Difference between revisions of "NewsGuard"

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{{group
 
{{group
 
|website=https://www.newsguardtech.com/
 
|website=https://www.newsguardtech.com/
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|constitutes=
+
|constitutes=propaganda, mass surveillance
 
|description=A tech company which is teaming up with [[Microsoft]] as regards "[[fake news]]"
 
|description=A tech company which is teaming up with [[Microsoft]] as regards "[[fake news]]"
 
|leaders=
 
|leaders=
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|image_caption=NewsGuard warns that [[RT]] is unreliable
 
|image_caption=NewsGuard warns that [[RT]] is unreliable
 
|image_width=400px
 
|image_width=400px
 +
|members=Don Baer, John Battelle, Silvia Bencivelli, Yves Clarisse, Arne Duncan, Alina Fichter, Giampiero Gramaglia, Michael Hayden, Leo Hindery Jr, Elise Jordan, Jessica Lessin, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Tom Ridge, Richard Sambrook, Richard Stengel, Brigitte Trafford, Ed Vaizey, Jimmy Wales
 
}}
 
}}
 
'''NewsGuard''' is a company which purports to tackle "disinformation" through its [[browser]] extension.
 
'''NewsGuard''' is a company which purports to tackle "disinformation" through its [[browser]] extension.
  
 
==Activities==
 
==Activities==
−
" A new app claiming to serve as a bulwark against "disinformation" by adding "trust rankings" to news websites has links to a PR firm that received nearly $15 million to push pro-Saudi spin in US media, [[Breitbart]] reports.
+
{{SMWQ
 +
|date=29 January 2019
 +
|source_name=RT
 +
|subjects=Fake news, Tom Ridge, Suadi Arabia, Michael Hayden
 +
|source_URL=https://www.rt.com/news/450035-saudi-arabia-newsguard-pr-investor/
 +
|text=A new app claiming to serve as a bulwark against "disinformation" by adding "trust rankings" to news websites has links to a [[PR]] firm that received nearly $15 million to push pro-Saudi spin in US media, [[Breitbart]] reports.
  
−
NewsGuard and its shady advisory board – consisting of truth-lovers such as [[Tom Ridge]], the first-ever homeland security chief, and former [[CIA director]] [[Michael Hayden]] – came under scrutiny after [[Microsoft]] announced that the app would be built into its mobile browsers. A closer examination of the company's publicly listed investors, however, has revealed new reasons to be suspicious of this self-declared crusader against [[propaganda]]. As Breitbart discovered, NewsGuard's third-largest investor, [[Publicis Groupe]], owns a PR firm that has repeatedly airbrushed Saudi Arabia.".<ref>https://www.rt.com/news/450035-saudi-arabia-newsguard-pr-investor/</ref>
+
NewsGuard and its shady advisory board – consisting of truth-lovers such as [[Tom Ridge]], the first-ever homeland security chief, and former [[CIA director]] [[Michael Hayden]] – came under scrutiny after [[Microsoft]] announced that the app would be built into its mobile browsers. A closer examination of the company's publicly listed investors, however, has revealed new reasons to be suspicious of this self-declared crusader against [[propaganda]]. As Breitbart discovered, NewsGuard's third-largest investor, [[Publicis Groupe]], owns a [[PR]] firm that has repeatedly airbrushed [[Saudi Arabia]].
 +
|authors=Anonymous
 +
}}
  
 
==Criticism==
 
==Criticism==
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[[Whitney Webb]] described in 2019 ''How a Small Group of Pro-Israel Activists Blacklisted [[MintPress]] on [[Wikipedia]]''. The article describes, among other things, how Wikipedia cited Mint Press News' unfavourable rating from Newsguard, "several months after MintPress authored a viral exposè of Newsguard’s connections to [[neoconservatives]] and former government officials, including former [[CIA director]] [[Michael Hayden]]."<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/pro-israel-activists-blacklist-mintpress-wikipedia/261022/</ref>
 
[[Whitney Webb]] described in 2019 ''How a Small Group of Pro-Israel Activists Blacklisted [[MintPress]] on [[Wikipedia]]''. The article describes, among other things, how Wikipedia cited Mint Press News' unfavourable rating from Newsguard, "several months after MintPress authored a viral exposè of Newsguard’s connections to [[neoconservatives]] and former government officials, including former [[CIA director]] [[Michael Hayden]]."<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/pro-israel-activists-blacklist-mintpress-wikipedia/261022/</ref>
  
 +
==Tracking users==
 +
 +
For each site someone with Newsguard installed visit, there will be a connection to "http://api.newsguardtech[.]com/check/[hostname of visited site]". The result will be cached locally for at most 30 minutes. The gathered information include the hostname of the site loaded in the current tab - i.e. more browsing history leakage.<ref>https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1085980630863753217.html</reF>
 +
 +
"NewsGuard" will get this information:
 +
*The sites you visit
 +
*When you visited these sites, +- 30 minutes, or with better accuracy if you open the extension's popup panel
 +
*Your public IP address
 +
*Your browser, OS, language (through HTTP headers)
 +
 +
==Funding==
 +
NewsGuard was awarded a $749,387 contract by the [[US Air Force]] (September 7, 2021 – December 8, 2022) fir a "Misinformation Fingerprints" program aimed at combating "[[misinformation]]". NewsGuard also has disclosed that they received $25,000 from the [[US State Department]] and the [[US Cyber Command]] in 2020.<ref>https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_FA864921P1569_9700_-NONE-_-NONE-</ref><ref>https://obektivno.bg/749387-pentagon-contract-debunks-the-lie-about-independent-fact-checkers/</ref>
 +
 +
==People==
 +
'''[[NewsGuard]]'s Advisory Board''' as of May 2020<ref>https://www.newsguardtech.com/our-advisory-board/</ref>.
 
{{SMWDocs}}
 
{{SMWDocs}}
 +
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
{{reflist}}
 
{{reflist}}

Revision as of 23:27, 20 February 2023

Group.png NewsGuard
(Propaganda, Mass surveillance) Twitter WebsiteRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
NewsGuard RT.png
NewsGuard warns that RT is unreliable
Founder•  Steven Brill
•  Gordon Kravitz
InterestsFake news
Sponsored byPublicis Groupe, US/Air Force
Membership•  Don Baer
• John Battelle.jpg John Battelle
•  Silvia Bencivelli
•  Yves Clarisse
•  Arne Duncan
•  Alina Fichter
•  Giampiero Gramaglia
•  Michael Hayden
•  Leo Hindery Jr
•  Elise Jordan
•  Jessica Lessin
• Portrait Anders Fogh Rasmussen.jpg Anders Fogh Rasmussen
• Tom Ridge.jpg Tom Ridge
•  Richard Sambrook
• Richard Stengel 2014.jpg Richard Stengel
•  Brigitte Trafford
• Ed Vaizey.jpg Ed Vaizey
• Wales Garvey.jpg Jimmy Wales
A tech company which is teaming up with Microsoft as regards "fake news"

NewsGuard is a company which purports to tackle "disinformation" through its browser extension.

Activities

“A new app claiming to serve as a bulwark against "disinformation" by adding "trust rankings" to news websites has links to a PR firm that received nearly $15 million to push pro-Saudi spin in US media, Breitbart reports. NewsGuard and its shady advisory board – consisting of truth-lovers such as Tom Ridge, the first-ever homeland security chief, and former CIA director Michael Hayden – came under scrutiny after Microsoft announced that the app would be built into its mobile browsers. A closer examination of the company's publicly listed investors, however, has revealed new reasons to be suspicious of this self-declared crusader against propaganda. As Breitbart discovered, NewsGuard's third-largest investor, Publicis Groupe, owns a PR firm that has repeatedly airbrushed Saudi Arabia.”
Anonymous (29 January 2019)  [1]

Criticism

Breitbert notes that "WikiLeaks, which has never had to retract a story due to false or misleading information, is also given a “red” rating in contrast to the "green" which it gives to BuzzFeed, which was recently humiliated for publishing alleged details about the ongoing Mueller investigation that were contradicted by the spe[c]ial prosecutor himself. BuzzFeed did not retract the story, and even led with it on its frontpage … after Mueller contradicted it."[2]

Uncritical usage by Wikipedia

Whitney Webb described in 2019 How a Small Group of Pro-Israel Activists Blacklisted MintPress on Wikipedia. The article describes, among other things, how Wikipedia cited Mint Press News' unfavourable rating from Newsguard, "several months after MintPress authored a viral exposè of Newsguard’s connections to neoconservatives and former government officials, including former CIA director Michael Hayden."[3]

Tracking users

For each site someone with Newsguard installed visit, there will be a connection to "http://api.newsguardtech[.]com/check/[hostname of visited site]". The result will be cached locally for at most 30 minutes. The gathered information include the hostname of the site loaded in the current tab - i.e. more browsing history leakage.[4]

"NewsGuard" will get this information:

  • The sites you visit
  • When you visited these sites, +- 30 minutes, or with better accuracy if you open the extension's popup panel
  • Your public IP address
  • Your browser, OS, language (through HTTP headers)

Funding

NewsGuard was awarded a $749,387 contract by the US Air Force (September 7, 2021 – December 8, 2022) fir a "Misinformation Fingerprints" program aimed at combating "misinformation". NewsGuard also has disclosed that they received $25,000 from the US State Department and the US Cyber Command in 2020.[5][6]

People

NewsGuard's Advisory Board as of May 2020[7].

 

Known members

8 of the 18 of the members already have pages here:

MemberDescription
John BattelleA Young Global Leader who helped launch Wired in the 1990s. On the Advisory Board of the CIA-front NewsGuard
Arne DuncanEducational bureaucrat; United States Secretary of Education under 7 years of Obama.
Michael HaydenUS Spook, NSA Director 1999-2005, CIA Director 2006-2009, News Guard advisory board
Anders Fogh RasmussenBilderberger, ex Danish PM, ex-Secretary General of NATO.
Richard SambrookUK media executive, Edelman's Global Vice Chairman and Chief Content Officer 2010-2012
Richard StengelSenio US Propagandist "Having once been almost a First Amendment absolutist, I have really moved my position on it, because I just think for practical reasons..."
Ed VaizeyUK politician, Merton College Oxford, Henry Jackson Society, NewsGuard/Advisory Board, Notting Hill Set
Jimmy WalesFounder of super-influential Wikipedia. Tony Blair aide's is (strategically?) married to him.

 

Sponsors

EventDescription
Publicis GroupeFrench multinational advertising and public relations company
US/Air ForceThe national air force of the United States.
Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.



References

  1. ↑ https://www.rt.com/news/450035-saudi-arabia-newsguard-pr-investor/ RT
  2. ↑ https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/01/23/microsoft-teams-with-establishment-newsguard-to-create-news-blacklist/
  3. ↑ https://www.mintpressnews.com/pro-israel-activists-blacklist-mintpress-wikipedia/261022/
  4. ↑ https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1085980630863753217.html
  5. ↑ https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_FA864921P1569_9700_-NONE-_-NONE-
  6. ↑ https://obektivno.bg/749387-pentagon-contract-debunks-the-lie-about-independent-fact-checkers/
  7. ↑ https://www.newsguardtech.com/our-advisory-board/
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