this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2024
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[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 65 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders on Thursday announced that it is suing the social media company X, accusing it of spreading disinformation.

After Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, discovered that it was the target of a disinformation campaign this past summer, the Paris-based group filed 10 reports of policy violations with X, formerly known as Twitter.

Since none of the posts in question have been removed, RSF opted to sue the company in French courts “for its complicity in disseminating false information, misrepresentation and identity theft,” the group said in a statement.

[–] spacecadet@lemm.ee 4 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

I think they have to sue in French court, right? Couldn’t X just “Section 230” them to no end if they sue in America? Ironically, Trump wants to repeal 230 and claim Platforms are actually publishers, but I guess he wants to do that to silence his critics and no real concern for disinformation.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 hour ago

They're suing in French court.

[–] Ghoelian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (4 children)

Ok maybe a very stupid question but

The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders on Thursday announced

Isn't that gramatically incorrect? Shouldn't it be "The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders announced on Thursday"?

I see this kind of writing a lot in news articles so surely it's not actually wrong, but that's not how I was taught English writing.

[–] deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 4 points 1 hour ago

It's correct, as much as any English is correct, but not typically spoken naturally like that.

The press (newspapers) has an idiosyncratic grammar, probably born of maximising space in a newspaper column. Headlines are often grammatical nightmares, body copy less so.

One could think of it as a form of semantic compression.

[–] loppy@fedia.io 23 points 5 hours ago

Idk if you're a native speaker or not, but as a native speaker of American English there is absolutely nothing wrong with this to me. You could put it in about 4 different places:

On Thursday the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders announced ____.

The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders on Thursday announced ____.

The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders announced on Thursday that ____.

The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders announced ____ on Thursday.

The first one typically has a comma after "Thursday". The second one you could offset "on Thursday" with commas. The third one is at best really awkward without a "that" or a question word (who, what, where, why, how) and you could offset "on Thursday" with commas; you can also drop the "on", in which case you can't use commas. The last one is possible but could be ambiguous (it could be that "on Thursday" is part of their announcement).

[–] Deebster@infosec.pub 15 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

It's a bit stilted and no-one would speak like that (at least without sounding pretentious), but it's not bad grammar.

Also, shame on the moron that downvoted you for asking a question.

[–] loppy@fedia.io 6 points 4 hours ago (3 children)

I really don't see why you would think this.

Sooooo, Carl, on Thursday, said that...

Completely normal thing I would expect to hear.

[–] LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Yeah just depends what you're emphasizing. It could be that Thursday is particularly important so it gets moved up to the second piece of info delivered

[–] essteeyou@lemmy.world 7 points 3 hours ago

Unnatural to me, that sounds.

[–] Deebster@infosec.pub 3 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

To be fair, you've added commas which makes it a parenthetical phrase. But yeah - people do speak like this in real life; technically, I should have said no-one speaks like this in non-impromptu speech without sounding stilted.

"Carl said on Thursday" is definitely more idiomatic (to my BrE ears, anyway) than "Carl on Thursday said".

[–] loppy@fedia.io 2 points 2 hours ago

Yeah, I'll agree, without any pauses it's less natural and it's more of a "buying time to think" thing.

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 4 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (3 children)

Dialect variation. For me, saying “the car needs washed” sounds truly strange but millions and millions of people say it. You’re experiencing similar with this phrase.

[–] JWBananas@lemmy.world 1 points 54 minutes ago

the car needs washed

Is there a name/term for this abomination? I've only ever heard one person speak in that form (omitting "to be"), and it has haunted me ever since.

[–] ValenThyme@reddthat.com 1 points 2 hours ago

'chest of draws' was a weird one for me!

[–] loppy@fedia.io 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

I believe you, I had just never heard it was "wrong" and it's never stood out to me.

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Funny enough I learned about it in a linguistics class from a professor out of Michigan. Never heard the concept before and I think a lot of people had their minds blown.