Powell’s hit piece on “Media Unlocked”

Unlocking China’s “Media Unlocked” Propagandists

Recently, Media Unlocked unveiled its latest triumph–an interview with a former U.S. president’s brother, Neil Bush, whose George H.W. Bush Foundation For U.S.-China Relations has allegedly received millions of dollars from a group associated with CCP influence operations. Bush–apparently unconcerned that he was participating in Beijing’s propaganda campaign–helpfully sang the praise of China’s communist system, its electric vehicle industry and, incredibly, even announced that he was observing a “massive freedom movement” in today’s China.

Propagandists? Und das bist du nicht?

Now, let’s get into who’s funding the George H.W. Bush Foundation For U.S.-China Relations. Powell links to a Fox News article about its funding from the China–United States Exchange Foundation, based in Hong Kong. The Fox News article links to an Axios article (which is behind a paywall). Nowhere does Powell mention that the foundation also gets funding from the U.S. Department of State, The Rockefeller Foundation, etc.

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A ‘myriad’ of front organizations had “Media Unlocked” banned from TikTok

Original video.

China Daily’s ‘Media Unlocked’ TikTok account banned

Media Unlocked’s accounts on Facebook, YouTube, and X, which are not flagged as government media outfits, are still up, however. Felipe F. Salvosa II

Source

IN-DEPTH: AI bolsters China state media’s TikTok offensive to influence narrative on sea dispute

Seeking credibility, China Daily’s ‘Media Unlocked’ TikTok passes off opinion as news

CNN:

Erin Burnett OutFront May 23, 2024 1PM Transcript

“RIPLEY (voice-over): Chinese state media is using A.I.-enhanced videos on TikTok, altering the reporter’s voice and face. A disclosure on screen for just a few seconds, easy to miss.

[01:39:52]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Under China’s jurisdiction.

RIPLEY: The video is pushing Beijing’s narrative on the South China Sea.

Is this a threat to democracy?

FELIPE SALVOSA II, JOURNALISM PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS: Most definitely. I think China has found a more cost-effective way to get its message across.

RIPLEY: Turning today’s digital landscape into a battleground for truth, where seeing is no longer believing.

Every time I do a story about these deepfake videos, what strikes me is the quality keeps improving. Our researcher (INAUDIBLE) spent hours putting these through algorithms to determine with 99 percent accuracy whether these videos are real, whether they’re fake, whether the voice has been altered, the face has been altered. Who on social media has time for that and a lot of people don’t take the time which experts say is dangerous, particularly in democracies when people are watching these videos and then potentially using the information they hear to make decisions about how to vote.

Source
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U.S. Funds Ukraine Groups Censoring Critics, Smearing Pro-Peace Voices + More

American taxpayers are footing the bill for Ukrainian NGOs focused on smearing proponents of a diplomatic solution as “Russian disinformation” agents.

U.S. Funds Ukraine Groups Censoring Critics, Smearing Pro-Peace Voices

Related:

U.S. Helps Pro-Ukraine Media Run a Fog Machine of War + Supporting Front Orgs

Pro-Russian “disinformation” network

Ukraine’s ‘Press Freedom’ Score Increases Despite Martial Law, Banned Media

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David Villamar interviewed about Ecuador’s violent crime disaster

Despite the ongoing genocide in Gaza, Ecuador’s violent crime problem is such an incredible disaster that it manages to attract international attention. Criminals have recently taken over live newscasts. Supporters of the rightwing governments that created the disaster (for example, The Economist) have declared Ecuador to be the deadliest country in the Americas. It’s difficult for Ecuador to get international news coverage. In recent years, it generally has to be something very bad (or sports-related).

David Villamar interviewed about Ecuador’s violent crime disaster

Related:

How Did Ecuador Spiral into This Nightmare? It Was the Neoliberal Dismantling of the State

Update to Notes on Ukrainian Government Exposed Surveilling News Outlet

“Denys Bihus leads TOM 14, a group of professional investigative journalists in Ukraine.” – Source

Bihus isn’t currently listed in NED’s grants, because NED has scrubbed their site of their funding to Ukraine. In 2019, TOM 14 received $30,000 from NED.

“TOM 14, GO is an entity in Kyiv, registered with the System for Award Management (SAM) of U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).” – OPENGOVUS.

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The Finnish government plans to criminalize communist symbols

TheFinnishBolshevik

On August 31st 2023 the Finnish government released a rather confusing document advocating the banning of communist symbols. The completely outlandish document is called a “Government statement to Parliament on promoting equality, gender equality and non-discrimination in Finnish society”. What does a document with such a title have to do with communism?

The Finnish government plans to criminalize communist symbols

Neocons are panicking over another possible Trump presidency

The Atlantic: Two Men Running to Stay Out of Prison

Liz Cheney warns US ‘sleepwalking into dictatorship

Robert Kagan: A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending.

…We can expect more of this when the war against the “deep state” begins in earnest. According to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), there is a whole cabal determined to undermine American security, a “Uniparty” of elites made up of “neoconservatives on the right” and “liberal globalists on the left” who are not true Americans and therefore do not have the true interests of America at heart. Can such “anti-American” behavior be criminalized? It has in the past and can be again.

So, the Trump administration will have many avenues to persecute its enemies, real and perceived. Think of all the laws now on the books that give the federal government enormous power to surveil people for possible links to terrorism, a dangerously flexible term, not to mention all the usual opportunities to investigate people for alleged tax evasion or violation of foreign agent registration laws. The IRS under both parties has occasionally looked at depriving think tanks of their tax-exempt status because they espouse policies that align with the views of the political parties. What will happen to the think-tanker in a second Trump term who argues that the United States should ease pressure on China? Or the government official rash enough to commit such thoughts to official paper? It didn’t take more than that to ruin careers in the 1950s.

Their panic just shows how out of touch they are with the working class! As for Kagan, there’s so much more that I could say, but for now I’ll just roll my eyes! 🙄

Venezuela opposition leader Guaido in “informal” meetings with Colombia’s govt

CARACAS – Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has held “informal meetings” with members of newly elected Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s government, he said on Friday.

Venezuela opposition leader Guaido in “informal” meetings with Colombia’s govt

Related:

Argentine Judge Orders The Theft of Venezuela’s EMTRASUR Plane at US Request

Who Is Judge Federico Villena, Hijacker of Venezuela’s EMTRASUR Plane in Argentina?