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Source: https://reclaimthenet.org/feed

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<title>UN Secretary-General António Guterres Complains About “Misinformation” and “Hate Speech,” Calls for “Effective Governance”</title>
<link>https://reclaimthenet.org/antonio-guterres-rails-against-misinformation-and-hate-speech</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Didi Rankovic]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Sep 2024 18:52:05 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Free Speech and Censorship]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://reclaimthenet.org/?p=200400</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/antonio-guterres-rails-against-misinformation-and-hate-speech" title="UN Secretary-General António Guterres Complains About “Misinformation” and “Hate Speech,” Calls for “Effective Governance”" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/un-speech-9-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="António Guterres against a purple background with comic-like speech bubbles." style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/un-speech-9-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/un-speech-9-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/un-speech-9-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/un-speech-9-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/un-speech-9-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/un-speech-9-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a>UN Chief Guterres frames AI as a threat to democracy, pushing for global regulation amid rising concerns over censorship.
The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/antonio-guterres-rails-against-misinformation-and-hate-speech">UN Secretary-General António Guterres Complains About “Misinformation” and “Hate Speech,” Calls for “Effective Governance”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/antonio-guterres-rails-against-misinformation-and-hate-speech" title="UN Secretary-General António Guterres Complains About “Misinformation” and “Hate Speech,” Calls for “Effective Governance”" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/un-speech-9-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="António Guterres against a purple background with comic-like speech bubbles." style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/un-speech-9-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/un-speech-9-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/un-speech-9-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/un-speech-9-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/un-speech-9-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/un-speech-9-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a><div class='code-block code-block-5' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>
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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has managed to work fearmongering over the perceived proliferation of misinformation, hate speech, and deepfakes into his message issued on the occasion of the upcoming International Day of Democracy.
Not only that but as far as the UN is concerned, this year’s Day of Democracy is focused on – of all things – (at this point in time, upcoming at some later point in time) artificial intelligence (AI).
Though the press release might look like a “politically correct word salad,” it does show a purpose – and that’s pressing for global AI regulation.
The way is, perpetuating the fear that AI, such as it is today, is truly a possible threat to “democracy, peace, and stability.”
According to the UN <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2024/sgsm22347.doc.htm">website</a>, Guterres took this opportunity to frame the problem of erosion of free speech, civil liberties, rule of law, and diminishing trust (ostensibly in legacy media and institutions) as the consequence of that “proliferation of harm.”
The Guterres statement starts off reasonably enough: on International Day of Democracy, these now-under-threat values are the ones that need to be promoted.
But then he descends into explaining why that is by parroting what has been heard a myriad times thus far from many governments and global political and business elites.
For example, what makes free speech so fragile these days? Censorship? Government censorship? And by the same token, is that what’s burdening civil rights in general?
Guterres appears to believe – no. It’s all somehow revolving around “AI” and specifically how to control it – as “a tool for good governance.”
The UN, born after the devastation of the Second World War as a forum to make sure that never repeats, has been losing in influence over the past decade in particular.
Instead of serving its original purpose – especially as all sorts of chaotic behavior and events intensify around the world – this organization is now, alarmingly, trying to find a new lease on life around issues closely related to censorship and repression: <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/world-health-organization-censorship-misinformation-pandemic-treaty">the pandemic (via its WHO agency)</a>, and now, “disinformation, misinformation, AI…”
That’s the context in which a UN secretary-general makes statements like these: “To seize these opportunities, (AI promoting public participation, equality, inclusiveness, ‘human development’…) it is critical to ensure effective governance of AI at all levels, including internationally.”
Is that really what’s crucial for democracy now – sir?
<div class='code-block code-block-6' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>
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The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/antonio-guterres-rails-against-misinformation-and-hate-speech">UN Secretary-General António Guterres Complains About “Misinformation” and “Hate Speech,” Calls for “Effective Governance”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
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</item>
<item>
<title>Lockheed Martin Develops System to Identify and Counter Online “Disinformation,” Prototyped by DARPA</title>
<link>https://reclaimthenet.org/darpa-system-counter-online-disinformation</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Didi Rankovic]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Sep 2024 18:31:46 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Creators]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Free Speech and Censorship]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://reclaimthenet.org/?p=200394</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/darpa-system-counter-online-disinformation" title="Lockheed Martin Develops System to Identify and Counter Online “Disinformation,” Prototyped by DARPA" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/lm-speech-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Comic-style illustration of a jet fighter plane flying through a vibrant explosion with speech bubbles overhead." style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/lm-speech-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/lm-speech-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/lm-speech-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/lm-speech-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/lm-speech-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/lm-speech-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a>Military-backed AI tools to combat "disinformation" raise questions about accuracy, transparency, and the potential for misuse in political arenas.
The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/darpa-system-counter-online-disinformation">Lockheed Martin Develops System to Identify and Counter Online “Disinformation,” Prototyped by DARPA</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/darpa-system-counter-online-disinformation" title="Lockheed Martin Develops System to Identify and Counter Online “Disinformation,” Prototyped by DARPA" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/lm-speech-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Comic-style illustration of a jet fighter plane flying through a vibrant explosion with speech bubbles overhead." style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/lm-speech-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/lm-speech-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/lm-speech-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/lm-speech-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/lm-speech-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/lm-speech-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a><div class='code-block code-block-5' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>
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Various military units around the world (<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/uk-army-unit-labeled-accurate-covid-reporting-as-malinformation">notably in the UK during the pandemic</a>) have been getting involved in what are ultimately, due to the goal (censorship) and participants (military) destined to become controversial, if not unlawful efforts.
But there doesn’t seem to be a lot of desire to learn from others’ mistakes. The temptation to bring the defense system into the political “war on disinformation” arena seems to be too strong to resist.
Right now in the US, Lockheed Martin is close to completing a prototype that will analyze media to “detect and defeat disinformation.”
And by media, those commissioning the tool – called the Semantic Forensics (<a href="https://www.darpa.mil/program/semantic-forensics">SemaFor</a>) program – mean everything: news, the internet, and even entertainment media. Text, audio, images, and video that are part of what’s considered “large-scale automated disinformation attacks” are supposed to be detected and labeled as false by the tool.
The development process is almost over, and the prototype is used by the US Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
<div style="width: 640px;" class="wp-video">
<video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-200394-1" width="640" height="360" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/darpa-digital.mp4?_=1" /><a href="https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/darpa-digital.mp4">https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/darpa-digital.mp4</a></video></div>
The total value of the program, awarded by the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate (acting for DARPA) to Lockheed Martin comes to $37.2 million, Military and Aerospace Electronics <a href="https://www.militaryaerospace.com/computers/article/55137378/lockheed-martin-disinformation-detect-analyzing-media">reported</a>.
Reports note that while past statistical detection methods have been “successful” they are now seen as “insufficient” for media disinformation detection. This is why looking into “semantic inconsistency” is preferred.
There is a rather curious example given of how “mismatched earrings” can be a giveaway that a face is not real but generated via a GAN – a generative adversarial network.
(GANs are a machine learning method.)
And SemaFor’s purpose is to analyze media with semantic tech algorithms, to hand down the verdict of whether the content is authentic or false.
There’s more: proving such activities come from a specific actor has been near impossible so far, but there’s a “mental workaround” that those behind the project seem happy with: infer, rather than identify. So – just like before?
“Attribution algorithms” are what’s needed for this, and there’s more guesswork presented as reliable tech – namely, “characterization algorithms” to decide not only if media is manipulated or generated, but also if the purpose is malicious.
Now, the only thing left to find out – how the algorithms are written.
<div class='code-block code-block-6' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>
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The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/darpa-system-counter-online-disinformation">Lockheed Martin Develops System to Identify and Counter Online “Disinformation,” Prototyped by DARPA</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
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</item>
<item>
<title>The Secretive Laws Underpinning France’s Attack on Telegram</title>
<link>https://reclaimthenet.org/the-secretive-laws-underpinning-frances-attack-on-telegram</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Christina Maas]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Sep 2024 17:51:45 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Big Tech Alternatives]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Members]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Privacy]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://reclaimthenet.org/?p=200381</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/the-secretive-laws-underpinning-frances-attack-on-telegram" title="The Secretive Laws Underpinning France’s Attack on Telegram" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/telegram-encrypt-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Digital arrow symbol amidst blurry teal and black patterned background." style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/telegram-encrypt-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/telegram-encrypt-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/telegram-encrypt-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/telegram-encrypt-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/telegram-encrypt-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/telegram-encrypt-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a>France's crackdown on encrypted apps signals a dangerous precedent for privacy in the tech world.
The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/the-secretive-laws-underpinning-frances-attack-on-telegram">The Secretive Laws Underpinning France’s Attack on Telegram</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/the-secretive-laws-underpinning-frances-attack-on-telegram" title="The Secretive Laws Underpinning France’s Attack on Telegram" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/telegram-encrypt-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Digital arrow symbol amidst blurry teal and black patterned background." style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/telegram-encrypt-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/telegram-encrypt-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/telegram-encrypt-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/telegram-encrypt-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/telegram-encrypt-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/telegram-encrypt-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a><div class='code-block code-block-5' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>
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<div class='code-block code-block-6' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>
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The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/the-secretive-laws-underpinning-frances-attack-on-telegram">The Secretive Laws Underpinning France’s Attack on Telegram</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
]]></content:encoded>
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<item>
<title>Court Blocks Parts of California’s Social Media Law in Free Speech Clash</title>
<link>https://reclaimthenet.org/court-blocks-parts-of-californias-social-media-law-in-free-speech-clash</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Didi Rankovic]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Sep 2024 16:01:12 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Free Speech and Censorship]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://reclaimthenet.org/?p=200333</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/court-blocks-parts-of-californias-social-media-law-in-free-speech-clash" title="Court Blocks Parts of California’s Social Media Law in Free Speech Clash" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-x1-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Governor Gavin Newsom in a suit standing at a podium with microphones, between the United States and California flags." style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-x1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-x1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-x1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-x1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-x1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-x1-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a>Emphasizing that "transparency" laws cannot override First Amendment protections.
The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/court-blocks-parts-of-californias-social-media-law-in-free-speech-clash">Court Blocks Parts of California’s Social Media Law in Free Speech Clash</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/court-blocks-parts-of-californias-social-media-law-in-free-speech-clash" title="Court Blocks Parts of California’s Social Media Law in Free Speech Clash" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-x1-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Governor Gavin Newsom in a suit standing at a podium with microphones, between the United States and California flags." style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-x1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-x1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-x1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-x1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-x1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-x1-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a><div class='code-block code-block-5' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>
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The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has granted a partial preliminary injunction in the X Corp. v. Bonta case, which concerns some provisions from <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/filed-lawsuit-against-california-censorship-law">California’s online censorship (“moderation”) law, AB 587.</a>
In explaining the ruling, the court said that X Corp. is “likely to succeed in showing that the Content Category Report provisions facially violate the First Amendment.”
The law, introduced by 10 Democrats and one Republican in the state legislature and later adopted, mandates that large social media companies must report to California’s attorney-general regarding the details of their “moderation” apparatus. These companies are required to submit “Content Category Reports” twice a year.
The reports should include statements regarding whether the companies’ terms of service define hate speech or racism, extremism or radicalization, disinformation or misinformation, harassment, and foreign political interference; if that is the case, the authorities want to know what those definitions are.
The irony of many laws dealing with the same subjects failing to properly define these categories aside, but the court of appeals judges found that this was one of the provisions that likely violated the First Amendment, therefore granting an injunction against it, and several other portions of AB 587 (under section 22677).
Another part of the law that saw the same fate relates to large social media platforms submitting a detailed description of their “moderation policies, and information about flagged content” when it comes to the same categories of speech (hate speech, racism, etc.)
The Ninth Circuit in this way reversed a <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/judge-sides-with-california-in-xs-challenge-against-the-states-censorship-law">previous decision</a> by a district court not to grant a preliminary injunction – which is a temporary block until the courts decide on the merits of the case.
We obtained a copy of the opinion for you <a href="https://docs.reclaimthenet.org/gov.uscourts.ca9opinion-x-vs-bonta.pdf">here</a>.
The panel of three judges found that Content Category Reports are not commercial speech, which “does no more than propose a commercial transaction.”
But in this case, even though social media companies’ terms of service (TOS) can be considered to be commercial speech – their presenting opinions and reasons behind the TOS, “are different in character and kind,” the ruling said.
The Content Category Report provisions “would require a social media company to convey the company’s policy views on intensely debated and politically fraught topics, including hate speech, racism, misinformation, and radicalization, and also convey how the company has applied its policies,” the ruling reads.
The appellate court also rejected the state’s claim that these requirements are “only” a transparency measure and therefore “subject to lower scrutiny.”
However, the judges write, “But even if the Content Category Report provisions concern only transparency, the relevant question here is: transparency into what? Even a pure ‘transparency’ measure, if it compels non-commercial speech, is subject to strict scrutiny. That is true of the Content Category Report provisions.”
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The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/court-blocks-parts-of-californias-social-media-law-in-free-speech-clash">Court Blocks Parts of California’s Social Media Law in Free Speech Clash</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
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<title>Internet Archive Loses Appeal in Copyright Dispute Over Ebook Lending</title>
<link>https://reclaimthenet.org/internet-archive-loses-appeal-in-copyright-dispute-over-ebook-lending</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Didi Rankovic]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Sep 2024 14:45:36 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Creators]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://reclaimthenet.org/?p=200281</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/internet-archive-loses-appeal-in-copyright-dispute-over-ebook-lending" title="Internet Archive Loses Appeal in Copyright Dispute Over Ebook Lending" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/digi-library-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/digi-library-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/digi-library-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/digi-library-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/digi-library-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/digi-library-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/digi-library-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a>Publishers' victory signals a potential shift in how digital lending is regulated, raising concerns over access to online libraries.
The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/internet-archive-loses-appeal-in-copyright-dispute-over-ebook-lending">Internet Archive Loses Appeal in Copyright Dispute Over Ebook Lending</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/internet-archive-loses-appeal-in-copyright-dispute-over-ebook-lending" title="Internet Archive Loses Appeal in Copyright Dispute Over Ebook Lending" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/digi-library-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/digi-library-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/digi-library-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/digi-library-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/digi-library-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/digi-library-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/digi-library-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a><div class='code-block code-block-5' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>
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The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has sided with major publishers in a case revolving around the Internet Archive’s e-book lending program, branded as a form of “piracy.”
The National Emergency Library, NEL, started in March 2020 and was supposed to help those cut off from libraries just as the pandemic restrictions were starting to descend upon society.
NEL was born out of an existing, similar program called the Open Library. The difference is that the Open Library treated ebooks like their physical counterparts, and limited the lending of scanned books to one person at a time, while NEL sought to be more “generous” and did away with this restriction.
Now, the court’s decision is seen by some as a major blow to the non-profit that could also affect the internet as a whole.
We obtained a copy of the opinion for you <a href="https://docs.reclaimthenet.org/gov.uscourts.ca2.60988.306.1.pdf">here</a>.
The copyright lawsuit was originally filed and won by Hatchet (along with HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, and Wiley), but here Internet Archive was hoping to overturn a previous district court ruling on appeal.
However, the Circuit Court upheld that decision which declared book digitization a violation of copyright. The Internet Archive attempted to argue that the fair use rule from relevant law was applicable to the lending scheme it had in place.
The district court judge, John G. Koeltl, saw no merit to this, saying the Internet Archive merely created derivative, rather than transformative works – the latter of which would have been covered by fair use.
And the appellate court was not convinced. Other than publishers, some authors were also vocally opposed to NEL – pandemic or no pandemic. By May, the Internet Archive recognized “the error of its ways” and went back to the Open Library model. But it was too late, as the lawsuit came in June 2020.
The Circuit Court’s decision has been predictably welcomed by the plaintiffs while causing disappointment among the supporters of the kind of practices carried out by the Internet Archive, and of course, the non-profit itself.
“We are disappointed in today’s opinion about the Internet Archive’s digital lending of books that are available electronically elsewhere. We are reviewing the court’s opinion and will continue to defend the rights of libraries to own, lend, and preserve books,” the Internet Archive announced, at the same time urging supporters to sign an open letter to publishers, “asking them to restore access to the 500,000 books removed from our library.”
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The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/internet-archive-loses-appeal-in-copyright-dispute-over-ebook-lending">Internet Archive Loses Appeal in Copyright Dispute Over Ebook Lending</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
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<title>Facebook Blocks Secret Recording of DOJ Official Saying Trump Case is “Nonsense”</title>
<link>https://reclaimthenet.org/facebook-blocks-secret-recording-of-doj-official-saying-trump-case-is-nonsense</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Dan Frieth]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 05 Sep 2024 18:15:10 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Big Tech Alternatives]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Free Speech and Censorship]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://reclaimthenet.org/?p=200283</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/facebook-blocks-secret-recording-of-doj-official-saying-trump-case-is-nonsense" title="Facebook Blocks Secret Recording of DOJ Official Saying Trump Case is “Nonsense”" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-censor-vid-1-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-censor-vid-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-censor-vid-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-censor-vid-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-censor-vid-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-censor-vid-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-censor-vid-1-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a>Accusations of bias reignite debates over Big Tech's role in controlling political discourse.
The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/facebook-blocks-secret-recording-of-doj-official-saying-trump-case-is-nonsense">Facebook Blocks Secret Recording of DOJ Official Saying Trump Case is “Nonsense”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/facebook-blocks-secret-recording-of-doj-official-saying-trump-case-is-nonsense" title="Facebook Blocks Secret Recording of DOJ Official Saying Trump Case is “Nonsense”" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-censor-vid-1-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-censor-vid-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-censor-vid-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-censor-vid-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-censor-vid-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-censor-vid-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-censor-vid-1-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a><div class='code-block code-block-5' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>
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Facebook is once again at the center of a censorship storm after being accused of blocking the circulation of a video exposing harsh criticisms by a official regarding the prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
The video, <a href="https://rumble.com/v5dqrj1--doj-chief-admits-trump-indictments-a-politically-motivated-perversion-of-j.html">also published on Rumble</a> features undercover footage showing Nicholas Biase, the chief spokesman for the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office, which brought cases against President Trump, slamming Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s Trump case as a “perversion of justice.”
“Honestly, I think the case is nonsense,” Biase says in the video.
Users who went to share the video on Facebook were hit with the following message: “We can’t review this website because the content doesn’t meet our Community Standards. If you think this is a mistake, please let us know.”
<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-200285" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-message-1.jpg" alt="Alert message stating that the website can't be reviewed because the content doesn't meet the Community Standards, with a link for users to notify if it is a mistake." width="2048" height="539" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-message-1.jpg 2048w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-message-1-300x79.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-message-1-1024x270.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-message-1-768x202.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-message-1-1536x404.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" />
Other users got the message: “We removed your content…It looks like you tried to gather sensitive information from others…This goes against our Community Standards on cybersecurity.”
<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-200292" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-message-2a.jpg" alt="Notification of content removal for violating cybersecurity community standards, including a blurred-out link and profile information." width="1190" height="2048" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-message-2a.jpg 1190w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-message-2a-174x300.jpg 174w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-message-2a-595x1024.jpg 595w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-message-2a-768x1322.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fb-message-2a-893x1536.jpg 893w" sizes="(max-width: 1190px) 100vw, 1190px" />
Gerald Morgan, CEO of Louder with Crowder, addressed the censorship directly, stating, “We broke a massive story today on the Department of Justice… and a lot of you haven’t [seen it],” Morgan stated. Morgan continued, “Facebook is back in the business of making sure you do not see information that pertains to the election and Donald Trump and this administration.”
<div style="width: 640px;" class="wp-video"><video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-200283-2" width="640" height="360" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/crowder-ceo-video.mp4?_=2" /><a href="https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/crowder-ceo-video.mp4">https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/crowder-ceo-video.mp4</a></video></div>
According to Morgan, Facebook’s actions mirror its role in <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/fbi-is-accused-of-lying-under-oath-about-knowledge-of-hunter-biden-laptop-fb-talks">censoring the Hunter Biden laptop story</a>, suggesting a pattern of withholding crucial information.
He criticized the platform for once again “keeping the truth” from reaching the public, despite recent apologies from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over past censorship practices. “They are keeping you from understanding the truth about this election and the stakes and the impact that this is going to have on our country. They’re doing it again just days… after we had Mark Zuckerberg come out and say that he regretted doing those things, and yet he’s back up to his old tricks again,” Morgan stated.”
In the video, Biase was caught on hidden camera describing Bragg’s case against Trump as politically motivated. Recorded by an undercover operative, Biase claimed that Bragg brought the case to advance his own career, stating, “Before he decided to prosecute Trump, did you know who he was? You do now,” Biase suggested the charges were inflated and manipulated to make them fit the legal narrative. Trump, who faces 34 felony charges related to hush-money payments, is set to be sentenced on September 18.
Crowder’s team claims that Facebook’s blocking of the video is an attempt to control the narrative around Trump’s legal troubles and the upcoming election. Of Facebook: “You don’t want people to see that Donald Trump is being targeted and that he is not a felon and that nobody would have brought these charges at the federal level because they passed on it.” Morgan said, referencing the DOJ’s earlier decision not to pursue the case that Bragg took on.
“Thank God I can get you to see it on Rumble,” Morgan said, praising platform owners like Elon Musk and Chris Pavlovski for allowing free speech and the free flow of information. “If it came down to the Mark Zuckerbergs and Metas of the world, you’d never see it.”
Biase, who apologized for the remarks to the New York Post, said they were made in a private setting and not reflective of his true views, claiming he was trying to “impress” someone he had just met. However, his statements, combined with Facebook’s attempt to stifle the video, have fueled further accusations of political bias and censorship at a time when open access to information is crucial.
In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, Facebook faced widespread criticism for suppressing the circulation of a story about Hunter Biden’s laptop, which was initially reported by the New York Post. The story contained explosive allegations about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and suggested potential corruption involving his father, Joe Biden, who was running for president at the time. Citing concerns over “misinformation,” Facebook reduced the article’s visibility and limited its reach on the platform, prompting outrage from those who saw it as a clear instance of election interference.
Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, later admitted that the platform’s decision to censor the story was a mistake. In a 2022 interview with Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/mark-zuckerberg-joe-rogan-fbi-hunter-biden">revealed that Facebook had acted after receiving a vague warning from the FBI about potential foreign interference.</a>
In a <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/mark-zuckerberg-confirms-biden-administration-pressured-facebook-on-censorship">letter to the House Judiciary Committee on Weaponization</a>, Mark Zuckerberg recently expressed regret over Meta’s decision to cave to pressure from the Biden administration to censor content, calling the interference “wrong” in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee. The Meta CEO said he plans to resist such influence more aggressively in the future.
“It’s since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we shouldn’t have demoted the story,” he wrote.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-200294" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-05-at-19.19.jpg.jpg" alt="Chris Pavlovski tweet about Facebook blocking a Rumble show citing community standards, comparing it to Hunter Biden laptop censorship, and mentioning Jim Jordan and Ted Cruz. Includes a screenshot of a warning message." width="876" height="666" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-05-at-19.19.jpg.jpg 876w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-05-at-19.19.jpg-300x228.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-05-at-19.19.jpg-768x584.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px" />
“So much for Zuckerberg apologizing,” Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski stated. “Facebook is now blocking @scrowder’s Rumble show which contains important breaking news — citing community standards.”
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The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/facebook-blocks-secret-recording-of-doj-official-saying-trump-case-is-nonsense">Facebook Blocks Secret Recording of DOJ Official Saying Trump Case is “Nonsense”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
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<title>Texas Court Strikes Down Teen Content Ban While Keeping Digital ID Checks In Place</title>
<link>https://reclaimthenet.org/texas-court-strikes-down-teen-content-ban-while-keeping-digital-id-checks-in-place</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Didi Rankovic]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 05 Sep 2024 16:37:38 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Free Speech and Censorship]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Privacy]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://reclaimthenet.org/?p=200276</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/texas-court-strikes-down-teen-content-ban-while-keeping-digital-id-checks-in-place" title="Texas Court Strikes Down Teen Content Ban While Keeping Digital ID Checks In Place" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/texas-digital-online-id-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/texas-digital-online-id-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/texas-digital-online-id-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/texas-digital-online-id-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/texas-digital-online-id-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/texas-digital-online-id-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/texas-digital-online-id-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a>If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The US District Court for the Western District of Texas has issued an order in the case brought against the Texas SCOPE Act (House Bill 18), approving in part a preliminary injunction. The request has been granted against the […]
The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/texas-court-strikes-down-teen-content-ban-while-keeping-digital-id-checks-in-place">Texas Court Strikes Down Teen Content Ban While Keeping Digital ID Checks In Place</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/texas-court-strikes-down-teen-content-ban-while-keeping-digital-id-checks-in-place" title="Texas Court Strikes Down Teen Content Ban While Keeping Digital ID Checks In Place" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/texas-digital-online-id-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/texas-digital-online-id-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/texas-digital-online-id-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/texas-digital-online-id-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/texas-digital-online-id-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/texas-digital-online-id-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/texas-digital-online-id-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a><div class='code-block code-block-5' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>
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The US District Court for the Western District of Texas has issued an order in the case brought against the Texas SCOPE Act (House Bill 18), approving in part a preliminary injunction.
The request has been granted against the provision requiring social media companies to block teens from accessing certain types of “harmful” content.
However, the court decided to allow online age registration through digital ID requirements from the same act to remain in place. The law, which was to come into force on September 15, is designed to make major web services filter what minors can access on the internet, but also identify them.
Other rules from the SCOPE Act prohibit large social media companies from targeted advertising of those under 18 and limit what data can be collected from them.
Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton was the defendant in the case, with corporate groups Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and NetChoice as the plaintiffs.
These organizations, which represent the likes of Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, X, PayPal, Uber, and more, are now declaring victory “for free speech” and referring to the access restrictions envisaged by the law as a “key censorship requirement.”
According to a NetChoice press release, the access-limiting measures that the court found exclusively targeted speech, and for that reason, “likely” represented First Amendment violation.
In addition, the order found the SCOPE Act to be, regarding these provisions, “overbroad, overly restrictive, and underinclusive.”
NetChoice is framing the ruling as yet another instance in a growing number of cases of a federal court “blocking government censorship” when it comes to lawful content and speech on the internet.
The group representing massive corporations said that it has been successful in injunction requests against four more states whose laws create what NetChoice calls “an age-gate.”
However, that’s not the same as age verification, which NetChoice chose not to mention in its statement regarding the ruling. Namely, the court’s decision left data collection and age verification out of the preliminary injunction.
The latter rule applies to sites that are deemed to contain “large amounts of adult content” – even though they are not adult sites.
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The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/texas-court-strikes-down-teen-content-ban-while-keeping-digital-id-checks-in-place">Texas Court Strikes Down Teen Content Ban While Keeping Digital ID Checks In Place</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
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<title>Expanding WHO’s Role: Canadian Stakeholders Eye “Misinformation” Control</title>
<link>https://reclaimthenet.org/expanding-whos-role-canadian-stakeholders-eye-misinformation-control</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Didi Rankovic]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 05 Sep 2024 15:41:28 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Free Speech and Censorship]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Privacy]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://reclaimthenet.org/?p=200268</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/expanding-whos-role-canadian-stakeholders-eye-misinformation-control" title="Expanding WHO’s Role: Canadian Stakeholders Eye “Misinformation” Control" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/canada-who-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Digital artwork of the World Health Organization (WHO) emblem in white, overlaid on a red maple leaf silhouette against a dark background filled with red and white binary code and data patterns." style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/canada-who-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/canada-who-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/canada-who-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/canada-who-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/canada-who-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/canada-who-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a>Canadian groups push for stronger WHO pandemic treaty by advocating for censorship of social media "misinformation."
The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/expanding-whos-role-canadian-stakeholders-eye-misinformation-control">Expanding WHO’s Role: Canadian Stakeholders Eye “Misinformation” Control</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/expanding-whos-role-canadian-stakeholders-eye-misinformation-control" title="Expanding WHO’s Role: Canadian Stakeholders Eye “Misinformation” Control" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/canada-who-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Digital artwork of the World Health Organization (WHO) emblem in white, overlaid on a red maple leaf silhouette against a dark background filled with red and white binary code and data patterns." style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/canada-who-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/canada-who-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/canada-who-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/canada-who-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/canada-who-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/canada-who-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a><div class='code-block code-block-5' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>
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Canada wants to expand the scope of the World Health Organization, WHO’s global pandemic agreement (treaty) by adding more censorship measures.
The initiative is to add social media “misinformation” (and censorship thereof) to the discussion of the draft treaty. In anticipation of the “next pandemic,” Canada also wants more attention to be paid to what it considers diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The treaty’s purpose is to give WHO an active role in directing how the United Nation’s 193 member countries deal with pandemics or other health crises. However, the negotiators failed to agree on the text of the document by <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/whos-treaty-still-contain-references-to-power-over-misinformation-vaccine-passports">the May deadline this year.</a>
At the end of the same month, there was a new version of the pandemic agreement draft that softened the tone of some of the censorship provisions but gave WHO more surveillance powers.
Before the latest version was published, what are referred to as “partners and stakeholders” in Canada wanted to add measures such as holding social media platforms “accountable for the content they host” (depending on what type of “accountability” the authors of the proposals had in mind, it’s unclear how this would be acceptable, for example, to the US, given its Section 230).
More ideas coming out of Canada include burdening the same entities with accountability “for the impact of their algorithms” – all this in the context of the “threat of misinformation.”
More “threats” that are predictably cited these days in certain quarters include “AI”, and when it comes to surveillance, the treaty should provide for “inclusive practices,” the Canadian proposal says.
“Comprehensive prevention strategies, inclusive surveillance practices, and addressing challenges for marginalized communities are essential for effective pandemic prevention,” the conclusions from the meetings held in January and February 2024 in several cities specify.
Canada’s Liberal government has chosen not to stick its neck out by openly pushing for such measures, and is very careful to note that in a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/phac-aspc/documents/services/publications/health-risks-safety/pandemic-regional-engagement-series-summary-report/pandemic-regional-engagement-series-summary-report.pdf">report</a>, but it’s clear enough how the system works: “partners” and “stakeholders” are said to be behind the proposals – and they work with the Office of International Affairs for the Health Portfolio, a government entity.
The Office had brought together over 100 people from indigenous groups, universities, civil society, public and private sectors, as well as territorial and provincial governments.
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The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/expanding-whos-role-canadian-stakeholders-eye-misinformation-control">Expanding WHO’s Role: Canadian Stakeholders Eye “Misinformation” Control</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
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</item>
<item>
<title>A Private, Self-Hosted Google News and Apple News Alternative That Syncs to all of Your Devices</title>
<link>https://reclaimthenet.org/private-self-hosted-google-apple-news-alternative</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Tom Parker]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 04 Sep 2024 18:24:06 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Big Tech Alternatives]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Free Speech and Censorship]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Members]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Privacy]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://reclaimthenet.org/?p=200171</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/private-self-hosted-google-apple-news-alternative" title="A Private, Self-Hosted Google News and Apple News Alternative That Syncs to all of Your Devices" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rss-s-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="A screenshot of an RSS feed reader displaying a list of articles from various news sources. The interface has a sidebar menu on the left for navigation, including sections like "Main stream," "Important feeds," and "My labels." The main section shows the titles of articles from sources such as The Telegraph, Mail Online, New York Post, and Fox News, each with a publish date and time." style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rss-s-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rss-s-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rss-s-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rss-s-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rss-s-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rss-s-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a>Break free from Big Tech's biased algorithms and build a news feed that respects your preferences.
The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/private-self-hosted-google-apple-news-alternative">A Private, Self-Hosted Google News and Apple News Alternative That Syncs to all of Your Devices</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/private-self-hosted-google-apple-news-alternative" title="A Private, Self-Hosted Google News and Apple News Alternative That Syncs to all of Your Devices" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rss-s-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="A screenshot of an RSS feed reader displaying a list of articles from various news sources. The interface has a sidebar menu on the left for navigation, including sections like "Main stream," "Important feeds," and "My labels." The main section shows the titles of articles from sources such as The Telegraph, Mail Online, New York Post, and Fox News, each with a publish date and time." style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rss-s-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rss-s-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rss-s-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rss-s-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rss-s-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rss-s-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a><div class='code-block code-block-5' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>
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The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/private-self-hosted-google-apple-news-alternative">A Private, Self-Hosted Google News and Apple News Alternative That Syncs to all of Your Devices</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
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</item>
<item>
<title>California’s New AI Law Proposals Could Impact Memes</title>
<link>https://reclaimthenet.org/californias-new-ai-law-proposals-could-impact-memes</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Didi Rankovic]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 04 Sep 2024 17:52:44 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Creators]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Free Speech and Censorship]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://reclaimthenet.org/?p=200244</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/californias-new-ai-law-proposals-could-impact-memes" title="California’s New AI Law Proposals Could Impact Memes" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-meme-law-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="A person in a suit and tie speaks into a microphone at a formal meeting, while others sit and listen in the background." style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-meme-law-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-meme-law-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-meme-law-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-meme-law-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-meme-law-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-meme-law-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a>Critics warn that the broad language in the bill could lead to unintended censorship of satire, parody, or memes under the guise of combating deepfakes.
The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/californias-new-ai-law-proposals-could-impact-memes">California’s New AI Law Proposals Could Impact Memes</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/californias-new-ai-law-proposals-could-impact-memes" title="California’s New AI Law Proposals Could Impact Memes" rel="nofollow"><img width="2560" height="1440" src="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-meme-law-scaled.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="A person in a suit and tie speaks into a microphone at a formal meeting, while others sit and listen in the background." style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 15px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" srcset="https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-meme-law-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-meme-law-300x169.jpg 300w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-meme-law-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-meme-law-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-meme-law-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/california-meme-law-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a><div class='code-block code-block-5' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>
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California’s state legislature has passed several bills related to “AI,” including a ban on deepfakes “around elections.”
The lawmakers squeezed these bills in during the last week of the current sessions of the state Senate and House, and it is now up to Governor Gavin Newsom (<a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/newsom-threatens-laws-against-deepfakes-after-kamala-harris-parody-video-goes-viral">who has called for such laws</a>) to sign or veto them by the end of this month.
One of the likely future laws is Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024, which aims to regulate how sites, apps, and social media (defined for the purposes of the legislation as large online platforms) should deal with content that the bill considers to be “materially deceptive related to elections in California.”
Namely, the bill wants such content blocked, specifying that this refers to “specified” periods – 120 days before and 60 days after an election. And campaigns will have to disclose if their ads contain AI-altered content.
Now comes the hard part – what qualifies for blocking as deceptive, in order to “defend democracy from deepfakes”? It’s a very broad “definition” that can be interpreted all the way to banning memes.
For example, who’s to say if – satirical – content that shows a candidate “saying something (they) did not do or say” can end up “reasonably likely” harming the reputation or prospects of a candidate? And who’s to judge what “reasonably likely” is? But the bill uses these terms, and there’s more.
Also outlawed would be content showing an election official “doing or saying something in connection with the performance of their elections-related duties that the elections official did not do or say and that is reasonably likely to falsely undermine confidence in the outcome of one or more election contests.”
If the bill gets signed into law on September 30, given the time-frame, it would comprehensively cover not only the current campaign, but the period after it.
And “translated” into plain language, the provisions are designed to “protect” candidates from AI-generated content in any scenario (when such measures are actually justified, or merely, for example, as part of the “war on memes”).
Another category to protect are election officials, that is, “election integrity” (one can make an educated guess, in case an election is contested – again, even if the content is protected lawful speech such as satire).
It’s the “reasonably likely” phrase that leaves space for such broad interpretations.
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The post <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org/californias-new-ai-law-proposals-could-impact-memes">California’s New AI Law Proposals Could Impact Memes</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reclaimthenet.org">Reclaim The Net</a>.
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