I’ve joined 138 artists, journalists, and public intellectuals from around the world to warn of a shortsighted perspective on free speech and digital governance that’s mobilised social media companies, universities, governments, and NGOs to derange the free-flow of information.
This gives me hope right as the Australian Govt is ramping up its championing of the Misinformation Bill in reaction to the appallingly timed referendum. Can you possibly make the Westminster Declaration open to public signing also - akin to the Great Barrington Declaration?
This Morning I Am Nobody's Sweetheart. I am in a FOUL mood. That said
"Such interference with the right to free speech suppresses valid discussion about matters of urgent public interest, and undermines the foundational principles of representative democracy.
Across the globe, government actors, social media companies, universities, and NGOs are increasingly working to monitor citizens and rob them of their voices. These large-scale coordinated efforts are sometimes referred to as the ‘Censorship-Industrial Complex.’
This complex often operates through direct government policies. Authorities in India1
and Turkey2
have seized the power to remove political content from social media. The legislature in Germany3
and the Supreme Court in Brazil4
are criminalising political speech. In other countries, measures such as Ireland’s ‘Hate Speech’ Bill5
, Scotland’s Hate Crime Act6
, the UK’s Online Safety Bill7
, and Australia’s ‘Misinformation’ Bill8
threaten to severely restrict expression and create a chilling effect."
Three points in no particular order
1. What makes you think Large parts of the world, accept the notions of liberal western society? ie free flow of information, free speech/thought.
2. "We write as journalists, artists, authors, activists, technologists, and academics to warn of increasing international censorship that threatens to erode centuries-old democratic norms." As a young man (1950's) there was a saying "That And Twenty Five Cents Will Buy You A Cup Of Coffee."
3. Every couple of hundred years a new technology comes along (think Printing Press, Steam Engine) and everything is thrown into Chaos. It takes 50-100? years for people/society to adjust. We are Right In The Middle of one now (Bigger, more chaotic than the printing press). Its gonna be a bumpy ride for the next couple of decades.
I LIED!
4. In the last 300 years we in the West have come to expect free flow of information, free speech/thought/religion/conscience as The Norm. This is NOT for 6000 years of recorded history things have operated. The Norm is basically Do What You're Told or Die.
These are things called FACTS. OK you put out a Declaration. Now What?
I’d sign that.
This gives me hope right as the Australian Govt is ramping up its championing of the Misinformation Bill in reaction to the appallingly timed referendum. Can you possibly make the Westminster Declaration open to public signing also - akin to the Great Barrington Declaration?
This Morning I Am Nobody's Sweetheart. I am in a FOUL mood. That said
"Such interference with the right to free speech suppresses valid discussion about matters of urgent public interest, and undermines the foundational principles of representative democracy.
Across the globe, government actors, social media companies, universities, and NGOs are increasingly working to monitor citizens and rob them of their voices. These large-scale coordinated efforts are sometimes referred to as the ‘Censorship-Industrial Complex.’
This complex often operates through direct government policies. Authorities in India1
and Turkey2
have seized the power to remove political content from social media. The legislature in Germany3
and the Supreme Court in Brazil4
are criminalising political speech. In other countries, measures such as Ireland’s ‘Hate Speech’ Bill5
, Scotland’s Hate Crime Act6
, the UK’s Online Safety Bill7
, and Australia’s ‘Misinformation’ Bill8
threaten to severely restrict expression and create a chilling effect."
Three points in no particular order
1. What makes you think Large parts of the world, accept the notions of liberal western society? ie free flow of information, free speech/thought.
2. "We write as journalists, artists, authors, activists, technologists, and academics to warn of increasing international censorship that threatens to erode centuries-old democratic norms." As a young man (1950's) there was a saying "That And Twenty Five Cents Will Buy You A Cup Of Coffee."
3. Every couple of hundred years a new technology comes along (think Printing Press, Steam Engine) and everything is thrown into Chaos. It takes 50-100? years for people/society to adjust. We are Right In The Middle of one now (Bigger, more chaotic than the printing press). Its gonna be a bumpy ride for the next couple of decades.
I LIED!
4. In the last 300 years we in the West have come to expect free flow of information, free speech/thought/religion/conscience as The Norm. This is NOT for 6000 years of recorded history things have operated. The Norm is basically Do What You're Told or Die.
These are things called FACTS. OK you put out a Declaration. Now What?
(As I said I am in a REAL FOUL MOOD.
Thank you.