Naanugauri.com started to continue legacy of Journalist Gauri Lankesh, blocked by Facebook
Unilateral decision by FB without verifying facts: Gauri Media Team
Bengaluru: Naanugauri.com online news and views portal launched in remembrance of journalist Gauri Lankesh and to carry her legacy forward after her brutal killing in State’s capital in 2017, has now been blocked by Facebook from sharing their links and posts, said a release by the Media Group.
In addition, the popular social media platform has removed all of the previous links and posts shared previously from the official account of the portal. In a release from the “Gauri Media Team” which runs the portal, the group has termed this as a “dark day” as, despite repeated attempts of communication with the Facebook, the social media platform was not convinced to restore its links and posts and to allow them to share new posts.
The group added that the portal has always followed Journalistic ethics and to their best possible efforts to publish content which is always verified.
“This is a dark day. We tried our best to communicate to FB that naanugauri(dot)com is a reputed and respected news website. Not just only to FB community standards, we try to follow Journalistic ethics to our best possible effort and we publish content which is always verified and checked” the release added.
They further added that Facebook failed to give any specific reason for the same, except dropping a message that suggested that the portal had violated the community standards of the social media giant. The portal, however, has denied the claims of Facebook terming it “far from being true”.
“Many reputed scholars across India like H S Doreswamy, Devanuru Mahadeva, Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, A Narayana, Amit Basule and many more have contributed to naanugauri. This establishes the trustworthiness of naanugauri beyond doubts. This is a widely read Kannada news website too” it further added.
It also did not rule out the theory of a widespread conspiracy of those with far right-wing mindset adding that it was possible that with malicious intent they might have deliberately campaigned against the portal to bring its credibility and authenticity down on public domain.
“But it is a bare minimum expectation that Facebook should have some basic system in place to verify such false and untrustworthy campaigns against only a few trustworthy media houses remaining in this country, (naanugauri being one of them)” it said.
“In this regard, we would urge Facebook to unblock us and allow sharing of our news links, and thereby we are hoping to establish mutual cooperation in building ethical standards in Journalism” the release further demanded.
Speaking to Vartha Bharati, the editor of the portal Vasu asserted that they were surprised by the move from Facebook adding that it came only days after they had carried a story critical of a BJP MLA. He doubted it that is what had prompted the action by Facebook.
Vasu then stressed that social media platforms should have a proper mechanism in place and transparency in the action it initiates against groups that work in the public domain. He confirmed that the group has appealed to Facebook to revoke its action and to restore their links but added that they were yet to get an official response from Facebook.
Vartha Bharati contacted the Facebook team to get a comment. This story will be updated as and when we get a response from Facebook.
Update: Facebook officials at 5:30 pm on Saturday informed Vartha Bharati that the page was unblocked on its platform.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
