeness.  On TikTok, one user posted a video of the “no results found” page for “Donald Trump Rigged Election,” captioning it: “And here we have it folks. Confirmation that TikTok has changed. Censorship at its finest. This should concern you whether you voted for him or not.” On X, one person pointed out the region-specific nature of this censorship, with U.K. TikTok accounts able to access “Donald Trump rigged election” search results. As TikTok users tried their own searches and were met with similar restrictions, they accused the app of becoming “Trump’s propaganda arm.” A TikTok spokesperson told the Daily Dot that no policy had been implemented and that given the difficulties in shutting off and restoring access to U.S. users, hiccups could occur in the app’s functions. But TikTok isn’t the only app that seemed to have political issues during the inauguration. On Instagram, users reported the hashtag #democrat was blocked. Unlike the alleged TikTok censorship, #Democrat was apparently censored for users beyond the U.S., with Instagramers in Indonesia and India also reporting search results that were blocked

via dailydot: ‘Propaganda arm’: TikTok search glitch stokes fear over Trump’s new alliance with tech titans

By , ago

AfD in Sachsen-Anhalt will Landeszentrale für politische Bildung abschaffen

Die AfD-Fraktion im Landtag von Sachsen-Anhalt will die Landeszentrale für politische Bildung abschaffen. Über einen entsprechenden Antrag soll in den kommenden Tagen debattiert werden. AfD-Fraktionsvize Siegmund sagte in Magdeburg mit Blick auf die Landeszentrale, es handele sich um – Zitat – „klare politische Indoktrination“, die nicht mit Steuergeldern finanziert werden dürfe. Stattdessen schlägt die Partei vor, ein „Landesinstitut für staatspolitische Bildung und kulturelle Identität“ einzurichten, das sich etwa mit deutscher Brauchtumspflege und einer Stärkung der deutschen Sprache und Landeskunde befassen soll.

via dlf: AfD in Sachsen-Anhalt will Landeszentrale für politische Bildung abschaffen

By , ago

Former Scottish political party leader quits X, accusing Elon Musk of ‘Nazi salute’

Richard Leonard said it was time to ‘draw the line’ over Elon Musk and X Aformer leader of Scottish Labour has quit X after accusing its owner Elon Musk of making a “Nazi salute” during a speech celebrating the inauguration of Donald Trump. Richard Leonard, who is an MSP for the Central Scotland region, said he could “no longer justify contributing to a platform run by this man”. Mr Musk made the gesture – in which he placed his right hand over his heart and then thrust the same arm out into the air diagonally – when speaking at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Monday.

via scotsman: Former Scottish political party leader quits X, accusing Elon Musk of ‘Nazi salute’

By , ago

Neo-Nazis rejoice over Elon Musk’s Nazi salute at Donald Trump’s inauguration celebration

“We are so back,” wrote on well-known Holocaust denier. Only hours after Donald Trump began his second term, Elon Musk made the administration’s values crystal clear with two unequivocal Nazi salutes while speaking at an inauguration rally. “Elections come and go; some elections are important, some are not, but this one really mattered,” Musk told the crowd at DC’s Capital One Arena. “And I just want to say thank you for making it happen. Thank you.” At that, he slapped his right hand across his chest, grunted, and threw his arm straight in the air with his palm down – a clear Nazi salute. He then turned to the crowd behind him and did it again. The moment has enlivened neo-Nazis across the country who believe Musk was signaling to them. “WE ARE F**KING BACK,” wrote an administrator of a Nazi meme page on Telegram beside a clip of Musk doing the salute, according to Wired. Christopher Pohlhaus, who leads the neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe wrote on his Telegram channel of the moment: “I don’t care if this was a mistake, I’m going to enjoy the tears over it.” Holocaust denier and right-wing commentator Evan Kilgore called the moment “incredible” and declared, “We are so back.” In response to the salute, Democratic Organizer Gabrien Gregory wrote on Bluesky, “They aren’t hiding it anymore. We need to be ready for the political fight of our lives.” (…) Musk has a history of supporting far-right extremists and specifically neo-Nazis. Last year, his company X gave “Premium” blue checkmarks to at least 150 paid neo-Nazi subscribers. These subscriber accounts regularly violated X’s policies against hate speech by reposting hateful views, swastika imagery, Holocaust denialism, speeches from Adolf Hitler, and antisemitic content praising violence against Jews and other groups. Several of the posts received millions of views in just seven days in March 2024, including one repeating the debunked claim that 6 million Jews didn’t die in the Holocaust. The subscribers pay $8 a month and benefit from “prioritization” that helps make their posts visible to others. Thousands of unverified non-subscribers repost this content, spreading and normalizing neo-Nazi views. Since Musk bought X for $44 billion in October 2022, hate content has proliferated on the site. Musk himself reinstated numerous right-wing, anti-LGBTQ+, and neo-Nazi accounts that had previously been banned from the platform. He has also repeated transphobic talking points and neo-Nazi conspiracy theories like the “Great Replacement Theory,” causing big-name advertisers to flee. The site’s ad revenue has decreased by 50% and it may lose another $75 million as advertisers stay away. Musk has responded by telling advertisers to “f**k off” and suing watchdog organizations that have reported on X’s hate speech problem

via lgbtnation: Neo-Nazis rejoice over Elon Musk’s Nazi salute at Donald Trump’s inauguration celebration

AI-generated; Screenshot X
By , ago

‘The gesture speaks for itself’: Germans respond to Musk’s apparent Nazi salute

Some say it was an unambiguous Nazi salute but others are unsure and say focus should be on Musk’s stated support for far-right. There were angry reactions across Europe to Elon Musk’s apparent use of a salute banned for its Nazi links in Germany, where some condemned it as malicious provocation or an outreach of solidarity to far-right groups. Michel Friedman, a prominent German-French publicist and former deputy chair of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, described Musk’s actions – at an event after Donald Trump’s swearing in as US president – as a disgrace and said Musk had shown that a “dangerous point for the entire free world” had been reached. Friedman, who descends from a family of Polish Jews, hardly any of whom survived the Holocaust, told the daily Tagesspiegel he had been shocked when watching the inauguration live on television, adding that as far as he was concerned Musk had unambiguously performed the Nazi “Heil Hitler” salute, despite attempts to downplay it. “I thought to myself, the breaking of taboos is reaching a point that is dangerous for the entire free world. The brutalisation, the dehumanisation, Auschwitz, all of that is Hitler. A mass murderer, a warmonger, a person for whom people were nothing more than numbers – fair game, not worth mentioning,” Friedman said. (…) Lenz Jacobsen, a journalist, wrote in Die Zeit in a piece headlined A Hitler salute is a Hitler salute is a Hitler salute: “Whoever on a political stage, making a political speech in front of a partly far-right audience, elongates his arm diagonally in the air both forcefully and repeatedly, is making a Hitler salute. There’s no such ‘probably’ or ‘similar to’ or ‘controversial’ about it. The gesture speaks for itself.” Miriam Hollstein, the chief reporter for Stern magazine, wrote on X that the salute was a distraction from other controversial issues to do with Musk and had received unnecessary attention. “Sorry, no way was that a Hitler greeting and it was also never intended as one,” she wrote. “Stop the nonsense. There are enough real things about which one can criticise Musk.”

via guardian: ‘The gesture speaks for itself’: Germans respond to Musk’s apparent Nazi salute

screenshot X

By , ago

Bundestagswahlkampf – AfD erhält Großspende in Höhe von 1,5 Millionen Euro

Es ist offenbar die größte Spende für die AfD in ihrer Parteigeschichte. 1,5 Millionen Euro hat die rechte Partei erhalten. Der Spender ist Arzt, Multimillionär – und sorgte bereits in der Vergangenheit für Schlagzeilen.Die Alternative für Deutschland hat eine Großspende über 1,5 Millionen Euro erhalten. Spender ist der Multimillionär und Arzt Winfried Stöcker. Nach Informationen des SPIEGEL ist es die größte Einzelspende, die die AfD in ihrer Parteigeschichte erhalten hat. Zuvor hatte der Rekord für die größte Parteispende an die AfD laut aktuellen Informationen bei rund 266.000 Euro gelegen, sie stammte vom Bauingenieur und Unternehmer Hartmut Issmer. Laut dem Parteiengesetz sind einzelne Großspenden, die 35.000 Euro übersteigen, der Präsidentin des Deutschen Bundestages unverzüglich anzuzeigen und von dieser unter Angabe des Zuwenders zeitnah zu veröffentlichen. Dort findet sich nun auch die Millionenspende Stöckers.  Mehr zum Thema Rechtsextremismus: Die geheimen Geldgeber des »Compact«-Magazins Unternehmer impft auf eigene Faust: Der Corona-Tüftler und sein Impfstoff im Marmeladenglas Von Christoph Schult Parteifinanzen: Umstrittener Impfstoff-Forscher spendete an AfD Von Ann-Katrin Müller, Sven Röbel, Christoph Schult und Severin Weiland Bekannt wurde Stöcker während der Coronapandemie, als er einen eigenen Coronaimpfstoff entwickelte, der allerdings nicht zugelassen wurde und nie auf den Markt kam. Der Multimillionär war einst Mitglied der FDP, 2021 wurde erstmals bekannt, dass er Geld an die AfD gespendet hatte. Damals ging es um rund 20.000 Euro, also nur um einen Bruchteil des jetzigen Spendenbetrags von 1,5 Millionen Euro. Aus seiner Sympathie für die rechte Partei machte Stöcker nie einen Hehl: »Die AfD hat viele gute Ansichten und verbreitet auch einige schlechte«, sagte er bereits 2021 dem SPIEGEL.

via spiegel: Bundestagswahlkampf AfD erhält Großspende in Höhe von 1,5 Millionen Euro

banknote lot
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
By , ago

Landeswahlleiter prüfen FDP-Listen zur Bundestagswahl

Ein FDP-Mitglied wirft der Partei vor, die Aufstellung der Kandidaten zur Bundestagswahl sei nicht geheim gewesen. Laut einem Medienbericht prüfen die Landeswahlleiter nun die Beschwerde. Die FDP weist die Vorwürfe zurück.Die Landeswahlleiter in 14 Bundesländern prüfen nach der Beschwerde eines Parteimitglieds die Landeslisten der FDP für die Bundestagswahl. Wie das Portal Table.Briefings unter Berufung auf die Beschwerde berichtet, geht es dabei um den Vorwurf des Vorstoßes gegen den Grundsatz geheimer Wahlen bei den Aufstellungsverfahren in den jeweiligen Landesverbänden. Ein Parteisprecher erklärte hingegen: “Alle Anforderungen wurden erfüllt.” Dem Bericht zufolge sind nur Niedersachsen und Berlin von der Beschwerde ausgenommen. Demnach sollten die Delegierten bei den Nominierungsparteitagen in allen anderen Landesverbänden handschriftlich “ja”, “nein”, “Enthaltung” oder den Namen der Kandidaten auf einen weißen Zettel schreiben, statt auf vorgedruckten Stimmzetteln ein Kreuz zu setzen.”Wenn die Namen der Kandidaten handschriftlich auf den Stimmzetteln notiert und diese dann direkt abgegeben werden, kann der Wahlberechtigte anhand seines Stimmzettels auch nach Abschluss des Wahlvorgangs identifiziert werden”, zitierte Table.Briefings aus dem Schreiben an die Landeswahlleiter. Außerdem seien auf den Parteitagen in der Regel keine Wahlkabinen vorhanden und die Delegierten säßen eng beieinander, so dass bereits die Wahlhandlung nicht geheim sei.

via tagesschau: Landeswahlleiter prüfen FDP-Listen zur Bundestagswahl

By , ago