“If I lived in China or even Russia or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand some of these illegal injunctions. Maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges — because they haven’t committed themselves to that over there.”
It wasn’t long ago that I was laughing at the idea of the “Chinese Internet”, which (as the name suggests) is basically run (or at least censored) by the CCP. While sitting upon my comfortable “free speech throne” inside the “shining city on the hill”, I lobbed freedom-based insults down upon the dirty commies — like any good American should! How arrogant are those Chinese “leaders” to assume they can control information! How sad for the people of China who, when attempting to find actual news, will only find state-sanctioned propaganda! Destined to be led by morons making political decisions, the Chinese will never be free — not like us here in America!
I am no longer laughing.
It turns out that for years — and mostly undetected — the US government has been using ‘allies’ to covertly censor the information available to Americans. The Twitter Files were an important part of uncovering this vast “Censorship Industrial Complex”, as were the lawsuits of Missouri v. Biden and Berenson v. Biden. Information is slowly revealing how far-reaching this effort to censor the internet really is — which should also tell you how IMPORTANT this effort is to government. (As does government fighting back in Missouri v. Biden!)
The good news is the Censorship Industrial Complex is being exposed for the tyrannical, controlling system it is. The bad news is the CIC has largely been successful in achieving what I believe was its main goal: by normalizing (and gaining support through politicizing) censorship of supposedly free people, it set the stage for laws now being imposed or proposed around the globe. (Censorship fluffing, if you will)
Just a couple weeks ago, I wrote about the cancellation of Russell Brand, and already the brawl between Rumble and the United Kingdom is heating up. (Reminder: Rumble is already banned in France due to the company’s refusal to stop hosting Russian news.)
Seemingly before we can blink, we’re facing the dangerous ideas of censorship that we used to laugh at the Chinese for putting up with — and all done completely “legally”. The plan was actually quite simple: use government-controlled social media companies to create new censorship rules, then kick the “authority” to censor up the chain to a different bought-off (and undemocratic, but they don’t mention that) institution.
In practice, this means government effectively tells Google what to censor, then Google creates a new policy declaring the “truth” is ordained by “experts” in a higher centralized authority — in the case of covid, this was often the World Health Organization. Finally, government swoops in to complete the circle, declaring the new Google/WHO policy (which is really government’s desired policy) to be the only acceptable truth.
This is basic government censorship with extra steps.
And under these new rules, you can now not only be banned from YouTube for speaking out against the current narrative, you can also be criminally charged — even if you what you say is completely true! With that in mind, let’s have a look at what those “experts” are currently narrating, shall we?
This is the type of propaganda the CIC wants to funnel you into — “information” disseminated from bought-off organizations that are STILL doubling down on vaccines and masks in the face of overwhelming real-world evidence. (Because it’s not about health, it’s about CONTROL!)
Online news sites, in-print newspapers, even in podcasts, the medium is irrelevant — because the fact is once you start censoring, you can’t stop or the house of cards collapses. More and more stories (and journalists) must be squashed, more sites must be infiltrated and sabotaged, and more drastic measures must be taken — all of which leads to a huge swell of pushback……..requiring more drastic measures…….
This is where we find ourselves. The current “authorities” have been “wrong” (on purpose) about basically everything — and they know it. From covid to crime, from foreign policy to monetary policy, THINGS JUST SUCK all over the world — and people know it’s because of incompetent (at best) leadership.
Desperate to hold onto power (and probably to prevent their political opponents from showing the public how “the sausage is made”), the “authorities” have opted to turn to the age-old “solution” of MORE censorship. Take a look at what’s coming down the pike in Canada:
Government says it’s just going to ‘modernize’ Canada’s broadcasting framework by requiring podcasts to register with the government! Nothing to worry about at all!
“Podcasters have to follow broadcasting rules, too!”
Hopefully everybody sees through this BS excuse and understands this action for what it is — the first step in gaining ultimate control over podcasts/alternative news sources. First, government sets up a permission-based system — maybe even something that doesn’t even filter anybody out….yet. Then, government slowly tweaks the parameters of the requirements and/or the punishments for running afoul of the rules until the wrongthinkers lose their ability to speak on the internet to an interested audience. Once again, all completely legal and enabled by the licensing system.
And when you’re banned, do you think the government that just banned you will really be interested in hearing your appeal? (Those of us who were exiled from Twitter know exactly how this goes.)
When this happen, you have no rights.…and worse, you have no recourse — because the government that’s supposed to be protecting your rights is violating them instead. (If only somebody had seen this coming!)
We should understand how this punishment-via-licensing system works — we saw it in spades during covid. Here in Washington, Jay Inslee threatened to pull the business license of any company who dared defied his edicts. Across the country, doctors who dared prescribe ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine were hauled in front of medical boards and threatened with the loss of licensing (and with it, the ability to make a living).
There’s no reason to think that ‘free speech licenses’ will be any different — punish the dissidents, reward the faithful. Consider this graphic showing funding for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (Normally I shrink this for space, but the full-size graphic illustrates the point more clearly.)
Ultimately, who do you think is “in charge” of content at the CBC? Do you think the organization will bite the hand that feeds it, or will it play along and keep getting fat on government subsidies? We all know that he who pays the piper calls the tune, and the Canadian government is very comfortable throwing that tune-calling weight around — even if that means blocking news from getting to its citizens. (Just like the “Chinese Internet”!)
Sadly, the censorship push isn’t staying outside our borders. Joe Biden recently lamented the fact that since Elon Musk bought Twitter, nobody knows what’s true online anymore!
Elon bought Twitter in October 2022. Before that time (and to a lesser extent afterward), the CIC was basically in control of what could be said the platform. Many of us have first-hand experience with the banhammer after speaking out against covid measures — but there were plenty of issues that got you thrown off Twitter before Musk bought the company. The lab leak theory was verboten up until the exact day that Joe Biden said it was possible — then magically the rules were changed. (You didn’t think they’d actually throw Joe Biden off Facebook or Twitter, do you?) Arguing against the war in Ukraine got you thrown out of polite society. The list of forbidden topics goes on and on (and will certainly expand) — and the truth isn’t a part of the equation.
In fact, the tut-tutting about “truth” and “misinformation” is especially insulting when you compare the lies the media WAS spending its time reporting on during the Trump years. (Side note: I’ll still happily put my covid track record against anybody in the MSM!)
This list is pretty old, so by now we can add some new hoaxes — how about “Joe Biden never discussed business with Hunter”, or “there are no biolabs in Ukraine”? Maybe we can talk about how when media is willing to cover for an ex-principal who claims not to know what fire alarms are for, the result is predictable:
Yet the media can’t stop lying (about any of it), because that brings the entire house of cards down. So reporters keep lying — in more and more spectacular ways. This continues the nosediving public opinion and drives people to seek out alternative (truthful) news sources — news sources that must be crushed in order to continue the Censorship Empire. (Cenpire?)
If you think I’m talking about Substack, it’s because I’m talking about Substack (and its payment processor Stripe — the weak link in this particular chain). The attacks have already started, and the entire CIC is sure to kick back into high gear as the 2024 election draws near.
As Bill Rice touched on earlier today, Substack is the place where real journalism is being done. This is the place where the real conversations are being held. This is the place where the real exchange of ideas is occurring.
Readers supporting these contrarian writers are the real heroes of a resistance movement that’s trying to save the country. The more Substack readers who can support their favorite Substack authors, the more likely “our side” wins.
When I first read that passage, I did a second take on that “save the country” phrase. But then I thought back to what (red-headed) George Washington said:
So maybe this really is what it comes down to. A handful of contrarians — supported by the “real heroes” — determined to get to, publish, and speak the truth against the entire might of the Censorship Industrial Complex, the US government and its bought-off media spewing lies 24/7.
I know where my money is.
Afraid of commitment? Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi — no subscription required!
Use this discord link to help coordinate your local ScreamUp!
Tim asked for a video of G eating yogurt. I got the next best thing:
Video hosted on Rumble because the uploader is being wonky.
"When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say." - George R.R. Martin
So long as half of America consumes and embraces the lies, the more they will continue. Give the people what they want -- which apparently is not the truth. I've lost count of how many "educated" people I know with fancy degrees stuffed up their asses who believed -- and still believe -- every single one of those hoaxes on your list. And will spit in your face if you dare try and convince them otherwise.
"There is no evidence"
The problem with democracy is that the stupid and ignorant can do much damage if there are enough of them. And God knows, there certainly are.