Endangered freedom in Western Countries
Powerful statement by Rupa Subramanya: "What if I were to ask you, what are the most repressive governments around the world when it comes to freedom? Who suppresses freedom of speech and enterprise the most? You'd surely say North Korea, Iran, Russia." "But what if I told you Germany should be on that list, or for that matter, France, or Canada, where I'm from, should be on that list too? I'm not saying these countries are the same as the fear based authoritarian societies of North Korea and Iran, not by a long shot. But I am suggesting that some of the free countries are not, in fact, living up to their promises of liberty, and that many allies of The US have gotten in the habit of using the government against political enemies or disfavored companies." "In Germany, authorities have ramped up their policing of online hate speech by arresting people who've made offensive posts and seizing their laptops and other devices. Last year, the German government banned a far right magazine for anti human hate speech and agitation and shut down a protest because the protesters were Irish and speaking Gaelic rather than English or German." "In The UK, the police have taken to arresting people who post videos and social media accounts deemed offensive. They've been sent to jail for weeks and months at a time. As my colleague, Maddie Kearns, reported for the free press, British people have been arrested and convicted for antisocial behavior, such as praying silently near abortion clinics." "The Orwellian big brother punishing you for expressing an impolitic thought is now the law of the land in the land of Orwell. In the European Union, the Digital Services Act bars the dissemination of any content deemed harmful or illegal, but doesn't provide much clarity about what that is. Right now, EU officials are going after Elon Musk, threatening his platform x with fines because he endorsed the AFT party in Germany. But make no mistake, a precedent is being set. In the future, other people with unpopular politics and agendas will be targeted." "But I am worried because we live in an illiberal moment. This moment has been building for many years, and there's many forces behind, social, political, and economic. For one thing, the left has lost its passion for the first amendment. Now it's true that there are plenty of conservatives who would prefer that school libraries not include books about gender fluidity or critical race theory. There are others who've gone so far as to ban authors like Toni Morris Morrison or Margaret Atwood." "All that is wrong, but I'm less concerned about this trend than I am about the censorship that has happened under Joe Biden in partnership with Washington and much of corporate America, including banks and social media companies. This partnership affects far more people than a relatively small number of school boards canceling Ibrahim Kendi's how to be an anti racist, and it's harder to detect. When a school board removes a book from its shelves, it's usually a meeting and a public airing of idea of opinions." "But when Meta or the Bank of America decide that one of their users or account holders has voiced the wrong opinion, they can take action that the vast majority of us will never know about. They can suppress an algorithm, remove a book from the digital shelf, suspend a checking account, which raises a very frightening prospect." "Banks have targeted people on both sides of the aisle, from president Trump's most fervent supporters to Muslim Americans among others. What's concerning isn't so much who has been wrong, but the creeping illiberal tide that has swept America over the last several years. But the number of tech CEOs who attended president Trump's inauguration gives me hope." "I'm told this signals the dawn of a new era in America, return to first principles. Many of you may have misgivings about so many billionaires steering national policy and for good reason. But if the billionaires coming around to president Trump means they're coming back to their Silicon Valley roots and their belief in an unfettered marketplace of ideas, if this means that the shadow bannings and mysterious manipulations on social media will stop, if this means that we can speak more freely now, then, well, that is a great thing. And that is the most important thing because, as you know, all freedom stems from this freedom. I'll leave you with this thought."
Powerful statement by Rupa Subramanya: "What if I were to ask you, what are the most repressive governments around the world when it comes to freedom? Who suppresses freedom of speech and enterprise the most? You'd surely say North Korea, Iran, Russia." "But what if I told you Germany should be on that list, or for that matter, France, or Canada, where I'm from, should be on that list too? I'm not saying these countries are the same as the fear based authoritarian societies of North Korea and Iran, not by a long shot. But I am suggesting that some of the free countries are not, in fact, living up to their promises of liberty, and that many allies of The US have gotten in the habit of using the government against political enemies or disfavored companies." "In Germany, authorities have ramped up their policing of online hate speech by arresting people who've made offensive posts and seizing their laptops and other devices. Last year, the German government banned a far right magazine for anti human hate speech and agitation and shut down a protest because the protesters were Irish and speaking Gaelic rather than English or German." "In The UK, the police have taken to arresting people who post videos and social media accounts deemed offensive. They've been sent to jail for weeks and months at a time. As my colleague, Maddie Kearns, reported for the free press, British people have been arrested and convicted for antisocial behavior, such as praying silently near abortion clinics." "The Orwellian big brother punishing you for expressing an impolitic thought is now the law of the land in the land of Orwell. In the European Union, the Digital Services Act bars the dissemination of any content deemed harmful or illegal, but doesn't provide much clarity about what that is. Right now, EU officials are going after Elon Musk, threatening his platform x with fines because he endorsed the AFT party in Germany. But make no mistake, a precedent is being set. In the future, other people with unpopular politics and agendas will be targeted." "But I am worried because we live in an illiberal moment. This moment has been building for many years, and there's many forces behind, social, political, and economic. For one thing, the left has lost its passion for the first amendment. Now it's true that there are plenty of conservatives who would prefer that school libraries not include books about gender fluidity or critical race theory. There are others who've gone so far as to ban authors like Toni Morris Morrison or Margaret Atwood." "All that is wrong, but I'm less concerned about this trend than I am about the censorship that has happened under Joe Biden in partnership with Washington and much of corporate America, including banks and social media companies. This partnership affects far more people than a relatively small number of school boards canceling Ibrahim Kendi's how to be an anti racist, and it's harder to detect. When a school board removes a book from its shelves, it's usually a meeting and a public airing of idea of opinions." "But when Meta or the Bank of America decide that one of their users or account holders has voiced the wrong opinion, they can take action that the vast majority of us will never know about. They can suppress an algorithm, remove a book from the digital shelf, suspend a checking account, which raises a very frightening prospect." "Banks have targeted people on both sides of the aisle, from president Trump's most fervent supporters to Muslim Americans among others. What's concerning isn't so much who has been wrong, but the creeping illiberal tide that has swept America over the last several years. But the number of tech CEOs who attended president Trump's inauguration gives me hope." "I'm told this signals the dawn of a new era in America, return to first principles. Many of you may have misgivings about so many billionaires steering national policy and for good reason. But if the billionaires coming around to president Trump means they're coming back to their Silicon Valley roots and their belief in an unfettered marketplace of ideas, if this means that the shadow bannings and mysterious manipulations on social media will stop, if this means that we can speak more freely now, then, well, that is a great thing. And that is the most important thing because, as you know, all freedom stems from this freedom. I'll leave you with this thought."