Legislation is being considered in the state of California that would effectively kill free-speech online by placing unprecedented regulations and restrictions on media outlets, especially those who deviate from the official government narrative on controversial issues.
The senator who proposed the bill, Richard Pan, was also behind the infamous bill mandating vaccinations for children who attend government schools. According to the text of this bill, titled SB1424 Internet: social media: false information: strategic plan:
This bill would require any person who operates a social media, as defined, Internet Web site with a physical presence in California to develop a strategic plan to verify news stories shared on its Web site. The bill would require the plan to include, among other things, a plan to mitigate the spread of false information through news stories, the utilization of fact-checkers to verify news stories, providing outreach to social media users, and placing a warning on a news story containing false information. (a) Any person who operates a social media Internet Web site with physical presence in California shall develop a strategic plan to verify news stories shared on its Internet Web site. (b) The strategic plan shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following: (1) A plan to mitigate the spread of false information through news stories. (2) The utilization of fact-checkers to verify news stories. (3) Providing outreach to social media users regarding news stories containing false information. (4) Placing a warning on a news story containing false information. (c) As used in this section, “social media” means an electronic service or account, or electronic content, including, but not limited to, videos, still photographs, blogs, video blogs, podcasts, instant and text messages, email, online services or accounts, or Internet Web site profiles orlocations.
This bill would place the government of the state of California in a position of arbiter of truth and would allow them to censor any information that runs counter to the official narrative.
This is especially dangerous for activists and dissenters, or anyone who finds themselves questioning authority or exposing corruption.
The “fact checkers” that major platforms like Facebook have relied on in the past are proven to be attack dogs of the establishment, who are obviously approaching the stories with their own subjective bias.
For example, Politifact was caught changing vital information about Syrian gas attacks when the mainstream narrative on the subject changed. Last month, The Free Thought Project experienced Politifact’s corruption firsthand, when they marked one of our articles as “false” because a local police department changed their story after the fact. They also used quotes from our staff out of context.
Unsurprisingly, this was an article about guns, the hot-button topic of the week where the mainstream is attempting to control the narrative.
Snopes, the most popular “fact checker” is even worse, and we have caught them in multiple lies and deceptions over the years. Just a few months ago, our staff called out Snopes for lying about House Joint Resolution 76, which presented huge Fourth Amendment concerns.
Snopes has also been complicit in allowing flimsy stories promoting a new cold war with Russia to go “unchecked” for evidence or facts. Last year, Snopes gave The Washington Post a pass, allowing them to publish a false report about the Russians hacking Vermont’s power grid.
Snopes has been riddled with stories of corruption in recent years, from fraud and embezzlement to using company funds to pay for prostitution. David and Barbara Mikkelson, ex-spouses and founders of Snopes, have been mixed up in an ongoing legal battle since their divorce, and many of these details were revealed in court.
As The Free Thought Project reported last week, the government of Malaysia recently banned what they deem to be “fake news,” and is now threatening 6 years in prison for people who share content that they disagree with. Various neighboring countries in Southeast Asia, including Singapore and the Philippines, are introducing similar laws.
Meanwhile, some European countries already have these types of laws on the books. Last year in Germany, legislation was passed that legally forces publishers to delete whatever the state deems to be hate speech or misinformation. Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron called for emergency legal action to crack down on “fake news” during elections.
These governments say that they are protecting their citizens from misinformation, but what they are really doing is protecting themselves from competition. As many of these politicians have pointed out, the sea of information available to us on the internet has fundamentally changed the way that governments operate and it has stifled their ability to keep the masses of society bound to a particular worldview.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY:
Alchemy of the Timeless RenaissanceThe Conscious Resistance: Reflections on Anarchy and Spirituality, Finding Freedom in an Age of Confusion and Manifesto of the Free HumansMy name is John Vibes and I am an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. I write for numerous alternative media websites, including The Free Thought Project @tftproject and The Mind Unleashed. In addition to my first book, , I have also co-authored three books with Derrick Broze @dbroze :
I just won a 3-year-long battle with cancer, and will be working to help others through my experience, if you wish to contribute to my medical bills, consider subscribing to my podcast on Patreon.
A very polite way to control the information, being the information the one that gives us the truth, I have already read in other opportunities that in California you must have permission to even wash hair, a good way to have control of everything, thank you for sharing. Happy afternoon
Slowly the government are taking away freedom of speech and replacing it with jail terms just to scare people from saying it. In every fake news, so the government call it. There is always truth in it which they are hiding from us.
If there don't want to be criticise when they do wrong, there is absolute no use for elections.
exactly, they are trying to be in control of deciding what is true
Well that should keep the legislators busy while social media platforms seek out friendlier jurisdictions or simply go distributed. 😎
California is clearly under attack. I wish more people were aware of what is happening. Everything has been so politicized these days that it blinds people from seeing and acting together to squelch such unjust bills and laws. BUT, this seems fall under un-constitutional and should be able to bring it to a higher court if it passes.
This is really good news for steemit! :)
This is outrageous in its idiocy. We're rapidly approaching the point of the Nazi book burnings, and I think most people simply don't want to even admit that it's happening. They don't want to admit, even to themselves, that we're not living in a free society.
Just as many Germans in the 1930s didn't want to look too closely at what was really going on.
Senator Richard Pan is pure evil
yeah, same guy who did all that vaccine stuff
this is right up there with that brilliant idea to charge fee for a permit to watch internet porn.
This is one case where the old axiom doesn't hold true, as California goes so goes the nation. I just hope this bill, if passed, doesn't lead to more Californians fleeing from the situation they voted for to my home, Texas, & vote here the same way they did there. Which lead to the ruin of their state. If you voted for it in your state, STAY THERE! If you see that the policies you supported are destroying the economy where you live then please sleep in the bed you made. I would also encourage you to try to repeal the bad policies. If you must leave, please do not vote for the same policies wherever you end up. You'll just ruin that place also. After too much of this, you won't have anywhere to flee to because you & your Californian friends have destroyed every place.
Hahah yeah thats a good point
you are correct. The Californicators completely WRECKED SOUTHERN NEVADA (and thus a whole beautiful quasi-libertarian state) in the mid-late 90s. Amen, brother B/A. Build a wall ALL AROUND TEXAS. heheheeee. Secede before it's too late. LOL Go Adam Kokesh and his "Split 50!" plan.
Yah, right on! All, but a wall! LOL Thank for the video. I hadn't seen this interview yet.
It's Adam's best tool for promoting/prescribing his "Split 50!" program... and ironically, was done on 9/11 of last year. F'r crying out loud, you think Ben Farmer (AK's campaign mgr.) would figure out how to get it in front of every LP member in America by now! sheeeeeeeeeesh. Marketing 101. LOL and it's free, these days! Do you know what that would have cost me in 1988? Figure the cost of a blank VHS cassette and shipping....and the cost of multi-copying process. Wow!!! Now? Mail Chimp. Click. Free. Duh.
You mean you would do all that work to see Texas become it's own nation, and have OPEN BORDERS from other American states to over-run your accomplishment(s)? Are you crazy? Are you on Kenny's Kitchen's last batch of Hiawascah? (however you spell that S.American hallucinogen they are all sucking on these days), I would be more worried about those borders than the Mexican/Texas border! But don't worry, if y'all elect Patrick Smith as Governor, we won't need any "Border Control" gov agency... It will simply be open season. We'll make cheap, healthy dog food out of the corpses. LOL Anarchy rules the day. eeeYeahuh, baybeee!
I feel like when a state succeeds that the others will be so blown away by the resulting prosperity that it'll be a race to the bottom. So I don't think there will be much need for the wall, as the voluntaryist model would find mass adoption rather quickly. Anyway, in a voluntaryist society who would build the wall? If private property owners want to, I'd support that. But there would be no government to build a large one.
Who would build such a wall? Who would provide military protection? You are hitting it right on the head as to why we NEED prototype samples of how AnarchoVol'sm would actually work against real world threats. ...and why Adam will have a hard time convincing a VERY small percentage of Americans without something to SEE and VISIT. Words from his book will only get people to "window shop".
The truth is...none of know the future. You & I woke up without having a working model to visit. Who knows what'll set off the evolution away from the state. I'll just keep doing my part to get the truth out to more & more of our slumbering brothers & sisters.
This was enshrined on a federal level in Obama's 2017 NDAA, with the "Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act" which had built-in programs calling for local centers where journalists were to be trained to counter propaganda with "fact-based narratives"
Let's hope this passes. I'm serious.
As you point out, the demonstrable purveyors of fake news are the media outlets like CNN, MSNBC, Snopes, Politifact, etc... Once legal actions against such companies begin, particularly if they are successful, we'll see this genie stuffed back in the bottle quickly.
I hope.
Thanks!
Maybe my great-aunt was onto something when she told me she would pay for me to go to college, live on campus, and give me an allowance so I didn't have to work, as long as I didn't major in Journalism....as a local government official for decades, she'd had unpleasant experiences with journalists. At the time, I was disappointed, because Journalism was EXACTLY what I wanted to major in (I ended up majoring in Political Science instead, and writing for the school paper on the side).
It seems journalism is becoming a more dangerous profession. Looking back, maybe she had some kind of power of seeing the future, and was protecting me
I think it is the fact that we all know about the election fraud. It is getting harder for it to go noticed. Instead of being a patriotic duty to be an official it has become a money making criminal cartel and they don't want to give it up.
The worst thing that can happen in a region or country is to end free thinking!
The presence of social media in the current digital era is certainly very helpful for people to get information. It is also an advantage to the leaders of a country to give. important information and development progress to its citizens.
But of course we must be wise to use social media, by posting positive things and useful for other citizens. Instead of publishing false news or information or false information.
Similarly in Indonesia, it has now been ratified by the name of the Law on ITE. with this rule many citizens who can be caught in the law, for posting the news lie. I do not agree, if the government limits the citizens to free expression. including an anti-criticism government. but I agree if we do not use social media to spread false news.
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I've completely given up on California and it's completely disappointing. I believe they are past their tipping point now. Just waiting to watch it keep destroying itself. It sucks I can't even go there to enjoy the beaches anymore either. If I did, I'd just be funneling my cash into their corrupt and stupid decision making. I can't support what the state is allowing as a whole.
This is just further evidence of their stupidity.
Johnny... a heads up for you.
https://steemit.com/agorism/@dbroze/the-drawbacks-and-solutions-to-living-the-agorist-lifestyle#@fundposhprincess/re-dbroze-the-drawbacks-and-solutions-to-living-the-agorist-lifestyle-20180411t224902030z
pay special attention to the comments. We are getting close; the iron is heating up fast. [email protected] Anyone. Anytime.
I cut my losses and moved out of California almost 6 years ago because of the incramental growth of tyranny and oppression as your talking about here. There has not been a day go by since that I have felt a twing of regret, I only wish I had of done it decades sooner. Great article, thank you @johnvibes