Category: Silicon Valley

Senators Warren & Graham Want To Create New Online Speech Police Commission

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The regulation will continue until internet freedom improves, apparently. Last year we wrote about Senator Michael Bennet pushing a terrible “Digital Platform Commission” to be the new internet speech police, and now we have the bipartisan free speech hating duo of Senators Elizabeth Warren and Lindsey Graham with their proposal for a Digital Consumer Protection Commission.

Senators Warren & Graham Want To Create New Online Speech Police Commission

Biden Appeals Judge’s Ban on Government Asking for Social Media Takedowns

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Biden Appeals Judge’s Ban on Government Asking for Social Media Takedowns

State Department officials, according to a Facebook employee speaking with The Washington Post, told the company all future monthly meetings to discuss content takedowns were “canceled pending further guidance.” The reported cancellation means government officials and trust and safety representatives at Facebook will no longer meet to discuss brewing political misinformation or foreign influence operations. It’s unclear whether other agencies have taken similar measures following the ruling or if Google or Twitter have canceled meetings. The State Department, Meta, and Google did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment. Twitter sent us a 💩 . …

Judge compares Biden’s admin’s meeting with tech companies to Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth’

The Justice Department appealed Trump-appointed federal Judge Terry A. Doughty’s preliminary injunction hours after it landed, according to court documents filed Wednesday evening. Doughty’s preliminary injunction bars numerous government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) from contacting or asking social media companies about posts he said are protected by the First Amendment. The ruling does offer some exceptions for government communications with tech firms intended to warn them of national security threats, criminal activity, and voter suppression. Government officials maintain their content recommendations to social networks were merely suggestions, not legal demands. Doughty said numerous uncovered communications show Biden administration officials wielded threats of increased regulations or a stripping of Section 230 immunity protections to get its way.

Related:

State Dept. cancels Facebook meetings after judge’s ‘censorship’ ruling

When tech companies and State Department officials meet, “they talk about foreign influence, they compare notes. It gives them the opportunity to ask questions about foreign influence they are seeing,” this person said. “State will share Russian narratives, things they are seeing in state media in Russia about U.S. topics. They will ask whether Facebook is seeing things from known entities, such as the Chinese Communist Party or the Internet Research Agency,” the Russian entity thought responsible for much of the interference in the 2016 election. …

“The really tough question is when does the government cross the line from responding to speech — which it can and should do — to coercing platforms to censor constitutionally protected speech?” Kosseff said. “The judge here believes that line was crossed, and he certainly cited some persuasive examples,” such as administration officials suggesting antitrust actions against tech firms or changes to their liability protections while criticizing their content moderation efforts.

US Court Victory Against Online Censorship

Washington’s REAL Policy on China – “Repairing Ties” is Theater Ahead of Sanctions, War

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The US Build-Up for War with China

– Visit by US Secretary of State attempts to portray the US as “reasonable” versus a “belligerent” Chinese “dictatorship;”

– Secretary Blinken recited the US “One China” policy, omitting the many ways the US has and still is blatantly violating it and provoking China;

– US strategy follows similar pattern of the US “reset” with Russia or the US-Iran “nuclear deal,” where the US sought to appear to have exhausted diplomatic options before moving on “reluctantly” to economic sanctions and war;

– Such a strategy is necessary for consensus building among US allies who would otherwise be hesitant to join the US in both economic sanctions and eventual military intervention versus China;

– US policymakers are already busy planning sanctions against China, which includes an already ongoing public relations campaign to sell Russia-style sanctions against China, as well as preparations for military operations to follow the sanctions;

– The US has a long-standing strategy to encircle and contain China spanning decades, indifferent to presidential administrations;

References:

Washington’s REAL Policy on China – “Repairing Ties” is Theater Ahead of Sanctions, War (Rumble) via The New Atlas

Of COURSE Greta Met With Zelensky: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Of course Greta Thunberg met with Zelensky. Of course she did. That was the only box left to check off in the most PR-intensive proxy war of all time. They got Bono. They got Mark Hamill and Sean Penn. They got appearances at the WEF, the New York Stock Exchange and the Grammys. They just needed Greta.

Of COURSE Greta Met With Zelensky: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix