(The Empty Suit calls for a ‘conversation’): Barack Obama isn’t happy with Facebook and Google, either

President Hopey-Changey Transformational Transparency doesn’t like ‘alternative’ opinions.

Barack Obama isn’t happy with Facebook and Google, either

He wants them to “have to have a conversation about their business model.”
By Peter Kafka on February 27, 2018 6:50 am

Google and Facebook aren’t just incredibly profitable tech companies — they are “public goods” with a responsibility to serve the public, says Barack Obama.

I do think the large platforms — Google and Facebook being the most obvious, Twitter and others as well, are part of that ecosystem — have to have a conversation about their business model that recognizes they are a public good as well as a commercial enterprise,” the former president said at MIT’s Sloan Sports Conference last Friday. “They’re not just an invisible platform, they’re shaping our culture in powerful ways.”

Obama described Facebook and Google as a duopoly. He also said they were contributing to a fractured media environment that allowed users to construct alternate realities, without a common set of facts.

“We have to have a serious conversation about, what are the business models, the algorithms, the mechanisms, whereby we can create more of a common conversation,” he said. “And that can not just be a commercially driven conversation.”

https://www.recode.net/platform/amp/2018/2/27/17057686/barack-obama-face...

What s hoot! This SOB is making ‘private speeches at MIT ‘sports’ todos where attendees sre not allowed to discuss what he said, but he wants a ‘conversation’ about what the filty rabble can post and discuss online. Now we know why all the secrecy.

What did Barack Obama say at his secret sports speech in front of hundreds of people?

*

That’s because Obama’s session at MIT’s Sloan Sports Analytics Conference was off the record — conference organizers prevented attendees from tweeting, livestreaming or reporting on any part of Obama’s appearance during or after the event.

The penalty for breaking the rules, per Sloan: You couldn’t come back to Sloan.

0BA222ED-D70E-4BA2-8FB2-06C865B65972.jpeg

This slug was nothing bit a ringer to enable TPTB to control and own EVERYTHING. In fact, he was one of their purchases. They know.lying opportunists when they see them and they were lucky to come across this one.

He just had a higher price tag than Hillbillary. In the end I hope his legacy is shoved up his nether regions.

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Bollox Ref's picture

but I'm decidedly not happy with Barack Obama.

Public statements that are too little and too late. Wouldn't health care for all be a 'public good'?

His legacy is the clown prince known as Trump.

Shouldn't he be off playing golf in some idyllic locale with his banker buddies?

(Edited to include:)
Asshole!

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

here.

"Essentially we now have entirely different realities that are being created with not just different opinions, but now different facts," he said. "And this isn't just by the way Russian inspired bots and fake news. This is Fox News vs. The New York Times editorial page. If you look at these different sources of information, they do not describe the same thing. In some cases, they don't even talk about the same thing. And so it is very difficult to figure out how democracy works over the long term in those circumstances."

Actually, allowing completely differing opinions is exactly how Democracy is supposed to work - both long term and short term.

The soft authoritarianism of Obama on full display:

Obama noted that in other countries—like China—the government simply decides which viewpoints can be aired in public, but "that's not who we are, and that's not the society I want to live in." Even so, media giants like Facebook and Google should keep in mind that the U.S. government has a role to play in ensuring there are "basic rules of the road in place that create level playing fields."

Shorter Obama: my mixed metaphors are better than China's.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

@Not Henry Kissinger softer, gentler fascism to me.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@on the cusp

W. Shut up and went away. It should be required of every ex.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

snoopydawg's picture

at that conference. It was supposed to be like Fight Club. ""You do not talk about Fight Club!!"
Bollox, he took a year off to play with his friends who happened to be billionaires. And no, he couldn't pass single payer because his masters didn't want it passed. Her got paid before she was president, he's getting paid after his.

No edit necessary. He's an asshole!

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There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

Bollox Ref's picture

@snoopydawg

Obama is just a phony, too languid to even try and make a decent deal for the great unwashed.

(Edited)

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

@snoopydawg actual asshole's provide a much needed function, Obomber and his ilk are more like fucking parasite's sucking the life out of everything they can attach themselves to.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@pro left

The thing is actual assholes provide a much needed function, Obomber and his ilk are more like fucking parasite's sucking the life out of everything they can attach themselves to.

syntax corrected

Sounds like the parts of American society which should be performing that "much needed function" aren't doing their jobs!

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Socialprogressive's picture

think any less of the man. He just proved me wrong.

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I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.

lotlizard's picture

range only from Fox News on the one hand to the New York Times on the other.

But “Military Empire and Deep State Mouthpiece A” versus “Military Empire and Deep State Mouthpiece B” is not a very big range, is it?

Egregiously biased as both those propaganda bubbles are, they are hardly two different realities.

No, the “fake news / fake choice,” billionaire-beholden, Deep State–driven duopoly is one single, unified reality.

Enforced by actions like coming down on RT like a ton of bricks. And why? For ever so slightly having overstepped the boundaries of that range, ever so slightly having lifted the curtain?

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@lotlizard

Notice that Obama’s example of the extremes of the spectrum range only from Fox News on the one hand to the New York Times on the other.

But “Military Empire and Deep State Mouthpiece A” versus “Military Empire and Deep State Mouthpiece B” is not a very big range, is it?

The 40-yard lines in a traditional American Gridiron, to be precise, Captain!

Wink

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

GreatLakeSailor's picture

@lotlizard

She Runs the Gamut of Human Emotion from A to B
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Compensated Spokes Model for Big Poor.

Alligator Ed's picture

Even in the title is a lie. How can there be a conversation when no one can ask questions, can record the proceedings for further discussion, debate his dubious arrogant propositions?

As Facebook and Google are doing their masters' bidding quite nicely, from what my outside perspective allows, why does Obomber have to chastise them? Is it because they are not in line 100% with the party line.

Rethink business models?--like include perhaps a bit of concern for social conscience of the majority of the citizenry rather than his billionaire puppet masters.

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@Alligator Ed

... As Facebook and Google are doing their masters' bidding quite nicely, from what my outside perspective allows, why does Obomber have to chastise them? Is it because they are not in line 100% with the party line. ...

Hey, they sometimes have had to be pushed to do things like make pathetic public fools of themselves over using nonsense in bolstering The Psychopaths That Be's made-up arrantly criminal, utterly, insanely illogical, despicable and deadly Russiagate BS in the interest of an excuse for global destruction by The Right People and maybe even in the case of the censoring and further outraging of the more aware of their users, an increasing number of whom are seeking alternatives, (which last is a good thing, as there should not be effective monopolies over anything, least of all the internet or any other essential).

Yup, cute puppy pics posted after the election definitely caused arguably the most appallingly and blatantly corrupt, treacherous and psychopathic warmonger ever to run for US Presidential Coronation, and clearly out to screw the global public six feet under the floorboards of hell, to lose the election - and only Russian marketers seeking clicks for Putin's websites could possibly have been devious enough to think of it. Absolutely, this means war! We're getting M.A.D.! Destroying life on the planet will show them who really censors the internet!

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Pluto's Republic's picture

I was counting on Kim Dotcom to Mesh his technology to replace the Internet pronto. But it looks like the race is on. Surely they know their Empire is dead and their Dollar is a dead buck walking. Domestic imperialism is what? Their consolation prize?

Don't make me come to Washington.... Dirol

::

When you have time to kick back, learn a little about the backstory that has put us in the jeopardy to open communication we face today. In this video, Kim DotCom tells Max Keiser how the Snowden leaks led govt's around the world to an arms race to gain NSA's capabilites for mass surveillance and how he's going to stop that with by replacing the Internet with entirely encrypted & crowdfunded MegaNet, at a crypto-currency crowdfunding event in Hoxton, London. Enjoy.

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IMAGINE if you woke up the day after a US Presidential Election and headlines around the the world blared, "The Majority of Americans Refused to Vote in US Presidential Election! What Does this Mean?"

@Pluto's Republic thanks for that vid, he is admitting it right now about fifteen minutes in. LOL why wouldn't government just cut off the ISPs carrying his traffic? Or backdoor the embedded phone firmware to disrupt it, who you gonna call? China's great firewall went up this month, no VPN (encrypted Virtual Private Network) on earth can operate there without its ISP being "registered with the government". Partners.

Every minute. Every single minute. Tell me how blockchain will help granny in the ditch, then I might get manic like Max about it "taking down the bad guys". what extraordinary salesmen

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Facebook has done more damage to the public good than any corporation I've ever seen crawl from the Bay Area cesspool, beside Google. Political corruptness extraordinaire.

Obama's gift to Trump: “Countering Disinformation and Propaganda". Please proceed.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/01/06/obamas-propaganda-gift-to-trump/

Facebook YouTube generation catharsis: "Take what you need." LOL yeah it works! Torches of Freedom, baby! GOTV

squeaky clean

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"Google and Facebook aren’t just incredibly profitable tech companies — they are “public goods” with a responsibility to serve the public, says Barack Obama."

As President, so was he. Why didn't he responsibly serve the public? I guess it's ask no questions and you'll be told no lies.

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Illinois is teetering on the precipice of bankruptcy. The state's bonds are junk status. Yet, I hear on the news that Obama wants the state to kick in tens of millions of dollars for his Presidential Library. He's rich. His wife is a multimillionaire. His wife has a billionaire friend that got the sole source contract for the ACA website and database. Let HIM pay for his own damn library!

EDIT: For balance I should add that the state's (R) Governor wants Kansas style tax CUTS!

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

@The Voice In the Wilderness thanks I was just looking over there, not sure why I do this to myself, it's crazy:
https://www.opensecrets.org/search?cof=FORID%3A11&cx=010677907462955562473%3Anlldkv0jvam&q=facebook&type=orgs#top-contributor-to-candidate

Top Contributor to Candidate 2018
Facebook Inc to Arkansas District 2
Facebook Inc to California District 1
Facebook Inc to California District 10
Facebook Inc to California District 8
Facebook Inc to Florida District 18
Facebook Inc to Iowa District 4
Facebook Inc to New Hampshire District 1
Facebook Inc to New Mexico District 2
Facebook Inc to New York District 11
Facebook Inc to New York District 22
Facebook Inc to Pennsylvania District 11
Facebook Inc to Pennsylvania District 6
Facebook Inc to Texas District 32

get on the gravy train

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And letting the free markets decide and all that other rot? Saying FB and Google are "public goods" with a decree to serve the public sounds like some of that Commie talk to me...

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Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

@Dr. John Carpenter when I read that "public good" thing. Then why did he pick a guy who he knew would work to overturn Net Neutrality? What about that whole broadband/backbone thingy being a public good?

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Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

We have a common grid for electricity. Now we will have a common grid for defining reality.

The beginning of the Borg.

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