Imagine for a moment that you wanted to seize control over the Internet and put in place a system of mass censorship worldwide. How would you do it?
You wouldn’t advertise your intentions. You’d hide them. You’d claim there was a rise in hate speech and misinformation and that it was hurting vulnerable people.
You wouldn’t take on powerful interests. You’d pick on individual citizens. You’d say that they were on the verge of committing real-world violence.
And you wouldn’t start in a big nation. You’d find some small country to start. You’d get their politicians to go out on a limb for your agenda.
That’s precisely what’s happening. Politicians in Ireland are, at this moment, attempting to ram through legislation that would allow the police to invade the homes of ordinary citizens, search their phones and computers, and throw them in prison for “hate speech.”
It’s understandable that people find all of this hard to believe. I find it hard to believe. It sounds like a “Black Mirror” episode.
But it’s not a “Black Mirror” episode. It’s real life. And it’s unfolding in Ireland at this very moment.
We don’t know who all is behind the plot to censor the Internet, but we know there is one.
We had thought that the Irish government had abandoned its totalitarian proposal. A scrappy, inspiring group, Free Speech Ireland, @FreeSpeechIre had successfully pushed back on the proposal last year, putting the government on the defensive.
But then a deranged man stabbed a schoolteacher and two children last November, triggering anti-immigration riots. Ireland’s Prime Minister and Justice Minister used the riots to bring back their hate legislation.
This time, Free Speech Ireland was ready. Its founders reached out to us and asked us to help raise the alarm.
We did, and you responded with support for the organization. Free Speech Ireland has now created a barnburner of a television and online advertisement that it will run for the next week.
But it’s not enough. Free Speech Ireland needs to raise $100,000 in the next 48 hours so it can run the ad across Ireland.
We will donate 100% of donations made to Environmental Progress to Free Speech Ireland for its inspiring work.
We can win this battle, but not without your help. Please take a moment now to donate.
Together we can prevent this “Black Mirror” nightmare from becoming a reality.
You can donate to Free Speech Ireland directly
Or you can donate to our nonprofit, Environmental Progress, and we will send 100% of all donations to Free Speech Ireland
@FreeSpeechIre People say “hate speech” causes real world violence, but they said the same thing about violent movies and video games, and that turned out to be wrong. We reviewed the literature and found very little evidence to support the link between words and violence.
For weeks, the media said that, by eliminating USAID, Trump had created a "constitutional crisis" and "abandoned" vulnerable people. It was all nonsense. A federal judge today ruled that the "risk posed to USAID employees... is far more minimal than it initially appeared. "
Media outlets uncritically embraced the notion that what Trump had done was unconstitutional. They uncritically accepted claims that USAID people would somehow be put in grave danger. It was all total nonsense, the evidence shows.
The claims of "emotional harm" were too "'hypothetical' to "support a finding of irreparable harm."
"Upon scrutiny" the alleged injuries "are not irreparable."
USAID had not deprived anyone of necessary security.
And USAID had an orderly plan to return people home.
The UK seems like a free nation. It’s not. It is run by a tyrant, Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer . Shame on him for his totalitarian demand. And bravo to Apple CEO @tim_cook for defying the government. Please share this to warn the world that UK is no longer safe for free people!
“Apple previously called a bill from the UK Parliament that sought access to user data ‘unprecedented overreach by the government.’ At the time, the company said that ‘the UK could attempt to secretly veto new user protections globally preventing us from ever offering them to customers.’”
“Customers already using Advanced Data Protection, or ADP, will need to manually disable it during an unspecified grace period to keep their iCloud accounts.
“The company said it will issue additional guidance in the future to affected users and that it does not have the ability to automatically disable it on their behalf.
“The move to pull its encryption feature — rather than complying and building a backdoor — is a clear rebuke of the government’s order.”
For weeks the media have insisted that Trump and Elon were lying about rampant government fraud, waste, or abuse. Finally WSJ admits that “wasteful spending… isn’t hard to find.” Ya think?
Both of these examples of disinformation were published today
Here’s the Times a week ago lying brazenly. Scroll down the thread and you can see they later alter the headline. They’re effectively saying that accusations of government waste, fraud and abuse are a conspiracy theory. Everything’s fine. Media gaslighting as usual.
JD Vance is right: the greatest threat to free speech and democracy in the Western world comes from Europe. This week, I warned of the global axis of censorship, and why America must stand up for our founding values. It is inspiring to see the Trump admin. center free speech!
— "If American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg's scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk. But what German democracy, what no democracy, American, German, or European, will survive is telling millions of voters that their thoughts and concerns, their aspirations, their pleas for relief are invalid or unworthy of even being considered. Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters."
The New York Times says “Musk Asserts Without Proof That Bureaucracy Is Rife With Fraud.” Seriously? The GAO — under Biden — estimated last year that we are losing $233-$521 billion *per year* to fraud. Guys, it’s right there. Why do you continue with this… fraud? SMH
Seriously, why do you guys keep doing this? Everyone can see you’re lying. It’s pathological.
For decades, presidents said they told us everything they could about Covid, JFK, Epstein, UAPs and more. They lied. Trump promised real disclosure and now @realannapaulina says, “We’ve been treated like children for too long,” and will disclose! LFG! 🔥
.@realannapaulina is right: the only way to repair the trust lost between the American people and those we entrust with our security is for a historic process of disclosure of information that should no longer remain secret.
Learn more about what the US government has been hiding for 60 years about the JFK assassination in my podcast with @jeffersonmorley below!