Slashdot Mirror
Vladimir Putin Signs Sweeping Internet-Censorship Bills (arstechnica.com)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed two censorship bills into law Monday. One bans "fake news" while the other makes it illegal to insult public officials. Ars Technica reports on the details: Under one bill, individuals can face fines and jail time if they publish material online that shows a "clear disrespect for society, the state, the official state symbols of the Russian Federation, the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and bodies exercising state power." Insults against Putin himself can be punished under the law, The Moscow Times reports. Punishments can be as high as 300,000 rubles ($4,700) and 15 days in jail.
A second bill subjects sites publishing "unreliable socially significant information" to fines as high as 1.5 million rubles ($23,000). [T]he Russian government has "essentially unconstrained authority to determine that any speech is unacceptable. One consequence may be to make it nearly impossible for individuals or groups to call for public protest activity against any action taken by the state," [analyst Matthew Rojansky told the Post]
A second bill subjects sites publishing "unreliable socially significant information" to fines as high as 1.5 million rubles ($23,000). [T]he Russian government has "essentially unconstrained authority to determine that any speech is unacceptable. One consequence may be to make it nearly impossible for individuals or groups to call for public protest activity against any action taken by the state," [analyst Matthew Rojansky told the Post]
This is to prevent discourse on his attempts to maintain power beyond his constitutional term, whether by the Belarus union option or other means.
So they've basically made it so they (the state, the gov, politicians etc) can say anything they want and any one who might question it will be hit with "disrespect for society, the state, the official state symbols of the Russian Federation, the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and bodies exercising state power." and anyone not state sanctioned can be pulled on "unreliable socially significant information". Trump is probably checking to see if he can get away with that one too.
Wanna buy a shirt?
https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
I am so glad that I no longer live in Russia since the age of 3-4 years, though its my birthplace.
Is 'freedom of speech' actually entrenched in the laws or constitution in every country?
In the US it wasn't until the first amendment was ratified.
Does it have the same meaning in every country?
Also, does the Government of every country treat it the same?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Saying "Putin has a big nose", then, isn't an insult, it's just a fact.
Hence the new laws. Pointing out an inconvenient truth about Putin or his cronies might technically not be an insult, but you can be sure it will de deemed "disrespectful to the state" and punished accordingly.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
You had proof 2 years ago so why the investigation for 2 years? how many people do you need to lock for forgetting a email?
Just fucking lock him up for the crime of being smarter that the corporate media and Hillary(the saint)Clinton.
I am curious now that the democrats are a fractured mess will it be Putin who wins the election for Trump Again?
Clearly Putin controlled American voters with his epic $105,000 worth of childish adds 56% of which ran after the election and 25% were never seen by anyone vs Hillary's record 2 billion dollar election machine.
Hillary is the first candidate in history who should have won an election without bothering to campaign.
I find your elections very amusing.
Yep, and the EU is already getting on the censoring 'fake news' bandwagon as well, and has already been caught applying 'fake' to 'politically inconvenient' a couple of times...
In whataboutism we can trust.
All these "small government" right wingers you are talking about only pay lip service to this ideal. In reality they make the government larger whenever they are in charge.
It is not that different in Germany where we have our own comparable politicians, like Dirk Niebel for example, who promised to close the ministry of economic cooperation and development before being elected and appointed as the minister of that ministry. He quickly hired a lot of additional staff (members of his party, of course) and increased the budget of that ministry quite a bit.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
He remains what he has always been: a KGB thug.
Public Service Announcement: The right to free speech means the government can't arrest you for what you say.
It doesn't mean that anyone else has to listen to your bullshit, or host you while you share it.
The 1st Amendment doesn't shield you from criticism or consequences.
If you're yelled at, boycotted, have your show cancelled, or get banned from an Internet community, your free speech rights aren't being violated.
It's just that the people listening think you're an asshole, and they're showing you the door.
Ooh, moderator points! Five more idjits go to Minus One Hell!
Delendae sunt RIAA, MPAA et Windoze
Now, many westeners want the same in their own countries...
Thank you, Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden and so many others, for courageously defending humanity, my freedom and more!
Hey, Trump loves laws like this, he praises Putin and Xi.
I assume you are referring to the video of the shootings in New Zealand? The censorship on those is both pretty bloody justified and pretty bloody useless. It is justified in that the people being killed were people with families and children. People who loved them who shouldn't have to see their last moments of pain and terror. It is justified because the victims shouldn't have to see (if they survived) their own pain and terror being used to promote the agenda of the criminal. It is also justified because the people who watched and shared it didn't have the empathy to not watch and not share. There are some exceptions to this such as it being news, etc....but in general people could understand what had happened without having to see it and pass it on for kicks.
It is pretty bloody useless because the censorship failed miserably and probably made the video more popular with people being more reluctant to take it down due to the fact they were being censored. It also hides the problem. Censorship shouldn't be needed. We should be able to control our little masturbatory emotions and think before watching and sharing it. I think Plato said, "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." And there are some broken people in the world so the government censors content because some people can't. I don't want people to watch me gasping out my last terrified breaths because of somebody else's mental illness. Some other people might, but that isn't something wrong with me, that's something wrong with them.
The people who knowingly watched the video, even worse shared it, or (even worse) enjoyed it need to sit down and think about who they are. If they don't feel horrified then possibly they should call a helpline to see if they need help (Warning: there are trackers on the Healthline page. Use tor).
I reserve the write to mangle english.
I absolutely do.
But pretending that Trump or the Republicans would do this if they could, while conveniently forgetting that Obama and the Democrats actually tried, is a shill move.
Real conservatives are constitutionalists and honor the Bill or Rights.
Unfortunately we've come the point where we're not allowed to criticize people for their actions. Someone can be a war hero of undisputed bravery and still be a political back-stabber. Someone can hold beliefs we disagree with and still hold them with integrity and not be evil. Yet somehow too many people seem to think we're living in a cartoon where all of the opposition works for Satan and any criticism is equivalent to marking someone with 666.
I absolutely agree, except, all of this is being done with the approval of one side of the political spectrum:
1. Government money is being spent on 'education' (mild brain washing) to support this same side of the political spectrum creating a half generation of society that beleives liberty is a lie, and they've been oppressed. (If they are, they should flee to Europe where real freedom reigns if that's what they believe.)
2. The media is supporting this side of the political spectrum by covering up lies and scandals while condemning 10 times as offen for lesser offenses from the other side as well as fabricating false charges against a president that isn't taking their BS, so they start falsely accusing him of obstruction when he's only protecting himself against conspiracies to remove him from office for false charges.
3. These individuals are forcing authors to change their stories to match leftist morality. This is censorship of a most evil kind because those on the right have very important ideas that created the very society they live in.
4. If they don't like what's on the radio or Fox News, there are other channels they can listen to. The very ideas they are attacking were mainstream and acceptable 10 years ago, and they are only promoting these ideas in order to gain control of the government and erradicate the opposition and turn them into slaves through government tyranny.
Of course, once the leftists enshirine their ideas, and make dissent unacceptable, they will establish themselves as the elite, and the oppressed will have no way out, then will be when they should be shouting, not for more government, but less, and not for leftist thought control but freedom of thought, action, association, and commerce. But it may be too late because the brain washing in liberal states schools will not be rolled back.
I've come to the conclussion that those who agree with the constitution and traditional values should seperate from the states who want to reject the freedoms that built the US government, because the left is on a path that can only result in tyranny or civil war, and only letting them have their way in a seperate country will make them happy.
You don't have free speech if "hate speech" is banned. Heck, Putin has just effectively relabeled speech against the government as "hate speech". China long ago did the same, but broader, calling any speech that disrupts social harmony "hate speech".
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
1. Stop being a drama queen. You. Are. Not. Being. Oppressed.
2. Donald Trump is a liar, a crook, a thief, a con artist, a loudmouth braggart phony and the very model of a toxic boss. He has been these things IN PUBLIC for decades longer than the Evil Liberal Deep State Fake News Mainstream Media has had any reason to care about his politics. Now he starts whistling all the Fascist dog whistles and suddenly he's the Messiah.
3. Which "traditional values" are you talking about? The one that says the wifey should be barefoot and pregnant? That the cullud people should know their place? That the Feelthy Queers need to remain in the closet? That I'd better see you in church bright and early Sunday morning OR ELSE?
4. Again: When tyranny comes to America, it will be the Fourth of July every day, not black helicopters, and YOU will be on the tyrant's side.
Ooh, moderator points! Five more idjits go to Minus One Hell!
Delendae sunt RIAA, MPAA et Windoze