Tag: Department of Homeland Security

Americans must unite to reject 21st Century ‘alien land laws’

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Americans must unite to reject 21st Century ‘alien land laws’

Now, taking a page from DeSantis, Congress is considering inserting an amendment into the National Defense Authorization Act that would ban visa holders from targeted countries from making certain agricultural purchases. These restrictions would apply to all 50 states, and be based solely on national heritage. This is wrong and legislators must reject it.

Related:

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

Banning foreign ownership of land doesn’t protect US. It just scapegoats Asian Americans.

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

All aboard the gravy train: an independent audit of US funding for Ukraine

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

In the absence of official scrutiny of Washington’s spending spree on Ukraine, The Grayzone conducted an independent audit of US funding for the country. We discovered a series of wasteful, highly unusual expenditures the Biden administration has yet to explain.

All aboard the gravy train: an independent audit of US funding for Ukraine

Threats to international peace and security – Security Council, 9364th meeting

They Smeared Our Anti-War Rally; Then They Marched Alongside Lockheed Martin

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Twitter.

This past February, anti-war organizers had a modest gathering on the steps of the Lincoln memorial to protest against militarism. The Rage Against the War Machine rally as it was called was unique of its kind, as figures from across the political spectrum put aside ideological differences to come together to speak against empire and war. About three thousand people turned out, which is admittedly small compared to antiwar protests in the past. It wasn’t the pictures you see during the Vietnam War protests where bodies are compacted shoulder to shoulder around the entire permitter of the Capitol Reflecting Pool stretching all the way back to the Lincoln monument. Perhaps there wasn’t the same type of publicly or word of mouth enthusiasm behind anti-war events as there once was.

They Smeared Our Anti-War Rally; Then They Marched Alongside Lockheed Martin

H/T: TKR#71: Global Info War and Mass Manipulation with the Grayzone’s Christopher Weaver

Related:

Chris Hedges: Building a Left-Right Coalition Against War

The Coming Fight Over American Surveillance

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The Coming Fight Over American Surveillance

But no threat of any kind is required to conduct surveillance under Section 702. The law permits surveillance of any foreigner abroad, as long as a significant purpose of the surveillance is to acquire “foreign intelligence information.” FISA defines this term extremely broadly to include any “information related to . . . the conduct of U.S. foreign affairs.” A conversation between friends about whether the United States should do more to support Ukraine would justify surveillance under this definition.

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