HomeRandom stuffAnd so it begins…

And so it begins…

The jackboots are getting polished up…

They are STILL trying to prosecute former Nazis, article HERE, and are known to crack down heavily on the Neonazis that pop up in Germany occasionally…

Now they are going after social media.

Social media companies face fines of up to €50m (£43m) if they persistently fail to remove illegal content from their sites under a new law passed in Germany

The German parliament on Friday approved the bill aimed at cracking down on hate speech, criminal material and fake news on social networks – but critics warn it could have drastic consequences for free speech online.

Full article, HERE.

In the mean time, CNN has reeled it out and stomped all over it, when they went after the Reddit user that put the CNN wrestling video together…

They ‘threatened’ to doxx him unless he took the posts down and never did it again…

However…

CNN faced widespread backlash Wednesday for seeming to imply the network would reveal the identity of the Reddit user who made an anti-CNN, Trump-themed GIF if he reneged on an apology – but some critics suggested the network also could have a legal problem on its hands.

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took to Twitter to cite Georgia state law’s prohibition against “theft by extortion.”

Full article, HERE.

There is also a Title 18 issue, at the federal level that is coming into play, for blackmail. CNN isn’t, IMHO, innocent in this case. When there is a statement about CNN’s ‘policy’ in some of the back and forth, that means the whole thing had to be approved at a pretty high level.

And there is THIS article from Glenn Greenwald at the Intercept… Note the update at the end of the article…

Comments

And so it begins… — 15 Comments

  1. Regarding the CNN kerfuffle: I grew up in and around newspapers. I even helped start and was a part owner of one, back when that was still the primary way people got their news. The rules were pretty simple. One of them, I submit, was this. Journalists and news organizations don’t issue threats, especially because someone chose to exercise his right to free speech. Period. Which brings us to Germany’s new law regarding hate speech. Ugly, horrid, hateful speech is countered with better speech, just as lies are countered with truth.

    This stuff really isn’t all that complicated…

  2. I note with disgust that CNN can quickly ascertain the identity of a post that is negative to CNN, but seems totally unable to find the identity of all the “anonymous” sources of information negative to our president. Communist News Network, Clinton News Network, “All the news that fits our agenda” OOPS, that’s the new york slimes, my mistake.

  3. Extortion by implied or open threat is still extortion, and we deserve to see the Justice Dept. going after everyone involved. Whether we ever will see that is an open question.

  4. I understand the big deal about CNN threatening the guy if thy in fact did so – if so they should be prosecuted. What I do not understand is the fear of having my identity be made known. I am well armed and able to handle threats with force if need be to protect myself and family and am also very ready and willing to file a lawsuit against any entity like CNN that makes threats against me.

  5. Sweden has modified its constitution to allow prosecution of bloggers and news sites who mention the ethnicity of convicted criminals. And one presumes anything else the government wants kept silent.

  6. Sunshine is a great disinfectant. Only the diseased need to fear it. How to keep the sunshine bright? No pat answer but those of us using this internet need to fight to keep the internet bright.

  7. So non-Nazi Germany is passing more laws to prosecute and control the media and what the populace says. And they are passing laws controlling business and laws regarding certain ethnic populations.

    And Nazi Germany pass laws to prosecute and control the media and what the populace said. And they passed laws controlling business and laws regarding certain ethnic populations.

    So… how is non-Nazi Germany so different than Nazi Germany?

    So how is non-Nazi Germany different than Nazi Germany

  8. Ah, but CNN would simply publish all the details about the memeposter – name, address, employment, family… and then sit back. How many phone calls and incidents of vandalism at your workplace will they take before deciding to get rid of you? You may be able to protect yourself, but are you able to protect your wife and children 24/7? If you go to the store for groceries, will your car windows be smashed and your tires slashed while you’re inside?

    For that matter, CNN could file a baseless lawsuit and just run the poor memeposter out of money. Misuse of copyright would be an example – they have millions to spend on lawfare, and judges that are inclined to rule in their favor.

  9. RM- Not if one is honest and has ethics… sigh

    Roger- Interesting isn’t it…

    Rev- Agreed!

    Glenn- Understood, and agreed.

    Jon- Good point!

    TxRed- WHAT??? YGTBSM!!!

    WSF- Another good point!

    Andrew- Like I said, Jackboots… That acorn is STILL on the tree!

    Tweell- No question they ‘could’, but I don’t think they are willing to take the PR hit for doing that.

    • Yes, and both have large groups of young, male thugs paid for by the government to enforce their wills against the ‘not correct’ minorities, just the new administration imported theirs.

      My Jewish connections say its back to being not nice, not quite brownshirt level, but lots of them are quietly shifting funds out and looking to move.

  10. Hey Old NFO;

    It will be interesting to see hos the CNN kerfluffle plays out. CNN should have left it alone and it would have died out after a news cycle, but because they doxxed a 15 year old kid, they were made into a bully and the internet is having a field day with this 🙂
    As far as Germany goes, It is interesting that Germany in the name of “tolerance” is going after media to control it. I do know that a lot of Germans are posting in youtube about the migrant problem and how the state is taking the sides of the muslim migrants over the native Germans and they are getting real pissy about it

  11. Andrew- True. And I’ve heard ‘rumors’…

    Bob- It actually is an adult male, not a 15 year old. But yes, they screwed the pooch… Germany is NOT equal to tolerance, never really has been…

  12. Pissing off 4chan is a really bad idea. Weaponized autism indeed!