#and a ban would censor US citizens.

[newsreleted]

TikTok set to be banned in the US after losing appeal

See More.....

[sunny-day-jack-official]

URGENT! Stop KOSA!

Hey all, this is BáiYù and Sauce here with something that isn't necessarily SnaccPop related, but it's important nonetheless. For those of you who follow US politics, The Kids Online Safety Act passed the Senate yesterday and is moving forward.

This is bad news for everyone on the internet, even outside of the USA.

What is KOSA?

While it's officially known as "The Kids Online Safety Act," KOSA is an internet censorship masquerading as another "protect the children" bill, much in the same way SESTA/FOSTA claimed that it would stop illegal sex trafficking but instead hurt sex workers and their safety. KOSA was originally introduced by Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass. and Bill Cassidy, R-La. as a way to update the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Act, raising the age of consent for data collection to 16 among other things. You can read the original press release of KOSA here, while you can read the full updated text of the bill on the official USA Congress website.

You can read the following articles about KOSA here:

EFF: The Kids Online Safety Act is Still A Huge Danger to Our Rights Online

CyberScoop: Children’s online safety bills clear Senate hurdle despite strong civil liberties pushback

TeenVogue: The Kids Online Safety Act Would Harm LGBTQ+ Youth, Restrict Access to Information and Community

The quick TL;DR:

KOSA authorizes an individual state attorneys general to decide what might harm minors

Websites will likely preemptively remove and ban content to avoid upsetting state attorneys generals (this will likely be topics such as abortion, queerness, feminism, sexual content, and others)

In order for a platform to know which users are minors, they'll require a more invasive age and personal data verification method

Parents will be granted more surveillance tools to see what their children are doing on the web

KOSA is supported by Christofascists and those seeking to harm the LGBTQ+ community

If a website holding personally identifying information and government documents is hacked, that's a major cybersecurity breach waiting to happen

What Does This Mean?

You don't have to look far to see or hear about the violence being done to the neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ communities worldwide, who are oftentimes one and the same. Social media sites censoring discussion of these topics would stand to do even further harm to folks who lack access to local resources to understand themselves and the hardships they face; in addition, the fact that websites would likely store personally identifying information and government documents means the death of any notion of privacy.

Sex workers and those living in certain countries already are at risk of losing their ways of life, living in a reality where their online activities are closely surveilled; if KOSA officially becomes law, this will become a reality for many more people and endanger those at the fringes of society even worse than it already is.

Why This Matters Outside of The USA

I previously mentioned SESTA/FOSTA, which passed and became US law in 2018. This bill enabled many of the anti-adult content attitudes that many popular websites are taking these days as well as the tightening of restrictions laid down by payment processors. Companies and sites hosted in the USA have to follow US laws even if they're accessible worldwide, meaning that folks overseas suffer as well.

What Can You Do?

If you're a US citizen, contact your Senators and tell them that you oppose KOSA. This can be as an email, letter, or phone call that you make to your state Senator.

For resources on how to do so, view the following links:

https://www.badinternetbills.com/#kosa

https://www.stopkosa.com/

https://linktr.ee/stopkosa

If you live outside of the US or cannot vote, the best thing you can do is sign the petition at the Stop KOSA website, alert your US friends about what's happening, and raise some noise.

Above all else, don’t panic. By staying informed by what’s going on, you can prepare for the legal battles ahead.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day:

Anti-Abortion Strategy

Well, they’re back at it! Texas Rep. Steve Toth introduced a bill this week that would ban pro-choice websites. Under the “Women and Child Safety Act,” internet service providers would be forced to block any site that contains information about how to obtain abortions or abortion medication. That means the websites of pro-choice organizations and abortion funds would be banned—even Abortion, Every Day would be illegal under the bill.

The bill even includes a list of specific websites that would be banned in the state, including: Aid Access, Hey Jane, Plan C Pills, Just the Pill, and Carafem. If passed, the law would allow citizens to bring civil suits against internet service providers that don’t block these websites. (Which is sort of Texas’ thing—they love to incentivize communities turning on each other over abortion.) But it doesn’t end there: Toth’s legislation would charge anyone who raises money for abortion care with a felony—with a particular eye towards targeting abortion funds. In fact, the legislation prompts the state Attorney General to investigate and charge abortion funds using the RICO Act, which is meant to go after organized crime. (If you’ve read my book, you know all about this; Republicans are eager to go after ‘the helpers.’)

If all of this sounds familiar, it’s because Toth introduced a near-identical bill last year. And he’s not alone. Iowa Republicans also tried to pass legislation to ban pro-choice websites last year; their legislation would have also allowed citizens to sue internet service providers and prosecute abortion funds under the RICO Act. The bills are part of a broader attack on free speech about abortion. Idaho and Tennessee, for example, both passed laws recently that make it illegal to help teens access abortion. Under these policies, even texting a teen the url to an out-of-state clinic would be considered criminal ‘abortion trafficking.’ (Both laws are currently blocked on First Amendment grounds.) The Republicans trying to pass this kind of legislation all say the same thing: that helping someone get an abortion isn’t protected speech. 

Red state censorship in action: Texas HB991 would censor pro-choice websites within the Lone Star State.

[justforbooks]

That Librarian by Amanda Jones

A small-town US librarian’s lively account of her battle with a group of far-right censors reveals the toll it took on her health

Amanda Jones’s story is awful – and important. A school librarian for 23 years in her home town of Watson, southern Louisiana, she has watched with concern in recent years as a movement of book-banning swept across the US. According to the American Library Association, “book challenges” in public libraries almost doubled from 729 in 2021 to 1,269 in 2022.

In July 2022, when Jones heard about a public meeting that would discuss “book content” in local libraries, she went along. A board member said she was “concerned” about some “inappropriate��� material in the local library’s children and young adult sections. In response, Jones gave a measured speech, explaining her belief that “while book challenges are often done with the best intentions, and in the name of age appropriateness, they often target marginalised communities” and “books on sexual health and reproduction”. She went on to detail the “First Amendment right to borrow, read, view, and listen to library resources”.

“I said nothing earth-shattering,” Jones writes in her memoir. But within days her life had been upended because of two posts on social media. The first was by the Facebook page of Citizens for a New Louisiana, a far-right group whom Jones knew had worked to defund a library in nearby Lafayette and whose executive director was a man named Michael Lunsford. It accused Jones of “fighting so hard to keep sexually erotic and pornographic materials in the kids’ section”. The second Facebook post was made by local man Ryan Thames, who wrote that Jones advocated “teaching anal sex to 11-year-olds”.

The posts were shared widely by local people, including many Jones knew. “One parent in particular whose child I had helped with getting services for a learning disability was especially vicious,” she writes, devastatingly. Later, she received a death threat. Over the course of the next year, Jones, who is in her mid-40s, lost a lot of weight, experienced hair loss and took medical leave from work. In the spring of 2023 she sued Lunsford and Thames for defamation.

That Librarian is Jones’s account of the 2022 public meeting that started her ordeal, the ultimately unsuccessful court case and all that followed. She has a lively, convivial style: “I worried that my friends and family would be targeted next. Spoiler alert: they were.” Sometimes this breeziness veers into pettiness, as when she describes an opponent who has “the spelling and grammar of a child of 10”, or refers to Valarie Hodges, a member of the Louisiana state senate who posted online against Jones, as “my gal pal Val”.

The more wistful sections are warming. Jones describes how she was in high school when Watson had its first traffic light installed – that’s how small a town it is. She credits her teenage reading of Judy Blume, one of the most banned authors ever, with “making me more empathetic”. Jones believes uncompromisingly in the power of books to open minds. And through working as a school librarian, has seen the impact of exclusion politics: “I have lost more former students to suicide than I care to think about, many of whom, I suspect, died as a direct result of being made to feel excluded in our society.” Together, these experiences have informed her anti-censorship mentality.

But she knows party politics comes into it too. Her local area has become “extremely alt-right and conspiratorial” in recent years, and she has noticed that “all book banners seem to be Republican”. She is refreshingly honest about her relative complicity. “It wasn’t until I was into my 40s that I realised some aspects of our country weren’t that great,” she writes, before admitting that she voted for Donald Trump in 2016. She regrets it now, but these admittances are important. Listening to voices from across the political divide, and understanding the ways in which we are both similar and different to those who vote similarly and differently to us is crucial in understanding why the world is the way it is – even more so after Trump’s re-election.

Several times, Jones refers to how she has tracked her defamers to see they have also donated to election campaigns of particular pro-ban politicians. But she never fully examines the intricacies of this likely organised overlap, or takes a step back to consider how this current wave of book banning compares with historical cases. As such, “my fight against book banning in America” would be a more suitable subtitle, not “the fight”. This is a brave, fascinating book, but it’s the personal story of Jones’s ordeal – about which she is evidently still very bitter – rather than an account of the movement as a whole.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[fireheartedpup]

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A post shared by Lisa Remillard (@lisa.remillard)

...so apparently it's been decided that the Tiktok ban will move forward, in spite of the fact that this will affect the ability of many US citizens to earn an income. They acknowledge that it's a place where we can speak freely, and say that the "threat to safety" is too much to ignore.

Bullshit.

Here's a form letter from the ACLU for your government representative. Their stance:

"Banning TikTok would lay the groundwork for excessive government control over the internet and would violate our First Amendment rights. Data collection by apps has real consequences for our privacy, but selectively censoring entire platforms based on their country of origin is not the solution."

You don't have to rewrite the letter if you don't want to. You input your name, email, and address. I'm assuming they'll use that to look up your representative for you, since the letter is addressed to "Dear representative."

Here's the contact form for the Supreme Court. I'm going to be looking into how to contact my state's justices directly.

Please give them hell.

[reality-detective]

https://x.com/David_Baumblatt/status/1717269393757847647?s=20

If you can't see this 👆

Here is his rumble channel 👇

https://rumble.com/v3dz6oy-david-baumblatt-episode-1.html

His website 👇

Information about David 👇

To the American People: Hello, my name is David Baumblatt, born and raised in New York, I am a West Point Graduate and Former FBI Agent who has been under an unconstitutional investigation by the corrupt FBI for over a decade. I am considered a National Security Threat who is no longer welcome to return to the USA, the last time I visited the USA in 2019, I was detained, searched, interrogated, spied on, deceived, and physically assaulted by the US Government. I have brought formal allegations against the FBI, Inspector Generals of the DOJ and DHS, and have written every single congressman and senator, however they have all ignored me. To access the formal allegation document and the email communications, please go to my website and at the bottom of the page, click on the "Request Government Complaint" button and you will have access to the documents. http://terebinth.info/david In 2005, I knew that America was headed for Civil War and Collapse, because we have abandoned our values of FAITH, FAMILY, FREEDOM. In 2007 I left the immoral, corrupt, and incompetent FBI. I wanted nothing more to do with this corrupt government agency, however the FBI has continued to spy on me and destroy my life and career. In 2010, I decided to leave America, as I had no desire to continue to argue my point about my America's coming collapse, as most people disagreed with me. I just wanted to move on with my life and did not wish to argue anymore. The FBI then began spying on me overseas and colluding with foreign intelligence agencies to yet again destroy my life. At this time, I knew I had to take a stand, and therefore, here I am, publicly telling my story about the corrupt FBI. I have recently begun producing social media content, however my very first video on YouTube has been censored, and I have also been banned on LinkedIn; so now I am using Rumble. I am trying to get my message to the American Patriotic Media, and I appreciate your support. This is my story 👇

I am a Whistle-Blower trying to expose U.S. Government illegal and immoral conduct.  Mainstream Media has ignored me, therefore, I ask you for your support to please send this message far and wide.  If you are a Media Professional, Podcast Host, etc. I would be happy to be a guest on your show.  Please send me your contact information, or you can email me at leadership@terebinth.info I have also recently published a book about this affair entitled Patriots Betrayed, A Soldier, Scholar, Spy's warning about America's Leadership Crisis. (E Book, Audio Book, Hard/Soft Cover) https://terebinth.info/book Like myself, there are millions of other innocent American Citizens being unconstitutionally spied upon by our corrupt government. I would have never imagined that as a Military Veteran my own government would illegally and immorally continue to destroy my life, and then to completely ignore me, when I take a stand. If you are still not convinced on how corrupt our government is, please watch this video of me working for the Boeing Corporation (the Military Industrial Complex) in China, and you will see what a Traitorous Corporation Boeing is to the American people. Boeing like other American Globalist Corporations will put China over the welfare of American Citizens.

The number one enemy to the American People is the American Globalist Government and the American Globalist Corporations. America is headed toward Civil War and Collapse, I was convinced of this back in 2005, and I am now even more convinced. To the American Patriots, get ready to fight, it is going to get dangerous in America. We have been betrayed by our Unpatriotic Government and Unpatriotic Corporations. I appreciate your help and may God be with us. 🙏⚔️🛡️

[reynita9]

I can’t stop thinking about how Cocomelon is damaging babies because the fast pace scene changes can “interfere with the development of executive functions”, and how thin parents are spread in capitalism that they rely on television to entertain/keep their babies company just so they have some time to complete domestic tasks. I am thinking about disintegrated Community Care/structure. I am thinking about how Instagram, Tiktok, Twitter, Tumblr, all media are engineered to be addictive and alter the executive functioning of kids, tweens, teens, and adults of all ages. How malleable our minds are..bread and circuses. Everything we consume has the power to heal or destroy us. I think about Congress Bill 686, and feel discouraged and powerless. You may have heard of it as “The TikTok Ban” of course, the media intentionally oversimplifies it as a ban on TikTok, but really it is the means for The State to restrict the sharing of information on the internet and to censor us, keep us misinformed and suppressed. The State knows that knowledge is power so they keep us intentionally in the dark and distracted, plucking away human rights one by one while we are watching the stage. The Restrict Act would require the Department of Commerce to “identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit, investigate, and mitigate transactions involving ICT products and services” 🤳🏼👁��� (ICT means Information and Communications Technology, ICT Products and services refers to social media) When COVID first hit, my friend said “this will be like 9/11, there was the world pre 9/11 and post 9/11” I am not one to believe we are “post-covid” because we are still in the grips of the Covidian information wars, which I feel will be one of the main long term take aways from The-Covid-Years. Bill 686 harms all, because any group of 1 million people organizing or sharing information online can be persecuted, banned and shut down under the guise of “prohibiting certain transactions between persons of the United States and foreign adversaries” Congress Bill 686 establishes both civil and criminal penalties for violations of the bill, meaning anything that they consider an “unacceptable risk to national security.” Please don’t forget we live in a police state which is meant to protect the empire. In The United States privacy is not sacrosanct, and actually American big brother corporations like Meta and Google are investing millions into anti-TikTok propaganda, because it clears their competition and allows them back into the palms of citizens, so they can personally be the ones to steal our time and data. It makes me angry, it’s painful. How can we organize against the faceless enemy? It’s all subversion and censorship, anything to get the undiluted power to be placed back into the hands of an American corporation. It will always be The State, Corporations, and Colleges keeping information tucked away and inaccessible to the masses. We must do what we can to preserve the internet as a place of free information sharing and connection. The infrastructure of our communities in real life are generally weak. Weekly I hit a paywall online, and I have seen my own words be instantaneously given an AI generated COVID misinformation banner before. It’s insane, and most people are not comfortable admitting out loud that we are alive during fascism. What’s funny in a way is, I have long hated TikTok, but now that it risks being banned in this “land of the free” I find myself urgently realizing how important it is to preserve and protect.. It is on the individual to use the internet wisely and with boundaries, not the state to restrict people’s access to information. Privacy is important and data-preservation is important, obviously, but if this is what 686 was truly about, we would be having different conversations. All legislation is created to build a precedent.

[libraryresources]

Weekly Round-Up

Weekly Round-Up is an information initiative with two goals. The first is to help – in whatever small way – to highlight down-ticket items that are easily lost in the deluge of information about the presidential election. The second is to raise awareness about the severity of politically-motivated book bans in the US and the impact on libraries and schools.

Sources: Election news is sourced primarily from Ballotpedia, unless otherwise noted; remember to check Vote.org for more insights into your local ballot.

Library & intellectual freedom articles are sourced from weekly emails I receive from the New York Library Association (NYLA), one of my own professional organizations.

From Ballotpedia

Voters set to decide the highest number of ballot measures since 2018; Candidates for Attorney General of Pennsylvania; Oklahoma Gov. moves minimum wage measure to 2026 ballot

For Ballotpedia's complete list of 2024 ballot measures (as of Sept. 27), click here.

Ballotpedia reports a record number of abortion-related ballot measures. As reported on Sept. 18th, measures in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Nevada, and South Dakota would guarantee a right to abortion in those states. An initiative in Nebraska would prohibit abortions after the first trimester.

8 states will decide on measures that, if passed, would prohibit non-citizen voting. Many states are deciding on measures that would make changes to the electoral process, mainly whether to use, repeal, or ban ranked choice voting as an electoral method.

The other most common ballot measures this year include criminal justice and police funding, minimum wage initiatives, and the legalization of marijuana or other substances.

As for the business in Oklahoma: The measure in question would begin the process of raising OK's minimum wage from the federal standard ($7.50/hour) to $15/hour by 2029.

Personally I find it interesting that the governor (Kevin Sitt (R)) wants to take the measure off the 2024 ballot and move it to a special election during the PRIMARIES in 2026. Almost as if he knows people are less likely to participate or pay attention during midterm elections and primaries...?

Intellectual Freedom News

With Banned Books Week coming to an end, take a look at the American Library Association's preliminary data regarding book bans in 2024. The ALA and the Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) track bans and challenges annually and assist libraries that are facing acts of censorship.

As Unite Against Book Bans states on the webpage:

Between January 1 and August 31, 2024, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom reported 414 attempts to censor library materials and services and documented challenges to 1,128 unique titles. While those numbers are lower than last year's record shattering figures, they are still much higher than the numbers prior to 2020. In particular, ALA noted the effect of "soft censorship" on this year's data, where books are purchased but placed in restricted areas, not used in library displays, or otherwise hidden or kept off limits due to fear of challenges. According to ALA, these include circumstances where books have been preemptively excluded from library collections, taken off the shelves before they are banned, or not purchased for library collections in the first place. Simply put, censorship is already happening before challenges to books and services can take place because of the fear of challenges being brought.

UABB (which is itself an ALA initiative) provides a comprehensive summary of the situation, but you can read the entire report on the ALA website.

Lest you believe that book bans only happen in Texas or Florida... This article details how a group of students in Orchard Park, NY took a stand against the sharp increase in book challenges in their community, ultimately founding an organization called Students Protecting Education.

From the article:

Proponents for bans, or at least restrictions, argue access to “R-rated” books with explicit language and graphic content, should be a parent’s decision and not their child’s.  Lippitt disagrees.  “We're young adults. We're not kids anymore," he said. "We're entering a world where these things are all around us, and [there's] no worse way to send your kid out into the world than know nothing about it.”

That's it for the first Weekly Round-Up! I'm hoping to post one every Saturday or Sunday for the next month or so. With luck, somebody out there will find this helpful for expanding and maintaining their own personal information ecosystem.

[jessiarts]

Look I hate the tiktokifocation of social media as much as everyone else, but I hope we can all still agree the US trying to ban TikTok here is a problem.

TikTok, for all its problems, been a great help in raising awareness for various causes. The news of the train derailment in Ohio spread there way before the mainstream news. There was barely a peep of the protests going on in Iran anywhere else before it started taking off on TikTok. Same for the general strike happening in France. It's provided a place for people to organize much easier than other platforms for activism and causes like protesting the pipelines, the BLM protests, bringing awareness to ICWA and the StopWIllowProject, etc.

Obviously, no one should get all their news from any social media. I'm not implying that at all.

No one is immune to propaganda, and it exists everywhere, even here, regardless if you wish to acknowledge it.

But we still can't deny that this proposed ban isn't about privacy. Sure, I'll give them wanting to ban it on Federal/government devices, whatever. But they really couldn't care less about everyone else's data privacy. Hell, they let FB, Google, Apple, Twitter, etc, gobble up as much of our data as they want and use it, even sell it, all with no fuss.

It's really about control. They don't like that people are hearing about these events and causes in real time on TikTok faster than any other social media or even most news media. They don't like that the increased awareness is inspiring people to organize and pressure the powers at be and corporations to do better. They don't like that they don't have the power to suppress coverage they don't like or push any coverage they do. (I'm not saying it's great that ByteDance has that power either, but I hope you get my point)

But my main point is this, if they succeed in banning TikTok, a place that's helped bring awareness to so many important causes, it sets a precedent that they can ban any other social media they deem a threat too.

And because I know half of you are incapable of caring unless presented with an example that directly affects you, say tumblr manages to gather similar success to TikTok at becoming a platform to raise awareness. They can find a reason to nuke this place too. One day they could just decide too many people are wanting to organize for change over on the blue fandom cringe site. Then it's bye-bye tumblr.

Idk if you've been paying attention, but they've already turned back Roe v Wade, with some states (SC, KY, TX, OK, AR) now pushing bills to make seeking an abortion punishable by the death penalty, with vague enough wording to potentially include miscarriages. They're trying to eradicate trans people- some (36) states are pushing anti-trans bills, with some wanting to ban gender-affirming care, force detransition, or even take children from homes just for having a trans parent or sibling. They're trying to overturn ICWA, which would allow them to take Native American children from their families and place them in white Christian homes. There's so much more.

What I'm saying is fascism is already here, and what do fascists also do? Cut off citizens' access to the outside world.

Unless you want the US to join the list of countries like China, Russia, and North Korea, who block the outside world from their citizens by censoring their internet/news and cutting off access to certain social medias, then you should care about this.

Let's not let this slide just because it's happening to TikTok and it's fun to hate on whatever is popular at the moment.

[ghouldump]

https://www.tumblr.com/ghouldump/766640228765253632?source=share

girl, after the election results, I been struggling to enjoy my hobbies and just life in general, like I feel like I’m in survival mode right now ugh. I been tryna write, tryna read fanfic, tryna watch my shows, but I just can’t. I keep struggling to immerse myself back into anything. Which is crazy because three days ago, I was FULLY immersed.

I was so pissed off at work today because my coworkers and bosses were smiling and laughing and my problem causing brain was thinking… ain’t shit funny rn. There’s nothing to laugh or smile about rn, I don’t know why these people laughing. lol I’ve been such a bitch.

How are you managing to keep writing and keep creating? I try to put pen to paper and then remember about the upcoming book ban and the upcoming censoring of certain types of media such as fanfic (which is overwhelmingly queer and obviously involves explicit content) and all momentum leaves me. And think about it. IWTV is the literal definition of queer… they’re not gonna allow us to watch it once he outlaws all queer media. I could be reading a fanfic and then all of a sudden think about how this might be the last time I read it freely online before that man’s inauguration. I’m just so… ugh.

Yeah, I agree that everything is going to shit, but- I’m trying to find the proper way to articulate my stance. I’ve been through hell all my life, things I would never want anyone to go through, but through healing, I have been able to become…relaxed. I live day to day, we can't think about tomorrow because it has a mind of its own. Hell, we’re not even promised a tomorrow, no one is.

There is nothing we can do (I mean make sure you vote during midterms!!!) but there is nothing we can really do to stop the government as ordinary citizens, and so all we can do is keep living. The book ban, for now, will be only for schools and public libraries (not taking away from the fact that it is still terrible).

I love reading, I love writing, I love fanfiction, and I LOVE IWTV and I won't stop what I love, because of circumstances that are to come until the platform is completely gone, until my home library is gone, until my pencil, phone, and computer is torn from my hands.

Stay educated, but remember to live for today and appreciate today, because we don't know tomorrow. The future is scary, but if all of this is gone in a few weeks, a few months, few years, I want to look back and know that I enjoyed sharing my craft with others who have loved it just as much before it was all over.

I hope this helps, I understand and hear how you feel 🩷

[risu442]

UPDATE!

Thank you for all who filled it! Now we just hope in a good result! 🙏❤️

STOP!

I'm here to ask a big favour!

If u are an EU citizen, please, fill this form!

For you it's just a second, for us it's a big help!

There are huge problems in Hungary right now, and even small gestures can show that we don't have to fight alone! We have to take care of our childrens and lgbtq+ citizens, too! Pls, sign it and reblog to more people could notice this and help!

Thank you! 🙏

https://www.forbidden-colours.com/2023/01/19/petition/?fbclid=PAAabjkl59_FGBpWnX9DUJ-GLzd6hzknqrjSa-jHtPkzAuLQJBRy_Z9q0znog

What is this about?

"In June 2021, the Hungarian parliament adopted a law, copy-pasted from Russia, that censors the LGBTIQ+ communities in the country. This ‘anti-LGBT propaganda law�� bans the depiction of LGBTIQ+ people and the promotion of LGBTIQ+ topics in the media and in all the places where children could be, meaning almost everywhere...."

"...The European Commission has finally decided to bring Hungary in front of the European Court of Justice as this law goes against the most fundamental European norms and values.

We are very confident that the Court will rule to protect LGBTIQ+ people. This ruling would be important not only to repeal the law but also to prevent similar laws to be adopted in other Member States of the EU such as Poland or Romania.

This makes this court case is a unique opportunity for us all to deliver a powerful and clear message: we stand for our EU values of inclusion, equality, rule of law, and democracy.

This is our opportunity to show Viktor Orbán’s government that the citizens from all the Member States of the EU despise his anti-LGBTIQ+ rhetoric and laws.

And this is where you can act.

We need your support to convince your government to join the case alongside the European Commission to make it clear that these ‘anti-LGBTIQ+ propaganda laws’ are not welcome in Hungary, in your country, nor anywhere in the EU.

Sign our petition now to request your government to join the procedure and say ‘Enough’ to Viktor Orbán."

[saintmeghanmarkle]

Lady C Tea YouTube 9/26/23 (a few nuggets paraphrased by me) by u/daisybeach23

Lady C Tea YouTube 9/26/23 (a few nuggets paraphrased by me) Greetings from Castle Goring!Lady C, Did you see the charity event that Harry and Meghan attended with Kevin Costner? They looked so desperate for attention. Meghan grabbed the microphone (meant for someone else) and she grabbed an award meant for Kevin Costner. The cameras filmed their every move and the behavior was just so bizarre. Well, I have been on the bongo drums and I have a little bit of news from LA. First of all, WME has a connection to all the celebrities there. My understanding is that Kevin Costner allowed Harry and Meghan to be special guests at the request of WME. I also understand that Kevin Costner could barely tolerate them when they were all waiting to go on. If you watch the video, he made sure to have no contact with Meghan. Kevin Costner is very committed to the charity for local first responders. He is also a team player. He understands the necessity of “scratching each other’s back.” My understanding is that Meghan makes him cringe but he does have an affinity for Princess Diana because there were talks of her starring in The Bodyguard (even though she wasn’t seriously going to star in that movie). The person who spoke to me says Kevin Costner is very conscious of money. He was taken for a ride by his first wife. His second wife tried to take him for a ride and he is very uncomfortable in Meghan’s presence. In fairness to Meghan, maybe Meghan thought she was supposed to take the microphone? But I was told she was not supposed to do anything except stand beside Harry. My source says Kevin Costner dislikes Meghan but he is a team player. Notice he avoided her. Their appearance was 100% arranged by Ari Emmanuel at WME. Some people who saw her at the event said she looked like she was “flying high” and looked dreadful. She looked emaciated and her face has huge lines, the Ozempic look. That Olive Oil bun was the only option for her (expensive) Turkish hair because of the collar on her cloak. And they were so perplexed why she was half dressed in Germany where it was cooler and bundled up in a cloak in California where it was warmer. Harry and Meghan were desperate for some attention after Prince William’s successful visit to America. Apparently, Prince William is popular with both the Republicans and Democrats – oh dear….. oh dear.Lady C, I read that a few years ago, when Meghan was in New York and visited a school, she made all the teachers sign agreements they would not say anything bad about them now and in the future. Also, I read that she banned all British newspapers from attending even though this was a publicly owned building . Why do people let them do these things? Well, two years ago they were more popular than they are today. There is that. They have been trading on their status as detached members of the Royal Family. They banned the British Press because they knew the American Press would report on the censored version they present and the British Press would catch on better to what Meghan and Harry are doing. We are living in frightening times and Meghan harry want to sensor what people say and wrote about them. We should all be very concerned because Meghan and Harry’s censorship agenda is closer to being realized that we all realize. Harry is using litigation and his celebrity to sue the media. Most people who are born into wealth and privilege loathe the press.Lady C spent 30 minutes saying British Parliament is using the law to deprive its citizens of Free Speech and liberties.Toodles Sinners! post link: https://ift.tt/tXwboQZ author: daisybeach23 submitted: September 27, 2023 at 02:37AM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit

[borealing]

anon im not going to publish your ask but i will say a few things

china is a homophobic country with homophobic laws including censorship of tv. the censorship of tv is however, not limited to just lgbt media.

china DEFINITELY had a problem with production of cql. not just the gay stuff, theres a lot in mdzs that goes against chinas censorship laws. there were many scenes that had to be cut/scenes put in different orders (infamously, when cql aired in japan it had the ending scenes in a different order) and its. its literally censored. they have since banned all productions that are based on bl books.

if a public personality is too publicly associated with things that the government disapproves of then that person can have their opportunities in things like endorsements and show opportunities reduced/removed

the general reason that solo fans tend to use as justification for pushing back on cp (pair) appearances are 1. they want their idol to themself and 2. their idols popularity is harmed by appearing with someone else

this does not mean that all cnetz are homophobic

are your ideals absolutely 1:1 reflected by your government? why would you assume the same of china and chinese citizens?

please do not be homophobic in my askbox. please do not be sinophobic in my askbox

[mariacallous]

When Robin Marty was writing her 2021 book The New Handbook for a Post-Roe America: The Complete Guide to Abortion Legality, Access, and Practical Support, people often asked her why she didn’t just make it an online resource. 

“I said, ‘Well, we can't guarantee that online is always going to be accessible for people,’” says Marty, who is director of operations at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa. Her concern that women might one day be restricted from reading about abortion online proved prescient.

State lawmakers in Texas are considering a bill introduced last month that would make it illegal to provide information on how to access abortion. The bill would also require internet service providers to block websites offering content like that in Marty’s book, allow prosecution of abortion pill “distribution networks,” and permit anyone to sue a person who shared anything about how to access a medical abortion. The proposal borrows from a Texas law passed in 2021 that offers a cash bounty to citizens who sue a person who helped facilitate access to abortion care.

The Texas proposal to restrict information about abortion follows a recent flurry of attempts to limit reproductive rights in the US, with a particular focus on medical abortions—that is, abortions induced by medication. Experts worry that if passed, the bill could incentivize platforms and internet service providers (ISPs) to censor abortion-related content more broadly for fear of costly court cases. 

“It’s scaring the platforms and the ISPs and the speakers into thinking that they can be liable for the speech,” says Jennifer Pinsof, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “So it’s having a chilling effect and advancing the goal of keeping this information from being accessible to people online.”

Access to good information about abortion could become even more important as new restrictions are placed on the procedure. Earlier this month, a Texas judge ruled to suspend the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, a pill that in combination with misoprostol is part of the standard process for a medical abortion. This week, a federal appeals court ruled that though mifepristone could still be used for abortions, it can no longer be prescribed by mail.

The proposal to block Texans from accessing information about abortion, introduced by three male Republican representatives, is the most far-reaching attempt to date to limit how easily people learn about abortion access in the US. But it is not without precedent. Arizona has had a ban on advertising abortion services on its books since 1873. Other states, including Virginia, Louisiana, Michigan, and California, have restrictions on advertising the procedure.

Free speech is generally protected in the US under the First Amendment to the Constitution, while technology platforms have successfully argued that Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act means they can’t be held liable for content posted by users. 

However, the bill being debated in Texas could essentially sidestep at least some of these protections by enlisting citizens to police information about abortions. Instead of the government cracking down on content, citizens would file civil court cases, with potential targets including social platforms and ISPs hosting websites or social posts offering information about abortion.

Pinsof says companies facing such legal threats would have little incentive to defend the free speech of their users if it helped them avoid litigation. “We’ve seen over and over in different contexts that platforms are vulnerable to censorship pressure because they're afraid of being sued,” says Pinsof. “So it's easier to take stuff down than it is to potentially open yourself up to liability.” 

Another part of the law would require ISPs to “make every reasonable and technologically feasible effort to block internet access to information or material intended to assist or facilitate efforts to obtain an elective abortion or an abortion-inducing drug.” It also shields them from legal liability resulting from such takedowns, which Pinsof thinks could further encourage companies to remove content related to abortion.

Platforms are currently watching a case in the Supreme Court which argues that tech companies can in fact be held liable for content promoted on their platforms. Any weakening of that protection could expose companies to additional legal hazards in Texas under the proposed bill if they allowed pro-choice content to be shared on their services. Pinsof says the law can be read as making the provision of information about abortion “illegal both for speakers themselves, and also for platforms.”

WIRED reached out to Twitter, Reddit, Meta, and TikTok to ask whether laws like the Texas bill would induce them to change their moderation policies on abortion-related content. None responded. However, experts say that the platforms might preemptively begin limiting content related to abortion. 

Last year, WIRED found that Meta was already restricting some abortion content on its platforms, regularly removing posts that referenced accessing abortion pills under rules barring the sale of “illegal or regulated goods." 

The Texas bill could also have major implications for search engines, making it more difficult for women to find accurate information about abortion services. So-called “crisis pregnancy centers”—operated by anti-choice organizations—often use promoted results to get themselves to the top of searches for abortion providers. 

“There’s effectively competition between pro- and anti-choice groups to win those slots at the top of Google search,” says Callum Hood, head of research at the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit that tracks disinformation. “There will be no alternative in search results other than what anti-choice groups have to say about abortion,” he says. 

Neither Google nor Microsoft responded to requests for comment about how or whether search results or ads might be modified or restricted in response to the Texas bill.

Hood says he worries that censorship could lead ISPs to decide that hosting abortion-related websites carries too many risks. ISPs have previously blocked websites for illicit materials like child pornography.

“The easiest thing for them to say is just, ‘We're not going to host any website that’s to do with abortion. Full stop,’” says Hood. “It is going to create an incentive for them to just take simple steps, which is to avoid any ambiguity over whether or not they are facilitating access to information about abortion-inducing drugs.”

Marty says that, should the bill be enacted, activists will work out ways around it, as they have for previous restrictions. But she acknowledges that these strategies may still leave many women without critical information, because digital information has become so important.

Pro-choice activists and educators sometimes use QR codes, which can easily be printed as stickers or posters and left inconspicuously in public places to point people to abortion information. “Most of the activism has already and will continue to pivot to QR codes and other ways of providing informational links without the actual information being visible in a text form,” she says. “But even a QR code is a whisper network. You have to know that this is a thing to find the information on.”

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Matthew Syed

Published: Aug 14, 2022

Yesterday morning, it was reported that Salman Rushdie — who had been attacked at a literary event on free speech in America— was unable to speak. Many fanatical Muslims will take this as a sign from God. This, after all, was their intention: to censor those who criticise their religion. The assailant kept trying to attack Rushdie even after he was restrained, according to witnesses. “It took like five men to pull him away and he was still stabbing,” one said.

A fatwa was imposed on Rushdie after the publication of The Satanic Verses, a beautifully written novel that was, in my view, tame in its supposed mockery of Islam. To Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran, however, the book was blasphemous. After a bounty was put on his head, Rushdie lived under British protection while his book was burnt on the streets and craven politicians such as the former Labour MP Keith Vaz spoke out in protest. Cat Stevens — the singer now known as Yusuf — said in a speech to students in London that said “he must be killed”, although he later claimed he had not called for Rushdie’s death.

Yet while Rushdie survived this hostility, others did not. Hitoshi Igarashi, his Japanese translator, was stabbed to death. Ettore Capriolo, his Italian translator, was also stabbed, and William Nygaard, his Norwegian publisher, was shot and critically injured. Mustafa Mahmoud Mazeh perished while preparing explosives designed to kill the British novelist. A shrine in Tehran for Mazeh says: “The first martyr to die on a mission to kill Salman Rushdie.”

But while we look at all this with anger, while we condemn the religious fundamentalists, while we pray for Rushdie himself, let us also acknowledge something closer to home. Many of the comments on the Rushdie affair over the past 24 hours have pointed out that for many years he has been living quite freely, that the fatwa had been revoked by Iran (although the bounty remains) and that society has moved on from the dark days of book-burning, even if lone attackers remain a threat.

I would suggest that this is delusional, a fantasy conjured up by western liberals to distract from a more sinister truth: over 30 years they have worked as the de facto accomplices of the ayatollah, assisting in the task of dismantling free speech, sending fear through those who dare to criticise or ridicule religion or anything else. Rushdie, in this sense, is not — and never was — a historical affair but a live scandal running through the veins of British life, not to mention other western societies.

As I read about the attack on Rushdie, my mind turned to Louis Smith, another high-profile Briton from an ethnic minority; a gymnast who won three Olympic medals before going on to a TV career. A few years ago, he and his friend Luke Carson, a fellow gymnast, were frolicking around, singing (as they often did together) when Carson lay down on a mat and shouted “Allahu akbar” while Smith laughed. It was a bit of a giggle, nothing nasty, scarcely satirical. But the video, as you have probably guessed, leaked.

In the following days, liberal commentators were united in outrage. None saw this as two kids harmlessly mocking religion. None saw it as a trivial episode of ridicule of the kind that has always existed in liberal societies. None stated that no citizen, religious or otherwise, has a right or even a reasonable expectation to not be offended. Instead, they called for Smith to be banned — and he was, for two months, by British Gymnastics. He was accused of Islamophobia, racism, you name it. He appeared to have broken a chilling clause in UK Sport’s athlete’s contract: “Athletes may be ineligible for funding if they are derogatory about a person’s disability, gender, pregnancy or maternity, race, sexuality, marital status, beliefs or age.” I was astonished when I read this clause for it didn’t just prohibit mockery of protected characteristics, but all beliefs, of whatever kind. It meant that British athletes were prohibited from criticising Scientology, astrology or even Nazism. Under such a decree, Billie Jean King would have been banned in five minutes flat and Muhammad Ali even quicker. This wasn’t a contract; it was a gagging order. And yet this was the clause that UK Sport deemed necessary to “protect” its reputation

But this isn’t the half of it. I interviewed Smith a few months later, and he still looked shell-shocked. Death threats had started almost immediately: “We are going to find you, and kill you.” “You are going to get it.” One posted a video on social media: “I am going to splash acid in your face.” Scarcely any of this was reported in the media. In the week of our interview, he had received the message: “We are going to cave your face in.” Smith was forced to take out 24-hour protection, a hired heavy at his side at all times, even while he slept.

Yet the truly chilling aspect of this affair — which also went largely unreported — is that Smith couldn’t earn a living after his “crime”. Sponsors and broadcasters turned their backs on him. Progressives didn’t want to know. His income vanished and he struggled to pay his mortgage. To be clear: this punishment beating was perpetrated on Smith not by fanatics, not by knife-wielding fundamentalists, but the monolithic liberal ideology that will not tolerate opinions (or even jokes) that breach their antiliberal creed.

It was the same creed that defended those who hounded into hiding a teacher at a school in Batley, West Yorkshire, last year for showing his class a religious cartoon. It is the same creed that equates criticism of the myriad excesses of the Muslim Brotherhood with Islamophobia. And it is the same creed, to broaden the perspective, that connives in the cancellation and intimidation of anyone who engages in wrongthink on trans rights, climate change or the demolition of statues.

I pray — metaphorically — for Rushdie. He is a great and courageous Briton. But I also pray for the West. We like to think we have free speech but we lack even its pale imitation. Smith found work again only by issuing abject, almost pitiful apologies, bending the knee to liberal dogma, just as Galileo once prostrated himself before the Inquisition. Is it any wonder that myriad surveys reveal that people throughout the West desist from speaking out on sensitive issues, out of fear of the consequences?

This is the destination at which the liberal world has arrived — through stealth and increment, through a million little retreats, through the acquiescence of those who should know better. For initially noble motives related to the fear of giving offence to minority groups, we have committed the most grievous offence on our way of life. “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” was the view attributed to Voltaire by his most famous biographer. We must resurrect its spirit, reclaim its beauty. For today, with Rushdie hooked up to a ventilator, we continue to sleepwalk towards disaster.

[ Via: https://archive.ph/md8Uk ]

==

This is how Islam wins. Not by spreading the "truth" of Islam, not even by threatening violence. It wins by learning how to play the victim and recruiting virtuous flying monkeys.

[tysiaradz]

class notes

Apartheid

https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/grade-11-what-were-consequences-when-pseudo-scientific-ideas-race-became-integral

Climate theory (of racism) - the colder the weather, the smarter the human (read: stamped from the beginning). The theory suggests that black people in Africa had no way of being intelligent

Simian traits - “ape like”, connected to black portrayal and Irish portrayal: JFK significance: he was Irish and catholic

White people made themselves feel racially secure by making themselves the ideal face shape and differentiating themselves from other races “you are not white!”

“Wide sargasso sea” jean rhys

Darwin, the father of modern evolution theory, was himself religious and was antagonised by the church for disproving the creationist theory. He was also not pleased with how his theories were being used to persecute other races and nationalities

What were the four different categories of people introduced under the Race classification laws?

White

Indian

Coloured

Black

What was the pencil test and what purpose did it serve?

If a pencil was placed in a students hair and fell, they were white. If it stayed, they were not white enough

What was the Sharpeville massacre and what was it caused by?1952

A protest forcing law enforcement to arrest them in the hopes that they would collapse the jailing system ended in thousands being arresting

March 21st 1960

Police opened fire on unarmed protest killing 70 and wounding 180

Passbook - document that black people had to carry at all times to be able to travel

The protest was to abolish passbooks

What is (somewhat) ironic about Nelson Mandela having been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

He won the Nobel peace prize despite not being a pacifist

Imagine you educate someone online about systemic racism. Feel free to rant

Website is down

What factors increased the tensions between the blacks and the whites in the SA, and caused the later to want to control the former?

Black people were allowed to work in white spaces as many of the white population went to fight in ww2

Black people had to move into some white spaces such as living and work

ANC - African National Congress

4. He won the Nobel peace prize despite not being a pacifist

5.

6.

Dei steigers- “the sixties generation”

Brinks book was the first book to be banned by the south african government

How brink outwitted the censors

1979 printing: 3000 copies through a private publishing press in Johannesburg

Detected 2 weeks later - too late to confiscate the first printing, but the book was banned

Simultaneous publication in uk - a great success

Black June

Multi-day youth riots in Soweto started on the 26th June 1976

Brutally suppressed - armed personnel carriers, machine guns and helicopters against sticks and stones

SA internationally condemned for the massacre of the youth and the use of the violence at a mass scale

According to official statistics 175 killed (official citizens), 1140 wounded, 1300 arrested

A moral obligation

a dry white season illustrates the thesis made by brink in his article “after Soweto” 1976

following the massacre, the white citizens of SA shoulder a tremendous moral responsibility, which each should fulfill no matter the personal consequences.

Ben du Toit is an example of a person who took this moral obligation to the end.

Torture

Torturing political prisoners was frequent in SA in the 70s

The 1973 report of the UN Special Committee

Against Apartheid described over 100 cases of mistreatment of prisoners

Often used by Special Branch, specialised in detecting and fighting anti-government activity (methods near-identical with the Gestapo's)

According to the Western press, in 1977 alone at least 20 arrested people died in shady circumstances.

The author inspired some of the stories that happened to the protagonist from the experiences of others such as;

mohammed salim essop

Stephen bantu biko

Ahmed timol

Donald woods

James Thomas Kruger

To research: Steve Biko / Stephen Bantu Biko

Birth date: 18.12.1946

Death date: 12.09.1977

Founder of the “Black Consciousness” movement in South Africa

BCM was an anti-apartheid movement that was started in 1960. The movement started after the South African government outlawed the Pan-Africanist Congress and the African National Congress following the Sharpeville Massacre.

In his life, Biko was part of numerous anti apartheid movements. He began his efforts in protesting while at university (he first studied at st. Francis College and then at the University of Natal Medical School where he joined the multiracial National Union of South African Students).

His involvement lessened when he realised he found the NUSAS focused less on merging the rights of black and white people, but rather on viewing black people as the rightful majority. This was his reasoning for founding the SASO and becoming its president. The organisation was founded on the philosophy of black consciousness.

He drew censure in 1973 when SASO, its members and statements were restricted and banned. He reverted to operating covertly and, as a result was arrested and later died of died due to the torture he experienced while under arrest. He was found at the age of 31 outside a hospital naked, shackled and having experienced a brain haemorrhage.

Police denied responsibility for what happened to Biko, however, in 1997, five former officers admitted to being responsible for Biko’s death and applied for amnesty to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (a way of getting consequences for their wrongdoings and committed atrocities).

216, 262

Notes:

Dark, uncertain

Charcoal metaphor

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