
Breitbart news site blocked by ad exchange - mark_edward
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-38076579
======
Clanan
This U.S. election has been an important inflection point in displaying the
bias and application of bias by "apparently" disinterested entities like
Twitter, reddit and the like - places that claim to advocate diversity and
openness, yet struggle to do so in the face of conflict. I hope this spawns a
renewed push for education into why things like freedom of speech and
tolerance are so important.

It all goes back to people being people. For us humans it's too easy to break
the rules because we think we know what's best, etc. As the saying goes,
history too easily repeats itself. Castro's passing is perhaps ironic in the
timing.

~~~
potatosoup
As an immigrant from the (once) Soviet Union, the current inability among my
Silicon Valley/tech friends to say anything but pro-left views scares me. Even
hinting that I may want something other than NYT-like viewpoints seems to
cause people to bring out the pitchforks.

~~~
e40
Are you suggesting that Breitbart is the mirror image of NYT on the right?
Because that's what you seem to be implying here, and it is ridiculous.
Breitbart is a cesspool. Perhaps you are claiming the NYT is, too?

~~~
maccard
No, he's suggesting that any time he suggests that the NYT might be anything
other than the gospel truth, he's attacked (like this)

~~~
potatosoup
Correct.

------
mixedCase
>"I'm not going to put the examples out there because I'm not going to engage
in a tit-for-tat on what is compliant."

Well surely that's a great idea that will discourage the accusations of bias.

~~~
awinder
There's 4 examples of headlines that might just display the kind of speech
that a company really doesn't want to be associated with.

To wit: the free speech clause of the first amendment is designed to forbid
the government from passing laws that abridge free speech. It's human nature
and literally unenforcable for that to mean that people must be tolerable of
all forms of speech, and that companies must provide equal footing to all
forms of speech. Even if this ad network was "biased", it's a function of the
downpressure on crazy speech that people be allowed to not associate
themselves with speech that's unrepresentative of their views

~~~
zappo2938
It is sad so many people cry First Amendment right free speech but have zero
idea what it is.

------
whoopdedo
Which is the ad network that keeps serving the full-screen popup "your
computer may be infected with a virus! call this number" ads?

Show me you can tell the difference between real and fake ads first. Then I'll
trust you to tell me the difference between real and fake news.

------
sndean
Previous discussion (two days ago):
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13023954](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13023954)

~~~
_delirium
Looks like the automated dupe-catcher missed it because of bbc.com vs.
bbc.co.uk; maybe needs to be aliased.

------
brokentone
Obviously this ad network can do what they want. They can work with or not
work with any website they desire. But I do worry about companies who control
money becoming vigilantes attempting to support points of view they agree with
and squash points of view they disagree with.

I would be more interested in these networks dropping clickbait and known fake
news websites (maybe they do, I just haven't seen the equivalent news story on
that).

------
jijji
ad exchange is owned by NewsCorp

~~~
cmrdporcupine
Ad exchange is a generic term for a bunch of different products from different
companies.

If you mean AppNexus specifically took an investment from News Corp, then
sure.

------
kelukelugames
If real news can't make money then how long will fake news be able to?
Fabricating stories are easier than investigative reporting so I predict the
race to the bottom will be even faster.

~~~
iends
The type of people reading fake news are the kind of people who click random
banner ads, who install toolbars, etc. I imagine fake news is a lot more
lucrative than real news because you're market is generally a less
sophisticated internet user.

~~~
kelukelugames
Right, but the barrier to entry is lower. I bet I can start a popular fake
news site.

------
pkd
I am frankly shocked by the reaction to this on HN. It seems like I am in the
Breitbart forums.

If you think Breitbart is a news organisation, then you have either never read
any of their articles or are kidding yourself. It is a propaganda
organisation. It doesn't report news, it serves opinions. Here is an extract
from a recent article[0] about Justin Trudeau mourning the death of Fidel
Castro.

"Castro’s Cuban regime was notorious for imprisoning dissenters, including
homosexuals, journalists, and political opponents, and nearly brought nuclear
war to the United States, one of Canada’s closest allies."

The problem with that statement is that it is written like either of those
things were against the US ideology. US has still not completely accepted
homosexuality and it brought nuclear war upon itself by taking its weapons to
Russia's neighbourhood.

Here's another absolute rubbish article[1] about why there should be a cap on
the number of women who are allowed to take up STEM majors.

Breitbart's whole history is like this. In 2009, Andrew Breitbart heavily
pushed the ACORN Video Scandal[2] which later turned out to be a series of
heavily edited and misleading videos which lead to the closure of ACORN, an
NGO which helped people from low to middle income groups.

Another one was the "Friends of Hamas" story that turned out to be a case of
complete and utter bullshit but Breitbart couldn't own up to it.[3]

Breitbart has never been a media organisation and I for one am extremely happy
to see it being boycotted like this. The headlines I have outlined are not
even the more horrific ones they post. Go have a look yourself if you want.

They purposefully spread misinformation and decline to accept their fault when
proven wrong while always being on their toes to point out the slip ups in the
more liberal media coverage of events. In my part of the world, we call it
hypocrisy.

[0] [http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/11/26/canadian-pm-
trude...](http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/11/26/canadian-pm-trudeau-
praises-dictator-castro/)

[1] [http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/06/15/heres-
why...](http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/06/15/heres-why-there-
ought-to-be-a-cap-on-women-studying-science-and-maths/)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACORN_2009_undercover_videos_c...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACORN_2009_undercover_videos_controversy)

[3] [http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/friends-of-hamas-
and...](http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/friends-of-hamas-and-andrew-
breitbarts-legacy)

~~~
mtkd
dude, you're a critical thinker - I liked the text classifier post, I'll have
a proper read when I'm next on a train - Milo is a first class troll -
Breibart has perspective on some current topics - there are no longterm gains
from censoring that

------
sandworm101
They may be on the wrong side of history on this. Fake news and hate speech
are on the rise, and by 'on the rise' I mean now popular amongst double-digit
percentages of the population. Networks can try to step above, but that will
only cede ground to other ad networks. The people want to see this stuff and
advertisers want enthusiastic young eyeballs.

~~~
mtkd
who defines 'fake news' and 'hate speech' when it comes to mass-media? - I
don't invoke Orwell lightly - but there seems to be no consideration of how
such concepts could be (mis)used in 4 or 14 years time - against the very
people who think they are on the side rightfulness today

~~~
pasquinelli
We're talking about someone pulling ads.

------
honksillet
This is outrageous.

~~~
codecamper
this is awesome. geeks are humans only chance against hopelessness & despair.
fixing global warming, improving democracy, transportation, space travel...
are all here because of us geeks. Rise up & be proud. We have a voice. A
strong voice. (& in america unfortunately we must overstate our voice due to
the non-representation of congress, the electoral college and hence the
supreme court)

~~~
ddorian43
Pretty sure the one who decided wasn't a geek/programmer/etc.

------
tomohawk
Totalitarians cannot tolerate any dissenting information or ideas. They can't
just run an ad business, they also have to use their business to squelch ideas
they disagree with.

The accusations of racism, etc, are just a cover for what they've wanted to do
for a while. It doesn't matter that there's no evidence of such racism.

I can't help but think that this just points to the fact that they must not
have much confidence in their ideas that they feel they must muzzle others.

Edit: yep - bots are definitely out in force

~~~
mark_edward
You think AppNexus ceasing to do business with Breitbart is a sign of a
totalitarian society? And you're not being hyperbolic? Genuine question, not
trying be clever.

Arguably it's a sign of a free society, free association and all that. What
would a society where people and firms weren't free to boycott and
disassociate from firms they didn't like be like?

~~~
tomohawk
They're not just ceasing to do business. They're making baseless accusations.

A totalitarian world view is one in which someone no longer feels obliged to
just offer their services or goods in free exchange, but to also insist that
those they do business with also subscribe to their way of thinking.

These things are rarely related.

~~~
tedajax
So now you want to force businesses to associate with businesses they don't
want to associate with and you're calling them totalitarian?

~~~
tomohawk
Of course not. But cutting ties and making baseless accusations?

This is false shaming and participating in a false narrative.

This is exactly how totalitarianism takes hold.

~~~
tedajax
No totalitarianism tends to happen when you have a state run media apparatus
which is run by a media mogul with a position close to a demagogue leader who
has floated the idea of not giving press credentials to other media
organizations. Starting to sound a little familiar?

~~~
tomohawk
Yes.

[http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-hillary-clinton-
res...](http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-hillary-clinton-restricts-
the-press-2014-7)

