Trump, Of All People, Denounces "Censorship" In Morning Twitter Rant

Donald Trump

Donald Trump, who earlier this week took away former CIA Director John Brennan's security clearance as punishment for speaking out against him, took to Twitter this morning to denounce (of all things) "censorship."

Claiming "social media is totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices," the Trumpster lamented that "Too many voices are being destroyed, some good & some bad."

This probably has more to do with nutjob/InfoWars host Alex Jones being shut out of practically all social media for his continued baseless rantings.

Remember, Jones is the guy who claimed the Sandy Hook shooting was faked. He publicly called out to Trump to save him from being cut off of social media.

This looks like his request has been answered.

Note: Trump appears to have tweeted these missives right after Fox & Friends discussed the issue - more proof that Trump has never had an original thought in his life.

Social Media is totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices. Speaking loudly and clearly for the Trump Administration, we won’t let that happen. They are closing down the opinions of many people on the RIGHT, while at the same time doing nothing to others.......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018

.....Censorship is a very dangerous thing & absolutely impossible to police. If you are weeding out Fake News, there is nothing so Fake as CNN & MSNBC, & yet I do not ask that their sick behavior be removed. I get used to it and watch with a grain of salt, or don’t watch at all..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018

....Too many voices are being destroyed, some good & some bad, and that cannot be allowed to happen. Who is making the choices, because I can already tell you that too many mistakes are being made. Let everybody participate, good & bad, and we will all just have to figure it out!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018

Instagram Deletes The Warwick Rowers

Without warning, the Instagram account of the uber-popular Warwick Rowers disappeared from the social media platform.

The rowing club of athletic lads from Warwickshire in the UK has produced a cheeky calendar since 2009.

Proceeds from the calendar benefit the Rowers’ outreach program, Sport Allies, which works to eliminate homophobia in sports through education and support of young LGBT athletes.

The team tweeted yesterday that the Instagram account had been ‘deactivated’ without warning. “We’re hoping this is a mistake and are waiting for them to allow us back on the platform to keep spreading our message,” wrote the rowers.

As you may have noticed, our @instagram account has been permanently deactivated without any reason communicated to us. We’re hoping this is a mistake and are waiting for them to allow us back on the platform to keep spreading our message @outmagazine https://t.co/9cAcyd5miT

— Warwick Rowers (@warwick_rowers) June 18, 2018

Before the account was deleted the athletes had amassed over 180,000 followers on the social media platform.

The Warwick Rowers have appealed the suspension multiple times to Instagram.

The rowers and Instagram have a long history of disagreeing on the content guidelines for the photo-sharing platform.

Instagram’s content guidelines state that they will remove images of “sexual intercourse, genitals, and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks.”

The vast majority of the Warwick Rowers content conforms to those guidelines.

Here's a promotional video for their 2016 calendar.

UPDATE: Just hours after news of the deletion from Instagram, the Warwick Rowers' account is back.

The guys posted the below photo with the caption, "Back on IG got us like: woop woop #bunsout."

Back on IG got us like: woop woop #bunsout

A post shared by The Warwick Rowers (@warwick_rowers) on Jun 19, 2018 at 10:08am PDT

(h/t Pink News)

Grocery store covers same-sex wedding pic on Milwaukee Magazine cover

The current March cover story of Milwaukee Magazine examines the possible economic benefits of same-sex marriage should the state of Wisconsin were to legalize it. The headline on the cover - “For Love & Money: Same-sex marriage is big business and Wisconsin is losing out on millions.”

A customer to Sendik's Fine Foods in Brookfield, Wisconsin, took the photo above showing a black card had been placed in front of the magazine in some form of censorship. When the customer asked why the black card, a clerk said the ownership deemed the cover photo ‘inappropriate’.

Milwaukee Magazine editor Kurt Chandler told the blog Romenesko:

We anticipated there would be reaction to the cover photo and the story. I’m disappointed the reaction in this case came in the form of censorship. More constructive would be an open dialogue about Wisconsin’s ban on same-sex marriage.

NBC edits out IOC anti-discrimination statement from opening ceremony at Sochi Olympics

Deadspin reports that NBC edited out IOC president Thomas Bach making a "strong statement against 'any form of discrimination' and in favor of tolerance."

The world heard Bach's statement, but Americans did not. Here is the edited out portion of the speech:

Now you are living in an Olympic Region. I am sure you will enjoy the benefits for many, many years to come. Thousands of volunteers have welcomed us with the well-known warm Russian hospitality. Many thanks to all the wonderful volunteers. Bolshoi spasiba, valantyoram! Thank you very much to everyone. Russia and the Russians have set the stage for you, the best winter athletes on our planet. From this moment on you are not only the best athletes, you are Olympic Athletes.

You will inspire us with your outstanding sports performances. You have come here for sports. You have come here with your Olympic dream. The International Olympic Committee wants your Olympic Dream to come true. This is why we are investing almost all of our revenues in the development of sports. The universal Olympic rules apply to each and every athlete- no matter where you come from or what your background is.

You are living together in the Olympic Village. You will celebrate victory with dignity and accept defeat with dignity. You are bringing the Olympic Values to life. In this way, the Olympic Games, wherever they take place, set an example for a peaceful society. Olympic Sport unites people. This is the Olympic Message the athletes spread to the host country and to the whole world. Yes, it is possible to strive even for the greatest victory with respect for the dignity of your competitors. Yes, Yes, it is possible - even as competitors - to live together under one roof in harmony, with tolerance and without any form of discrimination for whatever reason. Yes, it is possible - even as competitors - to listen, to understand and to give an example for a peaceful society.

Head over to Deadspin where both the full version of the speech and the edited version (with a cut-away shot) are posted.

Boo on NBC. This is going to be a story...

(via JMG)

Indiana Governor Mike Pence's staff scrubbed positive Facebook comments about same-sex marriage

Indiana Governor Mike Pence issued an apology on his official Facebook page today after accusations that he and/or his staffers had scrubbed  pro-equality comments from his FB page following the Supreme Court decision this week.

From Pence's Facebook page today:

"I believe that civility and respect for the opinion of others is essential to the democratic process. I also believe in the Freedom of Speech. Over the past 24 hours, I became aware of concerns that comments responding to my statement of support for traditional marriage were being deleted from this Facebook page because they disagreed with my stated position.

Our longstanding policy, on this and other social media sites, has been to delete inflammatory comments that include name-calling, vulgarity or comments personally insulting to others. It was my understanding that the comments which were deleted all met this standard.

On careful review, it appear that this was not always the case and some comments were being deleted simply because they expressed disagreement with my position. I regret that this occurred and sincerely apologize to all those who were affected.

I have instructed our staff to review our policy and develop a standard of conduct similar to that of other elected officials and news organizations in the days ahead. We will post that policy prominently on this site. Hoosiers expect our public debate to be open and respectful and we will ever seek to live up to that standard. In agreement or disagreement, I respect the opinions and the freedoms of all the people of Indiana."

The censorship is still being documented by an online site called Pencership.

(via Towleroad)