7 minute read
Are Internet Speech Regulations Coming?
from jo01.2022
by nustobaydo
Mark Zuckerberg
CENSORSHIP
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Are Internet Speech Regulations Coming?
Facebook, Twitter, and other big tech companies actually want standardised internet speech regulations. In fact, Facebook has been spending millions of dollars on ads that openly call for more government regulation of speech on the internet.
At rst glance, it may seem odd that Facebook wants more government regulation of the tech industry, but it actually makes perfect sense. If the government is the one making the rules, Facebook and the other big tech companies can legally censor you into oblivion without ever having to worry about any legal consequences.
And then because all other social media platforms in existence will have to follow the exact same rules, there will be nowhere else for you to turn. There won’t be any “free speech alternatives” to Facebook and Twitter, because all of those “alternatives” will be forced to apply the same speech standards that Facebook and Twitter are applying.
Extreme censorship
Right now, Facebook and Twitter are losing millions of users to other platforms, and they want this to stop. And so they are going to continue to push for international internet speech regulations that apply equally to everyone.
In the end, Facebook basically envisions that everyone else in the industry will be forced to engage in the sort of extreme censorship that Facebook is already engaged in. The following are three quotes that come directly from Facebook:
—by Michael Snyder
A hidden agenda
That sounds so noble, doesn’t it? all of the “third-party fact-check agenda, and all of them see th same way that Facebook sees the If you are an independent th a matter of time before you are by the censor hammer. The cens
gotten stricter and stricter with each passing year, and the number of people that Facebook has working in this realm has “quadrupled”.
Facebook is calling for government intervention
“Facebook is not waiting for regulation. We’re continuing to make progress on key issues. We’ve quadrupled our security and safety teams to 40 000 people and built new privacy tools. We’re also working with tech peers to make it easier for people to move their data between platforms securely.
“While we at Facebook are working to make progress, we know that we can’t – and shouldn’t – do it alone. That’s why we support regulations to set clear and fair rules for everyone, and support a safe and secure open internet where creativity and competition can thrive.”
What is hate speech?
They claim that they are relentlessly working to weed out “hate speech”, but their de nition of “hate speech” is essentially any opinion that they disagree with. They also claim that they are ghting “health misinformation” head on, but their de nition of “health misinformation” is essentially anything that contradicts the narratives that are being pushed by the big pharmaceutical companies.
Democratic senator Ben Ray Luján Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar
Jack Dorsey, Twitter CEO
Big tech companies such as Facebook and Twitter have decided that they want to use their power to shape what you think, what you believe, and how you view the world.
The US Health Misinformation Act
Anything having to do with COVID, vaccines, or COVID treatments has become such a sensitive area. The big tech companies have been extremely diligent to censor users when it comes to these topics, but that still isn’t good enough for some. A few months ago, two Democrats in the US Senate introduced a bill called“the Health Misinformation Act”.
The nicest thing you can say about the Health Misinformation Act, proposed in July 2021 by Democratic senators Amy Klobuchar and Ben Ray Luján, is that it means well. The internet has been a key accelerant of widespread myths, misunderstandings, and lies related to Covid-19. Klobuchar and Luján’s bill would force online companies like Facebook to crack down on false information during public health emergencies, or lose immunity from lawsuits if they don’t. Happening all over the world If you are an independent thinker, it is just a matter of time before you are hit really hard by the censor hammer.
Meanwhile, over in the EU there are plans to start systematically monitoring text messaging and video chat platforms for “suspicious content”.
A German member of the European Parliament is warning against EU plans to adopt new, wide-ranging mass surveillance rules that he says would seriously jeopardise citizens’right to privacy by forcing tech companies to give access to encrypted messages to the authorities.
And that is what the laws now in the works in Brussels – that are supposed to replace temporary rules adopted in July 2021 – are designed to do, by ordering messaging and video chat providers like WhatsApp and Skype to put tech in place that would provide access to people’s private communications and, thanks to an automated system, monitor chats in real time and report suspicious content.
Of course anything that deviates from the o cial narratives about the pandemic would be considered to be “suspicious content”.
CENSORSHIP
Are Internet Speech Regulations Coming?
Large corporations control us
So what should be done to those who are “guilty” of spreading “health misinformation”? Well, the CEO of P zer says that they should be treated like “criminals”... People who spread misinformation on Covid-19 vaccines are “criminals” and have cost “millions of lives,” P zer CEO Albert Bourla announced.
In a lot of ways, large corporations now have more power over our lives than national governments do, and many of the largest corporations are becoming increasingly authoritarian.
Shaping the world
Big tech companies such as Facebook and Twitter have deAlbert Bourla, P zer CEO cided that they want to use their power to shape what you think, what you believe, and how you view the world.
YouTube even announced that it would begin hiding ‘dislikes’ on certain videos to avoid harassment. How viewer feedback in the form of a thumbs down icon represents “harassment” is anyone’s guess, but the immediate response to the announcement from many was that the Google-owned company was merely moving to protect the Biden White House from ridicule.
Biden speeches and White House press brief- In a lot of ways, ings receive massive large corporationsdislike ratios on YouTube, sometimes at a rate of now have more ten to one. Do we really power over our need YouTube to protect lives than national the US government from governments do. negative ratings – which would be in line with recent polls that indicate support for Biden has plummeted across all demographics?
Christianity is being censored
Personally, I will never submit to such manipulation, and I will continue to do all that I can to share the truth with a lost and dying world. Many of you feel the exact same way.
Unfortunately, we are in the minority, and the big tech companies are entirely convinced that the world will be a much better place if they can permanently relegate people like us to the outer fringes of the internet.
MICHAEL SNYDER – Writer, speaker, and activist. Visit his blog, theeconomiccollapseblog.com
CENSORSHIP IN SOUTH AFRICA
With over-reaching governments across the world, how does South Africa fare with regards to internet speech regulations?
With a long-awaited data protection act entering into forceandanewlawoncybercrimes,the South African government has increased its regulation of digital spaces in the last year. While online content manipulation declined in the aftermath of the May 2019 election, self-censorship and online harassment remain prevalent. Though concerns persist about South Africa’s surveillance capabilities, in 2021 there were no reported instances of blocking or ltering and no restrictions on the use of social media for online mobilisation.
Although South Africa has cultivated a reputation as a proponent of human rights and a leader on the African continent, in recent years, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been accused of undermining state institutions in order to protect corrupt o cials and preserve its power as its support base began to wane.
There is no evidence that the government exercises control over internet infrastructure for censorship or to restrict connectivity.
The government does not have direct control over the country’s internet backbone or its connection to the international internet, and there have been no intentional disruptions to connectivity.
Google reported that it received three requests for the removal of content from the South African government in 2020, one relating to bullying or harassment and two relating to defamation. Google removed one piece of content pursuant to one defamation request; the other two requests did not result in removals.
