BY FRANK VERNUCCIO
The powers of elected governments
are being overshadowed
by internet, media, and
entertainment corporate oligarchs,
as well as powerful
bureaucrats who reject the
concept of free speech or, in
America, the enforcement of
the First Amendment.
Contrary to popular impressions,
it’s not just an issue
for Donald Trump or his
conservative supporters, nor
is it an issue that uniquely affects
the United States.
Internet giants are now
working comfortably with
authoritarian governments
that abhor the concept of free
speech or representative government.
Disturbingly, these
corporations are importing
the censorship techniques
learned overseas for use in
the United States.
Google’s relationship with
Beijing grows as China has
become even more repressive.
Freedom House’s 2018
rankings notes that “China’s
authoritarian regime has become
increasingly repressive
in recent years. The ruling
Chinese Communist Party
(CCP) is tightening its control
over the media, online speech,
religious groups, and civil society
associations while undermining
already modest
rule-of-law reforms…”
The BBC has reported that
Facebook worked on special
software that accommodates
China’s censorship demands.
In 2016, Reuters reported that
Facebook Inc. developed a
censorship tool to persuade
Beijing to allow it to work
there.
The international publication
Zinfos-Moris noted in
September that “Facebook’s
collusion with the corrupt
wealthy and the dictators
around the world has been
happening for many years
now…it has not gone unnoticed
that entrenched authoritarian
states, like Russia
and China, have become very
good at manipulating these
platforms to marginalize domestic
dissidents and destabilize
democracies abroad.”
The relationship of Google
and Facebook to totalitarian
governments is truly troubling.
Freedom House notes
that Governments around the
world have dramatically increased
their efforts to manipulate
information on social
media over the past year. The
Chinese and Russian regimes
pioneered the use of surreptitious
methods to distort online
discussions and suppress
dissent more than a decade
ago, but the practice has since
gone global.
The Committee to Protect
Journalists found that “In
Cuba (10th most censored), the
Internet is available to only a
small portion of the population,
despite outside investment
to bring the country
online. China, despite having
hundreds of millions of
Internet users, maintains the
“Great Firewall,” a sophisticated
blend of human censors
and technological tools,
to block critical websites and
rein in social media. In countries
with advanced technology
such as China, Internet restrictions
are combined with
the threat of imprisonment
to ensure that critical voices
cannot gain leverage online.
Online content manipulation
contributed to a seventh
consecutive year of overall
decline in internet freedom,
along with a rise in disruptions
to mobile internet service
and increases in physical
and technical attacks on human
rights defenders and independent
media. Nearly half
of the 65 countries assessed
in Freedom on the Net 2017 experienced
declines during the
coverage period, while just 13
made gains, most of them minor.
Less than one-quarter
of users reside in countries
where the internet is designated
Free, meaning there are
no major obstacles to access,
onerous restrictions on content,
or serious violations of
user rights in the form of unchecked
surveillance or unjust
repercussions for legitimate
speech.”
BuzzFeed News at least
one country…BuzzFeed News’
data and analysis offer an
unprecedented glimpse into
Twitter’s collaboration with
national groups and …and
provide a stark reminder of
Twitter’s ability to shape political
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, F 44 EB. 26-MAR. 4, 2021 BTR
conversations
The latest example comes
from Vietnam. An Amnesty
International analysis demands
that “Facebook must
immediately reverse its decision
to censor posts deemed
critical of the government in
Viet Nam.”
The concepts of censorship
and exclusion from social media
platforms pioneered in totalitarian
nations, with the
consent of social media providers,
has been exported to
the United States by those social
media providers.
Across the planet, world
leaders, even those not fond of
Donald Trump or conservative
views, have reacted against attempts
by internet giants to
censor the former president
and become more powerful
than elected governments.
Despite numerous ideological
and international differences
with Trump and his
Republican base, Mexican
President Andrés Manuel López
Obrador is determined to
head an international campaign
against the censorship
of social media behemoths.
German Chancellor Angela
Merkel, who similarly has opposed
conservative perspectives,
has openly expressed
her fear of the rise to power of
internet oligarchs.
A Forbes analysis disclosed
that Bruno Le Maire, France’s
fi nance minister, said he was
‘shocked’ by Twitter’s decision
to ban Trump, adding
that ‘digital regulation should
not be done by the digital oligarchy…
(and) is a matter for
the sovereign people, governments
and the judiciary. Britain’s
health secretary Matt
Hancock said tech companies
were now ‘taking editorial
decisions,’ adding that it
is very clear that platforms
are ‘choosing who should and
shouldn’t have a voice on their
platform.’”
Breitbart reports that Poland’s
government has unveiled
a draft law to combat
censorship on social media,
creating a Freedom of Speech
Board with the power to order
tech fi rms to restore online accounts
and posts deleted for
lawful speech on pain of substantial
fi nes.
CIVIC CENTER
Community Action
Civic Association
Giving Back To
The Community
Councilmember Mark Gjonaj’s Cruger Avenue Food Distributionphoto
submitted by Luciana Montuoro
SUBMITTED BY
LUCIANA MONTUORO
The pandemic continues
to plague communities with
grave food insecurity, which
is especially rampant in the
Bronx. On Saturday, February
13, Jose Padilla of the
Martin-Brower Distribution
Center helped coordinate 900
pounds of McRib patties to
the Food Bank For New York
City, the Albanian American
Open Hand Association Inc.
for Councilmember Mark
Gjonaj’s food distributions
and to Long Island Cares.
This generous donation was
made by the New York Metro
McDonald’s owner and operators.
The donation totaled
322,560 ribs which totals
35,280 pounds of pork. Another
delivery to CM Gjonaj’s
food distribution was made
Tuesday, February 23 (115,200
McRib pattie- 12,600 pounds
of pork) at 2334 Boston Rd at
the corner of Boston and Astor
and again on Friday, February
26 (184, 320 patties or
20,160 pounds of pork). Also
on Friday at the Greek American
Orthodox church at 3573
Bruckner Blvd.
Councilmember Mark
Gjonaj’s Cruger Avenue Food
Distributionphoto
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