Posted on Categories News & Comment

PBC News & Comment: Provoked By Sen. Warren, Facebook Says It’s, Like, a Broadcaster

Warren’s intentionally false ad leads Facebook to declare it’s like a broadcaster or publisher, reversing previous legal posture, inviting regulation…–in Guardian op-ed, Rutgers Law professor and co-author explain the import of this development

–and Buzzfeed reports that even though Facebook will accept ads with blatant lies, it rejects political ads for minor issues

–California governor and utilities regulator hammer PG&E for last week’s power shutoff

–media groupthink continues on Syria coverage, as NY Times editorial promotes same talking points as WashPost report, with plenty of Russophobia

–after reciting the usual shaming points, Moscow-based NY Times reporter notes that Russia inherits a lot of problems in Syria

–in Britain, Boris Johnson is negotiating incomprehensible changes to “Irish backstop” that may produce a bit of a Brexit deal as deadline looms

–Supreme Court denied Trump plan to add citizenship question to census, so it tries to collect it from state DMV’s

–promoting his new book on Harvey Weinstein and other predators, Ronan Farrow is undeterred by attacks from NBC

From the impeachment file

 –Fiona Hill told impeachment investigation that John Bolton went ballistic over Rudy Giuliani’s efforts in Ukraine

–George Kent, State Dept expert on Ukraine, is being interviewed today

–the Biden counterattack hit today, as Hunter told ABC he did nothing wrong

–and Joe unveils new ethics plans, and promises that Hunter won’t work in his White House

–one of the Russians indicted by Mueller for working at St. Petersburg troll farm is briefly arrested in Belarus

–in colorful rant at ConsortiumNews, James Howard Kunstler questions if there really are CIA whistleblowers