NewsBytes Briefing: Investigation uncovers Facebook's pro ISIS move, and more
What's the story
Facebook banned pages belonging to the YPG (translated: People's Protection Units) at the behest of Turkey, according to a latest exposé by ProPublica. Kurdish resistance against ISIS forces was spearheaded by the YPG militia, which famously employed all-female fighters that absolutely terrified the notorious terrorist outfit. YPG's valiant resistance against ISIS saw thousands of ordinary Western citizens flying down to volunteer in the fight.
Throwing a bone
Facebook continues to play 'good cop, bad cop' with Australia
When Facebook isn't undermining women fighting off ISIS, it also finds the time to block pages for suicide prevention hotlines and COVID-19 information broadcasts in Australia. However, after playing bad cop and forcing the country to make amendments to the contentious news media code, Facebook is now playing the good cop by pledging $1 billion toward the news industry.
Pre-emptive strike
Meanwhile, India puts the screws on social media
While this may have the potential to devolve into an Orwellian machination, it's hard to ignore how Big Tech channels rampant censorship and double-standards through social media. The Indian government has therefore introduced an elaborate scheme of checks and balances against social media companies, OTT platforms, and digital news publishers. But let's not forget that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Teenage censorship
YouTube is making the awkward teenage phase even more so
Even as the Indian government plays net nanny with social media companies, YouTube is doing the same, only less metaphorically. After tailoring a curated psyops experience for children with YouTube Kids, Google has now turned its attention to teenagers with Supervised accounts. It's a weird censorship limbo where teens aren't as restricted as YouTube Kids, but don't get full access to YouTube either.
Still banned
PUBG torments Indian youth with another game they can't play
YouTube isn't the only one contributing to teenage angst. Just when Indian kids were beginning to get over their PUBG addiction, along comes a new PUBG game as a painful reminder of how they had their national pastime snatched away unceremoniously. The smart ones can always convince their folks to buy a PC for "project work". The government hasn't banned PUBG on Steam yet.