Year: 2018

Alex Jones blasts Apple, YouTube, and others / Warns of Internet Censorship is coming

CompuScoop Staff August 7, 2018 0

In a video posted via Twitter, Infowars‘ Alex Jones responds to the removal of links to his podcasts by Apple, saying, in part:

Apple has officially moved to China and is letting the government basically run Apple; and that, of course, is iTunes. Google is building a huge censorship search engine for them [China] and whistleblowers from inside Google say they’re preparing to use it here in America. In fact, they’re beta testing different parts of the system for China on American conservatives, nationalists, and Trump supporters…

This is 21st-century warfare. It’s happening right now. And it’s designed to silence the Amercian people and other populist movements around the world who are trying to struggle free from this corporate totalitarianism.

I’ve had a lot of top lawyers call me today and say, “Alex, we need to sue Apple. We need to sue all these groups that clearly are involved in cut and dry antitrust activities, working with other companies to delist you and block you from the marketplace of ideas, so, then when they demonize you, you don’t have a way to respond to them and they can destroy you and then, with that model, move on against everybody else.” — Alex Jones, August 6, 2018

Direct link to Alex Jones’ video via Twitter here.

YouTube Deletes Alex Jones’ Channel for ‘Violating Community Guidelines’

CompuScoop Staff August 6, 2018 2

Earlier today, we reported that Apple had pulled conservative commentator Alex Jones' podcast from their iTunes Store.

Now web site The Verge is reporting that YouTube has now officially deleted the commentator's channel, claiming that it had "Violated YouTube's Community Guidelines".

In a statement, YouTube said Jones had violated its terms of service and community guidelines, which said:

Jones had violated its terms of service and community guidelines. “When users violate these policies repeatedly, like our policies against hate speech and harassment or our terms prohibiting circumvention of our enforcement measures, we terminate their accounts.”

Jones told The Washington Post that the termination of his accounts across multiple platforms today was “a counter-strike against the global awakening.” “You’re on the wrong side of history mainstream media,” he said. “You sold the country out, and now you’re going to pay for it.”

Amazon Prime Video is about to get a major upgrade

CompuScoop Staff August 6, 2018 0

One of the main complaints about Amazon Prime Video is the user interface. Many have struggled to find what content was included with their subscription and sometimes it was even hard to find the content you owned.

Now Amazon’s new head of Amazon Studio Jennifer Slake has announced that Prime Video’s user interface is about to get a major upgrade. Recently Jennifer Slake got an early preview of the new user interface and said she now uses it on her phone. According to Slake “there’s so much to be excited about,” when it comes to the new User Interface.

Sadly she stopped just short of showing off the new app but from the sounds of it, the new Amazon Prime Video app is likely to close to being ready for a public release later this year.

Hopefully, this new app addresses a few important shortcomings. First making it easier to know what is and is not included with your Prime membership. Second, helping you find your content you want.

Well, Amazon has a massive library of content many subscribers struggle to find it. They often end up in the Prime Video Store looking at movies for sale or to rent instead of content included with their subscription.

Also if you have a large catalog of movies and TV shows you will also find it difficult to find the content you may have purchased years ago. With a single row, you may have to keep scrolling back to find what you want.

Source: Ad Week

Apple drops Alex Jones podcasts from iTunes and its Podcast Store

CompuScoop Staff August 6, 2018 0

Early Monday, Apple decided to drop all of radio host's Alex Jones podcasts from its Podcast Store and iTunes. After a public backlash against tech platforms that carry notorious conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' content, who is the host of a show called InfoWars.

Apple is following other tech giants such as YouTube, which the company has also removed some of InfoWar's content from its service.

Website buzzfeed.com was the first to notice the removal and it had contacted Apple for a statement, to which the company said:

"Apple does not tolerate hate speech, and we have clear guidelines that creators and developers must follow to ensure we provide a safe environment for all of our users. Podcasts that violate these guidelines are removed from our directory making them no longer searchable or available for download or streaming. We believe in representing a wide range of views, so long as people are respectful to those with differing opinions."

A podcast called "Real News With David Knight," which is produced by InfoWars not hosted by Jones himself, was not removed, however.

The move by Apple arrives as tech platforms have come under increased pressure to avoid dissemination of false content, including conspiracy theories. Last week, Spotify pulled some episodes of Jones' shows, and the podcast platform Stitcher removed Jones' podcast altogether.