When Reporting Becomes Alignment: International Business Times and the CSAM–Betting–Blackmail Pattern
Ownership Reality Check
Etienne Uzac and Johnathan Davis personally control IBT Media, the private company
behind International Business Times and Newsweek.
There are no public shareholders, no market transparency, and no independent
accountability layer. Editorial direction, infrastructure, and strategy sit inside
a single ownership circle.
That is not illegal — but it does concentrate narrative power.
International Business Times Enters the CSAM–Fixed Sports Betting–Blackmail Synthesis
Editorial Correction
This article is not reporting. It is narrative laundering.
Rumour has been presented as outcome, speculation framed as inevitability,
and basic verification abandoned in favour of confidence.
There is no completed acquisition.
There is no merged app.
There is no unified subscription.
There is no operational integration.
Writing as if regulatory reality has already been decided is not analysis —
it is pre-clearance conditioning. This pattern is familiar, and it is documented
across media consolidation, platform leverage, and coercive silence economics.
Errors happen. What matters is timing, framing, and intent. Publishing this
narrative during active regulatory scrutiny is not neutral. It is alignment.
Open Letter to the Editors and Management of International Business Times
January 1, 2026
Dear IBTimes,
Congratulations. With your December 31, 2025 article titled “Inside the Netflix and HBO Max App Merger Discussion — Convenience or Confusion?” you’ve officially crossed the line from journalism into full-blown speculative fan fiction—treating a definitive, signed $82.7 billion acquisition (announced December 5, 2025 by Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery) as mere “rumours” and “discussion.”
Let’s be crystal clear: Netflix is acquiring Warner Bros., HBO, and HBO Max. It’s a done deal, pending regulatory approval and spin-off in Q3 2026. Zaslav confirmed HBO Max stays standalone short-term for user reassurance—not because the acquisition is imaginary. Yet your writer framed the entire thing as vague gossip, stirring “confusion” where facts are public and undeniable.
This is your published piece—peddling “rumours of an app merger” while ignoring the official deal your own outlet reported earlier in December.
WARNING: YOU ARE NOW PART OF THE NARRATIVE
By downplaying a verified, SEC-filed acquisition (confirmed by Netflix IR, Reuters, Variety, CNBC, BBC, and even your own prior articles) as “fan speculation” and “confusion,” you’re actively spreading disinformation. Clickbait or incompetence—either way, you’ve joined the echo chamber of denial and doubt.
This isn’t harmless fluff. In a media landscape already drowning in mistrust, pieces like yours mislead readers, undermine facts, and give cover to those rejecting reality. The deal is real. Ownership transfers. Integration (app or otherwise) is coming. Pretending it’s all “discussion” makes you complicit.
Do better. Issue a correction. Retract the speculation. Or fully embrace your role as narrative-pushing tabloid. The truth isn’t going away.
SWISSX LEGAL
Legal Department
Antigua & Barbuda
