Google stops monetizing news websites “that exploits, dismisses, or condones the war”, regardless of the facts and legitimate debates
Google: “Due to the war in Ukraine, we will pause monetization of content that exploits, dismisses, or condones the war.” So, any opinions, facts or reports that fail to follow this narrative, are not allowed by what George Orwell called “The Ministry of Truth”.
Here are the orders surrounding the type of reports, facts and news websites and opinions that have been ordered to be censored, in order to survive:
Journalists and media organisations must survive and, anyway, ‘the truth’ is always the first victim of every war. In Russia, China, the USA or the UK, there are no real differences on censorship, propaganda and disinformation policies when it comes to war (examples being Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning, Daniel Ellsberg, Edward Snowden, to name but a few…).
Now, you can understand why we do not use advertising here. We do not promote our website on social media, and we do not use any marketing and no SEO techniques. To do so would corrupt our values of journalism; it would shift our focus from reporting the facts and our open minded opinions to populism and “mainstreamism”; it would flood our site with brainwashed readers, instead of the independent thinkers that we are looking for.
However, we do not judge others that use advertising. It’s absolutely OK and an accepted part of 21st Century media-life. Those that rely on advertising have families to feed, and billions of ‘average readers’ in whom we have no interest; but, money-wise that audience is fantastic - and they are a legitimate audience for other sectors of the media who seek them out.
We, obviously, do not support the war and, obviously, we are stunned, shocked, saddened and hurt about everything that is happening in Ukraine. But we do not believe that there is only one side of this story. And we do not believe that turning a blind eye to the other side will solve the problem.
We believe in Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis’ motto: “Sunlight is the best disinfectant“. We feel sorry that Google believes otherwise.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
