Censorship in America: The New Normal
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
Dark forces in America threaten speech, media, and academic freedoms.
Social media, Google, and other tech giants are complicit in a campaign to suppress content conflicting with the official narrative.
What’s increasingly going on is the hallmark of totalitarian rule – controlling the message, eliminating what conflicts with it, notably on major geopolitical issues.
Losing the right of free expression endangers all others. When truth-telling and dissent are considered threats to national security, free and open societies no longer exist – the slippery slope where America and other Western societies are heading.
The following headlines should scare everyone:
NYT: “Facebook Says It Removed Pages Related to ‘Inauthentic Behavior’ ”
Washington Post: “Sprawling Iranian influence operation globalizes tech’s war on disinformation”
Wall Street Journal: “Facebook Pulls Accounts Peddling Misinformation From Iran, Russia”
CNN: “Facebook takes down 652 pages after finding disinformation campaigns run from Iran and Russia”
The UK owned and controlled BBC: “Facebook and Twitter remove accounts linked to Russia and Iran campaigns”
Other Western major media had similar headlined reports. On Tuesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said hundreds of pages on its platform were removed for exhibiting signs of “ties to state-owned media” – including “activities the US government (said are) linked to Russian military intelligence” and Iran.
Facebook deleted accounts based on information supplied by the CIA, US State and Treasury Departments, acting as an agent for the imperial state.
The same goes for Twitter, Google, YouTube, Microsoft, and other tech giants – in cahoots with Washington against the most fundamental of fundamental freedoms.
Facebook removed 652 pages. Twitter suspended 284 accounts for engaging in what it called “coordinated manipulation” – code language for truth-telling dark forces in Washington want suppressed.
Google removed Google Plus and YouTube content – based on information supplied by the CIA-funded FireEye cybersecurity firm, Langley calling the company a “critical addition to our strategic investment portfolio for security technologies.”
According to Facebook, pages allegedly connected to Russia, Iran, and other US sanctioned countries are targeted for removal, claiming some seek to influence US midterm elections – providing no evidence proving any of the targeted pages were involved in illegal or improper activities.
FB allied with the Atlantic Council (AC) – a neocon infested enemy of world peace and stability think tank, promoting NATO’s killing machine, America’s military, industrial, security, major media complex, and Ziofascist Israel.
FB partnered with AC’s imperial geopolitical agenda to censor material falsely called “foreign interference” – AC’s Digital Forensic Research Lab involved in so-called “fact-checking,” code language for flagrant censorship.
The CIA-linked FireEye said so-called “inauthentic behavior” targeted for removal includes “anti-Saudi, anti-Israeli, and pro-Palestinian themes, as well as support for specific US policies favorable to Iran, such as the US-Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA).”
In cahoots with dark forces in Washington, Microsoft’s so-called Digital Crimes Unit shut down 84 websites it claimed were associated with Russian hackers – no evidence cited proving it.
Its Microsoft AccountGuard initiative offers free cybersecurity protection to US political candidates and campaign offices at the federal, state and local levels.
No evidence suggests any threats to America’s political process exists – just invented ones to bash Russia.
The new normal in America and other Western societies considers anything conflicting with the official narrative on vital issues “inauthentic behavior.”
Are these nations heading toward eliminating the right of free expression altogether- falsely claiming it’s to protect national security?
It appears to be what’s going on in the West – the possible elimination of free and open societies already gravely threatened.
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My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
