"More than 2,000 people have been charged with lesser infractions, according to a human rights organization that tracks cases nationwide.... The harsher [of two laws] criminalized deliberately spreading 'false information' about the military, interpreted as anything outside the official version of events. If the actions cause undefined 'grave consequences,' the sentence goes up to 15 years imprisonment or an $80,000 fine....."
This is terrible. It's happening in Russia. And yet, it's not that far from what is taking hold in the United States. We are losing our commitment to freedom of speech, and many of us have taken up the cause of suppressing what we think of as "false information." It's easy to see from a long distance that a crackdown on "false information" crushes the process of truth-seeking. I'd like to think that recognizing the destructive policy in this distant enemy country could help Americans see the need to restore our commitment to freedom of speech.
My tag for this topic is "misinformation vigilance."
Posts
39 comments:
At least 50 people face prison sentences of up to either 10 years or five years hard labor, or fines of as much as $77,000, for spreading 'false information' about the military.
Do they’re finally going after recruiters?
It only affects Republicans.
Not any different than the people in the DC gulag that trespassed because they were ushered in by the Capitol police. Where is the outrage about THAT??
I'd like to think that recognizing the destructive policy in this distant enemy country could help Americans see the need to restore our commitment to freedom of speech.
The first step is to vote Republican.
Even the ACLU has sold out on the left.
But the crack down by private companies against Russian sponsored Trump supporting disinformation and conspiracy theories is exactly freedom of speech.
Forcing private companies to regurgitate your vile lies isn't freedom, it's treason.
Excellent point, Professor.
It has shocked me to hear lawyers under age 35 telling me that the First Amendment doesn't protect hate speech (it clearly does, e.g. Westboro Church case) and doesn't protect falsehoods (it generally protects non-commercial, non-fraudulent, non-defamatory falsehoods).
More frightening still are the poll results that indicate that, if the First Amendment were on the ballot, it would lose.
There is a collective naivete about the ease with which a population can be propagandized into dim submission. Free speech is our protection against that.
Kremin Soviets - remind us of American FBI and the democrat party.
At least those people didn't refuse the Covid vaccine-or worse- question the US 2020 election. They might have faced worse consequences. Oh wait. They're not here in the US. I guess they'd be spared that additional punishment.
More and more it's getting hard to tell the difference between banana republics (the demolition of Michael Flynn's life vs Michael Sussman's 'Get out of Jail free' card), or just plain old totalitarian authorities (January 6 Committee or Russian/Chinese authorities).
And the interesting point is that its the side that is constantly screaming about fascism and authoritarians- pointing their fingers anyone who disagrees with them- who are the most fascist and authoritarian. The farther Left you are in this country, the farther along the Totalitarian spectrum you are. And that's not surprising. It's history. What's surprising is how steadily and deeply this thinking infiltrated our education systems at all levels until our schools are now virtual factories for pumping out socialists.
The march through our institutions has succeeded. It's time to march back through and clean them up.
You shall not speak-out against the Kremlin OR the democrat party.
Ann:
The Left will never change. They can’t win in the marketplace of ideas so they have to censor, cancel and disbar opponents. That’s what the Left is trying to do with attorney discipline in Nebraska.
This is terrible. It's happening in Russia. And yet, it's not that far from what is taking hold in the United States.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
"I'd like to think that recognizing the destructive policy in this distant enemy country could help Americans see the need to restore our commitment to freedom of speech."
That's very nice of you--if only. More likely, it stirs envy in our progs. Destroying wrongthinkers is a virtue. So far, they've only been able to practice on a fairly small scale--a cancellation here, a firing there--but the desire for destruction is there. Hasn't changed since 1789.
Plus, you'd like to think that recognizing the destructive policy of socialism in lots of distant enemy countries could have helped Americans see the need to restore our commitment to a free society. Not so with our domestic progs. It helped them see that no one learns anything, and that, when in trouble, one should double down. Break a few more eggs.
Howard explains how natural it is to be a Soviet leftist.
If you support Trump - you are a Nazi, a racist, a terrorist and a deplorable. Right, Howard?
Perfectly OK to support insider game international money whores - Crook Biden, Crook Pelosi and Crook Hillary.
The fact that most loyal leftists still buy and repeat with blind faith "Trump is a Russian Spy" shows us how disinformation really works.
I definitely had to read pass the title to see this was a Russian story and not a 6 January story.
One of the first captive audiences force-fed the "hate hurts" agenda starting in the late 90's was very young schoolchildren. They were and still are taught to hone in on speech as something specially suspicious and powerful in breeding racism and homophobia and anti-semitism and Islamaphobia. They were also taught to see prejudice (certain prejudices) everywhere.
The Department of Education coordinated this curricula, which has morphed into sheer anti-white agitprop. Little wonder that, two-plus decades later, college students and young graduates are the most avid proponents of outlawing contrary speech and views -- and utterly misinformed about real crime. Sticks and stones are ok, but words have been weaponized.
Howard said...
"But the crack down by private companies against Russian sponsored Trump supporting disinformation and conspiracy theories is exactly freedom of speech.
Forcing private companies to regurgitate your vile lies isn't freedom, it's treason."
A Biden voter lecturing others on lies and disinformation. Well. Biden voter.
Is this the US-USSR "Convergence Theory" they used to talk about in the 1970s.
Like everything lately, it's back to the 1970s?
Totalitarian left-wing = hard conservatives with a different rigid vision for a country or the world. Change "must" happen. If you don't win the vote, bully others. If bullying doesn't work, imprison and kill your opponents.
USA right-wing = libertarians, "do unto others as you want done to yourself" Christians, and those clinging to the constitution as written. Harmless unless attacked by totalitarians.
Projection = accusing others of having your own traits.
What is a greater threat to you as an individual American?
Russia?
Or the alliance of the American government and the private sector against you?
Funny the desire to imply equivalence between an authoritarian state with complete control over its media and complete shut-downs of any dissident speech, to a free nation with free speech and free press that can't even start a toothless disinformation governance board.
Pelosi is proud that Putin has taken a page from her playbook.
It's not enough to get off the train to crazytown, one must work to stop it.
And the government decides what is 'disinformation'.. hence anything that makes them look bad.
In the UK they have the Official Secrets Act. Anything the officials deem is a secret (I.E. what makes them look bad) cannot be published or talked about least you go to prison.
Here in the USA we have the Patriot Act.. not as bad but getting there!
Russia and the UK are not all that different at the government level. USA wants to be at that level.
That you are brave enough to say this is one reason why you are my first stop in the morning.
50 Shades of Progressive Liberalism. So, this is why they shut down the Ministry... Office of Misinformation, Disinformation, and Handmade Tales.
Good call, Wince. I've been thinking the same thing.
We were far better than the USSR by the end, and have been better than Russia since, but the differences and distinctions are being eroded fast--with the willing participation of people who should know better.
One of the first captive audiences force-fed the "hate hurts" agenda starting in the late 90's was very young schoolchildren.
Diversity [dogma] (i.e. color judgment, class-based bigotry) breeds adversity.
In the 80s, from memory, captive audiences of boys and girls received a daily brayer that boys were harassers, even rapists. In the pursuit of normalizing political congruence ("="), they also brayed that couples who had sex and couplets who had digestive intercourse were equally at risk for all diseases including AIDS -- social liberalism and transphobia were clear, projected, and progressive conditions, and still are.
Someone is taking names, y'all, here at the Althouse hive of treasonous misinformation.
Might as well speak freely when and where and while we can.
"This is terrible. It's happening in Russia. And yet, it's not that far from what is taking hold in the United States."
The only difference is that our deep state cabal hasn't yet started killing dissidents or adopted polonium poisoning as their assassination method of choice.
Howard said...
"But the crack down by private companies against Russian sponsored Trump supporting disinformation and conspiracy theories is exactly freedom of speech.
Forcing private companies to regurgitate your vile lies isn't freedom, it's treason."
A Biden voter lecturing others on lies and disinformation. Well. Biden voter.
Blogger Howard said...
But the crack down by private companies against Russian sponsored Trump supporting disinformation and conspiracy theories is exactly freedom of speech.
Forcing private companies to regurgitate your vile lies isn't freedom, it's treason.
Howard has a list and is checking it twice to see who the Stasi should be looking for. Have you ever seen the movie, "The Lives of Others," Howard? Maybe you could tell us which character you are.
You people have a persecution complex.
Shorter Howard:
When we shove you into the re-education camp - stop your whining.
deep state cabal hasn't yet started killing dissidents or adopted polonium poisoning as their assassination method of choice.
Religious sanction of the wicked solution, or one-child, delegated. For the sake of social progress and political congruence ("="), thousands of socially liberal trans/homosexual males were left to congregate and spread HIV ass primary transmitters. For the sake of Mengele mandates, several Democrat jurisdiction exercised liberal license to indulge planned parent/hood (i.e. excess deaths by Choice), nationwide mandates for ineffective and counterproductive masks, non-sterilizing medical experiments, social contagion, and denial/stigmatization of safe, effective, affordable treatments. Our government has libeled and killed families, fathers, mothers, and children to intimidate others. Ashley Babbitt was aborted in a prone position, minutes after attempting to calm an aggressive Capitol police and people assembled, in what was likely another act of intimidation to force veterans to take a knee. Also, assassination of Americans at home and abroad through direct and indirect action. A veritable American Spring a la 2014 Slavic Spring.
"At least 50 people face prison sentences of up to either 10 years or five years hard labor, or fines of as much as $77,000, for spreading 'false information' about the military."
Wow, those Russians and that Putin! Who do they think they are, Twitter?
Don't they know that only social media companies, in partnership with Democrat politicians and "fact checkers" can crush people for "misinformation"?
Howard said...
But the crack down by private companies against Russian sponsored Trump supporting disinformation and conspiracy theories is exactly freedom of speech.
No, Howard, censorship is not free speech, no matter how much you want to treat 1984 as an instruction manual.
The solution for "bad speech" is more speech, not speech suppression. Just like we don't want to censor you from spreading your "Russian Trump collusion" hoaxes, we'll just continue to point out that your'e lying, and pushing Hillary Campaign lies
BTW, are you supporting 303 Creative vs the State of Co? Or is there no free speech allowed when it's a wedding website designer who doesn't want to make websites for same sex "weddings"?
Howard said...
Forcing private companies to regurgitate your vile lies isn't freedom, it's treason.
Ah, so you're saying you support Masterpiece Cakeshop, Arlene's Flowers, and 303 Creative when they don't want to be part of a same sex "wedding"?
But in any event, your claim is BS. No one's forcing them to "regurgitate anything." We just want to keep them from censoring others.
My tweet on Twitter is not Twitter's speech, they're not "regurgitating" anything.
Post a Comment