IsraeliGirl violates Digg TOS

I was recently banned from Digg. Again. This time according to the email it is permanent. Here is their email informing me of their decision.

Your account was removed for violating the Digg Terms of Service (digg.com/tos) that you agreed to.

"By way of example, and not as a limitation, you agree not to use the Services:

with the intention of artificially inflating or altering the 'digg count', blog count, comments, or any other Digg service, including by way of creating separate user accounts for the purpose of artificially altering Digg's services; giving or receiving money or other remuneration in exchange for votes; or participating in any other organized effort that in any way artificially alters the results of Digg's services;"

Due to the nature and severity of abuse, your account will not be re-instated. This decision is final and irreversible.

- Digg Support Team

And here is my reply which I never received a response to.

Hi,

It seems to me that there must be a mistake. Can you be more specific including describing the specific act that caused my account to be closed? I am not aware that I ever did any of the things that you mention below. And I would very much like to have my account re-instated.

According to your email I violated the TOS through one of the following:

with the intention of artificially inflating or altering the 'digg count', blog count, comments, or any other Digg service, including by way of creating separate user accounts for the purpose of artificially altering Digg's services; giving or receiving money or other remuneration in exchange for votes; or participating in any other organized effort that in any way artificially alters the results of Digg's services;"

1. I have never created a separate user count.
2. I have never received any remuneration in exchange for votes.
3. The only "organized effort" that I have engaged in to "alter the results" is to send shouts. Is this not allowed?

I will gladly admit that I sent a shout asking that my friends bury an article. If this is the action that was in violation of the TOS then I apologize and will not do it again. I would have logically thought that shouting to bury an article would be no different than shouting in favor of an article. But again if this is the case, then I will gladly promise to not do this again.

Is it because I placed links in comments to other Digg articles and asked people to digg them? Again, I would have thought that this would be allowed, but if it isn't then I won't do it again.

Certainly sending shouts is not "participating in any other organized effort". So I'm very confused as to what is the nature of my offense, and inclined to believe that a mistake has been made in my case.

It seems highly unusual and unfair to me to close my account without pointing out the specific act that prompted this severe action. I have been an active member of Digg for quite some time. I have always tried to act responsibly on Digg. Again I ask that my account be re-instated, or at the very least to have a clear explanation of the specific act or acts that caused my account to be closed.

Thanks,
Frank

So in my humble opinion Digg sucks big time. I'm convinced that the only reason that I was banned was for my political point of view. It seems that anti-Zionists are not welcome on Digg. I'm not the only one. I can name at least 10 others that have recently been banned that were also anti-Zionist. Meanwhile there are numerous Zionist trolls that place highly objectionable comments on Digg which have never been banned.

But, one particular Zionist user stands out recently because of the number of articles this user has placed on the front page recently. And that user is IsraeliGirl. Here's her user profile page.
http://digg.com/users/israeligirl

On that page, in the about section, it says:

I've been a marketing consultant to high tech companies for the last 10 years. I am also one of the founders of giyus.org, a pro-Israeli public diplomacy group.

So I went to GIYUS.org to see what kind of a group it is. There homepage is as you might expect.
http://giyus.org/

GIYUS it turns out is an acronym for Give Israel Your United Support. And here is what is displayed on the front page of GIYUS.org.

Today's conflicts are won by public opinion.
Now is the time to be active and voice Israel's side to the world.

Join the effort in 3 easy steps:

1. Download and install Megaphone desktop tool
2. Receive desktop alerts on key articles and surveys
3. Click alerts to easily voice your opinion

Help us by reporting relevant articles and surveys.

Together we can make a difference!

In case you don't now about Megaphone, it is described in Wikipedia as "the pro-Israel lobbying software tool". Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article on Megaphone.

The Megaphone desktop tool is a Microsoft Windows application distributed by the World Union of Jewish Students and other pro-Israel organizations, through the Giyus.org website. Released on July 19, 2006, it delivers real-time alerts about key articles, videos, blogs, and surveys to subscribers so that they can voice their opinions and work together to support Israel on the public opinion front.

So now you can see the relationship:
IsraeliGirl->founder of GIYUS.org->distributor of Megaphone->pro-Israel lobbying software->work together to support Israel

Now that reminds me of something in the Digg TOS that was supposedly the reason for banning me from Digg. What could it be? Oh right! I remember.

or participating in any other organized effort that in any way artificially alters the results of Digg's services

Is it just a coincidence that the day before I was banned I sent out a shout asking my friends to bury a particular article submitted by IsraeliGirl, and also suggested that they bury any other articles posted by IsraeliGirl? Why am I the one that got banned, when clearly IsraeliGirl and the Megaphonies are the ones gaming the system on Digg?

Is Digg another "Israeli-Occupied Territory" on the internet? Why does Digg allow someone who blatantly advertises their connection to a coordinated effort to manipulate internet public opinion to continue to be a member? IsraeliGirl is clearly in gross violation of the Digg Terms of Service, yet she has been allowed to become one of the most powerful Digg members recently. And this is at a time when Israel is engaging in the massacre of innocent Palestinians.

If Digg didn't claim to be a democratic and politically neutral site, then this would be no problem. But if Digg is pursuing a pro-Zionist agenda while pretending to be neutral, then Digg is a fraud and needs to be exposed.

See also this article from the Times Online:
"Israel backed by army of cyber-soldiers"
[This article is from 2006 when Israel invaded Lebanon in a brutal attack against civilians similar to the attack against Gaza.]

WHILE Israel fights Hezbollah with tanks and aircraft, its supporters are campaigning on the internet.

Israel’s Government has thrown its weight behind efforts by supporters to counter what it believes to be negative bias and a tide of pro-Arab propaganda. The Foreign Ministry has ordered trainee diplomats to track websites and chatrooms so that networks of US and European groups with hundreds of thousands of Jewish activists can place supportive messages.

In the past week nearly 5,000 members of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) have downloaded special “megaphone” software that alerts them to anti-Israeli chatrooms or internet polls to enable them to post contrary viewpoints. A student team in Jerusalem combs the web in a host of different languages to flag the sites so that those who have signed up can influence an opinion survey or the course of a debate.

It is clear from this article that the Israeli government itself is behind GIYUS and Megaphone, so again - Why isn't IsraeliGirl banned from Digg?

Here is one last article that shows the link between Megaphone and the Israeli government. This one is from Electronic Intifada, a pro-Palestinian website.

"Israel's Foreign Ministry provides Free Internet Tool to online activists"
[The article quotes a letter from Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is from 2006.]

Dear friends,

Many of us recognize the importance of the Internet as the new battleground for Israel's image. It's time to do it better, and coordinate our on-line efforts on behalf of Israel. An Israeli software company have developed a free, safe and useful tool for us - the Internet Megaphone.

Please go to www.giyus.org, download the Megaphone, and you will receive daily updates with instant links to important internet polls, problematic articles that require a talk back, etc.

We need 100,000 Megaphone users to make a difference. So, please distribute this mail to all Israel's supporters.

Do it now. For Israel.

Amir Gissin

Director Public Affairs (Hasbara) Department
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem

This article suggests that pro-Palestinian users should download Megaphone and use it to track what the Zionist forces are doing and use it as a tool against them. It also mentions that GIYUS translates into "mobilization". It also points to webpage where you can see the online alerts issued by GIYUS without having to sign up for the sign up for Megaphone.

GIYUS.ORG Online Alerts
http://ws.giyus.org/points/list

I am posting this link so that anti-Zionist forces can track the Zionists attempts to sway public opinion via the internet, and so that we can counter the Israeli attempts to manipulate the internet as they have manipulated the main-stream media (MSM).