as if they're just being teleported into the twenty first. facebook suspends the pages of several highly successful r.t. linked news projects without warning we find out what could be behind the move. and british lawmakers accuse facebook of failing to regulate political advertising and leaving people open to online data breaches. a senior french military officer writes a damning critique of the u.s. led coalition's campaign against islamic state in syria.

by broadcasting live direct from our studios in moscow this is r t international i'm sean thomas certainly glad to have you with us. all right now a berlin based media company has hit out at facebook accusing the platform of unprecedented censorship that is after they suspended a number of media pages which produces online shows and which c.n.n. is accusing of a deliberate attempt to hide ties to russia one of those shows is in the now viewed over two and a half billion times on the social network and producer ad and presenter at magic filmed this message for facebook. what i would say to you is i understand that you're under in then pressure from various forces to suppress this or that content based on political reasoning but do not succumb to censorship do not succumb to complying with various government funded outfits regardless of what government

they're funded by to censor let your users decide what's good and what's bad earlier my colleagues you know neal until you butcher and go discussed why i'm afraid media is under such scrutiny. it began with c.n.n. shedding light on the fact that a number of media pages with posts of snappy videos had links to russia but what people watching these videos may not realize is that the russian government is paying for this soapbox wasted that them are three new facebook pages and all part of a growing brand of russian backed influence campaigns maffet runs for pages they are indeed very popular with billions of views as their creators are saying but it wasn't indicated on the pages themselves where their money came from and so just as the c.n.n. came out with their bombshell report as they're calling it the magic steam noticed

that their pages were being blocked even though there is no such rule that makes revealing the funding a must i've spoken to the magic c.e.o. and she told me what she believes could be behind this kind of unprecedented punishment by the social network there's a very sensitive divisive. noxious policy taking place right now in terms of venezuela we don't know if this is the segment that triggered it the timing is convenient when someone calls out what's happening in venezuela a blatant coup it ruffles the wrong feathers ruffled the feathers of think tanks that spend millions and millions if not billions of dollars to persuade. and to lobby their interests and so when someone there's a video that goes against that and that video is gets hundreds of thousands of views on a platform that has millions of views people start to notice and they get upset and

i believe that's why we were targeted but ileus was the question is here how does my fake at any point attempted to hide information about its links about its shareholders even well let's just make it clear. does get some of its funding from the russian government and it is partially owned by an r.t.a. subsidiary but they were never trying to hide this in fact when they employ someone they always tell them everything about the parent company so that people know who they work for and the companies officially registered in germany so anyone can check out the company registry there and find out all the necessary information for the owners the founders are the funding where it comes from it said truck well going back to what facebook did to my fake you'd expect the social network to come up with some sort of warning before taking the pages down well none of this

happened and here's what else we heard from someone else from management but they haven't even gone as far as having any kind of policy articulated about it at all so we were fully compliant with all facebook policies at all times and there is no requirement whatsoever to display any type of funder information on facebook pages and it is common practice to not do so c.n.n. weren't the first ones to start digging into fakes links to russia germany's marshall fund got involved first which drew the attention of the likes of glenn greenwald the journalist was disturbed by what he called a trio that could have been behind this kind of censorship so not bloggers and journalists were impressed by how facebook was dealing with the situation and by how c.n.n. was spinning it the pages pushing the videos do not disclose they're backed by the

russian government. ok all right i didn't know you had to put who funded you and when you put you put up a video i didn't know that because we have lots of different funders at this show we have over three thousand people who voted us through patriotic we have probably another couple thousand people through pay pal so we have a lot of people that fund our show do have to name every one of them every time i put up a video so quite a few people in the online community and the journalist community have something to say about this however what it comes to facebook the math fix team hasn't heard from them yet even though they sent out numerous appeals. the president of the international federation of journalists has described facebook's move as an act of censorship. cruising a facebook account to any internet link from the media without warning could be considered as knocked of censorship opposed by the i have j. . well she contacted several press freedom organizations and we're waiting to hear

back from them. live now to say you know hughes a host of r t america thanks for being with us here. on our to international it's nice to talk to our brothers across the pond and sisters as the case may be so how would you explain this decision by facebook is it censorship as some people are suggesting. well this is a new low for journalism this is a new low for social media there is nothing illegal about having contact or having any revenue from a government whether it be russia qatar britain or even the u.s. there's nothing illegal about there's nothing that states that that government must be identified on the facebook page now facebook has faced criticism over the years for censoring for political motives censoring different things that they believed were not true or didn't they could not prove who actually owned the page and were just spreading what they consider to be propaganda are lies that is not the case in

this situation where it is well known who the people are that owned it and who know that the content is i think what is interesting for this case that we've not seen previously is you have it being targeted by another media company a company that not only starts originates here in the united states being c.n.n. and turner media but also has a strong international presence and obviously i think that they're feeling a little bit of heat a little bit of pressure from some competition as are to america and all of the ones that follow and get them continue to grow and we have the ability to be able to tell things without a hidden agenda that unfortunately we're finding on other networks they don't have that same kind of freedom we touched on pressure from competition like r.t. american other organizations in the social networks fear but what about political pressure how much political pressure do you think facebook is under given the media content it hosts. well that's the question right now political pressure might be domestically here in the united states whether the republican or democrat versus

who's going into the next election but you also look at internationally as facebook definitely has a large presence in different countries that being said it's more about it doesn't it more about who is getting the views and when you look at the numbers that c.n.n. and other organizations have yes thirty one million but when you look at r.t. america and you look at our t.v. international and all of our conglomerates added together we're very competitive it's competitive and we've been doing this for a while so we've built a base a very loyal fan base and that's very intimidating to other news organizations who are just getting in to the social media cycle like turner broadcasting and c.n.n. so i think once again that this is all about from a political standpoint it's more about just who's going to be able to control the information flow and as we've learned and both domestically and internationally it's whether or not who's able to show both sides and tell the truth and not necessarily be able to show just one side that unfortunate we're finding a lot of these these other media organizations have to do so if media has not been hiding information about who its backers are what do you think c.n.n.

made some big deal out of this quote unquote dark secret. well that's right now unfortunately there is a witch hunt going on in this country and obviously it's going on internationally as well and it goes back down to just competition they want to be number one in the marketplace and we're finding this season and unfortunately not the only network that has attacked our t.v. or to america in these past few weeks past few months because they realize that they actually have somebody to compete with with our bread i think this also has to do with going forward over where as talent continues to switch and we continue to grow our talent to control our reach that we do have influence with those that are making that are watching and so they know that our audience is paying attention to what we're presenting they trust and as our previous person stated in our interview we actually trust our viewers to make their minds up we don't tell them how to think we present all the facts and trust that they can think on their own that's a different sort of monster than you see that the other networks have interesting to hear zonta scottie nell hughes host of r.t.

america stay vigilant over there and keep doing the good work force. ok all right now facebook is also facing pressure from the british parliament a report from the house of commons accuses facebook of failing to protect its users from data breaches as well as from alleged russian this information is an associate you're going to reports now from london. well facebook is under fire following a damning over one hundred page report following eighteen months of work by a u.k. parliamentary committee now this is a report that looks at a handful of issues including alleged foreign and russian interference in the elections but it's really facebook that gets a mouthful in this particular case from u.k. lawmakers described as a digital gangster that's ahead of and beyond the law it's accused of misleading parliament treating it with content and quote intentionally and knowingly violating

data privacy and competition laws and more facebook continues to choose profit over data security taking risks in order to prioritize their aim of making money from user data it seems clear to us that facebook acts only when serious breaches become public and making it even more personal here is what the committee chair had to say on mark zuckerberg specifically mark zuckerberg continually fails to show the levels of leadership and personal responsibility that should be expected from someone who sits at the top of one of the world's biggest companies well zuckerberg despite refusing to appear in front of this committee as many as three times really infuriating them for refusing to show up. basically respond via facebook statement saying that they believe they have contributed enough to the work that the committee was carrying out. we share the committee's concerns about fox news and election integrity and our police have made

a significant contribution to their investigation over the past eighteen months on string more than seven hundred questions and with four of our most senior executives giving evidence well accusations are very well but in terms of what specifically this committee now wants is a code of ethics to be introduced as well as a possible legal action in case of breach of that code they want a reform of electoral laws in the u.k. and these platforms such as facebook being forced to take down dissent from asian and harmful content as well as having to take to pay taxes in the u.k. and well now it has to be said that this committee before has previously been unhappy with not enough reaction and action from the u.k. government following their suggestions we'll have to wait and see if this time will be any different. president trump has said the u.s. is keeping all options on the table to bring about

a power transition in venezuela trump gave a speech in miami to a crowd including many venezuelan americans. we seek a peaceful transition of power. but all options are on. you now across live to our t's dan cohen in washington d.c. dan could you tell us more about president trump's speech. well once again president trump doesn't rule out any possible action for venezuela and while he says the united states seeks a peaceful resolution he hinted that the military option is a possibility if that is whalen president nicolas maduro does not step down willingly trump called on venezuelan military figures to accept amnesty from one guy i don't know saying that if they don't then they will lose everything now up to this point of the venezuelan military officers continue largely to support the elected president nicolas maduro trump says that they are risking their future and

their lives and called on them to not make obstacles in delivering what he says is humanitarian aid credibly there are members of the venezuelan military. still barely supporting. this found dictatorship. they are risking their future. they are risking their lives you must not follow the duras orders to block humanitarian aid. now many are questioning if this is humanitarian aid at all including the international committee of the red cross who spokes person in colombia said it is quote not humanitarian aid and in the past days the u.s. military has brought shipments to the venezuelan border in cuckoo talk colombia and

actually the billionaire richard branson has announced he will be staging a concert to pressure nicolas maduro to open the border to this so-called aid earlier today the venezuelan government announced it will be holding its own concert on the border and said it wants to deliver aid packages to the people of colombia now the international community has has been split since one why do those declaration that he's the president of venezuela the united states the european union and many latin american countries have recognized. but china russia nearly all of africa and the caribbean countries are maintaining that my duro is the president so this diplomatic standoff continues as president trump hints at military action right r t is a damn call reporting there from washington we know that as the situation across that for us thanks. to more news after a break you're watching r.t. international.

is the us led coupe against a legitimate government in venezuela faltering also as russia turkey and iran search for peace in syria washington beats the drums of war against iran and much much more on this edition of fox. i've been saying the numbers mean something they've matter us with over one trillion dollars in debt more than ten white collar crime happens each day. eighty five percent of global wealth he longs to be ultra rich eight point six percent in the world markets closed thirty percent some with four hundred to five hundred three per second per second and when he rose to twenty thousand dollars. china's

building two point one billion dollars a i industrial park but don't let the numbers over. the only number you need to remember one one business show you know bored in this one and only boom box. all right welcome back this is art international now a prominent french military officer who helped coordinate to the fight against islamic state in syria could be set to face punishment after he published a startling critique of the u.s. led coalition's anti terror tactics here is our press correspondent tried to penske . damning criticism from a senior french military official this is the guy in charge of french artillery aiding could forces on the syrian a rocky border he's criticized the u.s. coalition tactics saying that it's actually putting civilians at risk the battle of

hygiene was one at least on the ground but by refusing ground in gage meant we unnecessarily prolonged the conflict and thus contributed to increasing the number of civilian casualties we have massively destroyed the infrastructure and given the population a disgusting image of what may be a western style liberation leaving behind the seeds of an imminent resurgence of a new adversary hundreds of people have died as thousands of homes have rained down in those attacks led by the u.s. coalition and it comes this criticism as president trump is about to declare an outright victory against eisel in syria but the colonel doesn't think that's the case we have a no way won the war because we lack a realistic and lasting policy and an adequate strategy how many how genes will it take to understand that we are on the wrong track colonel made those criticisms in

the national defense review which has since taken down his article and it seems that the colonel is about to face sanctions for not getting permission to publish that article before his military forces it had a chance to look at it but his testimony adds weight to what we've already heard from groups. amnesty international and for action against armed violence we've talked about the high cost of civilian casualties in syria as a result of the u.s. led coalition's actions and the way that it operates in the country now that's despite the fact that the u.s. says it doesn't target norm coleman battens the question is now is president trump is about to declare this victory over eisel it's a victory many are saying including this colonel at what cost at what cost for the people of syria. french political journalist and commentator and elisabeth motel

believes that the article was deleted because military chiefs did not like it. if you are in the army you are actually suppose not to write anything but you know where does that leave this magazine another magazines and websites in which officers do discuss this defaulters general is written by muesli serving officers and they give a sort of considered opinion it was deleted because there was a feeling that this office. of revealing tactics. was not mended to do so and also i think basically because some people got angry because he was saying this is not the right tactics for the french army and i think somebody was annoyed because it looked like it was not the exact line of. the chief of staff and as a result that given to decide to do an article that would have been practically unknown. police investigating a suspected homophobic attack on an american t.v. actor so the case has shifted and want to know if he staged the assault himself

just a small it is a best known for his role in the long running show empire he claims two men attacked him and said margo country in reference to donald trump's make america great again a campaign slogan that claim triggered a wave of anti trump outrage online as r.t.c. was none of the comments. fury a torrent of anger and outpouring of rage that was the initial reaction to jesse's small its most unsettling story as so many people blamed trump and his cronies for nurturing the claimant over hate in america we have a media that's saying it's a debate whether or not what just happened in just this moment is a hate crime it's absurd. it's an end of it and i. think this is how you have to be fired else impossible to not feel this way right now

president and the vice president might cancel the question is i couldn't be married if let's just be clear heartbroken and furious reading about the attack on juicy smollett i want trump and all my good lunatics to burn in hell the horrific attack on just the small it has no place in a decent human loving society homophobia existed before trump but there's no question that since he's injected his hatred into the american bloodstream we are less decent less human and less loving no intolerance no d.t. there were many who directly tied the us government to what they unequivocal labeled a hate crime and there were more who publicly stood by smaller condemning the attack as an established fact donald trump included actor from him who was allegedly attacked with racist and homophobic. so that i can tell you is. that. i think that's horrible. doesn't get worse as far as i'm concerned those who stayed

away from this bandwagon were made to feel like outcasts and the police intrinsically you fell in this category two by their nature they had to investigate interrogate snoop around and as they did it appears even the fundamentals of this case are not as obvious to them as they are to the angry. her army we can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police early in the case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation detectives arrested two suspects who smaller himself positively identified from a c.c.t.v. tapes as his attackers only to release them later without charge the trajectory of the case shifted said the police cryptically according to a source the police think their tack could have been staged by small it himself said c.n.n. that's an outrageous claim said small its lawyer as a victim of

a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation just a small it is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with some of his one stern supporters though may have been caught off guard by a fresh flurry of mixed signals house speaker nancy pelosi discreetly deleted her first tweet hoping no one would notice but it's the internet before course they did others try to distance themselves from this case to the vicious attack on act a just a small it was an attempted to modern day lynching i'm glad he's safe is it time to revisit what you said about his remarks what is your feeling on potential faulty times in general all the information still coming out i'm withholding to all the information that comes out on the record sources it goes without saying that any victim of a hate crime deserves every bit of sympathy and more including small it if his story passes the test of

a police investigation but progressive america seems to be living out the concept of presumptuous guilt trigger happy and hell bent on bashing arguably the single most hated person in america donald trump and there's a female back in thirty four minutes with more news watching our two international . after the previous stage of my career was over everyone wondered what i was going to do next the ball different clubs on one hand it is logical to sit in the home field where everything is familiar on the other i wanted a new challenge and the fresh perspective i'm used to surprising us all why not if you think. i'm going to talk about football not the or else you can think i was going to go.

by the way ways of the flying here. from the us lead people by as though you could keep the slime view or smear the focus off of us and use the easy to play one to get what. you see in the film was not the print for the most good moment in. the room believe me you must. go home a lot. more. that old shame when you don't let us. know want to.

join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics sport this list i'm showbusiness i'll see that. what politicians do something. they put themselves. go on they get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president. more so more want to be rich. to go right to be cross as a white woman for free in the morning can't be that good i'm interested always in the waters of our. question. what do you do if we came here where did you work before you came here when you lived well death row in many us states capital punishment is still practiced convicted prisoners can spend years waiting for execution but most of the time the

victims' families they are very much in favor the death penalty there are some people because of what they did have given up the right to live among us some are even proven innocent of two years on death row and how many more exonerations is it going to take before we as a society realize that this is not working and we actually do something about. it so small seems wrong when old rules just don't hold. any new world belief yet to shape our disdain become educated and engagement equals betrayal. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground.

where when the say something quite remarkable and the one thing twenty one thing we're watching a country britain testbed in a nineteenth century bubble brayley for. almost two hundred years they're going to crash into the twenty first century as if they're just being teleported into the twenty first century. as a missionary yes which is because out there but they're sure to go a million on the can speak with you what you. do bother to cure yet been for so cause. is up in islam his story when you know it's not an easy day. for you when you go to some of those are true but again on this list what is good is a. bus load or a bus.