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Thursday, January 24, 2019

MICROSOFT EDGE BROWSER USING SPURIOUS LEFTIST "FACT-CHECKING" SITE, NEWSGUARD, TO PLACE WARNING LABEL ON JIHAD WATCH

"PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT"
"NEWSGUARD" CREATES BLACK LISTS, BASED ON "NUTRITION LABELS" TO HELP YOU SEE THE INGREDIENTS
NewsGuard lists Breitbart News, the Daily Mail, and the Drudge Report as fake news websites, but gives the all-clear to CNN, Buzzfeed, the Guardian, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Vice News, despite recent high profile fake news stories from a variety of these approved sites.
STEVEN BRILL: "WE DON'T USE ALGORITHMS, JUST BIASED JOURNALISTS WHO ARE 'ACCOUNTABLE'"

NewsGuard uses journalism to fight false news, misinformation, and disinformation. Our trained analysts, who are experienced journalists, research online news brands to help readers and viewers know which ones are trying to do legitimate journalism—and which are not.

EDGE BROWSER USING STEVEN BRILL'S SELF-APPOINTED TEAM OF JOURNALIST-CENSORS TO SCORE WEBSITES
MICROSOFT USING SPURIOUS LEFTIST 
"FACT-CHECKING" SITE TO PLACE WARNING LABEL 
ON JIHAD WATCH 
BY ROBERT SPENCER
SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2019/01/microsoft-using-spurious-leftist-fact-checking-site-to-place-warning-label-on-jihad-watch; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
Microsoft has now placed a warning label on Jihad Watch for those who use its Edge browser:
This once again raises the question I keep asking again and again: quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who watches the watchmen? According to the BBC, NewsGuard warnings have also appeared on the Daily Mail and Sputnik. But what about NewsGuard itself? Is it fair? Unbiased? Trustworthy? No to all three; it is just another “fact-checking” organization with entrenched Leftist biases that is flagging sites that don’t hold firmly to the Leftist line as inaccurate, without acknowledging their own biases, gaps in knowledge, or inconsistency.
This is just another way to shut down sites that don’t parrot the Leftist agenda, which includes embracing of mass Muslim migration and staunch opposition to any opposition to jihad terror and Sharia oppression. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which NewsGuard relies on extensively in its hit piece on Jihad Watch, has long designated Jihad Watch as a “hate group.” The idea that it’s “hate” to oppose jihad mass murder and Sharia oppression of women, gays and others is defamatory and absurd, but nonetheless it has resulted in donations to Jihad Watch not being accepted by MasterCard and Visa, and in my being dropped from Patreon and GoFundMe. It has also resulted in my being shadowbanned on Twitter and Facebook, and routinely vilified in the establishment media.
And now, if all that doesn’t work, and you still come to Jihad Watch via Microsoft Edge (and other browsers will almost certainly follow), you’ll get a warning label falsely claiming that our work is inaccurate.
They’re desperate to silence me and shut down Jihad Watch, and while they may well succeed, they will not thereby turn truth into falsehood and falsehood into truth. The truths we expose here will remain, and they will be dealing with them sooner or later, no matter how much they deny and ignore them.
Last summer, when John Gregory of NewsGuard contacted me, I wrote an article at FrontPageabout the spurious “fact-checking” procedures of Gregory and his cohorts. It’s worth reprinting in full here now:
Steven Brill’s NewsGuard and the “Fact-Checking” Scam
Who watches the watchmen?
In their ongoing efforts to discredit, marginalize, and silence all those who dissent from their agenda, Leftists are increasingly trying to fool the public by establishing ostensibly neutral “fact-checking” organizations that purport to identify “fake news,” but which actually apply that label only to those who don’t parrot their nonsense. One of the most notorious examples of this is Snopes, which claims to be an objective arbiter of the accuracy of news reports, but which I have shown to be a deeply biased and misleading site: see here and here.
Recently I was contacted by John Gregory, an underling from a new entry in this field, NewsGuard, an initiative of the hard-Left self-appointed news arbiter Steven Brill. It was obvious that Gregory’s pen was sweating blood, and in my answers, I asked him about his own biases and those of NewsGuard. Gregory, as you’ll see below, ducked my questions, but his biases (and NewsGuard’s) are nonetheless obvious from his invocation of the Southern Poverty Law Center, his claim that it is inaccurate to say that the UN supports jihad, and more. He claims that his opinions are not relevant, but of course they couldn’t be more relevant, because they inform how he regards and evaluates Jihad Watch and other news sites. His refusal to acknowledge that, and to explain how he claims to overcome his own biases and produce an objective evaluation, is evidence of either astonishing naivete or craven dishonesty.
Here is my back-and-forth with Gregory:
1. John Gregory to Robert Spencer
My name is John Gregory, an analyst for NewsGuard, a new company researching and evaluating news sites to separate those which are performing real journalism.
In reviewing Jihad Watch, I had several questions about your editorial policies:
1) Does the site have a policy of correcting mistakes in its initial reporting? If so, could you point me to a recent example where a mistake was corrected and the original error was disclosed to readers?
2) Why is no biographical or contact information provided for writers other than Mr. Spencer?
3) How does the site disclose when articles are presenting the opinions of Mr. Spencer and other writers? Are those opinions presented as fact?
4) How does the site disclose its ownership by the Horowitz Freedom Center? The only mention I could find is the mailing address at the bottom of the homepage.
Thank you in advance for taking some time to answer these questions.
2. Robert Spencer to John Gregory
Some questions for you:
1. What is the political bias of NewsGuard?
2. Are you asking these questions of sites that minimize and/or deny the problem of jihad terror and Sharia oppression of women, gays, and other groups, or only of sites that call attention to it?
3. How do you distinguish what is “real journalism” as opposed to putative fake news?
4. Have you found any error of fact regarding Islam or jihad, or any demonstrably false news story, on Jihad Watch? Or do you simply object to the sources being cited? If so, on what grounds?
5. If you render a negative judgment on Jihad Watch, does Jihad Watch have any recourse and appeal? If so, how?
6. Who funds NewsGuard?
Thanks in advance for your answers.
Your answers:
2. I am the primary writer and editor for the site. I operated it alone for several years, and so this is not some conscious decision, it just happened that no one thought to add this info. You have a good idea, however, and I’ll add info for Hugh Fitzgerald, Christine Douglass-Williams, and Andrew Harrod asap.
3. Opinions are never presented as fact. The commentary that goes above every article is clearly the analysis of the author, and is generally backed up with references from authoritative Islamic sources and/or other relevant material.
4. The affiliation between Jihad Watch and the Freedom Center is no secret. The mailing address listing at the bottom of page is an obvious recognition of that fact. Jihad Watch is listed as a program of the Freedom Center in my bio page on Jihad Watch, and at the bottom of every article I write, as well as in Freedom Center publications.
3. John Gregory to Robert Spencer
Thank you for clearing that up. I’ll keep checking to see if the new writer bios are added.
In response to your questions:
Some questions for you:
1. What is the political bias of NewsGuard?
We aspire to have none.
2. Are you asking these questions of sites that minimize and/or deny the problem of jihad terror and Sharia oppression of women, gays, and other groups, or only of sites that call attention to it?
We are asking these types of questions to all types of news sites, from those run by major newspapers to small market local TV stations as well as blogs, specialty publications, everybody.
3. How do you distinguish what is “real journalism” as opposed to putative fake news?
We adhere to the same standards in dealing with all sites and our criteria are found on our site, Newsguardtechnologies.com.
4. Have you found any error of fact regarding Islam or jihad, or any demonstrably false news story, on Jihad Watch? Or do you simply object to the sources being cited? If so, on what grounds?
I can’t speak to this yet as we haven’t finished our research. In cases where we cite fact checks done by other sites to which you have responded in the past, like in the case of Snopes, your response would be included.
5. If you render a negative judgment on Jihad Watch, does Jihad Watch have any recourse and appeal? If so, how?
Yes, you can make your case that our assessment is wrong
6. Who funds NewsGuard?
A full list of our investors can be found here: https://newsguardtechnologies.com/our-investors/
4. Robert Spencer to John Gregory
The new writer bios were added several days ago. You should have seen them by now.
Steven Brill, eh? Yes, sure, you’re not biased. You’re as even-handed as the day is long. Steven Brill.
5. John Gregory to Robert Spencer
Ah, I was looking in the wrong place. Our evaluation will be updated with info about the new writer bios.
Circling back on your previous question, we have found several instances where Jihad Watch has published misleading claims, failed to correct errors in its headlines and presented opinion as fact for which I’d like to offer you a chance to respond.
1. An April 2018 story entitled “Muslima nurse practitioner beheads her 7-year-old son near Rochester, New York” seems to dismiss the quote from the county sheriff about this attack having “zero indicators of anything religious, zero indicators in anything cultural,” and presents a Qur’an verse as proof of the religious nature of the attack. Your story also says this alleged perpetrator is a Muslim, but I can’t find mention of her religion from any of the local news outlets covering the story. Did Jihad Watch independently confirm her religion? Was there some other source pointing to a religious motive?
2. A July 2015 story based on Pamela Geller’s tweet about an ISIS-linked account tweeting minutes before a shooting in Chattanooga was later found to have occurred hours after the attack. Your story was updated to acknowledge this, but the original headline and story based on the false information remain unchanged. Does your corrections policy not include changing headlines later found to be incorrect?
3. A Dec. 2015 story entitled “House Democrats Move to Criminalize Criticism of Islam.” That headline ignores how the resolution as proposed was non-binding, meaning no new criminal statutes would have been enacted as your headline said. Was this story ever corrected or retracted?
4. Among the instances where stories on Jihad Watch have presented opinion as fact is a June 23 story by Christine Douglass-Williams calling the United Nations “jihad-supporting.” What factual basis was there for attaching that description to the U.N.?
5. We will be including the Southern Poverty Law Center’s labeling of Jihad Watch as a hate group in our evaluation. I know you’ve written about this assessment before, but do you have any statement now as to why you think the SPLC’s judgment on your site is unfair or unjust?
Again, thanks in advance for taking the time to answer these inquiries.
6. Robert Spencer to John Gregory
None of these are misleading or false — except, of course, to someone who opposes efforts to oppose jihad terror and who considers such efforts to be “Islamophobia.”
Also, why were the staff bios important to you? I don’t mind having them there, but fail to see how they comport with your stated mission. The number of sites that don’t include bios of all the staff writers must be in the thousands or more. Are you making similar demands of Leftist sites? Or is this question simply designed to demonize sites that oppose jihad terror and Sharia oppression of women, gays, and others?
1. The story does not present a Qur’an verse as “proof of the religious nature of the attack.” It presents a Qur’an verse as an indication that a religious background was a possible element. There are many, many instances in which authorities have dissembled in cases involving jihad terror; see, for example, here: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/262826/global-outbreak-mental-illness-robert-spencer. It was on this basis that the sheriff’s statement was regarded with suspicion. It is unlikely that he had the background or competence to determine such a question in any case. Your misrepresentation of our reporting on this is a predictable indication of the inherent unfairness of self-appointed “news guards” that are in reality only attempts to smear and defame those who do not accept the establishment Leftist perspective on important current issues.
2. Your link doesn’t work, so I cannot evaluate your claim here. I doubt it is true or accurate; we have corrected plenty of headlines that have been found to be inaccurate. If one remained uncorrected, it was an oversight. If you’re trying to make something out of an article that carries a correction, your case is exceedingly weak indeed.
3. The article notes that the resolution only “condemns” what it calls “hateful rhetoric.” It discusses no criminal penalties, as there were none. What your inquiry fails to note is that the headline says that the “House Democrats Move to Criminalize,” not that they “Criminalized,” criticism of Islam. Issuing non-binding resolutions of this kind is a step toward issuing binding ones, and outlawing categories of speech. Your enterprise itself is a step down the same road, attempting to defame honest news reporting when it disagrees with your perspective.
There are plenty of other stories similar to these. You’re a news watchdog organization, you say?
5. NewsGuard is clearly engaged in the same defamation and demonization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has engaged in for years in attempting to destroy foes of jihad mass murder and Sharia oppression of women, gays, and others. The SPLC includes few Leftist and jihad groups among its “hate group” listings, while defaming Jihad Watch and other groups that stand for the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience, and the equality of rights of all people before the law because we dissent from its hard-Left agenda. NewsGuard is a new and marginally more sophisticated attempt to defame pro-freedom groups by claiming on spurious grounds that what we report is inaccurate. We have published over 50,000 posts since 2003, and NewGuard took issue with exactly five of them, none of them on any factual grounds. We can only hope that discerning readers will be able to see through NewGuard’s false claims to be an objective evaluator of the accuracy of news reported, and not fall for this latest Leftist attempt at defamation and, ultimately, censorship.
7. John Gregory to Robert Spencer
Your responses will be noted. My apologies about the non-working link in #2, this was the story I was referencing:
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2015/07/isis-tweets-chattanooga-as-gunman-begins-shooting-there-4-murdered
As for the staff bios, we are asking that question of every site we review. We have come across quite a few where stories don’t have bylines or don’t provide information about who’s creating the content beyond a name. Your site meets that standard.
8. Robert Spencer to John Gregory
There is nothing inaccurate about that headline. They did tweet Chattanooga soon after the attack. I expect you are unaware that this was a jihad attack inspired by foreign jihadis — see this AP story: https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/12/16/navy-concludes-chattanooga-shooting-was-inspired-by-foreign-terrorists/
It’s noteworthy that you have nothing to say in response to my pointing out your own obvious biases. I’ll be publishing these exchanges when your hit piece on Jihad Watch appears.
Also: re your claim that “we are asking that question of every site we review,” I happen to know that that is false, as I know of at least one site that you have not asked that of.
9. Robert Spencer to John Gregory
I’m writing an article about the “fake news vetting” scam, and have the following questions for you. Thank you in advance for your answers:
1. How does NewsGuard plan to disclose its own biases and the perspectives of those who are claiming to be objective assessors of the accuracy of various news sites?
2. In vetting the accuracy of Jihad Watch’s reporting, did you take into account your own biases and perspectives on the subject matter treated at the site? If so, how? If not, why not?
3. Have you ever read the Qur’an in whole or part? The Hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim? The tafasir of Ibn Kathir and the Jalalayn? If not, how can you judge the accuracy of Jihad Watch’s analysis of how jihadis use the texts and teachings of Islam to justify violence and oppression of women, gays, and others?
4. Which do you think is the larger problem: jihad terror or “Islamophobia”?
5. Which do you think are more severely threatened: women who wear the hijab in the U.S. or women who do not wear the hijab, chador, or other coverings in Iran and Saudi Arabia?
6. Does NewsGuard plan to assess the reliability of sites that reflect the Leftist agenda, or only sites that oppose that agenda?
7. Are you familiar with the Latin phrase “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes”? If so, what is your answer to it?
8. Your questions to me appeared to show that you consider the Southern Poverty Law Center a reliable guide to what constitutes a “hate group” and what does not. Are you aware of the widespread challenges to the SPLC’s credibility in this regard? Are you familiar with Maajid Nawaz? What do you think are the implications of the SPLC’s removal of Nawaz from its list of “anti-Muslim extremists” for those who remain on the list?
10. Robert Spencer to John Gregory
Just in case you missed these questions over the weekend, I am re-sending.
One more also: How does NewsGuard respond to charges that it is simply an attempt to defame and marginalize sites that dissent from a hard-Left agenda?
Thanks again in advance for your answers.
11. John Gregory to Robert Spencer
My apologies for getting these to you late.
Dear Mr. Gregory:
I’m writing an article about the “fake news vetting” scam, and have the following questions for you. Thank you in advance for your answers:
  1. How does NewsGuard plan to disclose its own biases and the perspectives of those who are claiming to be objective assessors of the accuracy of various news sites?
    We will be running full professional bios of all staff and contributors on our website.
  2. In vetting the accuracy of Jihad Watch’s reporting, did you take into account your own biases and perspectives on the subject matter treated at the site? If so, how? If not, why not?
    We aspire to be as fair and objective as possible, and multiple people are involved in every review. As soon as we learn we made a mistake, we will correct it publicly and transparently.
  3. Have you ever read the Qur’an in whole or part? The Hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim? The tafasir of Ibn Kathir and the Jalalayn? If not, how can you judge the accuracy of Jihad Watch’s analysis of how jihadis use the texts and teachings of Islam to justify violence and oppression of women, gays, and others?
We endeavor to be fair about every site we evaluate.
  1. Which do you think is the larger problem: jihad terror or “Islamophobia”?
My opinion is not relevant here.
  1. Which do you think are more severely threatened: women who wear the hijab in the U.S. or women who do not wear the hijab, chador, or other coverings in Iran and Saudi Arabia?
Again, my opinion is not relevant here.
  1. Does NewsGuard plan to assess the reliability of sites that reflect the Leftist agenda, or only sites that oppose that agenda?
We are rating sites across the political spectrum under the same criteria.
  1. Are you familiar with the Latin phrase “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes”? If so, what is your answer to it?
    Our mission is to review news and information sites to give readers some guidance in assessing the sites’ credibility. Anyone is free to “guard” or review us, of course.
  2. Your questions to me appeared to show that you consider the Southern Poverty Law Center a reliable guide to what constitutes a “hate group” and what does not. Are you aware of the widespread challenges to the SPLC’s credibility in this regard? Are you familiar with Maajid Nawaz? What do you think are the implications of the SPLC’s removal of Nawaz from its list of “anti-Muslim extremists” for those who remain on the list?
    We are aware of criticisms on the SPLC’s ratings and designations. Your own responses to SPLC’s claims about Jihad Watch would be mentioned in our final evaluation.
In any case, despite the paltriness of his case against Jihad Watch (over 60,000 posts and he is quibbling over four of them, and author bios), it is certain that John Gregory and NewsGuard will claim that this site is not accurate or trustworthy. In reality, however, the inaccurate and untrustworthy one is NewsGuard itself, in its claim to be an objective arbiter of the accuracy of news reports. It is no more objective or reliable than its guide, the Southern Poverty Law Center.
And while it may fool the credulous and uninformed, those who know better will recognize it for what it is: yet another attempt to blacken the reputation of, and thereby silence, news outlets that don’t regurgitate the Left’s fantasies about how Islam is a religion of peace, Muslims are victims of widespread discrimination in the U.S., and the like. There’s another sucker who will buy this nonsense born every minute.
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How NewsGuard Helps Consumers Fight 'Fake News'

Aug.27, 2018 -- Steven Brill, co-chief executive officer at NewsGuard, explains how the service uses nine criteria to examine the bias and truthfulness of news sites. He speaks with Bloomberg's David Westin on "Bloomberg Markets: Balance of Power."
"APPLYING 'COMMON SENSE" 
WHEN PASSING JUDGMENT ON WEBSITES
NewsGuard Technologies is aiming to help people navigate through fake news on social media. Both Facebook and Twitter acknowledged that Russian propaganda reached more than 126 million Americans through their platforms around the 2016 election. NewsGuard co-founder Steven Brill joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss the $6 million venture that will use analysts to research and rate thousands of news sources.
"WE WILL TAKE YOUR COMPLAINTS"

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Microsoft’s “fact-checker” NewsGuard labels proven hoaxes “credible,” blacklists factual stories Leftists dislike

BY ROBERT SPENCER
SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2019/01/microsofts-fact-checker-newsguard-labels-proven-hoaxes-credible-blacklists-factual-stories-leftists-dislike; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
NewsGuard has Jihad Watch blacklisted also, not because they can show that anything we report is actually inaccurate, but because we don’t toe the Leftist line. Microsoft has taken a giant step into the Orwellian future by including this spurious “fact-checking” data on one of its web browsers, but now that NewsGuard is so thoroughly shredding its own credibility right out of the gate, maybe Microsoft will reconsider and we will have a bit more time before the freedom of speech window closes entirely.

NewsGuard hatchet man John Gregory
EMAIL: 


 “Nolte: Blacklisters at Microsoft’s NewsGuard Label Proven Hoaxes ‘Credible,’” by John Nolte, Breitbart, January 28, 2019:
NewsGuard, which is the establishment media’s latest effort to blacklist alternative media sites, is giving its sign of approval to proven hoaxes, even to stories that have been retracted.
Microsoft is so desperate to spread fake news and blacklist ideas it doesn’t like, NewsGuard is automatically included in one of its browsers.
You will find more examples below, but here is NewsGuard’s seal of approval (on the Google search page) for Rolling Stone’s 2014 hoax about a gang rape at the University of Virginia (UVA).
Rolling Stone (which NewsGuard gave a passing grade) was eventually forced to retract the story and settle some lawsuits, but the far-left HuffPost’s aggregation of Rolling Stone’s proven lie is still live, and that green checkmark is NewsGuard’s way of telling readers they are reading something credible:
You see, when you do a Google search of stories, NewsGuard and Microsoft use the green checkmark to tell you what is and is not credible, what is and is not blacklisted, and this is NewsGuard giving the green light to a story that was so fake, it had to be retracted.
Compare that to NewsGuard’s labeling as fake news a basic news story like this one…
Why is NewsGuard labeling that fake news? Simply because Breitbart News published it. We didn’t even write that story. The AP did. We are simply aggregating the AP…
Look at the roundup below, which took less than 20 minutes to track down. Every single one of these stories is fake news, starting with BuzzFeed’s debunked lie about President Trump telling his then-personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress.
Look at how NewsGuard and Microsoft openly and audaciously deceive their readers…
The Washington Post’s debunked hoax about Russia hacking Vermont’s utility grid — credible!!
The lie about first lady Melania Trump being an illegal alien — credible!!
The lie about Trump changing the name of Black History Month — credible!!
The lie about Trump threatening to invade Mexico — credible!!
The lie about Congress investigating a Russian fund with ties to Trump — credible!!
So why? Why are NewsGuard and Microsoft deliberately marking fake news as credible? Why are they looking to fool people into believing proven hoaxes are legitimate stories — even outrageous ones about the first lady coming to the country illegally?
This is all about 2020, my friends.
As I pointed out last week, NewsGuard marks as fake every single story Breitbart News publishes — not because the story is inaccurate, but because we report stories NewsGuard does not believe should be reported.…
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