#Communications Act

[coochiequeens]

Earlier this week I said that the tide is turning for the TQ+. This is an example of why that is happening.

By Genevieve Gluck April 10, 2024

A trans-identified male spared a prison sentence after threatening to bludgeon a man with a claw hammer has again avoided jail after threatening to kill women’s rights campaigners. Layla Le Fey, 44, was handed a combined 20-week suspended sentence for violent threats he sent to Helen Joyce and Kellie Jay Keen, two well-known women critical of gender identity ideology, in which he fantasized about butchering and dismembering them.

Last year, Le Fey sent the violent messages via a now-suspended account on X (formerly Twitter) from March through June. Using the handle @laylalefey1, Le Fey stated he was “interested in setting fire” to Keen’s home while she was inside.

Le Fey had also communicated his desire to “kick the s**t out of” her, rip her eyes out, and break her spine in a bizarre bid to “prove [her] point” that “some trans people are extremely violent.” That same day, Le Fey stated that he would enjoy either seeing Keen brutally killed by a ��misogynist psychopath” or acting out the murder himself.

Also targeted by Le Fey was author Helen Joyce, a vocal critic of gender identity ideology and Director of Advocacy for the women’s rights charity Sex Matters.

“God how I would love to just rip your eyes out, chop your hands off, and carve your face up really badly,” Le Fey said to Joyce on March 20. His macabre comment was made in response to Joyce’s 2022 post announcing the publication of her book, Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality.

Le Fey pleaded guilty in a Brighton court yesterday to four offenses under the communications act, including threats of arson.

While reading a victim impact statement out in court, Joyce said: “I’m used to robust and unpleasant debate online. I never get into back and forths and accept that other people have the right to criticize what I say. But seeing the things they were expressing, describing to me how much he would enjoy cutting me, is something else altogether.”

Layla Le Fey in 2013. Source: Facebook

Keen, when presenting her victim impact statement, emphasized that Le Fey is a man who terrorizes women. “A violent man committed a crime,” she said. “The violent threats had far greater impact on my husband and children than me. They are very worried for my safety.”

“Terrorizing women into silence was the intent of this man. I want to make it clear, this crime was committed by a man,” she continued. “This is what happens when women speak up. I didn’t want to elevate this person’s comments, so I did not respond. These tweets disturbed me and I’ve no doubt given the opportunity this person would have carried out these threats… My whereabouts is often known and I have no doubt, given the opportunity, this person would be a threat to my wellbeing.”

Le Fey’s defense attorney, Cathy Walker, referred to him with feminine pronouns while arguing that he had been struggling with his mental health when he made the threats. Walker also claimed that he had had no intention to act on them. Le Fey was sentenced to a consecutive 10 weeks for the threats against Keen, and another 10 concurrent weeks for the messages he sent to Joyce.

Additionally, he is subject to an 18-month restraining order which prohibits him from either contacting or attending events involving either Keen or Joyce, and has been ordered to participate in 25 days’ involvement in a rehabilitation program.

Following the series of violent posts last year, Le Fey was arrested in June by Sussex Police after a massive outcry from concerned supporters of Keen and Joyce.

Le Fey has a history of violence, and, according to the Daily Mail, a lengthy criminal record. He has been convicted for more than 50 prior offenses, including several for wielding weapons in public.

Le Fey had also previously avoided a prison sentence as a direct result of his transgender status. In 2020, Le Fey was convicted of common assault and possession of an offensive weapon after attempting to steal wine from a Budgens in Brighton. During the incident, which took place on November 6th, 2019, Le Fey brandished a claw hammer and used it to threaten the cashier. He was apprehended by police after he swiped another bottle of wine and attempted to flee.

During court proceedings, presiding Judge Stephen Mooney initially called Le Fey’s crime “inexcusable,” and sentenced him to serve a suspended six-month sentence in prison, along with a 30-session rehabilitative therapy order. But within the hour, Judge Mooney overturned his own decision, citing a lack of evidence of Le Fey’s gender reassignment.

Because the court could not establish whether Le Fey had undergone genital surgery, it was argued that a prison term presented an inhumane situation which could not be easily resolved.

Le Fey has gone under several names, including Marcus Smith, Adam Hodgson, and David.

Le Fey, 2023. Source: Facebook.

As Le Fey lacked a legal document known as a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), Le Fey’s attorney, Rebecca Upton, remarked: “The only way Le Fey could prove her new gender would be an ‘undignified examination,’ one which court staff were not prepared to do.”

Without a GRC or physical examination, Le Fey, considered a vulnerable minority under the law, would have then been forced to serve his sentence at the Lewes Prison, a correctional facility for men. Judge Mooney refused to do so, and commented that he could not allow Le Fey to serve his sentence in the male estate.

“We live in a society which acknowledges and embraces diversity and allows and encourages people to live the life they want to. Sometimes society does not make the necessary or appropriate adjustments in all ways it can to reflect the adjustments of society as a whole,” Judge Mooney said.

“Having reflected again upon the impact an immediate custodial sentence would have, the difficulties there are and the intractable problems the prison service would face, I have reconsidered whether imprisonment must be immediate,” he added. “In light of this information I have come to the conclusion that in your particular case it allows me to hope for some form of rehabilitation.”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Paul Matzko at The UnPopulist:

After the Sept. 10 presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, Trump’s supporters blamed their candidate’s lackluster performance on the moderators and host ABC News. It was, variously, a “public show trial,” “organized crime,” or simply the “worst moderated presidential debate” of all time. Trump declared it was a “rigged” debate for which the network should have its license revoked. “To be honest,” Trump reflected the morning after on Fox News, “they’re a news organization. They have to be licensed to do it. They ought to take away their license for the way they did that.”

This is not an atypical reaction for the former president. Trump has a lengthy history of calling for broadcasters to have their licenses revoked after they criticize his conduct or policies. For example, in 2017 he wanted NBC to have its broadcast licenses revoked by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) because of that network’s coverage of his call to exponentially increase the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Many legal scholars have pointed out that broadcast licenses do not work that way—they’re tied to individual stations, not networks—and Trump does not have the authority to order the FCC to target his critics. Nonetheless, these episodes reveal Trump’s censorial intent even if they simultaneously expose how poorly he understands the mechanisms of governance. Trump has repeatedly signaled his willingness to silence his critics via overt censorship, although, thus far, career civil servants (or, as Trump would call them, the “Deep State”) have prevented talk of censorship from turning into acts of censorship.

Trump: Following JFK’s Blueprint for Abuse

But it is worth considering how a future administration that combines Trump’s lack of principle with a modicum of administrative ability could deploy the federal government’s broadcast regulatory apparatus to extract partisan benefit. It has, after all, been done before, as I have detailed at some length in my book on the John F. Kennedy administration’s abuse of FCC regulations for a censorship campaign targeting right-wing broadcasters in the 1960s. There is a discernible pattern that resurfaces throughout the long history of regulatory weaponization by the FCC that begins with stacking the deck.

The FCC’s five commissioners are presidential appointees split along the red-blue partisan line with the chairman as tiebreaker. Nominal independence notwithstanding, the smart, aspiring commissioner will pay attention to what their presidential benefactor desires. As President Kennedy told E. William Henry when appointing him as FCC Chairman in 1963, “It is important that [broadcast] stations be kept fair,” by which he meant kept fair to me. Henry followed through by singling out right-wing broadcasters that were critical of the administration for regulatory scrutiny while leaving pro-administration broadcasters untouched.

It is not hard to imagine Trump or another authoritarian tweeting or posting a similar sentiment, thus placing pressure on their appointees to direct policy accordingly. After all, Trump has had considerable success with his appointees in other arenas, including the judiciary. Those investments are already paying off in the form of questionable rulings and trial delays. And while steering the ship of the federal judiciary—composed of 870 judgeships—requires immense effort, a relatively small investment of political capital in the FCC could go much further. All it takes is three sympathetic commissioners to enact or enforce regulations, including some that can and have been abused for partisan purposes in the past.

Project 2025’s Radical Plans for the FCC

Trump enjoys a head start. One of the current Republican commissioners, Brendan Carr, is a Trump appointee, and would be a frontrunner for replacing the current Democrat-appointed chairwoman if Trump wins in 2024. Carr authored a chapter in the controversial Project 2025, a policy wish list crafted by over 100 right-wing organizations, and it provides some indication of the direction of a Carr-fronted FCC under a Trump White House 2.0. In this chapter, Carr signals his willingness to radically reform the FCC to make it a more effective instrument for the Trump administration’s broader goals.

For instance, Carr claims that the FCC—and not the courts—ought to have ultimate interpretive authority over Section 230 of the Communications Act, which is the law that holds online platforms such as Facebook and Substack immune from civil liability for user-posted content. Carr cites a solo, outlier opinion of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to advocate for peeling back Section 230 protections in order to “prohibit discrimination against core political viewpoints.” This echoes a frequent complaint of conservative activists, who are upset when platforms remove their posts while citing terms of service prohibiting racism, misogyny, or other hateful content. But conditioning Section 230 protection on carrying “core political viewpoints” would act as a functional backdoor to a common carrier rule without designating the platforms as common carriers. Platforms must carry this political speech regardless of whether they or their users want it.

[...]

Here is the worst-case scenario if Trump is elected, given that he has not been coy about his plans to persecute his critics and political opponents: On day one in office, the new FCC chairperson, citing the news distortion standard, would begin rolling investigations into any broadcast outlet that aired critical coverage of the administration. There is “fake news” or disinformation that must be rooted out! (The fact that disinformation is indeed a real problem provides even better rhetorical cover for what, in this scenario, is fundamentally an attempt to suppress dissent.) It would not really matter whether the investigations uncovered any actual impropriety; the financial and reputational cost of lawyering up and being dragged into FCC hearings would pressure news outlets to think twice before airing critical commentary about the administration. Furthermore, given the current willingness of Elon Musk to openly boost the Trump campaign on the platform formerly known as Twitter, it is not hard to imagine that some conservative news outlets and pro-administration platforms would provide sympathetic coverage of the FCC’s investigations into their mainstream media competitors.

News providers could find themselves squeezed from multiple angles: their broadcast news team under public scrutiny for news distortion, their CEOs subpoenaed for a series of FCC hearings, their local station affiliates facing license renewal challenges, and their websites exposed to civil lawsuits after having Section 230 protections revoked for their content moderation policies. Again, even if the news provider were ultimately cleared, this kind of regulatory full-court press could have a significant chilling effect. And it could all be done, legally, under existing statutes and designated authority. We know this because similar actions have been taken by the FCC in the past, like the aforementioned Kennedy administration’s censorship campaign, the targeting of the news distortion standard, and much more. It is reasonable to be concerned about the potential direction of the FCC under the leadership of Carr given what he wrote for Project 2025, and that he wrote it despite the risk that doing so represents a violation of federal law against electioneering by officials. But the danger is much greater than any one FCC commissioner.

FCC Is Not the Only Vehicle for Punishing Political Enemies

In fact, stacking the FCC with partisan activists might not even be necessary for an authoritarian president trying to manipulate the airwaves. As former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has noted, the Communications Act of 1934 includes a provision allowing the president to “cause the closing of any station” for radio or wire communications—which encompasses the full scope of broadcasting, wireless, and internet—in the interest of national security or in the case of a national emergency. Note, presidents have been declaring national emergencies on increasingly thin grounds to advance their policy agendas, as when Donald Trump did so to justify redirecting money to building a border wall with Mexico and when Joe Biden tried to forgive student loan debts during the covid pandemic. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the former and blocked the latter, but even in failure there is the opportunity for political advantage.

Imagine a future scenario where a president, who is angry about negative media coverage, declares a national emergency, citing a major weather event, foreign policy consideration, or whatever pretext they desire. Or they could simply claim a national security interest. They could then order the FCC to close any radio and television stations affiliated with the offending network. They might be able to justify locking down the internet exchange points that control web traffic. Now, even if that order were not sustained in court, the potential disruption to the targeted news outlet or social media network could still be immense and costly. A clever authoritarian knows how to snatch political victory from the jaws of judicial defeat. The mere possibility of future executive action could have a chilling effect on anti-administration speech.

Paul Matzko writes in The UnPopulist that Donald Trump will use the powers of the “Presidency” to weaponize the FCC to censor opponents of his fascistic regime if he is elected.

Our freedoms are on the line, and electing Kamala Harris is necessary to safeguard our cherished freedoms, especially of the press.

[gayvampyr]

asking people to be mindful of others when sharing a communal space (especially one you cannot just up and leave from) is not selfish or misanthropic. come on now

[shameeater]

The end of online privacy

Now, this isn't something I usually post about from my silly goofy k1nk account (reminder to minors to not follow or scroll this acount).

But I have more followers on here than main, and this is extremely important. Like, scary shit.

This applies to everyone. If you're reading this? It's going to effect you.

I'm sure perhaps some of you have seen around about a this thing going around... KOSA, is one of the ways it's being referred to.

If this shit passes, lemme tell you...

LGBTQ+ adults and minors seeking help and community,

people looking for abortions,

people organizing protests,

anyone using their free speech to voice concerns about injustices, 

even FAN ARTISTS...

Even people reading fan fiction...

And for the purposes of where I'm posting from... people sharing and enjoying their k1nks, wanting to post things with safety and privacy... smut artists and writers, people even LOOKING for smut...

It's all gone. No privacy.

They'll have your face, your name, your age, where you live.

You'll need an ID to use any US-based platform, even if you're NOT in the United States.

Instead of dooming, here's what you can do to stop this shit in it's tracks 👍

Here is a website where you can sign a letter just by filling out a form, (it takes less than 30 seconds) and where you can call reps.

I HIGHLY suggest leaving calls if you're able, and if you have phone shyness, do this after 6pm, since it will leave messages instead.

I'm shy, but I did it!

Here's another letter to sign, takes less than 20 seconds.

Here is a form you can fill out sharing how the social media has POSITIVELY effected you.

Share all of this with as many people as you can. Our safety, freedom, joy, and protection online is at risk more than ever.

(Here is the thread where I found all of this information.)

STAY SAFE!

[bli-o]

hey autistic people who get overwhelmed by large groups or noise or conversation or etc etc etc you’re not evil for wanting to leave a family gathering. just so you know.

[eziojensenthe3rd]

Republicans nuked KOSA. Its considered DOA and wont be showing up at the house. This is good news certanly but its not entirely over. This bill got bipartisan support back in the senate, dickheads from both sides thought the idea behind kosa was worth doing, its just that the republican party decided to nuke it for reasons im trying to figure out? To try to deny a win for democrats similar to how they stopped a cancer research bill?

Something like kosa will pop up again, kosa itself may just rise from the grave and we'll have to go through this same song and dance so all i can say is stay informed on this type of shit. Inform your senators and reps not to support this shit and if they dont oppose it, vote them out in the next election they're running in.

There are bills that do in fact regulate the internet in a way that helps but also doesnt violate free speech by targeting how data is harvested. Thise bills should be pushed while censorship should die. For now, celebrate this day. KOSA atm is dead, done so in a manner so anticlimatic yet deserving. But be vigilant.

[audristarzz]

KOSA 7/25/24

GOOD NEWS! Rep Alexandria Ocasio Cortez does not support KOSA!! keep calling and respectfully blowing up their phone ❤️

regarding my last post, Kosa did NOT pass the Senate fully, we have some time so PLEASE call and spread and tell your reps and senators to vote NO on Kosa and I urge you to bring up the government ID which can easily be a danger hazard for hackers and doxxing.

Sen Marsha Blackburn ADMITTING the reason for KOSA is to “save” and “protect” children from the transgender. And I believe we have some lgbtq groups supporting this bill.

[crayonurchin]

First art of the new year is all about re-structuring your internal monologue.

In my early 20s I was working full time in London with many social commitments and a variety of hustles and side projects.

In my later mid 20s I cater to many sensory and social drain needs I have and indulge in special interests while respecting my lower energy reserves and celebrating my different way of processing the world.

Did I get more autistic? Nah. I got less fake.

-

[Art description: Three panels showing figures on a black background. Long descriptions follow.

1. A drawing of OP as a person with hip-length hair and a dress standing sadly with her hands clapsed together in front of her. She is coloured a muted rainbow gradient. Behind her, two pairs of nondescript figures chat while smiling. White text says, ‘I’m getting more and more autistic the older I get.’ 2. OP’s colours are brighter, and her expression looks happier. Crayon-like scribbles have crossed out the text from the previous panel. 3. OP’s colours are vibrant, and she balances on one leg and throws her arms out as she dances. The text above has changed to say, ‘I’m becoming more and more myself the older I get.’ \End descriptions]

[itsangelicasworld]

Dude, sometimes it just hits me how utterly limitless shifting/manifesting is. "Well, DUH Angel, that's kind the whole point" BUT LIKE IT'S STILL CRAZY TO THINK ABOUT TO ME. You can grow wings and learn how to fly. You can go through a complete 180 glow-up without lifting a finger. You can rewrite history. You can customize every single thing about yourself down to nail color like a video game. You can date a celebrity as a non-celebrity. You can get instant fame. You can make an ideal family. You can make "fictional characters" reality. This is the cheat code to life. You can do, be, and have everything and more! You never have to worry. Isn't that just so amazing? Shifting/manifestation is the purest form of freedom

[ajxrn-archive]

To my mutuals or followers, or just anyone who sees this:

Please reblog the kosa bill posts from me and others. This bill is EXTREMELY dangerous to the queer community and especially queer minors. As a queer and trans minor in a bad home situation, I and many others would be in so much danger if this bill is approved. Its actually so horrific. One of the senators who introduced it, Marsha Blackburn, said that "protecting minor children from the transgender in this culture" was a top priority. As a trans minor, I find this disgusting and harmful to my existence, I'm sure many others my age feel the same way. So please: REBLOG THE KOSA BILL POSTS.

EDIT: IT WILL ALSO CENSOR THE PALESTINE GENOCIDE POSTS AND MANY MORE THINGS!!! WE WILL BE BLOCKED FROM THE TRUTH!!! Also I do not know many things about the kosa bill, this is the limit of my knowlege, so I can't answer any questions. I'm sorry!

[shivunin]

Because I have just seen this specific thing for the second time, I would like to say:

If I reblog your art, I do not expect you to reblog (or share!) my fic in return

If I comment on your fic, I do not expect you to comment on (or read!) mine in return

My enjoyment of anyone's work does not come with strings or expectations

My friendship is not a bill that you will have to pay later

That's it!

[amor-areia]

I just love them so much!

[charliejaneanders]

Today I managed to reach a real live human being at Senator Butler's office to register my concerns about KOSA. I went through my concerns that this bill would be used by red state AGs to silence queer people online. But then I did something that seemed to make an impression.

I got a bit more personal, and said that as a transgender person I am actually scared that this will drive me off the internet and cut me off from my community.

I also said that my friends have trans kids, who depend on the internet for support. And I'm legit worried what'll happen to them.

I think that talking about my personal worries for this bill really helped drive my message home. I got a somewhat warmer response than in the past when I've called.

I've said this before, but my guess is that if this bill passes, it will be similar to what happened with sesta-fosta.

Platforms will either ban content that might be challenged, or merely shadowban it.

There is a lot of fear-mongering right now about algorithms recommending harmful content to kids. In response, platforms may do the opposite: set up algorithms to ensure that nobody sees content that Republicans don't like.

[canis-rex-lupus]

KOSA AFFECTS US ALL

there will be no room to call for a free palestine, congo, sudan, or yemen when imperialists control what stays on the internet.

there will be no room for sharing queer joy, safe binding and tucking guides, or tutorials on how to safely navigate kink when queerphobes and puritans decide what kinda of relationships and identities are "acceptable".

there will be no room for anticapitalism, protest organizing, pirating, or sharing anti-establishment resources when the establishment can erase whatever ideas are too threatening to them to stay.

there will be no room to be someone who doesn't conform.

DOWNLOAD ALL THAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU. CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES. PROTEST AS LOUDLY AS POSSIBLE. SIGN PETITIONS. BUILD ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATIONS FOR YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS. AND DO IT NOW BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

[itty-bitty-sunshine]

If you still believe in the Lord above, get on your hands and knees and pray for us.