Post-COVID big tech censorship and control

It seems the coronavirus has made them take it up to eleven. In this thread I will post news regarding the upcoming dystopia. Let's start with this one from June 19:

An army of keyboard warriors is being recruited to mass report anti-vaccine social media posts

The plan is to use the army of users to mass flag anti-vaccine content on social media platforms in order to try and get the content removed and kill the conversation: “PGP plans to conscript the vast but largely silent majority of Americans who support vaccines into any army of keyboard warriors trained to block, hide, and report vaccine misinformation.”

Gab has been blacklisted by Visa for “promoting hate speech.”

So, Gab is a social media platform that is pretty free speech supporting. And for that they've been banned from electronic banking. It's worrying how the big banks can just remove us if they decide we've done something they don't like.

TV producers turn to private investigators to scan for problematic tweets of potential hires

You better beware to never say anything against the prevailing leftist ideology on social media:

Bravo fired four cast members of the reality show Vanderpump Rules. On June 9, the network tweeted that Brett Caprioni, Kristen Doute, Stassi Schroeder, and Max Boyens would not return for the next season. The announcement followed a discovery that Doute and Schroeder reported a black co-worker for a crime she had not committed. The other two were terminated over historical tweets.

The previous day, The CW fired Hartley Sawyer, who plays Elongated Man in the network’s hit series The Flash. According to bosses, his past jokes were homophobic, racist, and misogynistic.

Soon, the ability to hold a job will depend on your allegiance to Social Justice Warriors. They can even get you for something you said years ago.

Petition asking women be called “women” instead of “menstruators” called transphobic, deleted by change.org

Title says it all, so I'll leave it without comment.

Walmart Canada removes “All Lives Matter” t-shirt after social media users complain

Same as above - all in the title.

bighax wrote:It seems the coronavirus has made them take it up to eleven. In this thread I will post news regarding the upcoming dystopia.

Thanks for all the info.  Of course, one thing they say is important is placing a limit on how much news you consume each day, and trying to balance any negative news out with positive news.  In fact, according to a certain study:

http://michellegielan.com/project/hbr-consuming-negative-news-can-make-you-less-effective-at-work/

Individuals who watched just three minutes of negative news in the morning had a whopping 27% greater likelihood of reporting their day as unhappy six to eight hours later compared to the positive condition.

In general, I think it's best to save news (if you're going to consume it at all) for later in the day, but not too late, such as right before bedtime.  That's often easier said than done, though.  

So, Gab is a social media platform that is pretty free speech supporting. And for that they've been banned from electronic banking. It's worrying how the big banks can just remove us if they decide we've done something they don't like.

That is chilling.  Social media has become extremely dangerous.  I hadn't heard of Gab before.  At the very least, if you're going to do social media, use a site like Gab, and never reveal your real name.

Soon, the ability to hold a job will depend on your allegiance to Social Justice Warriors. They can even get you for something you said years ago.

It's absolute insanity.  Are we going back in time to Nazi Germany in the 1930s???  

As for Walmart, apparently they're pulling this garbage in the U.S. now too.  Look at the violent revolutionary "fist" in this T-shirt they're still offering:



However, they've yanked all the T-shirts like the one below (I hate to use Google, but it's the only place I could find a cache of the Web page):

https://tinyurl.com/y8r65sbb

Well, I called up Walmart.com and complained.  (Interestingly enough, the woman I talked to was black.)  I told her that I'll stop shopping there if they keep this up.  The one mistake I think I made was giving out my real name—next time I'll just make one up (even though they'll still know my phone number because the call is toll-free). 

Anyway, it really is crazy what's going on.  We need to fight this tyranny as hard as possible.  I don't believe that evil will ultimately win, but there's never any shame in going down fighting. 

And besides the evil Big Tech companies, actively avoid all other nutjob sites as well, like change.org and GoFundMe. 

As the following Mercola article points out (no registration required!  ), if you want to protect yourself, know thy sheriff. 

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2020/06/joseph-mercola/dont-relinquish-civil-liberties-for-false-sense-of-security/

If the worst-case scenario occurs and your state decides to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine, or any other vaccine, the practical question will be how they’re going to enforce it. They’ll most probably rely on local police and/or the county sheriff.

Thankfully, county sheriffs are elected by the people and are directly accountable to the citizens in their county, the state Constitution, and the U.S. Constitution, and have the legal authority to deny what they consider to be an unlawful governmental order.

For this reason, I believe it is important to know who your county sheriff is. Get to know and develop a relationship with them. Educate them about why it is important to defend the human right to make informed, voluntary decisions about medical risk taking, including vaccine risk-taking.

Incidentally, I heard that the majority of Mercola's articles are ghostwritten, so he ain't no genius. 

neptune wrote:

bighax wrote:It seems the coronavirus has made them take it up to eleven. In this thread I will post news regarding the upcoming dystopia.

Thanks for all the info.  Of course, one thing they say is important is placing a limit on how much news you consume each day, and trying to balance any negative news out with positive news.  In fact, according to a certain study:

http://michellegielan.com/project/hbr-consuming-negative-news-can-make-you-less-effective-at-work/

Individuals who watched just three minutes of negative news in the morning had a whopping 27% greater likelihood of reporting their day as unhappy six to eight hours later compared to the positive condition.

In general, I think it's best to save news (if you're going to consume it at all) for later in the day, but not too late, such as right before bedtime.  That's often easier said than done, though.  

Usually I don't care about the news. Never watch TV etc. But this time we're losing the free internet and the free world. Probably better to pay attention rather than suddenly end up in a dystopia.

Australian government wants to partner with social media companies to review “misinformation”

The ACMA hopes that the code of conduct will help address the problem of fake news and misinformation on the internet. The code should solve this problem in user-generated content as well as ads and sponsored content.
The communications regulator also wants the code to include recommendations on what digital platforms consider authoritative sources of information and news.

By digital platforms, the ACMA means social media, search engines, and any content sharing services that attract more than a million active users per month in Australia.

By default, that would include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Google Search, YouTube, Google News, Apple News, LinkedIn, and TikTok. However, ACMA would, in the future, extend the code to other digital services such as closed group messaging services such as WhatsApp, online forums such as Reddit, virtual assistants such as Alexa, and audio hosting services such as Spotify.

Now tell me this isn't the beginning of total information control.

Also, if you have any positive news, post them up! But maybe in another thread. I haven't seen these in a very long time.

bighax wrote:

neptune wrote:

bighax wrote:It seems the coronavirus has made them take it up to eleven. In this thread I will post news regarding the upcoming dystopia.

Thanks for all the info.  Of course, one thing they say is important is placing a limit on how much news you consume each day, and trying to balance any negative news out with positive news.  In fact, according to a certain study:

http://michellegielan.com/project/hbr-consuming-negative-news-can-make-you-less-effective-at-work/

Individuals who watched just three minutes of negative news in the morning had a whopping 27% greater likelihood of reporting their day as unhappy six to eight hours later compared to the positive condition.

In general, I think it's best to save news (if you're going to consume it at all) for later in the day, but not too late, such as right before bedtime.  That's often easier said than done, though.  

Usually I don't care about the news. Never watch TV etc. But this time we're losing the free internet and the free world. Probably better to pay attention rather than suddenly end up in a dystopia.

Australian government wants to partner with social media companies to review “misinformation”

The ACMA hopes that the code of conduct will help address the problem of fake news and misinformation on the internet. The code should solve this problem in user-generated content as well as ads and sponsored content.
The communications regulator also wants the code to include recommendations on what digital platforms consider authoritative sources of information and news.

By digital platforms, the ACMA means social media, search engines, and any content sharing services that attract more than a million active users per month in Australia.

By default, that would include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Google Search, YouTube, Google News, Apple News, LinkedIn, and TikTok. However, ACMA would, in the future, extend the code to other digital services such as closed group messaging services such as WhatsApp, online forums such as Reddit, virtual assistants such as Alexa, and audio hosting services such as Spotify.

Now tell me this isn't the beginning of total information control.

Also, if you have any positive news, post them up! But maybe in another thread. I haven't seen these in a very long time.

Another similar one:

Egypt jails reporters and bloggers who publish COVID information that disputes government sources/

If you want positive, we can talk positive. Ways to bypass the control grid. Darknets. Earning money outside of the electronic banking system. Meeting up physically instead of just relying on the compromised networks. Keeping your health up in an age of 5G, air pollution, bad food. Etc.

bighax wrote:Usually I don't care about the news. Never watch TV etc.

I don't watch TV either.

But this time we're losing the free internet and the free world. Probably better to pay attention rather than suddenly end up in a dystopia.

Right, we definitely need to pay attention.  But there's a difference between being smart and well-informed and being a total junkie for "doom and gloom."  For example, my sister has a friend who's the Queen of Doom and Gloom.  I believe this woman spends hours each day watching videos about how the world is going to end and how we're totally finished as a society.  And then she forwards them to others and expects them to watch the videos too.  She apparently considers this "being informed."     For her, I think it's all an unhealthy obsession.  

In fact, doomscrolling has become the latest phenomenon:  

https://nypost.com/2020/04/14/are-you-a-doomscrolling-junkie-the-new-scary-coronavirus-habit/

Ever find yourself glued to your phone screen, mindlessly thumbing through depressing news for hours on end?

Well, now there’s a word for that: “doomscrolling.”

The trendy new phrase — which has now joined the ranks of other coronavirus-inspired terms like “quarantini” and “zoombombing” — is making the rounds on Twitter to describe everyone’s incessant need to consume somber stories.

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Now tell me this isn't the beginning of total information control.

Yes, it's very disturbing.  That's why it's best to stay away from the platforms controlled by Big Tech.  On a "no-name" site like this one, we're probably OK for now.    

Also, if you have any positive news, post them up!

If I see something that seems worth sharing, certainly.  Anyway, my main point is simply that balance is important.  Yes, we certainly need to know what may lie ahead, but we also don't want to mimic the "We're all gonna die!!!!" attitude displayed by the bozos over at MTF.  

Quick little English tip:  The word news is what we call a "mass noun":

https://www.eslbuzz.com/common-mistakes-in-the-use-of-uncountable-nouns-in-english/

So, when using a pronoun to refer to news, you'll want to go for it.    

I haven't seen these in a very long time.

You mean good news that's actually worth sharing?

bighax wrote:Egypt jails reporters and bloggers who publish COVID information that disputes government sources/

Reminds me of this quote:  

'Emergencies' have always been the pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have been eroded. — Friedrich August von Hayek

If you want positive, we can talk positive.

Well, just a balance.  In other words, if we read 10 articles about how bad everything is probably going to get, but 0 articles about some possible things that we can to do to fight it, then the information probably isn't doing anyone a whole lot of good.  

Ways to bypass the control grid. Darknets. Earning money outside of the electronic banking system. Meeting up physically instead of just relying on the compromised networks. Keeping your health up in an age of 5G, air pollution, bad food. Etc.

Yes, all of those topics sound worthwhile.  In fact, here's a little tip for "filtering" the air in your home:  Open your windows.  Apparently indoor air is about 2 to 5 times (and sometimes up to 100 times) more polluted than outdoor air.  So, just opening your windows is an easy way to make your living environment healthier—and less "stuffy" too.

Ethiopia cuts off the country’s internet to quash protests/

On June 29, a musician and activist was killed by unknown attackers in Ethiopia’s capital, which gave rise to a number of justice-seeking protests.

And even though that event is said to have paved the way for democratic reform and a multi-party government – Ethiopia still deals with political problems by switching off the country’s entire internet infrastructure.

On the digital side, Ethiopia’s government went for what Access Now calls its go-to tool in dealing with unrest and activism – shutting down the internet.

This time, the blackout was complete, leaving a nation of over 100 million people in digital darkness a day after the killing, June 30.

Other then quelling the protests, the effect is that of leaving the population without access to online information in a time of crisis, said Access Now. The organization added that the decision meant the authorities were also in the process of denying citizens freedom of expression.

Now, I don't know how it was done in this particular situation, but usually it is just a DNS block that can be bypassed by a VPN or Tor.

bighax wrote:Now, I don't know how it was done in this particular situation, but usually it is just a DNS block that can be bypassed by a VPN or Tor.

That's helpful to know.

Incidentally, did you hear that Djokovic and his wife have now tested negative for Covid-19?  Strangely enough, no one even seems to be discussing the matter.  So, what exactly does this mean?  Did he fake the initial results just to get the media off his back? If so, he's pretty clever.  

neptune wrote:
Incidentally, did you hear that Djokovic and his wife have now tested negative for Covid-19?  Strangely enough, no one even seems to be discussing the matter.  So, what exactly does this mean?  Did he fake the initial results just to get the media off his back?  If so, he's pretty clever.  

We know the test is unreliable, so I suspect some higher-ups simply needed him to be positive. I wouldn't put it past the WHO or other authorities to "order" a positive result so that they can attack the "anti-vaccine" Djokovic. But I don't even know who did the test. So why is he negative now? Maybe the fearmongers accomplished what they wanted, and are now letting him "free".

New news:

Amazon refuses to publish book by epidemiologist professor Daniel Halperin/

His book, “Coping with Covid-19: 12 Common Myths and 12 Lesser Known Facts about the Pandemic: Clearly Explained by an Epidemiologist,” was rejected for “not complying” with Kindle, i.e., Amazon guidelines.

Wonder what the book is about. I suspect it does not quite follow the WHO's guidelines

bighax wrote:We know the test is unreliable, so I suspect some higher-ups simply needed him to be positive.

Could be, but it probably helped his reputation too by gaining him some sympathy.  

I wouldn't put it past the WHO or other authorities to "order" a positive result so that they can attack the "anti-vaccine" Djokovic.

I wouldn't either.

So why is he negative now? Maybe the fearmongers accomplished what they wanted, and are now letting him "free".

Anything is possible, I guess.  

Wonder what the book is about. I suspect it does not quite follow the WHO's guidelines

That's obviously the reason—they didn't like the book.  In fact, here's a recent article written by him:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/29/case-reopening-schools-this-fall/


And apparently you don't actually need Amazon to publish a book:

https://publishthatbooknow.com/how-to-self-publish-a-book-without-using-amazon/

This woman in this video really gets it:

Boycott Walmart and Kroger for requiring masks

Sorry but this is just extremely funny: https://tennesseestar.com/2020/08/09/metro-nashville-council-member-wants-people-not-wearing-a-mask-to-be-charged-with-murder-or-attempted-murder/

Metro Nashville At-Large Council Member Sharon Hurt said Wednesday during a virtual meeting of the Joint Public Safety and Health Committee that there should be stronger legislation for those not wearing masks and suggested they be charged with murder or attempted murder.

I'm a killer now! Better beware

bighax wrote:Sorry but this is just extremely funny: https://tennesseestar.com/2020/08/09/metro-nashville-council-member-wants-people-not-wearing-a-mask-to-be-charged-with-murder-or-attempted-murder/

Before even clicking on the link, I guessed that the woman was black!!  

I'm a killer now! Better beware

I suggest that someone with a mask give Hurt an immediate psychiatric evaluation!!  The situation reminds me of this somewhat obscure term:  kakistocracy.  

Speaking of funny, I thought these were all pretty good: