CNN and its “Reliable Sources” host, Brian Stelter, are pushing back against claims the network staged an anti-terror demonstration in London after Saturday night’s attack.

At least seven people died and over 50 were injured this weekend after three men turned vehicles into weapons before stabbing additional victims near London Bridge. CNN correspondent Becky Anderson’s coverage of the aftermath on Sunday quickly spread on social media when a local man shared behind-the-scenes footage. Producers appeared to direct protesters and officers.

“CNN creating the narrative #FakeNews,” wrote Twitter user Mark Antro after uploading his video.

“CNN caught staging news!” added lawyer and filmmaker Mike Cernovich on Medium. “They even brought “peace group’ printed out papers and props.”

Mr. Stelter blasted “bloggers” for misrepresenting the network’s actions.

“Far-right twitterers are misleading folks about this video. Bloggers saying CNN was caught ‘staging fake news’ (1/2),” the host wrote Sunday. “Police allowed demonstrators thru cordon ‘so they could show their signs’ to media, @CNNPR says. CNN, BBC, AP ‘simply filmed them doing so.’ “

The network also told Mediaite on Monday that charges of “fake news” are “nonsense.”

“The group of demonstrators that was at the police cordon was being allowed through by officers so they could show their signs to the gathered media,” the network said. “The CNN crew along with other media present simply filmed them doing so.”

Mr. Antro also noted that two white officers walked out of camera range and were replaced by minority cops for the live shot.

“Note the white police officers leaving before the CNN shot & the Asian officers coming in. They then left after they went off air!” he said Sunday.

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Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. </s> In the above video, CNN’s Becky Anderson appears to set up and direct what a group of Muslims protesting the terror attacks. Nothing seemingly spontaneous about it at all.

Journalists are not supposed to be observing news, not creating it or staging it, as this appears to be.

The video below is part of what was actually broadcast, with the signs of the ‘protesters’ at the end of the segment.

We’ll let you know if CNN has any satisfactory answer to this… </s> Several leading brands have reportedly sought to pull their ads from YouTube channels of the far-right conspiracy site InfoWars.

Ads from a number of major firms and organisations - including Nike, 20th Century Fox, Expedia, the Mormon Church, Alibaba and the National Rifle Association - were being displayed on Infowars' channels on the video sharing platform, according to CNN.

Many of the brands said they were not aware of what was going on and would cancel their ads on the channel after CNN contacted them.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.

Ad campaigns from YouTube don’t necessarily permit firms to know where their commercials will show up but do allow organisations to use exclusion filters to keep their ads from appearing on certain channels.

Several of the firms CNN contacted said they are taking extra measures to make sure their ads do not show up on such content again.

Alex Jones, who has been dubbed America’s leading conspiracy theorist and a prominent voice of the so-called “alt-right” movement in the US, is the founder of InfoWars.

YouTube reprimanded the far right site which is known for its false and outlandish conspiracy theories earlier this week after it posted a video claiming the student activists from the Florida high school shooting last month that left 17 dead were actors.

Shape Created with Sketch. World news in pictures Show all 50 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. World news in pictures 1/50 9 September 2019 A firefighter assesses the fire spreading across land on Long Gully Road in the town of Drake, Australia. A number of homes have been destroyed by bushfires in New South Wales and Queensland. EPA 2/50 8 September 2019 Damaged homes after hurricane Dorian devastated Elbow Key Island in Hope Town, Bahamas. The hurricane hit the island chain as a category 5 storm and battered them for two days before moving north. Getty 3/50 7 September 2019 An artist performs on Tverskaya street during celebrations marking the 872nd anniversary of the city of Moscow. AFP/Getty 4/50 6 September 2019 Children play football next to a defaced portrait of Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in Harare on the day he died, aged 95. The former leader was forced to resign in 2017, after a 37-year rule, whose early promise was eroded by economic turmoil, disputed elections and human rights violations, has died. AP 5/50 5 September 2019 Authorities work at the scene of a train crash in Yokohama, south of Tokyo. According to media reports, more than 30 people were injured after a train hit a track at a crossing. EPA 6/50 4 September 2019 A police office removes burning tires from the road, as protesters set up fires to block traffic along Airport Road in Abuja, Nigeria. Reuters 7/50 3 September 2019 A riot police officer throws a teargas canister as looters make off with goods from a store in Germiston, east of Johannesburg, South Africa. Police had earlier fired rubber bullets as they struggled to stop looters who targeted businesses as unrest broke out in several spots in and around the city. AP 8/50 2 September 2019 A boat off the island of Santa Cruz in California burns in the early hours of Monday morning. More than 30 people were on board the boat, which is thought to have been on a three-day diving trip. EPA 9/50 1 September 2019 Flowers are laid in a hole in a wall as people gather in the gym of a school, the scene of the hostage crisis, in memory of victims on the fifteenth anniversary of the tragedy in Beslan, North Ossetia region, Russia. More than 330 people, including 186 children, died as a result of the terrorist attack at the school. AP 10/50 31 August 2019 A man sits in front of riot officers during the rally 'Calling One Hundred Thousands Christians Praying for Hong Kong Sinners' in Hong Kong, China. EPA 11/50 30 August 2019 A migrant forces his way into the Spanish territory of Ceuta. Over 150 migrants made their way into Ceuta after storming a barbed-wire border fence with Morocco. AFP/Getty 12/50 A beagle jumps through hoops during a show at the Pet Expo Championship 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. Although the four-day expo is primarily dog oriented it features a wide array of stalls catering to pet owners' needs as well as showcasing a variety of animals including reptiles, birds, ferrets, and rabbits. EPA 13/50 28 August 2019 Baby elephants rub their trunks against a tree at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. Countries that are part of an international agreement on trade in endangered species agreed on Tuesday to limit the sale of wild elephants, delighting conservationists but dismaying some of the African countries involved. AP 14/50 27 August 2019 Burning rubbles in the market of Bouake, central Ivory Coast, after a fire broke overnight. AFP/Getty 15/50 26 August 2019 French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, second from left, sits between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, left, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel as they take part in a meeting at the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France. The Canadian Press via AP 16/50 25 August 2019 A Brazillian Air Force jet drops water to fight a fire in the Amazon rainforest in the state of Rondonia, Brazil. EPA 17/50 24 August 2019 A police officer prepares to strike a protester as clashes erupt during a pro-democracy march in Hong Kong's Kowloon Bay. AFP/Getty 18/50 23 August 2019 Oxfam activists in costumes depicting leaders of the G7 nations protest in Biarritz, France on the day before the summit is due to be held there. AFP/Getty 19/50 22 August 2019 A vendor sits as she sells models of the Hindu deity Krishna on display at a roadside ahead of the 'Janmashtami' festival in Chennai. 20/50 21 August 2019 A girl reacts next to Pope Francis as he leads the weekly general audience in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. Reuters 21/50 20 August 2019 A masked dancer takes part in the Nil Barahi mask dance festival, an annual event during which dancers perform while posing as various deities that people worship to seek blessings, in Bode, Nepal. Reuters 22/50 19 August 2019 Protesters take to the street to face off with Indonesian police in Manokwari, Papua. The riots broke out, with a local parliament building being torched, as thousands protested allegations that police tear-gassed and arrested students who supported the restive region's independence. AFP/Getty 23/50 18 August 2019 People survey the destruction after an overnight suicide bomb explosion that targeted a wedding reception in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 63 people, mostly wedding guests from the Shi'ite Muslim community, were killed and more than 180 injured when a suicide bomber attacked a wedding hall. EPA 24/50 17 August 2019 A man retrieves his prize after climbing up a greased pole during a competition held as part of Independence Day celebrations at Ancol Beach in Jakarta. Indonesia is celebrating its 74th anniversary of independence from the Dutch colonial rule. AP 25/50 16 August 2019 Swiss pianist and composer Alain Roche plays piano suspended in the air at dawn during the 20th "Jeux du Castrum", a multidisciplinary festival in Switzerland. AFP/Getty 26/50 15 August 2019 Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako bow during a memorial service ceremony marking the 74th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War Two, in Tokyo, Japan. Reuters 27/50 14 August 2019 A woman walks with a Kashmir's flag to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir, during a ceremony to celebrate Pakistan's 72nd Independence Day at the Mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi, Pakistan. Reuters 28/50 13 August 2019 The extraordinary moment a volcano erupted, shooting luminous hot lava from the surface, as a lightning bolt striked the centre of the mountain. Photographer Martin Reitze, 55, captured rare images of volcanic ash escaping from the Ebeko volcano in Russia whilst the lightning froze the ash cloud in time. Martin, from Munich, was standing around a kilometre away from the northern crater of the volcano when it erupted. The volcano expert said: "The strong lightning which shows in the image is a very rare exception, as it was much stronger than usual." Martin Reitze/SWNS 29/50 12 August 2019 People swim in a public bath pool in Zalakaros, Hungary. Some regions of the country have been issued the highest grade of warning by the National Meteorological Service as the temperatures may reach 33-38 centigrade. EPA 30/50 11 August 2019 A pro-democracy protester is held by police outside Tsim Sha Tsui Police station during a demonstration against the controversial extradition bill in Hong Kong. AFP/Getty 31/50 10 August 2019 Muslim pilgrims make their way down on a rocky hill known as Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. AP 32/50 9 August 2019 Waves hit a sea wall in front of buildings in Taizhou, China's eastern Zhejiang province. China issued a red alert for incoming Super Typhoon Lekima which is expected to batter eastern Zhejiang province early on August 10 with high winds and torrential rainfall. AFP/Getty 33/50 8 August 2019 A herder struggles with his flock across a motorway at the city cattle market, ahead of the Eid al-Adha in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Eid al-Adha is the holiest of the two Muslims holidays celebrated each year, it marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to visit Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy. EPA 34/50 7 August 2019 Kazakh servicemen perform during a ceremony opening the International Army Games at the 40th military base Otar in Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan. Reuters 35/50 6 August 2019 Paleontologist Naturalis Anne Schulp takes part in the construction of the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus Rex called Trix in Naturalis in Leiden, The Netherlands. After a month-long tour of Europe, Trix is home in time for the opening of the new museum. AFP/Getty 36/50 5 August 2019 Flowers paying tribute to the eight-year-old boy who died after he was pushed under a train at Frankfurt am Main's station. The horrific crime happened last week and has led politicians to call for heightened security. AFP/Getty 37/50 4 August 2019 Mourners take part in a vigil near the border fence between Mexico and the US after a mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso killed 20 people. The suspected gunman behind shooting is believed to be a 21-year-old white man called Patrick Crusius. Reuters 38/50 3 August 2019 Pramac Racing's rider Jack Miller in action during a practice session at the Motorcycling Grand Prix of the Czech Republic. The race will take place on 4 August. EPA 39/50 2 August 2019 An extremely rare Pink Meanie jellyfish on display at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. The Pink Meanie was discovered during a nightlight jellyfish dive by the collections team in the waters around Robben Island and in Cape Town Harbour. Pink Meanies are jellyvorous, meaning they feed on other jelly species by reeling them in with their long tentacles. Discovering the Pink Meanie in its early ephyra stage meant the team could study its growth rate which turned out to be very quick as it grew to the metaephyra stage in about a week and a half. The Mexican pink meanie (Drymonema larsoni) was only discovered in the year 2000. A Mediterranean relative, known as the Big Pink Jellyfish (Drymonema dalmatinum) has been known to science since the 1800s but when spotted in 2014 it had been almost 70 years since the last sighting. These jellies are incredibly rare and this new South African species is no exception. EPA 40/50 1 August 2019 Palestinian men breathe fire on the beach as entertainment for children during the summer vacation in Gaza City. AFP/Getty 41/50 31 July 2019 A woman rows a boat through the lotus plants on the waters of Dal Lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir. The lake is a popular tourist destination because of its floating gardens and lotus flowers. EPA 42/50 30 July 2019 An effigy of demon Ghantakarna is burnt to symbolize the destruction of evil and belief to drive evil spirits and ghost, during the Ghantakarna festival at the ancient city of Bhaktapur, Nepal. Reuters 43/50 29 July 2019 Hundreds of hot air balloons take part in the Great Line at the Mondial Air Ballons festival, in an attempt to break the 2017 record of 456 balloons aligning in an hour during the biggest meeting in the world, in Chambley, France. Reuters 44/50 28 July 2019 Anti-extradition bill protesters with umbrellas attend a rally against the police brutality in Hong Kong. EPA 45/50 27 July 2019 A general view of stalls closed following yesterday's volcanic eruption at the tourism area of Mount Tangkuban Parahu in the north of Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia. Reuters 46/50 26 July 2019 Protesters rally against a controversial extradition bill in the arrivals hall at the international airport in Hong Kong. AFP/Getty 47/50 25 July 2019 The pack rides in a valley during the eighteenth stage of the 106th edition of the Tour de France cycling race between Embrun and Valloire. AFP/Getty 48/50 24 July 2019 Former special counsel Robert Mueller is sworn in to testify before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the investigation into Russian Interference of the 2016 Presidential Election. Reuters 49/50 23 July 2019 People cool down at the fountains of Trocadero during a heatwave in Paris. EPA 50/50 22 July 2019 Activists burn an effigy of President Rodrigo Duterte, depicted as a sea monster, during a protest near congress. This is to coincide with his state of the nation address in Manila. AFP/Getty 1/50 9 September 2019 A firefighter assesses the fire spreading across land on Long Gully Road in the town of Drake, Australia. A number of homes have been destroyed by bushfires in New South Wales and Queensland. EPA 2/50 8 September 2019 Damaged homes after hurricane Dorian devastated Elbow Key Island in Hope Town, Bahamas. The hurricane hit the island chain as a category 5 storm and battered them for two days before moving north. Getty 3/50 7 September 2019 An artist performs on Tverskaya street during celebrations marking the 872nd anniversary of the city of Moscow. AFP/Getty 4/50 6 September 2019 Children play football next to a defaced portrait of Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in Harare on the day he died, aged 95. The former leader was forced to resign in 2017, after a 37-year rule, whose early promise was eroded by economic turmoil, disputed elections and human rights violations, has died. AP 5/50 5 September 2019 Authorities work at the scene of a train crash in Yokohama, south of Tokyo. According to media reports, more than 30 people were injured after a train hit a track at a crossing. EPA 6/50 4 September 2019 A police office removes burning tires from the road, as protesters set up fires to block traffic along Airport Road in Abuja, Nigeria. Reuters 7/50 3 September 2019 A riot police officer throws a teargas canister as looters make off with goods from a store in Germiston, east of Johannesburg, South Africa. Police had earlier fired rubber bullets as they struggled to stop looters who targeted businesses as unrest broke out in several spots in and around the city. AP 8/50 2 September 2019 A boat off the island of Santa Cruz in California burns in the early hours of Monday morning. More than 30 people were on board the boat, which is thought to have been on a three-day diving trip. EPA 9/50 1 September 2019 Flowers are laid in a hole in a wall as people gather in the gym of a school, the scene of the hostage crisis, in memory of victims on the fifteenth anniversary of the tragedy in Beslan, North Ossetia region, Russia. More than 330 people, including 186 children, died as a result of the terrorist attack at the school. AP 10/50 31 August 2019 A man sits in front of riot officers during the rally 'Calling One Hundred Thousands Christians Praying for Hong Kong Sinners' in Hong Kong, China. EPA 11/50 30 August 2019 A migrant forces his way into the Spanish territory of Ceuta. Over 150 migrants made their way into Ceuta after storming a barbed-wire border fence with Morocco. AFP/Getty 12/50 A beagle jumps through hoops during a show at the Pet Expo Championship 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. Although the four-day expo is primarily dog oriented it features a wide array of stalls catering to pet owners' needs as well as showcasing a variety of animals including reptiles, birds, ferrets, and rabbits. EPA 13/50 28 August 2019 Baby elephants rub their trunks against a tree at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. Countries that are part of an international agreement on trade in endangered species agreed on Tuesday to limit the sale of wild elephants, delighting conservationists but dismaying some of the African countries involved. AP 14/50 27 August 2019 Burning rubbles in the market of Bouake, central Ivory Coast, after a fire broke overnight. AFP/Getty 15/50 26 August 2019 French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, second from left, sits between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, left, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel as they take part in a meeting at the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France. The Canadian Press via AP 16/50 25 August 2019 A Brazillian Air Force jet drops water to fight a fire in the Amazon rainforest in the state of Rondonia, Brazil. EPA 17/50 24 August 2019 A police officer prepares to strike a protester as clashes erupt during a pro-democracy march in Hong Kong's Kowloon Bay. AFP/Getty 18/50 23 August 2019 Oxfam activists in costumes depicting leaders of the G7 nations protest in Biarritz, France on the day before the summit is due to be held there. AFP/Getty 19/50 22 August 2019 A vendor sits as she sells models of the Hindu deity Krishna on display at a roadside ahead of the 'Janmashtami' festival in Chennai. 20/50 21 August 2019 A girl reacts next to Pope Francis as he leads the weekly general audience in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. Reuters 21/50 20 August 2019 A masked dancer takes part in the Nil Barahi mask dance festival, an annual event during which dancers perform while posing as various deities that people worship to seek blessings, in Bode, Nepal. Reuters 22/50 19 August 2019 Protesters take to the street to face off with Indonesian police in Manokwari, Papua. The riots broke out, with a local parliament building being torched, as thousands protested allegations that police tear-gassed and arrested students who supported the restive region's independence. AFP/Getty 23/50 18 August 2019 People survey the destruction after an overnight suicide bomb explosion that targeted a wedding reception in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 63 people, mostly wedding guests from the Shi'ite Muslim community, were killed and more than 180 injured when a suicide bomber attacked a wedding hall. EPA 24/50 17 August 2019 A man retrieves his prize after climbing up a greased pole during a competition held as part of Independence Day celebrations at Ancol Beach in Jakarta. Indonesia is celebrating its 74th anniversary of independence from the Dutch colonial rule. AP 25/50 16 August 2019 Swiss pianist and composer Alain Roche plays piano suspended in the air at dawn during the 20th "Jeux du Castrum", a multidisciplinary festival in Switzerland. AFP/Getty 26/50 15 August 2019 Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako bow during a memorial service ceremony marking the 74th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War Two, in Tokyo, Japan. Reuters 27/50 14 August 2019 A woman walks with a Kashmir's flag to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir, during a ceremony to celebrate Pakistan's 72nd Independence Day at the Mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi, Pakistan. Reuters 28/50 13 August 2019 The extraordinary moment a volcano erupted, shooting luminous hot lava from the surface, as a lightning bolt striked the centre of the mountain. Photographer Martin Reitze, 55, captured rare images of volcanic ash escaping from the Ebeko volcano in Russia whilst the lightning froze the ash cloud in time. Martin, from Munich, was standing around a kilometre away from the northern crater of the volcano when it erupted. The volcano expert said: "The strong lightning which shows in the image is a very rare exception, as it was much stronger than usual." Martin Reitze/SWNS 29/50 12 August 2019 People swim in a public bath pool in Zalakaros, Hungary. Some regions of the country have been issued the highest grade of warning by the National Meteorological Service as the temperatures may reach 33-38 centigrade. EPA 30/50 11 August 2019 A pro-democracy protester is held by police outside Tsim Sha Tsui Police station during a demonstration against the controversial extradition bill in Hong Kong. AFP/Getty 31/50 10 August 2019 Muslim pilgrims make their way down on a rocky hill known as Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. AP 32/50 9 August 2019 Waves hit a sea wall in front of buildings in Taizhou, China's eastern Zhejiang province. China issued a red alert for incoming Super Typhoon Lekima which is expected to batter eastern Zhejiang province early on August 10 with high winds and torrential rainfall. AFP/Getty 33/50 8 August 2019 A herder struggles with his flock across a motorway at the city cattle market, ahead of the Eid al-Adha in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Eid al-Adha is the holiest of the two Muslims holidays celebrated each year, it marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to visit Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy. EPA 34/50 7 August 2019 Kazakh servicemen perform during a ceremony opening the International Army Games at the 40th military base Otar in Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan. Reuters 35/50 6 August 2019 Paleontologist Naturalis Anne Schulp takes part in the construction of the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus Rex called Trix in Naturalis in Leiden, The Netherlands. After a month-long tour of Europe, Trix is home in time for the opening of the new museum. AFP/Getty 36/50 5 August 2019 Flowers paying tribute to the eight-year-old boy who died after he was pushed under a train at Frankfurt am Main's station. The horrific crime happened last week and has led politicians to call for heightened security. AFP/Getty 37/50 4 August 2019 Mourners take part in a vigil near the border fence between Mexico and the US after a mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso killed 20 people. The suspected gunman behind shooting is believed to be a 21-year-old white man called Patrick Crusius. Reuters 38/50 3 August 2019 Pramac Racing's rider Jack Miller in action during a practice session at the Motorcycling Grand Prix of the Czech Republic. The race will take place on 4 August. EPA 39/50 2 August 2019 An extremely rare Pink Meanie jellyfish on display at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. The Pink Meanie was discovered during a nightlight jellyfish dive by the collections team in the waters around Robben Island and in Cape Town Harbour. Pink Meanies are jellyvorous, meaning they feed on other jelly species by reeling them in with their long tentacles. Discovering the Pink Meanie in its early ephyra stage meant the team could study its growth rate which turned out to be very quick as it grew to the metaephyra stage in about a week and a half. The Mexican pink meanie (Drymonema larsoni) was only discovered in the year 2000. A Mediterranean relative, known as the Big Pink Jellyfish (Drymonema dalmatinum) has been known to science since the 1800s but when spotted in 2014 it had been almost 70 years since the last sighting. These jellies are incredibly rare and this new South African species is no exception. EPA 40/50 1 August 2019 Palestinian men breathe fire on the beach as entertainment for children during the summer vacation in Gaza City. AFP/Getty 41/50 31 July 2019 A woman rows a boat through the lotus plants on the waters of Dal Lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir. The lake is a popular tourist destination because of its floating gardens and lotus flowers. EPA 42/50 30 July 2019 An effigy of demon Ghantakarna is burnt to symbolize the destruction of evil and belief to drive evil spirits and ghost, during the Ghantakarna festival at the ancient city of Bhaktapur, Nepal. Reuters 43/50 29 July 2019 Hundreds of hot air balloons take part in the Great Line at the Mondial Air Ballons festival, in an attempt to break the 2017 record of 456 balloons aligning in an hour during the biggest meeting in the world, in Chambley, France. Reuters 44/50 28 July 2019 Anti-extradition bill protesters with umbrellas attend a rally against the police brutality in Hong Kong. EPA 45/50 27 July 2019 A general view of stalls closed following yesterday's volcanic eruption at the tourism area of Mount Tangkuban Parahu in the north of Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia. Reuters 46/50 26 July 2019 Protesters rally against a controversial extradition bill in the arrivals hall at the international airport in Hong Kong. AFP/Getty 47/50 25 July 2019 The pack rides in a valley during the eighteenth stage of the 106th edition of the Tour de France cycling race between Embrun and Valloire. AFP/Getty 48/50 24 July 2019 Former special counsel Robert Mueller is sworn in to testify before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the investigation into Russian Interference of the 2016 Presidential Election. Reuters 49/50 23 July 2019 People cool down at the fountains of Trocadero during a heatwave in Paris. EPA 50/50 22 July 2019 Activists burn an effigy of President Rodrigo Duterte, depicted as a sea monster, during a protest near congress. This is to coincide with his state of the nation address in Manila. AFP/Getty

InfoWars' biggest YouTube account, The Alex Jones Channel, received one strike from the video-sharing site for the video.

On Saturday Jones claimed YouTube was going to delete the channel and all of the videos posted to it.

“The Alex Jones channel with billions of views is frozen. We have been told it will be deleted tomorrow and all 33 thousand videos will be erased. We just set up this new page subscribe if you want to see what the SPLC wants censored,” Jones wrote on Twitter, using an acronym for the Southern Poverty Law Centre, a legal advocacy organisation which monitors hate groups.

Independent news email Only the best news in your inbox Independent news email Only the best news in your inbox Enter your email address Continue Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid Email already exists. Log in to update your newsletter preferences Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email Update newsletter preferences

But YouTube told CBS News it is not planning on taking down Jones' YouTube channel in spite of his statement. YouTube said some advertisers had asked to be removed from running ads from Jones' channels and YouTube had informed him of that.

The platform said Jones’ description bears no relation to how the termination process works. YouTube’s community guidelines stipulate the account will be shut down altogether if it gets three strikes in the space of three months and it also has an appeals process.

Jones, whose channel has received over a billion views and 2.2 million subscribers, is famed for propagating far-fetched and erroneous conspiracy theories.

He suggested the Sandy Hook school shooting of 20 young children was staged, that the September 11 attacks of 2001 were an inside job and that the baseless reports about Hillary Clinton being part of a Washington pizzeria child sex abuse ring warrant serious investigation.

He has also claimed the US government puts chemicals into the water supply to turn people gay so they do not have children.

The Independent contacted a representative of YouTube for comment. </s> A lower court had ordered the video sharing site be blocked in 2013 after it carried the video “Innocence of Muslims”, but the case was appealed by Egypt’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and its ruling was stayed.

The 2012 amateurish film depicts the Prophet Mohammed as a buffoon and a paedophile, and sparked a wave of angry anti-American protests across the Middle East in which more than 30 people were killed.

Washington sought to keep a lid on the demonstrations by saying the controversial film was made privately with no official backing.

US officials said freedom of speech laws prevented them from stopping the production of inflammatory material.

The ruling is considered final and cannot be appealed.

As of Saturday afternoon, YouTube was still accessible in Cairo. </s> The entire basis of CNN’s meme witch hunt might have come crashing down Wednesday as Buzzfeed showed that the actual video’s origins are not so easily ascertained, and the network is likely harassing the wrong guy.

CNN’s KFile mounted a cyber jihad of sorts after President Donald Trump tweeted the video of a wrestling match, which was edited to make it look like the president was body-slamming the CNN logo. The network hunted down a Reddit user who took credit for the meme, reported out a profuse apology from the man, and then bizarrely threatened to reveal his identity if his behavior does not comply with the network’s standards.

KFile’s entire piece, as well as each piece CNN posted on the subject, was borne on the premise that the Reddit user who claimed credit was actually right.

Turns out, he might not have been.

A Buzzfeed analysis shows the origins of the meme Trump actually tweeted could very well trace back to a Facebook page, and that the president or his administration likely did not come across it on Reddit. The gif Trump tweeted is at best a modified version of the video HanAssholeSolo posted on Reddit. The clip he posted is longer, has different coloring, does not have the same watermark and does not include audio. Trump’s video is not even technically a gif, which is a soundless video on loop, but instead is the same clip spliced together.

Buzzfeed also noted that it would be “almost impossible” for Trump to have downloaded the video to his phone directly from Reddit because of the type of video file HanAssholeSolo shared. A much more likely scenario is that someone else downloaded the Reddit file, modified it and then shared it somewhere that got the president’s attention. That could have been through a text or email or some other means.

“Throughout all of this, we haven’t actually learned anything about where Trump and members of his inner circle are getting their memes,” Buzzfeed concludes with gravitas, seemingly as oblivious as CNN about the journalistic seriousness of memevestigations.

For its part, CNN dedicated no less than four days of prominent coverage to the meme and its origins. KFile showed particular interest in the originator’s supposed racism, which he highlighted in the story in a clear effort to smear Trump as a purveyor of bigotry and, perhaps indirectly, equate criticism of CNN with irrational hatred.

CNN editor-at-large Chris Cilizza basically accused the White House of lying about the source of the meme. Demonstrating an unbelievable lack of understanding of the way viral memes work, Cilizza puzzled over the conflicting reports from KFile and the White House:

On the one hand, we have a detailed analysis of the origin of the GIF, which first appeared on Reddit last Wednesday, its creator acknowledging he made it. On the other we have the White House — with no name attached! — insisting Trump didn’t get the GIF from Reddit. Which leaves an obvious question: Where did Trump get it then? Did he make it? (Seems unlikely.) Did someone at the White House make it? The version that Trump tweeted was slightly altered from the version on Reddit. Did someone at the White House flag it from a site other than Reddit? Who? And what site was it? Sure, the facts all point to the CNN GIF originating from Reddit and Trump being made aware of it via that site. But, he wasn’t, according to the White House. So, who are you going to believe?

To be clear, there’s plenty of evidence as outlined by Buzzfeed to suggest the White House told the truth when it said Trump did not pull the video from Reddit. CNN’s own report now concedes this fact in the lead of the story, which notes the user “initially claimed” credit for the video. Even if the gif did show up first on Reddit, that doesn’t establish a direct line from the user behind that post and the video Trump tweeted.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact . </s> Donald Trump was involved in an angry exchange with Jim Acosta

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been accused of sharing a video doctored to make a journalist appear more aggressive.

The clip shows the moment CNN reporter Jim Acosta refused to hand over a microphone to an intern during a heated exchange with US President Donald Trump.

The White House has since banned Mr Acosta over what it called "unacceptable" conduct.

We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video. pic.twitter.com/T8X1Ng912y — Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 8, 2018

Ms Sanders took aim at the CNN correspondent after accusing him of "placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern".

Ms Sanders went on to share a clip that appears identical to one published by cable network C-SPAN, writing: "We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behaviour clearly documented in this video."

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But Storyful, a social media intelligence agency that specialises in video, say its analysis shows the clip "contains extra frames that do not appear in the C-SPAN broadcast of the event".

Its report claims the video has several frames repeated.

It says: "These frames do not appear in the original C-SPAN footage, and appear to exaggerate the action of Acosta.

"There is a clear moment (frames 13, 14, 15 in our first clip, where C-SPAN version is on the left) when the Sanders video halts and the C-SPAN footage does not.

"The two clips, which were roughly in sync before that moment, are out of sync thereafter," Storyful said.

Many in the media industry were furious with Ms Sanders for sharing the video, including one of Mr Acosta's colleagues.

Matt Dornic, a vice-president at CNN, said: "Absolutely shameful, @PressSec. You released a doctored video - actual fake news. History will not be kind to you."

The Storyful report also says: "The video shared by Sanders appeared under an hour after the same video, with the same close-up, was posted by Infowars.com contributor Paul Joseph Watson."

Infowars.com is a controversial far-right site described by many as a publisher of conspiracy theories and fake news.

The same three still frames are repeated in the zoomed-in clips of the incident in the Sanders video, its report adds.

Mr Watson posted his defence on Twitter, saying: "Here's the video that proves I did not 'doctor' or 'speed up' the Acosta video, as some media outlets claim. I merely zoomed in.

Here's the video that proves I did not "doctor" or "speed up" the Acosta video, as some media outlets claim. I merely zoomed in.



Nice try to distract from Acosta's behavior, but this kind of dishonesty is why the media has a massive trust issue.



Please correct your stories. pic.twitter.com/g0AzlEyVx0 — Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) November 8, 2018

"Nice try to distract from Acosta's behavior, but this kind of dishonesty is why the media has a massive trust issue. </s> CNN is getting support from rival Fox News in its legal battle against the White House over the revocation of press credentials for reporter Jim Acosta.

Fox News President Jay Wallace issued a statement Wednesday that said his division will file an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court that backs the lawsuit filed by CNN against President Trump and other administration officials over the decision to suspend Acosta’s White House press pass after a conflict at a news conference last week.

“Secret Service passes for working White House journalists should never be weaponized,” Wallace said. “While we don’t condone the growing antagonistic tone by both the President and the press at recent media avails, we do support a free press, access and open exchanges for the American people.”

Fox News is among more than a dozen news companies and journalism organizations that plan to file friend of court briefs on behalf of CNN, including the Los Angeles Times, NBC News, the Associated Press, USA Today Network, the New York Times, the Washington Post and Gannett Co.

“It is imperative that independent journalists have access to the President and his activities, and that journalists are not barred for arbitrary reasons,” the entities said in a joint statement. “Our news organizations support the fundamental constitutional right to question the President, or any president.”

Norman Pearlstine, executive editor of the Los Angeles Times, said in a statement: “The Los Angeles Times supports the effort of CNN and Jim Acosta to have his access to White House press briefings fully restored. We plan to join with the other media organizations in filing an amicus brief in the lawsuit brought by CNN. We are committed to upholding free and fair access for journalists covering the White House.”

CNN’s suit filed Tuesday says the suspension of Acosta’s credentials violates the 1st Amendment’s protection of free speech. It also says the way the administration revoked the pass, with no direct notice to Acosta or a written explanation detailing the decision, violated the 5th Amendment’s protection of due process and the federal Administrative Procedures Act.

The lawsuit escalates an ongoing battle between Trump and the AT&T-owned cable news outlet, which has been aggressive in its coverage of him and his administration. Trump frequently accuses CNN of disseminating “fake news” when he is angered by its reporting.

Trump’s criticisms of CNN are often echoed by Fox News prime-time star Sean Hannity, who is the president’s most voluble supporter on the channel.

9:45 a.m.: This article was updated with other news organizations filing amicus briefs on behalf of CNN.

This article was originally published at 8:50 a.m. </s> Some of the biggest brands in the U.S. had ads running on the YouTube channels for far-right website InfoWars and its founder, notorious conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and they say they had no idea YouTube was allowing their advertising to appear there.

Last week, YouTube reprimanded the conspiracy theory site and Jones for violating its community guidelines after a video posted to The Alex Jones Channel, InfoWars' biggest YouTube account, claimed student anti-gun activists were actors.

Now YouTube and Jones' channel on it are in the spotlight again. CNN has discovered ads on InfoWars' channels from companies and organizations such as Nike (NKE), Acer, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Network, the Mormon Church, Moen, Expedia (EXPE), Alibaba (BABA), HomeAway, Mozilla, the NRA, Honey, Wix and ClassPass.

Even an ad for USA for UNHCR, a group that supports the UN refugee agency UNHCR, asking for donations for Rohingya refugees was shown on an InfoWars YouTube channel.

Many of the brands -- including Nike, Moen, Expedia, Acer, ClassPass, Honey, Alibaba and OneFamily -- have suspended ads on InfoWars' channels after being contacted by CNN for comment. The companies, with the exception of Alibaba, which declined to comment, said they had been unaware their ads were running on The Alex Jones Channel. CNN discovered the HomeAway advertising shortly before publishing this story, and has not yet received a response from that company.

InfoWars and Jones are known for peddling conspiracy theories, including the false idea that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012 was a hoax.

Related: InfoWars' main YouTube channel is two strikes away from being banned

The brands purchased ad campaigns from YouTube, which is owned by Google, or through marketing companies that broadly targeted demographics and user behavior. Companies that purchase ads this way don't necessarily know where their commercials will eventually show up, but they can use exclusion filters to avoid having them appear on certain channels and kinds of content.

Several brands expressed concern about the ads' placement to CNN and said they have reached out to YouTube about the situation.

A Nike spokesperson said the company was "disturbed to learn that we appeared on [The Alex Jones Channel]." It has since asked YouTube to address why the channel wasn't flagged by a filter it had enabled.

Nike, like some of the other brands, opted in to a "sensitive subject exclusion" filter to better control where its ads appear. The exclusion filters include, according to YouTube: "Tragedy and Conflict;" "Sensitive Social Issues;" "Sexually Suggestive Content;" "Sensational & Shocking;" and "Profanity & Rough Language."

YouTube did not respond to questions from CNN about whether the channels should have been excluded by any of those filters.

"We have a filter and brand safety assurances from Google our content would never run around offensive content," a Paramount Network spokesperson said, adding that the company is trying to find out what "went wrong."

An Acer spokesperson confirmed the company also had reached out to its partners at YouTube, saying its "existing filters should have prevented this." The spokesperson said the company has set up additional filters to further block its ads from appearing on "divisive channels in the future."

"We take great measures to ensure our ads do not run on videos with sensitive content," a spokesperson for Grammarly, an online grammar-checker tool, told CNN on Friday. It was aware their ads had run on an InfoWars channel, the spokesperson said, and had been working closely with YouTube to ensure it didn't happen again.

A half hour after it sent CNN that statement, Grammarly ads were still running on an InfoWars YouTube channel. Its ads were also running on a YouTube channel that did not appear to be explicitly affiliated with InfoWars, but reposted InfoWars videos.

A Grammarly spokesperson said on Saturday the company had not been aware of the ads. "We have stringent sensitive subject exclusion filters in place with YouTube that we believed would exclude such channels. We've asked YouTube to ensure this does not happen again."

CNN has asked YouTube for further comment, but has not yet heard back.

Honey, a company that finds discounts for shoppers online, told CNN it unknowingly spent $169.64 to promote its brand on the Alex Jones YouTube channel. Honey said its first video ad appeared on the channel on January 21 and that eventually its ads on the channel received about 300 plays per day.

"[It] clearly was outside of our expectations [that this would happen by] using their sensitive subject exclusions tool," Honey co-founder Ryan Hudson told CNN.

The company's ad continued to play on The Alex Jones Channel until Wednesday, when CNN asked if it had any comment on why the ad was running there.

A spokesperson for 20th Century Fox said the company was unaware its ad had been placed on an InfoWars YouTube channel and after learning it had, immediately took it down. The company believes that it existing filters should have prevented it showing on the InfoWars channel.

The company is now having further conversations with YouTube, the spokesperson said, "to make sure this never happens again," and has asked for a refund.

A spokesperson for Mozilla told CNN, "We have explicit exclusions set up for our YouTube campaigns and should absolutely not have appeared alongside this content. We are disappointed to learn that YouTube's filters are not as effective as promised in preventing advertisements running alongside objectionable content. We've since reached out to Google and paused our advertising on the channel."

A spokesperson for USA for UNHCR said that this was the group's first time running ads on YouTube, and that it would now pull its ads from all of YouTube, and has asked for money spent on InfoWars-related channels back.

And a spokesperson for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints told CNN it has paused the specific ad campaign that ran on an InfoWars YouTube channel, and are looking into whether other ad campaigns are similarly affected.

Related: USA Today publishes op-ed by InfoWars conspiracy theorist

Companies can prevent their ads from appearing on any channel, at any time, by adding those channels to their account's "blacklist." Some of the companies CNN spoke with said that when they purchased ads on YouTube, they specifically included some of InfoWars' YouTube channels on their "blacklist," but that they were unaware InfoWars had other YouTube channels.

These moves come nearly a year after YouTube suffered an advertiser backlash when brands learned their promotional posts were appearing alongside extremist content.

Late last year, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said the service would take steps to ensure advertisers "that their ads are running alongside content that reflects their brand's values."

YouTube declined to comment on InfoWars and content similar to it not being flagged by the "sensitive subject exclusion" filter but emphasized its commitment to being "an open platform."

"We uphold free expression according to our Community Guidelines, even when there are views we don't agree with," a YouTube spokesperson said. "When videos are flagged to us that violate our guidelines, we immediately remove them. We do not allow ads to run on videos that deal with sensitive and tragic events."

Honey is currently "investigating options with Google" to recover the money it spent.

It's unclear if Jones has specifically profited from the ads. YouTube allows channels with over 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 annual watch hours to be monetized. At least seven out of the 11 InfoWars-related YouTube channels fall into this category, including the Alex Jones channel.

A source with access to YouTube's Creator Studio management system said the videos on the Alex Jones channel are claimed by Jones' media organization Free Speech Systems, LLC. Depending on which policy an advertiser selects, a share of the money it pays YouTube could go to Jones' company.

Infowars did not respond to a CNN request for comment.

In the meantime, UK-based financial company OneFamily said it "alerted Google to recommend they add [The Alex Jones Channel] to their own blacklist."

--CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, Soukaina Alaoui El Hassani and Seth Fiegerman contributed to this report.

Update: This article originally said one of the ads running on the Alex Jones Channel was for UNHCR. In fact, it was for USA for UNHCR, a non-profit group that supports UNHCR. </s> A US official appointed by President Donald Trump has resigned after CNN posted excerpts of him making racist and Islamophobic comments on a radio show he used to host, the news network reported.

Carl Higbie resigned from his post as external affairs chief at the Corporation for National and Community Service, according to a statement from CNCS spokeswoman Samantha Jo Warfield, CNN said.

Higbie, the CNCS - an agency that runs volunteer groups including AmeriCops, Senior Corps and the Social Innovation Fund - and the White House were not immediately available for comment.

CNN KFile, the network's investigative reporting team, posted recordings of Higbie's internet talk radio show "Sound of Freedom" from 2013 and 2014 in which he expresses his dislike of Muslims, black people and homosexuality.

"I just don't like Muslim people. People always rip me a new one for that. 'Carl, you're racist, you can't, you're sexist.' I'm like, Jesus Christ, I just don't like Muslim people because their ideology sucks," he says in one excerpt, describing Islam as "the ideology of a child molester".

In another he tells Muslims: "Go back to your Muslim shithole and go crap in your hands and bang little boys on Thursday nights."

Trump was accused by Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of repeatedly using the word "shithole" when speaking about African countries during a meeting about immigration last week at the White House, causing diplomatic outrage in many African countries.

Trump has denied he is a racist, telling a reporter on Sunday: "I'm the least racist person you have ever interviewed."
CNN denies authenticity of footage documenting its employees manufacturing a protest using unrepresentative Muslim actors.