Google Leads the Charge with Fake News
By John Stone
Age of Autism is a sufficiently visited and prominent website to qualify for coverage by Google News but over the years I have come to view this stoically since my articles have a remarkable tendency to disappear, or to have been given a misleading caption of some kind. But it gets serious. In the past couple of weeks I attempted to highlight the tsunami of children entering the school system in Scotland with an autism spectrum diagnosis or other neurological problems such as ADHD. I did not make any of this up: the information was drawn from official Scottish data. You would think the data was generated for a purpose, and moreover this could not be in any sustainable democracy a more important matter, BUT NO ONE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT IT.
Scottish Mental Health Services in Collapse Because of Rise in Autism and ADHD
Time for Scotland's Politicians to Ask the Awkward Question What's Happening To Its Children
I sometimes wonder which agency or public relations outfit is liaising with Google about my articles, all of which are thoroughly researched.
So now if you type in Scotland + Autism into Google News, you get stories which may be significant in their way like “Autistic Comedians make their debut at Scottish Parliament”, “Glasgow King’s Theatre to hold ‘relaxed’ Cinderella pantomime” and “Having a good laugh helps to face the world” but you cannot actually read something that has consequence for every Scottish citizen as their services face unprecedented challenge, their children fail to make the grade according to traditional measures, and the future bills to deal with it all mount up. The implications are as great or greater than any issue facing the Scottish people, yet the critical information is being withheld from public debate.
Meanwhile, AOA readers on Saturday found it was impossible to post Dan’s Weekly Wrap on Facebook (although he is still on Google News) and let us hope this is just a glitch. What is of course intolerable is the arrogance of the people providing a service – should they be telling us what we may read any more than what we should talk about in a telephone call. This is really not about public safety, it is about protecting interests and denying people information on which they can make sensible decisions. None of the people writing Age of Autism come from a politically extreme place, but certain realities stare them in the face. In the developed world now we have a much bigger problem with neurologically impaired children and chronic immune diseases than we do with infectious diseases. AND IT IS GETTING WORSE. If vaccines were really so effective, so reliable, so safe there would be no need to restrict discussion of them. People do not want their choices made for them by Google or Facebook (and certainly not by Snopes) and they are fast losing any good reputation they ever had.
John Stone is UK Editor for Age of Autism.
Susan
I have not used it much but I also have not found it any better than google when it comes to our issues.
Posted by: John Stone | January 27, 2017 at 04:54 PM
Found out about a new search engine today, that doesn't track you and appears to be ethical. Have just taken a look - and it does exist: DuckDuckGo. Worth knowing about when we get censored out of the mainstream.
Posted by: susan | January 27, 2017 at 02:42 PM
The rise of Brexit and Trump was largely fuelled by all the fake mainstream news and censorship. Pretty funny when you think about it. It's just that obvious that they're doing nothing but playing games.
Posted by: Reader | January 09, 2017 at 09:29 PM
Thanks Annie - That has much imporved my day. John
Posted by: John Stone | January 09, 2017 at 04:20 PM
Perhaps next time sir you should try googling....'some of the most informed, important, brilliant, and benovelent remarks concerning the autism epidemic, notwithstanding Scotland'... Or something to that effect.
Thank you so much for all you do! I will continue to follow your articles no matter how difficult they may be to find.
Posted by: annie | January 09, 2017 at 03:07 PM
The blockage by FB of attempts to share information is ominous, too, and this type of google censorship (if it becomes generalized to all internet surfing--I could still access your article by title under a Google Search, just not Google News) will prevent/delay the type of sharing (however efficacious it is) that some of us try to undertake often.
I'm in a circle of many who will likely never think to attempt to research a topic like autism (it doesn't occur to them that it's under their purview to perform personal research, I think, in a way that suggests authoritative pronouncements and presentations aren't adequate on a topic they consider beyond them, and/or they're not that versed on internet usage, the possibilities for personal research, as has been available). They might be open to reading something coming from me if it touches upon something that currently comes up in their lives. If this removal of some articles from coming up in any way is also transferred to google search generally, then those of us who try to encourage some of this research using a link to something we remember only generally will have to come up with the actual site addresses we want to share or already have them in memory or recorded somehow, just in case.
Some forecast that we may eventually have to know actual IP addresses to access some online information (though I wonder why the censorship, if it goes that far, would stop at leaving such sites on the net at all).
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | January 09, 2017 at 01:12 PM
For anyone interested in "fake news" , take a look at Jon Rappaport, who has quite a bit to say on this topic. Also, watch Julian Assange's latest interview with Sean Hannity, to listen to someone who is very well versed in fake news..
If you compare what Obama does , in relation to the kind of person he was originally, (and probably still is at heart), you can see that someone is controlling him, and he has learned to play the game by the rules. Do any of you really think that he knocked himself out trying to get a billion dollars for Zika virus research, when Congress wished to give less- because he himself believed that it was necessary .
Once the billion dollars- more or less- was passed, Zika went off the radar.
Obviously, the pharma-medical cartel has become aware that they are up against the power of the internet. Recently, a conspicuous article in the Times of India, explained that the horrendous results of misinformation on facebook - on medical topics has been exposed. After reading it twice or thrice, I determined that they gave not one single concrete example of someone lead astray by facebook medical advice, and the article ended with - you guessed it- the advice to go to standard medical websites and ASK YOUR DOCTOR ! We are in the process of an epic battle of good and evil, which goes unnoticed because of the suppression by medical Nazis . Will medical truth get out to the masses first, or will we all be put in the harnesses of mandated medicial procedures first. May this be the last generation of humans to place trust in doctors.. l
Posted by: Cherry Misra | January 09, 2017 at 12:25 PM
Gary
I think someone is very worried about my articles.
Posted by: John Stone | January 09, 2017 at 11:26 AM
John Stone: Three days ago AoA didn't appear in my in box like always. It was in my junk box. I recently changed my default browser from Yahoo to DuckDuckGo, so this morning I searched Scotland + Autism. Fifth on the page was your May, 2015 "Autism Up in Schools 13.6 Times." Way down the page was the August, 2015 Appeal to Nicola Sturgeon. Further down, Stephanie Seneff on glyphosate and Dr. Mark Hyman, "Can Autism be Cured." The last one I found was, "New Fears Over MMR Jab after Massive Rise in Child Autism." Nothing more. In addition to the epidemic of autism we are at the beginning of a very frightening epidemic of censorship, propaganda, and disinformation. Thank goodness Obama is nearly finished. He doesn't seem to be able to discern the difference between fake news and real news. At least Trump seems to be able to see through some of the BS.
Posted by: Gary Ogden | January 09, 2017 at 10:16 AM
The ultimate hypocrisy - the likes of Google and Facebook going after "fake news." All they need to do is to watch CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, etc. or read WAPO or the NYT.
Posted by: Barry | January 09, 2017 at 09:25 AM
http://www.thelibertybeacon.com/political-insanity-outgoing-president-obamas-operation-atlantic-resolve-russia-us-sends-3600-tanks-russia-massive-nato-deployment-underway/
I hope it is Fake news !
Political Insanity: Outgoing President Obama’s “Operation Atlantic Resolve” against Russia: US Sends 3,600 Tanks Against Russia – Massive NATO Deployment Underway
Posted by: Hans Litten | January 09, 2017 at 08:26 AM
http://beforeitsnews.com/politics/2017/01/unbelievably-obama-signs-bill-creating-u-s-ministry-of-truth-video-2874119.html
Ben Swann is the only push back it seems .
Posted by: Hans Litten | January 09, 2017 at 08:17 AM
President Obama has quietly signed the ‘Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act’ into law, making alternative media illegal in America.
In his last defiant act as President, Obama signed the bill amid a total mainstream media blackout, authorizing authorities to arrest and shutdown purveyors of subversive news in the U.S.
Thefreethoughtproject.com reports:
In a statement, Obama said that:
Today, I have signed into law S. 2943, the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017.” This Act authorizes fiscal year 2017 appropriations principally for the Department of Defense and for Department of Energy national security programs, provides vital benefits for military personnel and their families, and includes authorities to facilitate ongoing operations around the globe.
It continues many critical authorizations necessary to ensure that we are able to sustain our momentum in countering the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and to reassure our European allies, as well as many new authorizations that, among other things, provide the Departments of Defense and Energy more flexibility in countering cyber-attacks and our adversaries’ use of unmanned aerial vehicles.”
And while the passage of the NDAA is an annual event that is not surprising in itself, some of the provisions often hidden within the defense-spending bill can be – such as the provision providing for indefinite detention of American citizens without trial or charge, which was included in the 2012 NDAA.
Posted by: Hans Litten | January 09, 2017 at 07:33 AM
As we reported in early June, “a bill to implement the U.S.’ very own de facto Ministry of Truth had been quietly introduced in Congress. As with any legislation attempting to dodge the public spotlight the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act of 2016 marks a further curtailment of press freedom and another avenue to stultify avenues of accurate information.
Introduced by Congressmen Adam Kinzinger and Ted Lieu, H.R. 5181 seeks a “whole-government approach without the bureaucratic restrictions” to counter “foreign disinformation and manipulation,” which they believe threaten the world’s “security and stability.”
Also called the Countering Information Warfare Act of 2016 (S. 2692), when introduced in March by Sen. Rob Portman, the legislation represents a dramatic return to Cold War-era government propaganda battle.
H.R. 5181 would task the Secretary of State with coordinating the Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Broadcasting Board of Governors to “establish a Center for Information Analysis and Response,” which will pinpoint sources of disinformation, analyze data, and — in true dystopic manner — ‘develop and disseminate’ “fact-based narratives” to counter effrontery propaganda.
Posted by: Hans Litten | January 09, 2017 at 07:30 AM
When everybody on the planet is worried about big brother watching them, our big brother is stopping us from bringing any attention to ourselves.
Oh ! well, I can give up any idea of paranoia now....NOT.
MMR RIP
Posted by: Angus Files | January 09, 2017 at 07:02 AM
Patience
That is also a good point, which no one should forget. Google is becoming the official Soviet news service.
Posted by: John Stone | January 09, 2017 at 06:57 AM
John, When Thomas Insel stepped down as director of the NIMH, it was to take a job at Google. Details are online at https://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/dr-tom-insel-to-step-down-as-nimh-director.shtml
Posted by: Patience (Eileen Nicole) Simon | January 09, 2017 at 06:51 AM
These earlier articles may or may not be directly relelvant:
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/04/autism-the-64-billion-dollar-a-year-question-for-simon-baroncohen-ben-goldacre-fiona-fox-and-autism-.html
http://www.ageofautism.com/2012/02/hacked-off-boss-martin-moore-sat-on-uk-government-panel-with-editor-who-hired-brian-deer-.html
http://www.ageofautism.com/2012/12/leveson-inquiry-submission.html
Posted by: John Stone | January 09, 2017 at 05:55 AM
Google's knowledge Vault , John , run out of London somewhere !
Hillarys failed election bid , and the delay of a war with Russia has made some very powerful people very angry and impatient. (I don't think Trump can stop them now.)
The 60 doctors who died mysteriously last year was a clear warning too of how worried they are.
As we get stronger & closer towards the tipping point , so things will get rougher for us all .
We have had some many great wins recently , like SPIDER for instance , that the "Pharma Truth resistance" is definitely feeling very threatened by us.
We can hope the Fake News narrative will cause some people within the lamestream to do a U turn themselves and to speak out about the unprecedented level of state censorship .
The BBC is no better than a comic now . It has fallen to ridiculous levels .
Posted by: Hans Litten | January 09, 2017 at 05:18 AM
Thanks Jeannette
The big point here is not of course whether my articles could be found on google, it is whether anyone could find them researching a topic without knowing what they were looking for in the first place. If you cannot find articles researching the topic then google is not functioning as it should do. If someone wanted to take issue with my interpretation I would be only too delighted but what we are dealing with here is the deliberate suppression of important facts.
Posted by: John Stone | January 09, 2017 at 04:54 AM
Further, a search of this partial title "Time for Scotland’s Politicians to Ask the Awkward Questions" limited to past week only doesn't bring up your Jan. 6 article.
Without the past week limit though, I get only Age of Autism articles (but not yours) on the top page after the top three results. So I think the search engine does bring up your article with my search, tagging my search with autism as a related topic (or maybe Age of Autism as a related site), and then it appears it pulls your post out of the results.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | January 09, 2017 at 12:41 AM
Just to note(in case it disappears) @ 9:12pm U.S. Pacific time this article (with a date/time marker of "3 minutes ago") pops up on top of Google news for my "Scotland autism" search, then followed by all the types of articles you mention...
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | January 09, 2017 at 12:21 AM