Tag: bans

Congrats, People Of Montana: Your Governor Is About To Blow A Ton Of Taxpayer Money On An Unconstitutional TikTok Ban

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Congrats, People Of Montana: Your Governor Is About To Blow A Ton Of Taxpayer Money On An Unconstitutional TikTok Ban

Except, of course, he’s done no such thing. He’s trampled on the 1st Amendment rights of Montanans and put their data at much greater risk. That’s because the law will require geographic tracking by TikTok, Apple, and Google to a much more significant degree than exists currently, just to figure out who is in Montana and who is not. So, by setting up this ban, he’s forcing these companies to collect more data than they otherwise would, putting that data at much greater risk.

On top of that, if China wants that data, they can just buy it from American data brokers, because we have basically nothing in place to stop them. Banning TikTok does literally nothing to help here, other than rile up some brainwashed boomers who think that China is spying on Americans through an app kids use to share dance moves.

Recommended video: TikTok Banned in Montana

Ukraine’s ‘Press Freedom’ Score Increases Despite Martial Law, Banned Media

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Source.

France-based press watchdog Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières, or RSF) recently released its scores and rankings for international press freedom. In 2022, RSF gave Ukraine a score of 55.76 out of 100, placing it 106th out of 180 countries surveyed. In the most recent report, issued after over a year of war, Ukraine shot to 79th out of 180, with a new score of 61.19. This despite wartime measures that banned opposition parties, consolidated media under state control, and saw journalists’ speech chilled by unprecedented intimidation.

Ukraine’s ‘Press Freedom’ Score Increases Despite Martial Law, Banned Media

Related:

NGOs, “Unions”, & Media Outlets in the Service of Imperialism

US vs. Gonzalo Lira

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

Lambert here: As before, Lira hold dual Chilean-American citizenship. So Yves remarks:

I suggest Lira followers call their Chilean Embassy or Consulate to demand that Lira either be allowed his freedom or transported safely out of Ukraine.

Worth noting that Lira seems to be part of a more general enforcement of “Their Democracy”:

I love it that “glorification” can be a crime in Ukraine. We should do that!

US vs. Gonzalo Lira
Source: Twitter.

Ukraine Jails US Commentator Gonzalo Lira for Speaking Uncomfortable Facts (odysse) via The New Atlas

Related:

Source.

Detaining Gonzalo Lira: Another blow to the freedom of press in Ukraine

Chilean journalist, Gonzalo Lira, arrested in Ukraine

Ideological opponents of the Ukrainian government are waiting for prison or death

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

This article was submitted to the WSWS by Maxim Goldarb, the head of the Union of Left Forces (For a New Socialism) party, which has been banned by the Zelensky government. The World Socialist Web Site unequivocally opposes and denounces the persecution of left-wing and oppositional tendencies in Ukraine by the NATO-backed Zelensky regime. We call on our readers to distribute the information about the state-backed repression of anti-war opposition in Ukraine as widely as possible.

Ideological opponents of the Ukrainian government are waiting for prison or death

H/T: Stimmen aus der Ukraine: Linken Oppositionellen drohen Gefängnis oder Tod

Members of Zelensky’s party introduce internet censorship bill

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Members of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party have introduced a bill to criminalize the spread of “false information” on the internet and through social media that violates Ukraine’s “national security.”

Members of Zelensky’s party introduce internet censorship bill

Related:

How The FBI Helps Ukrainian Intelligence Hunt ‘Disinformation’ On Social Media

Montana’s Governor’s Changes To TikTok Ban Bill Would Ban All Social Media Entirely

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

We’ve already talked about Montana’s extraordinarily unconstitutional “ban TikTok” bill that raises a huge number of constitutional issues. Lots of individuals and organizations pointed this out to governor Greg Gianforte (who came to office as a former tech exec of an internet company, and was supposed to be someone who understand the internet).

Montana’s Governor’s Changes To TikTok Ban Bill Would Ban All Social Media Entirely

From the Uhuru Movement to Samidoun Deutschland: Solidarity is Important

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Among some circles, there is the sentiment that activists in America should focus only on what is going on in their own country, as there are enough problems here, why put their energies elsewhere? On the other hand, there is the idea that if an individual has not recently visited Palestine, whether Palestinian or not, that person could not possibly have an informed perspective with which to speak.

From the Uhuru Movement to Samidoun Deutschland: Solidarity is Important