LQD: Censorship

by Cat Sat Oct 21st, 2017 at 05:38:04 PM EST

This essay is appropriately titled as the survey of actions therein are limited to state authorities, law and law enforcement, to punish (proscribe, abridge, or "chill") individual, personal conduct.
Censorship in the Digital Age

British Home Secretary Amber Rudd recently announced that citizens that view too much extremist material online could face up to 15 years in jail. Rudd related...

Theresa May, the reviled Thatcherite epigone, wants to play a paternal role in preventing citizens from even having the chance to view extremist content. [...]

The Germans aren't far behind.
On October 1, the Network Enforcement Act took effect in Germany. Under the cover of a fight against "fake news" and "hate speech," it creates a legal framework for censorship of the Internet.
The law requires operators of Internet platforms with over two million users to "remove or block obviously unlawful content within 24 hours of receipt of a complaint."...
The so-called Network Enforcement Act is said to create a framework for managing Internet activity, particularly in social media.
[...]
As the World Socialist Web Site makes clear, if your fake news promotes war (Iraq 2003), mischaracterizes coup d’états (Ukraine 2014), or spreads anti-immigrant hysteria (Cologne 2015), then you’ve got nothing to fear.

On his way out the door, through the turnstile of public weal into private gain, [BARACK OBAMA] provided the deep state with millions of dollars when he added the Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act to the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
[...]
YouTube has begun to fetter content producers with a more restrictive ad network and murky review policies.
[...]
Whether it is too late for a world of working class people and the ubiquitous poor to opt out of the globalized imperium dreamed up by our post-war planners, is hard to say. But if you think there's still time, be extremely careful, since the pre-crime police are nearly omnipresent, and they might overhear you quoting Marx or see you scrawling ideas about redistribution on the walls of some abandoned underpass.

This is a demonstration of current IP traffic management, USA outbound URL requests to Google. Please, note Mozilla screen capture images expire 30 days from date of publication.

LQD: Censorship | 27 comments (27 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Reference (none / 0)

US National Security Agency (NSA) establishing law
National Security Agency Act of 1959 et seq.

The NSA is a member of the Dept. of Defense which is a Cabinet member of the executive branch of the US federal gov't. all of which personnel being subordinate to the directions of the president of the USA as to proper execution of enacted US Code and Constitution. The US Congress vested that authority in the office of president. The NSA is not an "independent" agent or gov't. sponsored corporation (GSC).

This reference is offered, because recently the NYT has argued to a court of law that the NSA is "third-party" to inter-agency communications between itself and officers of the Dept. of Justice.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Oct 24th, 2017 at 10:04:09 PM EST

Reference (none / 0)

How Google uses cookies in advertising

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Oct 24th, 2017 at 10:24:21 PM EST

Reference (none / 0)

source: Facebook Business | Instagram Ads; mozilla image expires from 30 days of publication.

Who can create ads on Instagram?

source: Facebook Business | Instagram Ads

Instagram is a wholly owned subsidiary of Facebook. Number of duplicated unique Facebook/Instagram account holders is not published. Three weeks ago the alert dialogue box, served to an unregistered Facebook/IP account holder such as myself, did not exist.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Oct 24th, 2017 at 10:39:37 PM EST

Re: LQD: Censorship (none / 0)

External terrorist threats work well to ensure the public self-police, and for the others..? Anything can be a crime if the authorities say so.

Photography away from tourist areas has been a crime in London since 2001. Especially in the city and railway stations.

Computer surveillance of electronic traffic is the specific enabler of the security state.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu Oct 26th, 2017 at 04:49:04 PM EST

Re: LQD: Censorship (none / 0)

Helen, was this tourist photo 'ring-fence' introduced by the Terrorism Act 2000?

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sat Oct 28th, 2017 at 02:42:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: LQD: Censorship (none / 1)

yea, section 41 or 44, can't remember.

That part of legislation got quite a bit of bad press and so was dropped, but given the continued disturbance of photographers for various spurious reasons you get the impression that the authorities are still aggressively dissuading photography in London. Especially as public space, roads, squares etc are being privatised extensively, most of whom forbid photography on "their" land

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sat Oct 28th, 2017 at 04:43:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: LQD: Censorship (none / 0)

I have from time to time idly wondered why eurotrib debate of laws and their applications hither and yon are received with short shrift by comparison to deconstruction of political personalities. I have answered my own question, "sovereignty of 28+ nations, multiples of cultures tenuously united by treaties". I fondly recall though occasional citations and practice in interrogations provoked more so by EU directives than UN charters and hastily argued principles of "English law."

In this instance naturally I turn to the personal "right" of free speech, or "expression," codified elsewhere beside the tissue-thin US Bill of Rights. I choose the UK because the text is English, notorious protection against libel, and the proverbial bell that has not rung.

Behold the Human Rights Act 1998, Art. 10 as rendered, is not encouraging. In effect it is a list of restrictions, or proscriptions, of "opinion" forcing the burden to prove innocence onto the aggrieved, the suspected, the prosecuted.

Here a counter-intuitive defense (2009) titled Freedom of Expression in the United Kingdom Under the Human Rights Act of 1998 elaborates ... with case law and statutory citations.

English law has traditionally taken little or no notice of freedom of speech. ... Admittedly there has been no system of administrative press censorship since 1694, and in practice the media and individual publishers have enjoyed greater freedom of expression in England than they have in other European countries. ... But the freedom enjoyed no clear constitutional status; it was difficult to predict when courts would recognize it as important to the resolution of particular cases. Consequently, publishers could not rely with any great confidence on a right to free speech.
Now ... [r]ights, which used to be of only uncertain common law status, are explicitly recognized by the HRA. Under this legislation, the right to freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR or "Convention") is protected by law in the United Kingdom.

&tc.

I'm left to wonder therefore whether or when litigation of censorship may proceed anywhere in the world.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Mon Oct 30th, 2017 at 11:11:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

more familiar territory: Potemkin (none / 0)

... A clever leftist publicist (Willy Münzenberg, 1989-1940) managed to squeeze it past the first censorship attempts in Berlin. To quote a major critic of the day, "We were electrified". It became such a hit that it quickly moved from one small left-wing theater to twelve theaters all around the city, including the exclusive Kudamm. Though continually censored, cut and outlawed it somehow managed to break through to world fame. Forbidden at first in the USA - as a blueprint for sailors on how to mutiny - the great actor Douglas Fairbanks helped make it possible to premiere at the Biltmore Theater on 47th Street in New York in late 1926, and it won so much praise that Eisenstein was given a contract for Hollywood (which unfortunately resulted not in films but in unsurmountable differences). The film remained banned in Britain until 1954 and in France nearly every copy of it was burned....

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Oct 31st, 2017 at 12:36:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: LQD: Censorship (none / 0)

The MTA had such a rules many years ago. It was not enforced until two or three decades ago somebody (the Village Voice?) published a picture of some dangerous exposed wiring. The uproar caused the law to be abolished. I wouldn't be surprised if they've used terrorism as an excuse to bring them back.

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Sat Oct 28th, 2017 at 08:37:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Reference (none / 1)

Twitter Public Policy | Announcement: RT and Sputnik Advertising

Twitter has made the policy decision to off-board advertising from all accounts owned by Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik, effective immediately. This decision was based on the retrospective work we've been doing around the 2016 U.S. election and the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that both RT and Sputnik attempted to interfere with the election on behalf of the Russian government. We did not come to this decision lightly, and are taking this step now as part of our ongoing commitment to help protect the integrity of the user experience on Twitter. ...

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sat Oct 28th, 2017 at 01:42:20 AM EST

Re: Reference (none / 1)

yea, it's all very well but to say that this is bolting the door after the horse is gone is something of an understatement.

I imagine the russians are on a different generation of interference entirely

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sat Oct 28th, 2017 at 04:45:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Reference (none / 1)

I'm still not quite sure what about this Russia story gets my blood pressure high but I have a few candidates:
For one it is a throuroughly xenophobic rightwing framing of events.
It goes full Red scare. Remember that the first Russia Stole the election paper from the spooks copied the part about RT from an older report. This report detailed Russia's dastardly plan to undermine democracy by giving fracking oponents a platform. And now Russian trolls promote Standing Rock protests? Convenient.
This story is brought to bear as an argument for arbitrary political censorship by private companies. Remember propornot?

by generic on Sat Oct 28th, 2017 at 05:46:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Reference (none / 1)

re: "arbitrary political censorship by private companies"

"Political censorship" by "private companies" is not arbitrary. In light of historical facts and contemporary litigation between private- and public-sector corporations and a state's agents and divisions, one ought to discard the conceit of "free market" conditions in order to apprehend when or why a company's directors (people) enforce public law and which people exercise actual authority and means to compel compliance with public law.

Read for example Twitter's public policy statement again. A disclaimer therein acknowledges the authority and means of US government ("intelligence community") to compel its compliance with public law. That acknowledgment is not trivial.

That censorship expresses public law is not a trivial distinction from so-called common law, shunning, shaming, boycotting, and self-censorship said to restrain trade (of anything) between individuals.

Violation of the former imprisons and does sanction execution of the "offender".

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sun Oct 29th, 2017 at 03:22:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Reference (none / 0)

I use "arbitrary" here only in the sense that there is no pretense of any kind of due process™.

by generic on Tue Oct 31st, 2017 at 10:12:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Reference (none / 0)

yes, I think, I understand your meaning. If you would, elaborate.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Oct 31st, 2017 at 04:21:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Reference (none / 0)

Come, now.

Your intuition offers a critical pathway to popular conceptions of the ways and means "arbitrary" censorship appears to violate freedom of the press (1st Amd., US Constitution only) and yet enforce sanctions against so-called unprotected speech (any origin). Let's begin by defining some relevant terms of authority --those socially acceptable and socially unacceptable-- to censor "speech."

With respect to the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (definitions) is the business of "social media platforms" such as Facebook and Twitter publishing or common carrier?

With respect to EU CODE OF CONDUCT ON COUNTERING ILLEGAL HATE SPEECH ONLINE is the business of "social media platforms" such as Facebook and Twitter publishing or common carrier?

With respect to international reportage ProPublica | Protect White Men From Hate Speech But Not Black Children is the business of "social media platforms" such as Facebook and Twitter publishing or common carrier?

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Nov 1st, 2017 at 04:39:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Reference (none / 0)

re: gratuitous invocation of "black children"

This ProPublica article and other, recent reportage [1, 2, 3 ] implicating African American agitation and advocacy for civil rights with "fake" AA accounts maintained by Russian "meddlers" does not refer readers to germane, historical examples of US censorship of African American political organizations by associated with "communist" parties. Prominent among them is suppression of NAACP activities in the hysteria caused by HUAC interrogations and legislative acts.

Black Struggle, Red Scare

Instead of deliberating principles of civil liberty, reader's are given the spurious opportunity to judge what is "legitimate" and protected "black" speech.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Nov 1st, 2017 at 06:17:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

errata (none / 0)

"suppression" s/b ostracism and prosecution, to effect the more precise meaning of true facts

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Nov 1st, 2017 at 07:38:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

publisher or common carrier? (none / 0)

Peoples' petition called "net neutrality" has been one of the more ill-conceived goals of civil liberties advocates to date. "Net neutrality" is a misnomer of public benefit. It misidentifies agitators' true objective (to exercise gov prerogative to "fix" telecom owner/operator rates), true problem (carrier OR "publisher" monopoly rate prerogatives), true market structure and political constituents (differential carrier AND rate-payer types), thus true value of a natural monopoly (intrinsic utility), telecommunication.

Consideration due this human "right" is conspicuously absent among "net neutrality" arguments for gov mediation of trade, or interstate commerce. Its advocates might have been prepared to challenge so-called business needs of a privately-owned "system" directly with antitrust complaints by demanding "consumer" protection from monopoly pricing power exercised by both carriers AND publishers. But that would defeat common wisdom in the USA, that is, government is for naught. By now, since '96, it's difficult to deny the "level field" without appearing to play a team-favorite. Everyone with a game, a streaming network, a bitch, an ad [!], a geneology, a has executed a scheme to extract "value" from eyeballs. Yet another reason why "net neutrality" appeals to arrest censorship just now are all the more incoherent.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Thu Nov 2nd, 2017 at 08:03:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: "due process" (none / 1)

pretense or pretext, USA Congress, senate chamber

Senate Panel Grills Social Media Lawyers Over Election Meddling

While many of the senators praised the representatives for their companies' innovations, a bipartisan agreement was reached swiftly by the committee and oft repeated: the sheer power of each platform for personal expression is awe-inducing but the prospect of regulating ad content is a minefield of potential First Amendment violations.
[...]
"How can you be aware? You've got 5 million advertisers per month and you're going to tell me that you're able to trace the origin of [them all?]" [Sen. John Neely] Kennedy asked. "You're telling me you have the ability to go through all of these corporations and find the true identities of every one of your advertisers? You're not telling me that, are you?"
[...]
"How did you not make the connection that ads were being paid for - American political ads - paid for in Russian money, in rubles? How could you not connect those two dots? You put billions of data points together all the time," [Sen. Al] Franken railed. "Google has all of the knowledge that man has ever developed and you can't put together rubles with a political ad and go, `Hmm, do those two data points spell out something bad?"

Quite a spectacle of the absurd since the "series of tubes" debacle, 2006.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Nov 1st, 2017 at 04:56:06 PM EST

need moahr AI (none / 0)

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Nov 1st, 2017 at 05:18:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: "due process" (none / 0)

UK government under pressure to publish Brexit papers

London's Brexit department has so far refused to make their findings public, claiming that doing so could harm its negotiating position as talks continue with Brussels on the UK's departure from the European Union. ... A spokeswoman for the Brexit department said they recognised that parliament "does have rights relating to the publication of documents".

Ever the novelty act: government censors itself.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Thu Nov 2nd, 2017 at 05:23:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: "due process" (none / 0)

Cued up 3 hrs of testimony recorded by CSPAN, Facebook, Google and Twitter Executives on Russian Disinformation 31 Oct 2017

"How can you be aware? You've got 5 million advertisers per month ...

begins at 1:09.00.

Looking forward to falling asleep on Senate (Select) Intelligence Committee - Hearing 1 Nov 2017, if I can find a recording. iirc, it was a closed hearing. But out of that comes word from Enemy of the People that the committee has officially deputized "social media" publishers --pillers of free speech"-- in censoring "user" content.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Fri Nov 3rd, 2017 at 04:06:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: LQD: Censorship (none / 0)

Harbinger of the Future, How "social media platforms" will "curate" user "content".

This post was deleted for the following reason: Between the big thread we had about Clinton's book and the recent still-busy thread about Brazile's upcoming one we don't really need another one right now. -- cortex

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sun Nov 5th, 2017 at 05:57:45 PM EST

Re: LQD: Censorship (none / 0)

Harbinger of the Future, How governments censor "social media platforms"

Dutch Senate votes to grant intel agencies new surveillance powers 13 Jul

The new Intelligence and Security Act gives police the ability to go after the relatives of suspected terrorists or other serious criminals instead of only specified individuals. The Act also grants Dutch intelligence agencies new surveillance powers such as data retention for three years by service providers and permission for intel agencies to share intelligence with their foreign counterparts (GCHQ, NSA, and so on).
[...]
"Wiretapping can now be less targeted (think dragnet), hacking could also target close relations of targets. Voluntary informers could also be companies rather than individuals (e.g. ISPs giving easy access to data)."
[...]
Local reports (in Dutch) by rtlnieuws and national broadcaster NOS provide more information and background about the surveillance law changes. ®

Referendum on Big Brother surveillance law to take place om March 15 1 Nov
"Although the referendum is going ahead, Christian Democrat leader Sybrand Buma has already said the new government will ignore the results."

Introduction of Dutch Intelligence and Security Act Postponed 3 Nov
"The introduction of the new Intelligence and Security Act has been postponed until May 1, 2018, when the referendum on the act will be complete. ...How did this story make you feel?"

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sun Nov 5th, 2017 at 09:38:53 PM EST

Re: Censorship (none / 0)

There you have it. Three images of GOOGLE redirection notices stored at mozilla servers have expired.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Mon Nov 6th, 2017 at 06:11:00 PM EST

Re: LQD: Censorship (none / 0)

re: dread "chilling effects", "social network" surveillance, US First Amendment

Court Limits Scope of Search Warrants for Facebook Data

The order by the court's chief judge, Robert Morin blocks the Justice Department from viewing identifying information on innocent third-party Facebook users who interacted with a page used to organize protests against President Trump on Jan. 20.
[...]
As recounted in the ruling, the case stems from federal warrants that targeted the personal Facebook accounts of two local D.C. activists as well as the public Facebook page for DisruptJ20, which has since been rebranded as "Resist This."

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Nov 14th, 2017 at 03:08:19 PM EST

LQD: Censorship | 27 comments (27 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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LQD: Censorship

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