Daily Archives: February 27, 2020

President Donald Trump has directly weighed in on the White House review of a forthcoming book by his former national security adviser, telling his staff that he views John Bolton as a traitor, that everything he uttered to the departed aide about national security is classified and that he will seek to block the books publication, according to two people familiar with the conversations.

The presidents private arguments stand in contrast to the point-by-point process used to classify and protect sensitive secrets and appears to differ from the White Houses public posture toward Mr Boltons much-anticipated memoir. The National Security Council warned Mr Bolton last month that his draft appears to contain significant amounts of classified information, some of it top secret, but pledged to help him revise the manuscript and move forward as expeditiously as possible.

We will do our best to work with you to ensure your clients ability to tell his story in a manner that protects US national security, Ellen Knight, senior director of the councils records office, wrote in a 23 Januaryletter to Boltons attorney.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

But the president has insisted to aides that Boltons account of his work in president Trumps White House, The Room Where It Happened, should not see the light of day before the November election, according to the two people familiar with the conversations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal White House deliberations.

Mr Trump has told his lawyers that Mr Bolton should not be allowed to publish any of his interactions with Mr Trump about national security because they are privileged and classified, these people said. He has also repeatedly brought up the book with his team, asking whether Mr Bolton is going to be able to publish it, they said.

Accused of abusing his office by pressing the Ukrainian president in a July phone call to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who may be his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. He also believes that Hillary Clintons deleted emails - a key factor in the 2016 election - may be in Ukraine, although it is not clear why.

EPA

Believed to be a CIA agent who spent time at the White House, his complaint was largely based on second and third-hand accounts from worried White House staff. Although this is not unusual for such complaints, Trump and his supporters have seized on it to imply that his information is not reliable.Expected to give evidence to Congress voluntarily and in secret.

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The lawyer for the first intelligence whistleblower is also representing a second whistleblower regarding the President's actions. Attorney Mark Zaid said that he and other lawyers on his team are now representing the second person, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports claims made by the first whistleblower and has spoken to the intelligence community's inspector general. The second whistleblower has not yet filed their own complaint, but does not need to to be considered an official whistleblower.

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Former mayor of New York, whose management of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 won him worldwide praise. As Trumps personal attorney he has been trying to find compromising material about the presidents enemies in Ukraine in what some have termed a shadow foreign policy.In a series of eccentric TV appearances he has claimed that the US state department asked him to get involved. Giuliani insists that he is fighting corruption on Trumps behalf and has called himself a hero.

AP

The newly elected Ukrainian president - a former comic actor best known for playing a man who becomes president by accident - is seen frantically agreeing with Trump in the partial transcript of their July phone call released by the White House.With a Russian-backed insurgency in the east of his country, and the Crimea region seized by Vladimir Putin in 2014, Zelensky will have been eager to please his American counterpart, who had suspended vital military aid before their phone conversation.He says there was no pressure on him from Trump to do him the favour he was asked for.Zelensky appeared at an awkward press conference with Trump in New York during the United Nations general assembly, looking particularly uncomfortable when the American suggested he take part in talks with Putin.

AFP/Getty

The vice-president was not on the controversial July call to the Ukrainian president but did get a read-out later.However, Trump announced that Pence had had one or two phone conversations of a similar nature, dragging him into the crisis. Pence himself denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has insisted that there is no issue with Trumps actions.It has been speculated that Trump involved Pence as an insurance policy - if both are removed from power the presidency would go to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, something no Republican would allow.

AP

Trump reportedly told a meeting of Republicans that he made the controversial call to the Ukrainian president at the urging of his own energy secretary, Rick Perry, and that he didnt even want to.The president apparently said that Perry wanted him to talk about liquefied natural gas - although there is no mention of it in the partial transcript of the phone call released by the White House. It is thought that Perry will step down from his role at the end of the year.

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The former vice-president is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination, which would make him Trumps opponent in the 2020 election.Trump says that Biden pressured Ukraine to sack a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that Bidens son Hunter was on the board of, refusing to release US aid until this was done.However, pressure to fire the prosecutor came on a wide front from western countries. It is also believed that the investigation into the company, Burisma, had long been dormant.

Reuters

Joe Bidens son has been accused of corruption by the president because of his business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, Trump has yet to produce any evidence of corruption and Bidens lawyer insists he has done nothing wrong.

AP

The attorney-general, who proved his loyalty to Trump with his handling of the Mueller report, was mentioned in the Ukraine call as someone president Volodymyr Zelensky should talk to about following up Trumps preoccupations with the Bidens and the Clinton emails.Nancy Pelosi has accused Barr of being part of a cover-up of a cover-up.

AP

The secretary of state initially implied he knew little about the Ukraine phone call - but it later emerged that he was listening in at the time. He has since suggested that asking foreign leaders for favours is simply how international politics works.Gordon Sondland testified that Pompeo was "in the loop" and knew what was happening in Ukraine. Pompeo has been criticised for not standing up for diplomats under his command when they were publicly criticised by the president.

AFP via Getty

The Democratic Speaker of the House had long resisted calls from within her own party to back a formal impeachment process against the president, apparently fearing a backlash from voters. On September 24, amid reports of the Ukraine call and the day before the White House released a partial transcript of it, she relented and announced an inquiry, saying: The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law.

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Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, one of the three committees leading the inquiry.He was criticized by Republicans for giving what he called a parody of the Ukraine phone call during a hearing, with Trump and others saying he had been pretending that his damning characterisation was a verbatim reading of the phone call.He has also been criticised for claiming that his committee had had no contact with the whistleblower, only for it to emerge that the intelligence agent had contacted a staff member on the committee for guidance before filing the complaint.The Washington Post awarded Schiff a four Pinocchios rating, its worst rating for a dishonest statement.

Reuters

Florida-based businessmen and Republican donors Lev Parnas (pictured with Rudy Giuliani) and Igor Fruman were arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on 9 October.Separately the Associated Press has reported that they were both involved in efforts to replace the management of Ukraine's gas company, Naftogaz, with new bosses who would steer lucrative contracts towards companies controlled by Trump allies. There is no suggestion of any criminal activity in these efforts.

Reuters

The most senior US diplomat in Ukraine and the former ambassador there. As one of the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings, Taylor dropped an early bombshell by revealing that one of his staff later identified as diplomat David Holmes overheard a phone conversation in which Donald Trump could be heard asking about investigations the very day after asking the Ukrainian president to investigate his political enemies. Taylor expressed his concern at reported plans to withhold US aid in return for political smears against Trumps opponents, saying: It's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It's another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance -- security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support."

Getty Images

A state department official who appeared alongside William Taylor wearing a bow tie that was later mocked by the president. He accused Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trumps personal lawyer, of leading a campaign of lies against Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of her job as US ambassador to Ukraine for apparently standing in the way of efforts to smear Democrats.

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One of the most striking witnesses to give evidence at the public hearings, the former US ambassador to Ukraine received a rare round of applause as she left the committee room after testifying. Canadian-born Yovanovitch was attacked on Twitter by Donald Trump while she was actually testifying, giving Democrats the chance to ask her to respond. She said she found the attack very intimidating. Trump had already threatened her in his 25 July phone call to the Ukrainian president saying: Shes going to go through some things.Yovanovitch said she was shocked, appalled and devastated by the threat and by the way she was forced out of her job without explanation.

REUTERS

A decorated Iraq War veteran and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lt Col Vindman began his evidence with an eye-catching statement about the freedoms America afforded him and his family to speak truth to power without fear of punishment.One of the few witnesses to have actually listened to Trumps 25 July call with the Ukrainian president, he said he found the conversation so inappropriate that he was compelled to report it to the White House counsel. Trump later mocked him for wearing his military uniform and insisting on being addressed by his rank.

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A state department official acting as a Russia expert for vice-president Mike Pence, Ms Williams also listened in on the 25 July phone call. She testified that she found it unusual because it focused on domestic politics in terms of Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political opponents.

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The former special envoy to Ukraine was one of the few people giving evidence who was on the Republican witness list although what he had to say may not have been too helpful to their cause. He dismissed the idea that Joe Biden had done anything corrupt, a theory spun without evidence by the president and his allies. He said that he thought the US should be supporting Ukraines reforms and that the scheme to find dirt on Democrats did not serve the national interest.

Getty Images

An expert on the National Security Council and another witness on the Republican list. He testified that he did not think the president had done anything illegal but admitted that he feared it would create a political storm if it became public. He said he believed the moving the record of the controversial 25 July phone call to a top security server had been an innocent mistake.

Getty Images

In explosive testimony, one of the men at the centre of the scandal got right to the point in his opening testimony: Was there a quid pro quo? Yes, said the US ambassador to the EU who was a prime mover in efforts in Ukraine to link the release of military aid with investigations into the presidents political opponents. He said that everyone knew what was going on, implicating vice-president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The effect of his evidence is perhaps best illustrated by the reaction of Mr Trump who went from calling Sondland a great American a few weeks earlier to claiming that he barely knew him.

AP

A Pentagon official, Cooper said Ukrainian officials knew that US aid was being withheld before it became public knowledge in August undermining a Republican argument that there cant have been a quid pro quo between aid and investigations if the Ukrainians didnt know that aid was being withheld.

Getty Images

The third most senior official at the state department. Hale testified about the treatment of Marie Yovanovitch and the smear campaign that culminated in her being recalled from her posting as US ambassador to Ukraine. He said: I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work.

EPA

Arguably the most confident and self-possessed of the witnesses in the public hearings phase, the Durham-born former NSC Russia expert began by warning Republicans not to keep repeating Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories. In a distinctive northeastern English accent, Dr Hill went on to describe how she had argued with Gordon Sondland about his interference in Ukraine matters until she realised that while she and her colleagues were focused on national security, Sondland was being involved in a domestic political errand.She said: I did say to him, Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, this is going to blow up. And here we are.

AP

The Ukraine-based diplomat described being in a restaurant in Kiev with Gordon Sondland while the latter phoned Donald Trump. Holmes said he could hear the president on the other end of the line because his voice was so loud and distinctive and because Sondland had to hold the phone away from his ear asking about the investigations and whether the Ukrainian president would cooperate.

REUTERS

Accused of abusing his office by pressing the Ukrainian president in a July phone call to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who may be his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. He also believes that Hillary Clintons deleted emails - a key factor in the 2016 election - may be in Ukraine, although it is not clear why.

EPA

Believed to be a CIA agent who spent time at the White House, his complaint was largely based on second and third-hand accounts from worried White House staff. Although this is not unusual for such complaints, Trump and his supporters have seized on it to imply that his information is not reliable.Expected to give evidence to Congress voluntarily and in secret.

Getty

The lawyer for the first intelligence whistleblower is also representing a second whistleblower regarding the President's actions. Attorney Mark Zaid said that he and other lawyers on his team are now representing the second person, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports claims made by the first whistleblower and has spoken to the intelligence community's inspector general. The second whistleblower has not yet filed their own complaint, but does not need to to be considered an official whistleblower.

Getty

Former mayor of New York, whose management of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 won him worldwide praise. As Trumps personal attorney he has been trying to find compromising material about the presidents enemies in Ukraine in what some have termed a shadow foreign policy.In a series of eccentric TV appearances he has claimed that the US state department asked him to get involved. Giuliani insists that he is fighting corruption on Trumps behalf and has called himself a hero.

AP

The newly elected Ukrainian president - a former comic actor best known for playing a man who becomes president by accident - is seen frantically agreeing with Trump in the partial transcript of their July phone call released by the White House.With a Russian-backed insurgency in the east of his country, and the Crimea region seized by Vladimir Putin in 2014, Zelensky will have been eager to please his American counterpart, who had suspended vital military aid before their phone conversation.He says there was no pressure on him from Trump to do him the favour he was asked for.Zelensky appeared at an awkward press conference with Trump in New York during the United Nations general assembly, looking particularly uncomfortable when the American suggested he take part in talks with Putin.

AFP/Getty

The vice-president was not on the controversial July call to the Ukrainian president but did get a read-out later.However, Trump announced that Pence had had one or two phone conversations of a similar nature, dragging him into the crisis. Pence himself denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has insisted that there is no issue with Trumps actions.It has been speculated that Trump involved Pence as an insurance policy - if both are removed from power the presidency would go to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, something no Republican would allow.

AP

Trump reportedly told a meeting of Republicans that he made the controversial call to the Ukrainian president at the urging of his own energy secretary, Rick Perry, and that he didnt even want to.The president apparently said that Perry wanted him to talk about liquefied natural gas - although there is no mention of it in the partial transcript of the phone call released by the White House. It is thought that Perry will step down from his role at the end of the year.

Getty

The former vice-president is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination, which would make him Trumps opponent in the 2020 election.Trump says that Biden pressured Ukraine to sack a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that Bidens son Hunter was on the board of, refusing to release US aid until this was done.However, pressure to fire the prosecutor came on a wide front from western countries. It is also believed that the investigation into the company, Burisma, had long been dormant.

Reuters

Joe Bidens son has been accused of corruption by the president because of his business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, Trump has yet to produce any evidence of corruption and Bidens lawyer insists he has done nothing wrong.

AP

The attorney-general, who proved his loyalty to Trump with his handling of the Mueller report, was mentioned in the Ukraine call as someone president Volodymyr Zelensky should talk to about following up Trumps preoccupations with the Bidens and the Clinton emails.Nancy Pelosi has accused Barr of being part of a cover-up of a cover-up.

AP

The secretary of state initially implied he knew little about the Ukraine phone call - but it later emerged that he was listening in at the time. He has since suggested that asking foreign leaders for favours is simply how international politics works.Gordon Sondland testified that Pompeo was "in the loop" and knew what was happening in Ukraine. Pompeo has been criticised for not standing up for diplomats under his command when they were publicly criticised by the president.

AFP via Getty

The Democratic Speaker of the House had long resisted calls from within her own party to back a formal impeachment process against the president, apparently fearing a backlash from voters. On September 24, amid reports of the Ukraine call and the day before the White House released a partial transcript of it, she relented and announced an inquiry, saying: The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law.

Getty

Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, one of the three committees leading the inquiry.He was criticized by Republicans for giving what he called a parody of the Ukraine phone call during a hearing, with Trump and others saying he had been pretending that his damning characterisation was a verbatim reading of the phone call.He has also been criticised for claiming that his committee had had no contact with the whistleblower, only for it to emerge that the intelligence agent had contacted a staff member on the committee for guidance before filing the complaint.The Washington Post awarded Schiff a four Pinocchios rating, its worst rating for a dishonest statement.

Reuters

Florida-based businessmen and Republican donors Lev Parnas (pictured with Rudy Giuliani) and Igor Fruman were arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on 9 October.Separately the Associated Press has reported that they were both involved in efforts to replace the management of Ukraine's gas company, Naftogaz, with new bosses who would steer lucrative contracts towards companies controlled by Trump allies. There is no suggestion of any criminal activity in these efforts.

Reuters

The most senior US diplomat in Ukraine and the former ambassador there. As one of the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings, Taylor dropped an early bombshell by revealing that one of his staff later identified as diplomat David Holmes overheard a phone conversation in which Donald Trump could be heard asking about investigations the very day after asking the Ukrainian president to investigate his political enemies. Taylor expressed his concern at reported plans to withhold US aid in return for political smears against Trumps opponents, saying: It's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It's another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance -- security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support."

Getty Images

A state department official who appeared alongside William Taylor wearing a bow tie that was later mocked by the president. He accused Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trumps personal lawyer, of leading a campaign of lies against Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of her job as US ambassador to Ukraine for apparently standing in the way of efforts to smear Democrats.

Getty Images

One of the most striking witnesses to give evidence at the public hearings, the former US ambassador to Ukraine received a rare round of applause as she left the committee room after testifying. Canadian-born Yovanovitch was attacked on Twitter by Donald Trump while she was actually testifying, giving Democrats the chance to ask her to respond. She said she found the attack very intimidating. Trump had already threatened her in his 25 July phone call to the Ukrainian president saying: Shes going to go through some things.Yovanovitch said she was shocked, appalled and devastated by the threat and by the way she was forced out of her job without explanation.

REUTERS

A decorated Iraq War veteran and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lt Col Vindman began his evidence with an eye-catching statement about the freedoms America afforded him and his family to speak truth to power without fear of punishment.One of the few witnesses to have actually listened to Trumps 25 July call with the Ukrainian president, he said he found the conversation so inappropriate that he was compelled to report it to the White House counsel. Trump later mocked him for wearing his military uniform and insisting on being addressed by his rank.

Getty Images

A state department official acting as a Russia expert for vice-president Mike Pence, Ms Williams also listened in on the 25 July phone call. She testified that she found it unusual because it focused on domestic politics in terms of Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political opponents.

Getty Images

The former special envoy to Ukraine was one of the few people giving evidence who was on the Republican witness list although what he had to say may not have been too helpful to their cause. He dismissed the idea that Joe Biden had done anything corrupt, a theory spun without evidence by the president and his allies. He said that he thought the US should be supporting Ukraines reforms and that the scheme to find dirt on Democrats did not serve the national interest.

Getty Images

An expert on the National Security Council and another witness on the Republican list. He testified that he did not think the president had done anything illegal but admitted that he feared it would create a political storm if it became public. He said he believed the moving the record of the controversial 25 July phone call to a top security server had been an innocent mistake.

Getty Images

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Trump wants to censor traitor John Boltons book - The Independent

Last November, Twitter introduced its hide replies feature which allows tweet authors to manually censor viral replies to their tweets and potentially prevent their tweets from getting ratioed.

And now, Twitter has announced that its opening up this hide replies feature to developers and allowing them to develop tools that can automatically censor tweet replies.

Twitter provided several examples of how developers can hide replies based on criteria such as keywords or a toxicity score.

In one example, Twitter showcased how the Google research and technology group Jigsaw had integrated the hide replies developer tool with its Perspective API, a tool which gives online content a toxicity score, and was then using it to automatically hide toxic comments.

In another example, Twitter highlighted how Quoted Replies, an app that allows users to find the quoted replies for a tweet, is using the hide replies developer tool to automatically hide replies that are likely to exhibit abusive behavior.

The automation of hiding tweet replies via developer tools is one of several changes that are likely to reduce user engagement and interactions on Twitter this year.

On March 5, Twitter plans to introduce new misinformation rules which may involve a social credit style fact-checking system where users can earn points for fact-checking harmfully misleading tweets.

These misinformation rules will also target synthetic or manipulated media.

Many Twitter users are skeptical of these misinformation rules and have suggested that theyll be applied inconsistently and used to censor memes.

Additionally, Twitter is planning to let users restrict retweets, mentions, and more on their tweets later this year a change that will cut down the total number of retweets and replies on the platform.

See the article here:
Twitter to allow tools that automatically censor toxic tweet replies - Reclaim The Net

Berkay "Zeitnot" Akuzun.Image Source: Riot Games

The past few days have been tumultuous within the Turkish League of Legends scene. On Sunday, support player Mustafa Kemal "Dumbledoge" Gkselolu revealed that his unexpected departure from the Turkish Championship League team Papara SuperMassive was caused by systemic bullying and homophobia from other Turkish LoL personalities. The main culprit, according to Dumbledoge, was his very own teammate Berkay "Zeitnot" Akuzun. Those mentioned by Dumbledoge then made public statements, ranging from apologies to denouncing Dumbledoge's allegations.

As the story developed, it started to become a larger part of the League of Legends community. As a result of the community's close watch of the Turkish League of Legends scene, the following Reddit post shot to the front page of /r/LeagueOfLegends:

In it, two Twitch clips are shared, both taken from the TCL's broadcast on February 22. In the first clip, a group of TCL fans can loudly be heard chanting "Zeitnot ban!" a couple of times during the match between Dark Passage and Beikta Esports. The second clip shows Zeitnot's team, Papara SuperMassive, walking towards the front of the stage to greet the audience after a victory. In that clip, the audio cuts out for a couple of seconds.

Below are clips of the same moments, with extra footage to provide additional context.

Two parts of the claims made on Reddit and widely endorsed in the thread (at the time of writing, not one comment in the thread was skeptical of the allegation that the TCL stream was actively suppressing audience noise) hold true: The crowd did indeed chant "Zeitnot ban!", and the audio did cut out briefly when Papara SuperMassive greeted the fans. But did they combine into the third claim, that Riot was censoring crowd behavior?

We decided to look closer at the case that arose this weekend at the Turkish Championship League and came to the conclusion that no, Riot Games Turkey was not censoring the crowd.

Inven Global spoke to someone who attended the TCL on February 22nd, the day of the alleged crowd-censoring. The source, who wishes to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, told us: "[The audio drop] was probably a technical issue. I was at the stage that day and [the crowd] chanted "Zeitnot ban" all day long. Riot didn't mute them at all. Also, the chat was spamming "Zeitnot ban" all day long. Riot could've easily used emote-only mode, but they didn't."

When looking at the Twitch chat of that day, there indeed is an awful lot of '#zeitnotban' spam. Later a Turkish, copy-pasted message is widely used in Twitch chat: "Aklama yapacanz yerde stn kapatp hibir ey olmam gibi davranmaya devam edin lkenin e-sporunda bile mobbing ve zorbala msaade ediliyor, byle devam riotgamesturkish, utann!"

The message translates to: "Keep pretending nothing happened while you owe us an explanation, mobbing and bullying are allowed even in the country's esports, so continue Riot Games Turkey, shame on you!"

While our source has a point in saying that Riot could've taken measures to prevent such behavior in Twitch chat, it doesn't completely take away the suspicion. After all, Riot could still have chosen to just censor the audio for VOD purposes. But did they?

In order to determine this, we watched the entirety of the TCL VOD of February 22nd. During the broadcast, which lasted four and a half hours, there are two moments where the audience could clearly be heard chanting "Zeitnot ban!" The first moment is linked earlier and is the one referred to in the Reddit post: during the champion-select prior to Dark Passage vs Beikta Esports. The second time a group of people chants "Zeitnot ban!" happens just moments later, during the same pick-and-ban phase:

Aside from these two incidents very early on in the broadcast, the crowd cannot audibly be heard calling for the ban of Zeitnot. Before and after, there are some very faint murmurings, probably uttered by individuals, but the message is indistinguishable. During all the matches, the crowd is relatively quiet, as they have been during most matches on the TCL's broadcast. Every now and then there is audible applause, but not much other noise is made.

So what about the audio cutting out when Papara SuperMassive, Zeitnot included, greeted the fans? First of all: when listening to the clip of the audio cutting out, it doesn't sound at all like there were people in the crowd shouting anything. When asked whether the crowd did anything at the moment the audio dropped, our source simply said: "Yeah they applauded. Normally."

To compare, here are the audience's post-match responses to the other three teams victorious on that day. In order, they are the audience's response to Dark Passage, Fenerbahe, and Istanbul Wildcats:

Aside from a couple of Fenerbahe fans cheering for their team, the audience response is the same: polite applause. Even directly after the match between Dark Passage and Beikta Esports, prior to which the two chants happened, the crowd behaves politely. It fits perfectly in the hole that's in the audio for SuperMassive's fan greeting. As our source said: "It's unlikely that they'll mute only for a couple of seconds. [It] was probably an unlucky situation, because the caster's voice was echoing at that exact moment."

The community's vigilance is understandable. When Blizzard Entertainment banned Hong Kong player Blitzchung in October, the gaming community was rudely reminded that game publishers are businesses at the end of the day. Shortly after, at the League of Legends World Championship 2019, Riot Games was criticized as casters kept abbreviating the team name 'Hong Kong Attitude' to 'HKA' after the company had instructed all involved with the broadcast not to discuss anything political. It turned out to be blown out of proportion, but the tone was set: gamers, especially esports fans, would no longer tolerate censorship.

Still, when adding everything up, the community's response seems like a gross overreaction. The production appears to be done in the same way it's always done, as we could judge from listening to snippets of other days. Instead of Riot Games Turkey silencing the crowd, it's likely that a bunch of friends felt brave and started the "Zeitnot ban!" chant twice to see if they could get other attendees to join them. When that didn't work out, they resorted to just enjoying the games they came to watch. The drop in audio was an unfortunate incident and was far too brief and random to come even close to censorship.

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Contrary to what the League of Legends community speculated, Riot Games Turkey was not censoring the TCL crowd last weekend - InvenGlobal

By: Lifestyle Desk | New Delhi | Published: February 26, 2020 6:20:43 pm For the survey, just 40 per cent of respondents said that their personal views and opinions are respected. (Source: Getty/Thinkstock)

At a time when the debate around right to freedom of speech and expression in India and around the world has taken centre stage, a new survey has revealed that many people in the field of arts and culture are afraid to speak their mind, fearing professional backlash.

A UK arts publication, ArtsProfessional, has conducted the Freedom of Expression survey, and has received responses from more than 500 people, many of whom have pointed out the perils of speaking freely. Some 8 out of 10 employees shared that controversial and politically unpopular opinions can bring professional ostracism and bullying. Many, therefore, resort to self censorship.

According to the survey, some of the aforementioned controversial topics include support for right-wing ideologies. It is ironic, since arts and culture ought to be a field wherein free thinking is encouraged and supported, along with different world views.

ALSO READ |Freedoms are not given, you have to snatch them

The survey has also revealed that conversations around religion, gender and sexuality have also become a minefield. So, while one person can be pulled up for not being on point for their messaging, another can be slammed for being too on point. And yet another can receive flak for being off message.

For the survey, just 40 per cent of respondents said that their personal views and opinions are respected, and only 2 per cent more said they feel free enough to speak their mind on pressing issues.

According to the Daily Mail, ArtsProfessional Editor Amanda Parker has said that the findings show deep division between public perception and the reality of working in the arts and cultural sector. Our survey shines a damning light on the coercion, bullying, intimidation and intolerance that is active among a community that thinks of itself as liberal, open minded and equitable, she said.

ALSO READ |Director Sahidul Haque on his play, The Old Man, and how Assam inspires his theatre

The survey also revealed that while some respondents were offered money to sign non-disclosure deals to censor their opinions, others held a we-do-not-bite-the-hand-that-feeds-us mentality.

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People in the field of arts and culture indulge in self censorship, survey reveals - The Indian Express

Coleen Nolan has revealed that she censors herself on Loose Women because of online trolls.

The 54-year-old made the admission during an interview with North Wales Live as she prepares to launch her acting career this autumn, when she embarks on a UK tour of The Thunder Girls.

The play, based on Melanie Blake's bestselling novel, follows a fictional 80s girl group who haven't spoken in 30 years - but are reuniting at a dinner party where revenge is the main course.

Coleen makes her acting debut in the explosive show alongside favourite Beverley Callard (Coronation Street), Carol Harrison (Eastenders) and Gary Webster (Minder).

The national tour comes after Thunder Girls broke the Lowry's box office records at previews in September 2019 as the fastest selling new play.

The three-month tour will see the play, which features original music and songs, visit theatres across the UK including in Liverpool and Cardiff - as well as at the Rhyl Pavilion from 24 to 28 November.

All tickets are priced at 29.50 regardless of the location to ensure that the play is kept affordable, with 80 per cent of the play's audience in Salford having never set foot in a theatre before.

We caught up with Coleen to find out what to expect from Thunder Girls - and even found out whether she'd be up for having a go on ITV's The Masked Singer.

So you're about to tour in the Thunder Girls - what's it about?

It's about an 80s girl band that fell out with each other very toxically. And then they have an opportunity to earn a lot of money by reforming to do this big revival concert.

So one of them throws a dinner party to see if they can all air their differences - and basically it all kicks off. It's very funny, but also has some sad moments.

It's really good fun and I guess giving people an insight into what potentially does happen before these revivals get off the ground.

Does it reflect the reality of showbiz egos and reunions?

Definitely. I mean I think it's in an exaggerated form because you've got to make it entertaining.

These dinner parties do have to happen if you're trying to get a band back together.

It was very different for me and my sisters because obviously we never lost touch. But even then we hadn't worked together for 25 years and we'd become very independent, professionally, so even that was difficult.

It's your first professional acting job - are you finding it challenging?

Yeah because it's a whole new thing for me. I did it for a week before in Salford but I've not actually acted before, and I've certainly not toured before - other than with my sisters. It's very exciting.

You've been offered acting roles before though. Why take up an offer now?

I think it's just the right time now. My kids are all grown up and independent, and I'm now single.

There's no reason why I can't do it now. Whereas before there were obstacles to why when I was offered stuff I would say no. I didn't want to leave the kids when they were young, I think it's a massive strain.

Now it's just about me ... so selfishly I can do what I want [laughs] It's marvellous.

Does that mean you'll do more acting in the future?

I'm a real homebody, I get homesick. I go to London two a week to do Loose Women and I'm homesick by the end of the second day.

So I think that will still be an obstacle and I'll have to see how I deal with it to know if I want it again.

The tour is bringing you all the way to Rhyl. Have you performed in North Wales before?

Oh yes, especially when we sang as a family. We were all around the North and North Wales. But it was a lot of the clubs we did then, not the theatres really. I love North Wales it's beautiful.

Speaking of the Nolans: 'I'm in the Mood for Dancing' recently turned 40. Do you think the industry has changed much since then?

Oh my god, it's just unbelievable. It feels like 10 years ago at the most.

Oh yeah, well certainly the recordindustry has massively changed now. Cause of course there was no social media in our day, y'know, we did it on tape.

Has it been easier coping with the impact of fame because you grew up in the spotlight?

I think for me it's just something I've always done since the age of two. I can't imagine doing anything else.

It's not like growing up as a kid and going 'one day I want to become a singer,' it was just what we did.

So it's just always felt like I job that I've been very lucky to have. I'm always grateful for everything I get, and shocked when I get it.

There's discussion at the moment about the pressure on celebrities, in light of Caroline Flack's death. What do you make of it all?

My whole thing is ... I've been trolled, everyone gets trolled at some point they're just out there the saddos, but my attitude towards it was I just came off everything.

I'm on Instagram but I've changed all the settings so people can't comment - that type of thing. Because I just thought I don't want that kind of negativity inmy life. I accept that not everybody is going to like you, but that's fine, but don't comment.

It's very difficult now because it's so out there, and for some reason, people do become obsessed with reading it all. and it does affect you. You'd have to be made of steel for it not to affect you.

It was affecting me, that's why I came off it. I was going to bed and not sleeping because of some awful commentI'd read. I think there needs to be rules put in place, but I think it's so hard to police.

Are there any topics on Loose Women that you avoid nowadays then?

Loads. I've been on doing Loose Women for like 19 years and the difference to what we can talk about now to what we could talk about 19 years ago is immense.

And now a lot of it is no we aren't going to talk about that because it'll just be picked up by social media or we'll get trolled, and you kind of then have to edit yourself.

You seem very opinionated though so I imagine that's quite difficult.

It's really hard because we're an opinion based show but sadly if your opinion nowadays differs from anyone the whole world comes down on ya.

Well actually, I say that, it's actually the minority, it's just that they shout louder than the majority.

And just legally now, the amount of legals we have on Loose Women that we're not allowed to say this or talk about that, that didn't happen 19 years ago. But we're good at coping and managing around that, and getting the point across.

People seem to be pointing the finger over Caroline Flack's death. You've been trolled in the past but also been accused of bullying yourself. Should we be self-reflecting perhaps at the moment?

I think we all need to look at ourselves when it comes to anything like that because I think we're all responsible for making very quick judgementsand opinions.

We need to take a step back and not make opinions until we know all the facts. But nowadays it seems you don't need to know all the facts, you just need to hear a rumour and then everybody jumps on it.

You took some time off after a TV reunion with Kim Woodburn led to criticism. Why was that?

At that point it was just a case of stepping back and putting things back in perspective.

It was just completely out of control. People that hadn't even seen the show. It did really affect me.

But I took three months off [in 2018], came home, surrounded myself by the people who love me, and the way I did that was by coming off social media.

Do you think the social media response was worse than the issue itself then?

Well there wasn't an issue for me, you know she did have an issue. Yeah, it was just a very confusing time.

I still to this day, and I've re-watched it, I don't know where that all came from. So it was very hard for me to fight so I had to just walk away.

I kept looking at it going 'I don't know what I did wrong,' and to this day I don't know what I did wrong.

It's people jumping on the bandwagon that's the problem. We all say things or we gossip, but I wouldn't dream in a million years to tweet or Instagram that person and insult them.

Social media has also been obsessed with The Masked Singer. Would you do it?

[laughs] I can't even imagine what costume they'd make me. I don't know, I'd have nerves.

If the call came through though would you not consider it?

Yeah probably, it'd be a laugh wouldn't it? And you can hide behind the mask so that's really good.

Everyone I've spoken to that's done it said it was so hard. Like so hot inside the costume and then trying to sing because it was hard to get your breath.

They were all so good though. I thought Nicola Roberts was fantastic and so deserved to win it.

It's funny because when I first started watching it, the first couple of weeks I thought this is ridiculous and then I became absolutely hooked on it.

I think it picked it momentum, as it went along and just so different from the normal singing competition shows. Whoever thought of it is genius.

And just to finish off, why should people come and see the Thunder Girls in Rhyl?

It's a really good night out. I love what the producers have done by making the tickets all the same price which gives everyone an opportunity to go to the theatre. Get your girlfriends and come for a laugh.

Tickets for the Thunder Girls tour are on sale now. They're available through the Rhyl Pavilion website and box office - as well as on the Thunder Girls website.

More here:
Coleen Nolan on Loose Women censorship, online trolls and that Kim Woodburn row - Daily Post