All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[ed2962]

I wasn't able to give it my full 100% attention because I was still working, but I was glad that Biden did acknowledge both the antisemitism and islamophobia in the US today during his speech earlier.

[JackDaw]

It may be a generational issue some people have, but the youth of the world *do* have a substantial number of people who recognize that Anti-Semitism is stupid and evil but also oppose Nehtanyahu and right-wing Israeli politics. That must be acknowledged, and perhaps even encouraged, because if it isn’t, than the strategic reality of the situation will be success for Hamas.

Do you really not recognise that there’s a substantial number of people of all ages that recognise that anti-Semitism is stupid and evil??


I’d have thought that this idea that “the coming generation is so much better than preceding generations that……” was thoroughly discredited by now.

[worstblogever]

On this date, in 2014, in 2015, and in 2016, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” published profiles of former Colorado House of Representatives member Gordon Klingenschmitt, a.k.a. “Dr. Chaps” who in 2014, actually managed to get enough support to be elected in spite of the fact that he is, for lack of a better term, a complete goddamned lunatic. How much of a loon is he? Well, in our first profile, we went in depth on Klingenschmitt, a former military chaplain reprimanded and discharged by the Navy in 2006 for disobeying orders and attending a political protest in uniform. He also apparently while once counseling a rape victim on his vessel, discovered she was a lesbian and immediately stopped helping her through her trauma to restrain her and try to exorcise the demons out of her that were making her gay (I’m serious, he’s bragged about this). Klingenschmitt then took to the airwaves on a cable access show, where he has tried performing long-distance exorcisms on all sorts of famous people to remove demons from them, from liberal celebrities like Madonna, to politicians like President Obama and Texas State Senator Wendy Davis. The latter makes sense when you consider he claims the Bible teaches us to defend ourselves against “left-wing crazies” (I don’t remember Jesus saying that, myself). He also thinks the FCC have loosened guidelines to help demons travel through televisions to “molest and visually rape your children”, that the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us to discriminate against gays, and repeatedly has claimed “Obamacare causes cancer”. Klingenschmitt, despite being pants-s***ingly insane (speaking of which, he has claimed the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” has made gay soldiers have to start wearing diapers from all the gay sex they’ve been having making them lose bowel control, because he’s that charming)… despite being that barking mad, decided to make a run for the Colorado House of Representatives. And just prior to the election, he claimed openly gay Democratic Congressman Jared Polis was “going to join ISIS and start beheading Christians” because seriously, at this point, could he really do anything to come off as more deranged? Within three months of being sworn into office, Colorado House Republicans refused to allow Klingenschmitt to participate in any committees in state government, for fear of what he might say on them, and halfway through his term, he praised the Bundy family for seizing a federal building and called on the judges who tried the case to be executed. He’s called for the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”, arguing that we should “push gay people back in the closet”, which doesn’t make any goddamned sense because the people who have come out of it can’t put that genie back in the bottle at this point, and also claimed that a female Muslim cadet at The Citadel would lead to an increase in female service members being raped because… well, he’s insane, so don’t try to make sense of that. Klingenschmitt’s still going on his cable access show daily, where he continues to insist President Obama is a secret Muslim, argues that God preached against gun-free zones in the Bible, compares same sex marriage to “the yoke of slavery”, said that executives from Planned Parenthood have “blood dripping from their fangs” and blames polling that shows Americans are starting to accept same sex marriage on what else? Massive demonic possession. Mercifully, Klingenschmitt was defeated in his efforts to be elected to the Colorado State Senate in 2016, and hopefully will never, ever even sniff anything close to elected office again.

On this date in 2017, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Bill Nojay, a former member of the New York State Assembly who was first elected to office in 2012, and seemed to be well on his way to re-election until just a few weeks prior to the 2016 elections, he took his own life rather to go to jail on federal fraud and other white collar criminal charges he was facing (he actually won his primary days after he died). Months after his suicide, the FBI were still trying to sort out his criminal activities, which involved business dealings though out multiple countries across the globe, reached well into the seven-figure range, and were committed even years prior to his first run for office. In fact, it is believed that much of the money donated to a SuperPAC for Nojay’s first run for office was $91,000 looted from an escrow account on a construction project that was never completed for the King of Jordan. Perhaps not coincidentally given all the money the Trump Corporation and Paul Manafort are being investigated for grifting their way through in foreign real estate deals… Bill Nojay endorsed Donald Trump pretty early on in the 2016 elections, gave him advice on where his “lane” would have to be given he had no prior office or military service, urging him to run for Governor of New York instead, and eventually served as the Trump campaign’s New York Co-Chairman. Democrats were respectful following Nojay’s death, unlike their GOP counterparts who when placed in similar situations like with Seth Rich or Vince Foster, would start whipping up conspiracy theories about how the head of the ticket were responsible for his death.

On this date in both 2018, as well as 2019, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” first profiled the U.S. House Representative from Texas’ 22nd District, Pete Olson, who has been in office now since 2008, and prior to that he spent a decade serving as aide to Texas Senator Phil Gramm for four years, and then as Texas Senator John Cornyn’s chief of staff from 2002-2007. And yes, he’s a Republican Texas Congressman, so obviously Rep. Olson’s going to have a long voting record that shows he’s anti-immigrant, anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ (Olson was actually the sponsor of the anti-transgender “Civil Rights Uniformity Act” that would have defined citizens by the gender of their birth), pro-gun, and the whole myriad of extremist ideas that come with it. What sets him apart from the rest, though? Well, our hands-down greatest WTF from Pete Olson is easily that during the 2016 presidential campaign, Olson was chatting on the radio with conservative talk show host Sam Malone, and straight up started theorizing that when Bill Clinton met Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the airport tarmac, the former president “must have threatened to kill her like the Clintons did to Vince Foster” to gain her loyalty and get FBI Director James Comey to stop investigating Hillary’s e-mails. Alright, so… first up, the Clintons didn’t kill Vince Foster, that was a suicide, and Foster’s family REPEATEDLY keep telling Republicans to stop spreading conspiracy theories about his death, because that’s just f***ed up. Second… that would be some brazen and stupid obstruction of justice attempts, and if there’s something Bill Clinton knows about, it’s having to endure bulls*** investigations without doing anything that gets you charged with obstruction of justice. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sat down with investigators during the Lewinsky debacle, or stopped the Starr investigation from looking into his taxes… etc. (Which seems to be quite the opposite of how the current occupant of the Oval Office handles things…) Anyway, Pete Olson is a conspiracy spreading moron. This wouldn’t be a one-off, as Olson also “misspoke” during a speech in August of 2018 in front of the India House in Houston, when he claimed that the 9/11 hijackers were Pakistani in origin. Because, y’know, there’s not enough tensions between India and Pakistan, so let’s just start telling Indians that the Pakistanis did 9/11. Nice one, Pete. Back in November of 2013, though, Pete Olson was also one of 19 Republicans in Congress who were calling for the impeachment of Eric Holder for not enforcing laws related to the Defense of Marriage Act. Now, it is the Attorney General’s duty to enforce the laws in our country, however, we’ve got to side with holder on this, because the Defense of Marriage Act was overturned by the Supreme Court about four or five months prior to Olson and company’s little tantrums. Rounding things out, yes, Pete Olson is a climate change denier, citing that it’s obviously not man made because “our climate has been changing since God created Earth”. But by all means, take a look at his decade-long voting record during his career in Congress to get an idea of how bad he is, while he votes against equal pay for women, against Wall Street reform after the banks almost imploded the global economy in 2007, against the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", or Disaster Relief Funding for victims of Hurricane Sandy or against the Zadroga Act to provide healthcare for First Responders of 9/11. What he will vote for includes trying to defund Planned Parenthood and National Public Radio, numerous attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, an attempt to weaken the Americans with Disabilities Act, the past two government shutdowns, and HR 7, an anti-abortion bill that makes even some Republicans pause before voting for it because of its language that tries to define the conditions for what “rape” is, in it. Texas’ 22nd Congressional District, representing the Houston suburbs, has had a shift in its partisan makeup over the past decade, trending bluer all the time. Pete Olson seems all too aware of what the portents are showing, as he opted to retire rather than face a potential loss in 2020.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2020, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Nick Moutos, who was a 2020 candidate who ran in Texas’ 35th Congressional District. His prior experience before running for office was working as an employee in the Texas Attorney General’s office from 2017, where he had the bad luck to Ken Paxton as his boss (Paxton being already a corrupt dumbass himself). We’re profiling Nick Moutos as yet another Qanon conspiracy theory devotee who was running for office as a Republican in 2020. How deep down the rabbit hole did Nick Moutos go? Well, it wasn’t just he would share content explicitly supporting QAnon, including other congressional candidates taking oaths supporting QAnon. When Twitter announced that it would take action against the spread of the QAnon conspiracy theory on the platform, Moutos responded angrily, posting,“#Q must be getting close to #OutingYou as a #Pedophile or #ChildTrafficker or perhaps involved with #PizzaGate.” So… yeah, I’m sure Jack Dorsey at Twitter liked being accused of being a pedophile for shutting down the insanity. Moutos ended up finishing third in the GOP Primary for Texas’ 35th, finishing with 28% of the vote. But then the truly good news happened. Moutos’ Twitter account ended up undoing his career as a prosecutor, though, as he frequently started posting racist tweets-where he would threaten Black Lives Matter protesters and call the group’s leaders “terrorists”, calling Islam a “virus”, referring to First Lady Michelle Obama as President Obama’s “husband” and trans people an “abomination.” Yes, he was racist enough that even Ken Paxton had him shown the door, getting fired in September of 2020. He stopped posting on Twitter, perhaps not coincidentally, two days after the attack of the Capitol by Trump supporters, and has yet to re-emerge on the platform, or anywhere in politics.

On this date in 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Irene Armendariz-Jackson, a 2020 candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in Texas’ 16th Congressional District, as a challenger to Democratic Congresswoman Veronica Escobar. She is decidedly in the “Latinos for Trump” camp, constantly calling for the completion of a full useless border wall along the U.S./Mexico border. She’s also an adherent of the Qanon conspiracy theory. Texas Monthly saw her social media accounts linked to several Qanon accounts and would occasional use Qanon hashtags, so they decided to ask her what she knew about it… and she answered, “Conservatives know there is a conspiracy, a deep state conspiracy. The Democratic party is very much intertwined with the satanic church.” She continued that the bodies of aborted babies are used to promote satanic worship and then described once driving by a condemned building in Omaha, Nebraska, where politicians and celebrities had sex with children. Which of course, she never reported to anyone to shut it down and can’t remember where this building is today… but whatever, right? She insisted the longer Donald Trump was in power, the more Armendariz-Jackson believed these secrets will be exposed, adding, “I know a lot of Americans are waking up to understand the darkness behind everything going on right now.”She’s also spread conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden, as well as election fraud conspiracy theories in the year since the election. Irene Armendariz-Jackson lost to Congresswoman Escobar badly in 2020, getting just 35% of the vote. She has since been banned from Facebook, but somehow thinks being removed from social media platforms will help her win office in 2022, where she’s filed to get wrecked by Escobar again.



On this date one year ago, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” had its first profile of the U.S. House Rep. for the Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District, Cliff Bentz, who prior to reaching office, spent a dozen kicking around the Oregon state legislature, most infamously as a member of the GOP “walk out” where they refused to show up and give the Oregon State Senate a quorum to pass a climate change bill in 2019. We suppose not showing up to do his job gave him more than enough time to campaign for the Congressional seat being left abandoned by Craig Walden, who no longer wanted to govern over the eastern two thirds of Oregon, noted to be the rural part that resents the far bluer western third that sits along the Pacific Ocean.

Bentz was only days into his tenure when the stubborn extremism he demonstrated back at home was clearly brought with him, when he not only voted against certifying the results of the 2020 election, but in an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting after doing so, refused to acknowledge that Joe Biden was going to be the duly elected President of the United States. When he refused to do his job and govern as a Oregon State Senator, people should have believed him about who he was.

But not for nothing, we’re also talking about someone who’s transphobic and trying to dictate whether trans kids should be allowed to participate in school sports, or who is a believer in Personhood, believing life begins at conception, and thus wants not just abortion, but birth control to be illegal.

[worstblogever]

Not surprisingly, his voting record reflects his extremism:

• January 7th, 2021: Cliff Bentz votes for the objection to the electoral college’s votes in the 2020 election, a failure to send any sort of message that he wasn’t intimidated or sympathetic to those who attacked the Capitol to attempt a violent coup.
• January 13th, 2021: Rep. Bentz votes against the second impeachment of Donald Trump, because the Republican Party no longer feels like they should be accountable for anything, including failed coups that result in the deaths of both their participants and police officers.
• February 25th, 2021: Bentz votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
• March 3rd, 2021: Rep. Bentz votes against HR 1, a bill created to prevent the corruption of money in politics, and protect voter access to the ballot box.
• March 3rd, 2021: Cliff Bentz votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
• March 10th, 2021: Bentz votes against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, because he feels people deserve to die in poverty during a pandemic.
• March 17th, 2021: Rep. Bentz votes against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
• November 5th, 2021: Cliff Bentz votes against HR 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
• March 31st, 2022: Bentz votes against HR 6833, the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would limit the cost that drug companies could list insulin at to $35 and make sure no diabetic was priced out of surviving their condition. Cliff Bentz would rather they be gouged by pharmaceutical giants and/or die.
• May 18th, 2022: Cliff Bentz is one of 192 Republicans who votes against HR 7790, to create supplemental funding for infant formula (while claiming to be pro- life).
• May 18th, 2022: Rep. Bentz votes against HR 350, the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, because these days, a plank of the Republican Party is ostensibly domestic terror.
  https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/117-2022/h221
• May 19th, 2022: Bentz votes against HR 7688, a bill which would help prevent gas companies from gouging customers on prices.
  https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/117-2022/h232
• July 15th, 2022: Cliff Bentz votes against House Amendment 262, which would require the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Secretary of Defense to publish a report on the infiltration of American law enforcement by Neo-Nazis and white supremacists, offer measures to be taken to remove them from their ranks, and prevent further infiltration by others.
• July 13th, 2022: Bentz votes against the Honoring Our PACT Act, to provide healthcare to veterans affected by toxic burn pits while serving in the War on Terror that leave them more susceptible to forms of cancer.
• July 21st, 2022: Bentz is one of 195 Republicans who vote against the Right to Contraception Act, which codified the right of Americans to have access to birth control.
• September 29th, 2022: Cliff Bentz is one of 49 Republicans who vote against HR 8888, the Food Security for All Veterans Act.
• December 1st, 2022: Rep. Bentz is one of 90 Republicans who vote against HR 6878, meaning he is perfectly fine with pregnant women in prison being placed in solitary confinement while claiming to be “pro-life”.
• December 6th, 2022: Bentz, embracing the GOP’s white nationalist, anti-immigrant sentiment votes against HR 7946, which was meant to honor the promise to grant citizenship to immigrants who served in the United States Armed Forces.

Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District has a +15 Republican lean in the Cook Partisan Voting Index, which sadly might make him bulletproof even though he had proxies asking Donald Trump to pardon him for his part in aiding Trump’s attempted coup in and around Jan. 6th, 2021.

[CaptainEurope]

If the children fail to assimilate, that does imply potential problems with the parents.

It's more complex than that. I've seen it in my own circle of friends where the parents are basically atheists and their children are feeling a need to "reconnect to their roots" because they feel neither welcome in their place of residence, nor the land of their parents.

[Coin Biter]

That has been BBC line from the start…it’s not a new development.

It’s been greeted with incredulity by a fair number of people.

I’ve not seen official BBC explanation why they are taking this line, a fair number of people assume it’s trying to avoid angering Muslim population. I suppose it’s worth considering that if BBC stuck to strict definition of “terrorist” they would have needed to apply that term to many anti-apartheid luminaries, not least Nelson Mandela. (Yes…obviously…I realise anti-apartheid movement followed a more measured path than Hamas.)

There hasn’t been an official BBC explanation because it’s in their style guide - check out “terrorist”: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsstyleguide/t As that entry states, they take a similar stance to descriptions of the IRA. They will frequently, however, refer to Hamas as a proscribed terrorist organisation in their news reports, because that is technically within their style. John Simpson has also explained, but predictably the explanation has given rise to additional condemnation, as some (particularly Grant Shapps) criticised Simpson for referencing that the BBC didn’t call the Nazis evil, either. Hence why it is unwise to try to justify it publicly, because no critic will accept the explanation.

This is all something of a distraction and an excuse for other broadcasters (well, GB News anyway) and certain newspapers to indulge in BBC-bashing; ITV and Sky have much the same editorial line, but don’t draw the criticism, because they’re not the public service broadcaster and the popular target.

As it happens, the BBC made a genuine error IMO recently by not clarifying that the cause for the hospital explosion wasn’t certain at the time it occurred, although I know (because I was watching) that Sky made the same mistake. However the vast amount of newsprint wasted over an understandable (IMO) editorial line is not justified; no-one with a functioning moral compass could see Hamas’ recent terrorist activities as anything other than evil. And no-one can fairly think that the BBC using a term such as ‘militants’ or the formulation ‘proscribed terrorist organisation’ meant that the presenters were justifying atrocities.

[JackDaw]

There hasn’t been an official BBC explanation because it’s in their style guide - check out “terrorist”: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsstyleguide/t As that entry states, they take a similar stance to descriptions of the IRA. They will frequently, however, refer to Hamas as a proscribed terrorist organisation in their news reports, because that is technically within their style. John Simpson has also explained, but predictably the explanation has given rise to additional condemnation, as some (particularly Grant Shapps) criticised Simpson for referencing that the BBC didn’t call the Nazis evil, either. Hence why it is unwise to try to justify it publicly, because no critic will accept the explanation.

This is all something of a distraction and an excuse for other broadcasters (well, GB News anyway) and certain newspapers to indulge in BBC-bashing; ITV and Sky have much the same editorial line, but don’t draw the criticism, because they’re not the public service broadcaster and the popular target.

As it happens, the BBC made a genuine error IMO recently by not clarifying that the cause for the hospital explosion wasn’t certain at the time it occurred, although I know (because I was watching) that Sky made the same mistake. However the vast amount of newsprint wasted over an understandable (IMO) editorial line is not justified; no-one with a functioning moral compass could see Hamas’ recent terrorist activities as anything other than evil. And no-one can fairly think that the BBC using a term such as ‘militants’ or the formulation ‘proscribed terrorist organisation’ meant that the presenters were justifying atrocities.

Cheers for that.

I caught a fairly long BBC (radio 5 in this case) discussion on how it could be determined who was responsible for the hospital explosion, the conclusion being that there will probably never be enough info in the public domain to be sure either way.

[Coin Biter]

Cheers for that.

I caught a fairly long BBC (radio 5 in this case) discussion on how it could be determined who was responsible for the hospital explosion, the conclusion being that there will probably never be enough info in the public domain to be sure either way.

That’s interesting. Certainly a lot of broadcasters were careless in the immediate aftermath, it didn’t reflect well on some news organisation, including the BBC.

[Catlady in training]

No, we in the US have more than our share of idiots. During the NYC Protests, there was literally a group of Queers supporting the Hamas Side...do they not grasp how the Hamas views them let alone what they would do to them if they had their way? Then there are Western Women that side with them too. How daft can you be?

I don't doubt that you do, I meant specifically people who move there from undemocratic countries.

Regarding the supporters, yes, I 100% agree and do not understand it. I am bisexual and a feminist and I'm deeply ashamed of such people, just like I am of the TERFs.

I get the need to be edgy, against the system or to "stick it to the man" in young people, I had some opinions when I was younger that I am ashamed of now, I guess some of that is part of growing up, but it shouldn't override basic logic and self-preservation, FFS.

But regarding these Protestors in Germany, here is my problem with them: You hate what Western Civilization stands for so much, yet you move to one of their countries, then decide to protest their way of life?

Yes, exactly. And the argument with refugees doesn't really stand, because there are enough countries that share their values that don't have war.

It's more complex than that. I've seen it in my own circle of friends where the parents are basically atheists and their children are feeling a need to "reconnect to their roots" because they feel neither welcome in their place of residence, nor the land of their parents.

I get that, but reconnecting to their roots can be done in many ways that don't inlude violence or protests against the country that provides everything to them like healthcare, education and safety from war. And I hope no one is suggesting that violent protests are part of their roots, because well, that would be a huge problem.

[godisawesome]

I would want protestors to make it clear that they prefer Netanyahu to Hamas. If there's ambiguity on that point, I don't think the protestors are worth listening to.

They need to make it clear they prefer Israel's continued existence to Hamas; Netanyahu MUST be kept compartmentalized from that cause for the sake of curating diplomatic support from Arab and Islamic countries, as Nehtanyahu's politics otherwise forces a narrative that Hamas wants. We need to make sure accepting Netanyahu over Hamas is something other people come to, rather than requirement we make of them from the word go, because we NEED countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia to support Israel's existence without thinking that automatically means abandoning the Palestinians.

The same thing applies to young people born form immigrants and refugees; here, though, you're trying to make sure you keep political will in future generations form being subverted by anti-Semites and authoritarians.

Do you really not recognize that there’s a substantial number of people of all ages that recognize that anti-Semitism is stupid and evil??


I’d have thought that this idea that “the coming generation is so much better than preceding generations that……” was thoroughly discredited by now.

It has nothing to do with thinking younger generations are better - it has everything to do with recognizing that younger generations are generally some combination of innocent, idealistic, or naïve, and haven't yet hit the maturation into a more considered or educated opinion on the matter, and that in a situation like the Israeli/Palestinian situation, the disappointment of reality needs to be seen ahead of time and reacted to in order to avoid anti-semites and authoritarians using rising cynicism and disenchantment to radicalize young people.

It's because younger generations are vulnerable, because older generations have moved past a moment that younger generations are heading towards..

I get the need to be edgy, against the system or to "stick it to the man" in young people, I had some opinions when I was younger that I am ashamed of now, I guess some of that is part of growing up, but it shouldn't override basic logic and self-preservation, FFS.

This is what I meant by young people having some combination of innocence, idealism, or naivety, and needing older generations to respond to that so that their disappointment doesn't become a breeding ground for radicalization - though I will point out that, just like how some members of older generations can be naive, some of the younger ones *are* articulating their response in a more mature way as well that's appalled at Hamas but rightfully wary and condemning of Netanyahu without being anti-semitic.

I mean... there's State Department members who oppose the swiftness and uncritical support of Netanyahu's gov't, and those are professionals. I would predict its because they just haven't completed the walk through the strategic reality yet (especially the part where "Hamas is going to use human shields, fully intent on using them as cover, and when given a break, will deliberately bypass military targets to target civilians" becomes clear), but we can't let them become disenchanted cynics without guiding that in a productive way (either back into more wizened idealism, or more useful pragmatism) or else anti-Semites and islamophobias will be able to recruit people, or use apathy to encourage disengagement from those they can't recruit.

[Kirby101]

Gym Jordan axes the Temp Speaker idea that would get funding for Israel, and our government and takes hostages by saying, "If you want to help Israel, make me Speaker". What a scumbag. And he is packed by 90% of the GOP!

[Tami]

WBE, is/are there any Republican(s) n Congress that you haven't added to your list? If so, that person or persons might be the only ones qualified to be House Speaker among the Republicans.

[Catlady in training]

EU gives Meta and TikTok formal Hamas disinformation deadline

TikTok and Meta have been formally told to provide the EU with information about the possible spread of disinformation on their platforms relating to the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Previously they were given 24 hours to provide answers to the bloc's concerns.

But that request did not carry legal force, whereas this latest demand does.

Both firms have a week to respond. Under its new tech rules, the EU can open a formal investigation if it is unsatisfied with their responses.

The EU is concerned about the possible spread of terrorist and violent content, and hate speech, after Hamas' attack on Israel.

"We'll publish our first transparency report under the [new law] next week, where we'll include more information about our ongoing work to keep our European community safe," a TikTok spokesperson said.

A Meta spokesperson said: "Our teams are working around the clock to keep our platforms safe, take action on content that violates our policies or local law, and coordinate with third-party fact checkers in the region to limit the spread of misinformation. We're happy to provide further details of this work, beyond what we have already shared, and will respond to the European Commission."

The EU's latest demand comes a week after it contacted X, formerly known as Twitter, over the same concerns.

X said at the time it had removed hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts from the platform.

Social media firms have seen a surge in disinformation about the conflict between Israel and Hamas, including doctored images and mislabelled videos.

The chief executives of Meta, TikTok, X and Google each received letters from EU commissioner Thierry Breton earlier in October, giving them 24 hours to respond.

But these letters were not formal, legally-binding requests under new EU tech laws governing what kind of content is allowed online.

Now, under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the firms must respond by the set deadlines.

Failure to comply with the DSA can result in fines of as much as 6% of a company's global turnover, or even suspension of the platform.

In this formal step under the DSA, the Commission has set Meta and TikTok two deadlines.

First, the firms have been told to provide requested information on "the crisis response" by 25 October, while they must respond to questions about protecting election integrity by 8 November .

TikTok has additionally been tasked with telling the European Commission how it is protecting minors online by the November deadline.

When the social media firms were previously asked to provide more information, Mr Breton said Meta must prove it had taken "timely, diligent and objective action".

He later said TikTok "has a particular obligation to protect children & teenagers from violent content and terrorist propaganda".

The bolded is not true.

[thwhtGuardian]

Gym Jordan axes the Temp Speaker idea that would get funding for Israel, and our government and takes hostages by saying, "If you want to help Israel, make me Speaker". What a scumbag. And he is packed by 90% of the GOP!

Yeah, I don't understand why it's only 22 Republicans who are voting against Jordan. Next to Greene, Boebert and Gaetz I'm really struggling to think of anyone less qualified than Jordan.