adminPhoto: Ilustration, source: Ayo Bandung
Stramed, Nowadays, several countries such as Hong Kong, Haiti, Peru, Chile etc have been facing simultaneous economic and political uncertainty. Those phenomenon is predicted that it does not go “alone”, perhaps there is any “hidden hands” which come from state-actors and non state actors who have played on those seriously issues. Theoritically, there are certain party which will come as “the actor” of color revolutions. Meanwhile, color revolution means as the efforts to change or to over throw current government and replacing with new “actors” who can control and loyal to play and to guard our national interest in others countries or target operation regions. Tumultuous mass rallies which have been happening in Hong Kong, Haiti, Peru and Chile are predicted it has done by “the actor of color revolutions”.
Recently, we can see and judge about “double standard” from international NGO and social media who have given their perspective related to global uncertainty and political and economic turbulence which had happened in Hong Kong, Peru, Haiti and Chile. According to and referring to www.
RT.com, we can see how Human Rights Watch’s director has condemned the Chilean government for its brutal treatment of peaceful protesters, but has fallen silent on similar human rights abuses in European states like France and Spain.
Slamming “police misuse of rubber projectiles and gas canisters” in the government crackdown against the massive protests in Chile, HRW executive director Kenneth Roth tweeted photos of some of the injured protesters. Some 26 of the victims have completely lost eyesight in one eye over just two weeks of protests.
Kenneth Roth last called out the French police in January for using rubber bullets to blind peaceful demonstrators, and HRW published a report in December 2018 slamming the violent “crowd control” tactics.
But lately, Roth is more concerned that French President Emmanuel Macron call out China for human rights abuses – France’s own abuses are all but forgotten. The country’s page on HRW’s website does not mention the police crackdown on the Yellow Vests at all, instead focusing on the rights of migrants in France. French citizens demonstrating for their rights are all but forgotten.
Social media users also challenged Roth for overlooking violence by the Spanish authorities against protesters in Catalonia – including the use of rubber bullets, which are banned. Four protesters have reportedly lost their eyes in the Spanish province since unrest flared up last month, fueled by the sentencing of nine pro-independence politicians.
It’s difficult to ascertain whether there’s a conflict of interest – HRW officially accepts no government funds – but its decision to focus on abuses outside of Europe and the US speaks to a certain bias in its coverage. Like many NGOs, there is an agenda aside from the one on its letterhead (https://www.rt.com/news/472430-human-rights-watch-protesters-chile/)
Meanwhile, for example, Google has announced it will be funding 34 media organizations in North America – 29 in the US, four in Canada, and one that has remained undisclosed. The project is being undertaken by the so-called Google News Initiative (GNI), a three-year, $300 million effort designed to “help journalism thrive in the digital age.”
Among the 29 various groups, as detailed by Neiman Lab, is the Dallas Morning News, which supported Hillary Clinton for president in the 2016 election. The newspaper will receive, among other freebies, a cash infusion for a “searchable guide to pre-K through 12 education in North Texas” to assist parents in choosing the right schools for their kids.
Another lucky recipient of Google’s largesse is Fox News (sorry, that was a joke I could not resist). In fact, it is the Salt Lake City Tribune, which backed Barack Obama in his 2012 bid for the presidency. This week, the newspaper carried a provocative opinion piece by David Brooks, entitled, ‘Impeach
Trump. And then move on’. It’s safe to say that would never be confused as a conservative message. The Tribune will get GNI funding in support of the Utah Journalism Foundation to “accelerate our transition by building out a critical and innovative series of tools, policies and procedures.”
Google also singled out a partnership with the Lenfest Institute, which partners with the Democracy Fund, Facebook, and the Bezos-owned Washington Post, one of the most prominent left-wing media outlets. With Google’s financial blessing, Lenfest will team up with the Philadelphia Inquirer to distribute newsletters in the region that will “empower residents to stay informed and connect with their neighbors.”
Google News Initiative is just one of many media projects the company has endorsed over the last decade.
According to a comprehensive report by the Google Transparency Project (GTP), the IT giant and related entities “has committed between $567 million and $569 million to support at least 1,157 media projects around the globe.” GTP said that another 170 projects financed by Google contained no funding information, thereby indicating the total amount of spending is possibly much greater.
Ironically, despite being the king of internet searches, Google has fallen far behind on the transparency front. The Google watchdog said the California-based company “isn’t always transparent about its spending,” which presents a challenge for anyone hoping to understand what sort of financial handouts the company is awarding, and what it may expect in return for its money (https://www.rt.com/op-ed/472399-google-liberal-funding-media/)
We can predict that both NGO and social media bring “hidden agenda” to change unproper and uncondusive situation for smoothing their interest or at least they want change the world as they want to be change it.
Meanwhile, the tools or the messages which can sell to public to get their support related to human rights issues, economic issues, public sorrow saga etc (Red/Many sources).
Glembert
