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Thread: Brave New World

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    Brave New World

    American Commissars


    Social media platforms are aggressively censoring all who challenge the dominant narrative on Ukraine, the ruling Democratic Party, the wars in the Middle East and the corporate state.




    The ruling class, made up of the traditional elites that run the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, is employing draconian forms of censorship on its right-wing and left-wing critics in a desperate effort to cling to power. The traditional elites were discredited for pushing through a series of corporate assaults on workers, from deindustrialization to trade deals. They were unable to stem rising inflation, the looming economic crisis and the ecological emergency. They were incapable of carrying out significant social and political reform to ameliorate widespread suffering and refused to accept responsibility for two decades of military fiascos in the Middle East. And now they have launched a new and sophisticated McCarthyism. Character assassination. Algorithms. Shadow banning. De-platforming.

    Censorship is the last resort of desperate and unpopular regimes. It magically appears to make a crisis go away. It comforts the powerful with the narrative they want to hear, one fed back to them by courtiers in the media, government agencies, think tanks and academia. The problem of Donald Trump is solved by censoring Donald Trump. The problem of left-wing critics, such as myself, is solved by censoring us. The result is a world of make-believe.

    YouTube disappeared six years of my RT show, “On Contact,” although not one episode dealt with Russia. It is not a secret as to why my show vanished. It gave a voice to writers and dissidents, including Noam Chomsky and Cornel West, as well as activists from Extinction Rebellion, Black Lives Matter, third parties and the prison abolitionist movement. It called out the Democratic Party for its subservience to corporate power. It excoriated the crimes of the apartheid state of Israel. It covered Julian Assange in numerous episodes. It gave a voice to military critics, many of them combat veterans, who condemned US war crimes.

    It no longer matters how prominent you are or how big a following you have. If you challenge power, you are at risk of being censored. Former British MP George Galloway detailed a similar experience during an April 15 panel organized by Consortium News in which I took part:

    ]I have been threatened with travel restrictions were I to continue the television broadcast I had been doing for almost an entire decade. I have been stamped by the false label ‘Russian State Media,’ which I never had, by the way, when I was presenting a show on Russian state media. It was only given after I ceased to have a show on Russian state media, ceased because the government made it a crime for me to do so.

    My 417,000 Twitter followers had been gaining a thousand a day, going like a runaway train, then suddenly it hit the buffers when the Elon Musk story emerged. I expressed the view that oligarch that he no doubt is, I prefer Elon Musk to the kings of Saudi Arabia, who it turns out are presently major shareholders in the Twitter company. As soon as I joined that fight, my numbers literally crashed to a halt, with shadow bans and all the rest of it.

    All of this is happening before the consequences of the economic crash brought about by western policy and our misnamed leaders has really hit yet. When economies begin to not just slow down, not just hiccup, not just experience levels of inflation not seen for years, or decades, but becomes a crash, as well it might, there will be even more for the state to suppress, especially any alternative analysis as to how we got here and what we must do to get out of it.

    Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector in Iraq and Marine Corp intelligence officer, called out the lie about weapons of mass destruction prior to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Recently, he was banned from Twitter for offering a counter narrative about dozens of killings in the Kyiv western suburb of Bucha. Many of the victims in Bucha were found with gunshot wounds to the head and with their hands tied behind their back. International observers and eyewitnesses have blamed Russia for the killings. Ritter’s alternative analysis, right or wrong, saw him silenced.

    Ritter lamented the Twitter ban at the forum:

    It took me three years to get 4,000 followers on Twitter.I thought that was a big deal. Then this Ukraine thing comes up. It exploded. When I got suspended for the first time for questioning the narrative in Bucha my account had just gotten over 14,000. By the time my suspension was lifted I was up to 60,000. By the time they suspended me again I was close to 100,000. It was out of control, which is why I am convinced the algorithm said: You must delete. You must delete. And they did. The excuse they gave was absurd. I was abusive and I was harassing by telling what I thought was the truth.

    I don’t have the same insight in the Ukraine I had in Iraq. Iraq, I was on the ground doing the job. But the techniques of observation and evaluation that you are trained as an intelligence officer to apply to any given set apply to Ukraine today. Simply looking at the available data set, you cannot help but draw the conclusion that it was Ukrainian national police, mainly because you have all the elements. You have motive. They don’t like Russian collaborators. How do I know? They said so on their website. You have the commander of the national police ordering his people to shoot people in Bucha on the day in question. You have the evidence. The dead bodies on the street with white armbands carrying Russian food packets. Could I be wrong? Absolutely. Could there be data out there I am not aware of? Absolutely. But it is not there. As an intelligence officer I take the available data. I access the available data. I provide assessments based on that available data. And Twitter found that objectionable.

    Two pivotal incidents contributed to this censorship. The first was the publication of classified documents by Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. The second was the election of Donald Trump. The ruling class was unprepared. The exposure of their war crimes, corruption, callous indifference to the plight of those they ruled and extreme concentration of wealth shredded their credibility. The election of Trump, which they did not expect, made them afraid they would be supplanted. The Republican Party establishment and the Democratic Party establishment joined forces to demand greater and greater censorship from social media.

    American Commissars - The Chris Hedges Report (substack.com)

  2. #2
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    Lets enter the great Censorship debate!

    Is it the right thing to do? Are dissenting opinions dangerous?
    Is it only right if you don't like what is being said?
    If so, who gets to decide that- Big Tech? Government/ Oligarchy? You?
    Or is it a sinister development that does not bode well for the future....



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    ...*sigh*..."Hedges hosted the television program On Contact for RT America from 2016 to 2022. He is an outspoken critic of American liberalism, and has described himself as a socialist and an anarchist." ...he also appears to be just another crank Sabang has trotted out for attention...

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    He was a Pulitzer Prize winning foreign correspondent for the NYT for a number of years. But OK, you reckon he is a 'Crank', *sigh*.
    Should he therefore be censored? Because you reckon he is a crank?

    As a matter of interest, should you also be censored if I reckon you are a crank?

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    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    'Crank
    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    crank
    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    crank
    ...you're getting warmer...

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    Postingbullshit that has already been discredited on a new thread? Way to go lost guy Sabang!

    Adding George Galloway to the list does not attach any credit to your opinion, it adds fire to your many critics.

    Who said you had no sense of humour? Oh that’s right I did. You have two responses to your continued failure.
    Pretend to be serious and repost nonsense, or try and laugh your way out of it. Both massive fails for you!

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    Totally avoiding the subject matter, thus proving yourself a total ignoramus yet again? Way to go Swish!
    So, is it OK to censor you because you are obviously so dumb? And if so, who gets to decide?

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    Huxley and Orwell would be shocked at the number of nutters whose causes they are co-opted to defend.

    Increasing one's followers on Twitter 25 fold by slagging off Ukraine would appear pretty easy. Maybe you should start up an account, sabang? How about @nuttyasafruitcake.

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    Ukraine is just the flavour du jour syb, 'War of the Day'- this is about much more than that. Much more. That is why it is a separate thread.

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    Your link crying about American censorship is from an American website.

    Nobody does censorship like Russia does. You're a fucking hypocrite sabang.

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    You could add China too, Nth Korea and several other places. So is it OK that we copy them, take a leaf from their book? I will ignore your childish petulance, but do try to consider this like an adult might.

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    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Ukraine is just the flavour du jour.
    No, the Ukraine invasion and who’s lying is the central topic of the thread. All sensible people happen to know who the liars are, slobdong.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    You could add China too, Nth Korea and several other places. So is it OK that we copy them, take a leaf from their book? I will ignore your childish petulance, but do try to consider this like an adult might.
    You post endless links to Western media, so their viewpoints aren't really censored, are they? If you have a genuine concern about censorship, one would think you should be focusing on the worst offenders, no? Yet you don't. You're a fucking hypocrite.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Ukraine is just the flavour du jour syb, 'War of the Day'- this is about much more than that. Much more. That is why it is a separate thread.
    Incorrect. As I already pointed out, your so called links on here have already been discredited. You have the nerve to accuse another poster of going off topic?
    I didn’t go off topic, I accused you of being disingenuous by starting a new thread with the same failed and discredited links. You Also quoted George Galloway, which is a startling choice given his previous form.

    Notcontent with fouling the Ukraine threads with your propaganda, you use the same bullshit on a new thread.
    Don’t expect others to agree with such rancid behaviour.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Switch View Post
    Don’t expect others to agree with such rancid behaviour.
    ...well, backspit maybe...he does rancid very well...

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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    As soon as I joined that fight, my numbers literally crashed to a halt, with shadow bans and all the rest of it.
    I have absolutely no idea what that whining attention seeker is whining about. Someone did something that didn't please him?



    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    The excuse they gave was absurd. I was abusive and I was harassing
    So, maybe he was abusive and harassing? I don't care enough to look into it further.

    The platforms that these people use are simply megaphones for their viewpoints, there is nothing to stop them writing to The Times or standing at Speakers' Corner or setting up a website to bang on about their ideas. They are not, in fact censored. What they are complaining about is that they have been kicked off commercial platforms for breaches of their conditions, it isn't some kind of universal human right to be on Twatter. If you don't like it, find another platform or do a Trump and build your own.

    Broadly I agree with freedom of speech, I don't think the pieces you are quoting help your argument much.

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    Smile

    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Lets enter the great Censorship debate!
    Sure:
    Massive state censorship in Russia, China, N Korea, Iran, Sudan etc... enforced by the threat of lengthy imprisonment, even death.

    Small, if any censorship in Germany, Australia, NZ, France, Italy, Canada, the US, GB, The Netherlands etc....

    See a pattern there?



    Thanks for the debate.


    Speaking of censorship - I'm banned from World News for some reason - perhaps I should adopt a posting style like you or OhWr or Bacskpit - seems to work.
    Also banned from the Sports section for some unfathomable reason.

    I EXPECT you and your two horsebuddies to fight for my freedom of expression

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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post

    Are dissenting opinions dangerous?
    The problem is, we have moved very far from dissenting opinions. We are now into an area of "manufactured realities".

    Doubts about the election - no problem. Knowingly falsely claiming that there was evidence of extensive vote manipulation - big problem.

    What you are really arguing about is whether people have the right to make up any old shite, and have that speech protected.

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    More sabang bollocks. It's not even worth entering his idea of a "debate" because as usual he's just posting bullshit.

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    I'm banned from World News for some reason
    Also banned from the Sports section for some unfathomable reason.
    No idea about that mate- have you asked the Mods why? Is it a suspension, or ban?
    Maybe you mentioned the All Blacks in the Sports section- that deserves a ban.

    The OP is a bit too focused on the "Po' pity me" stories of Hedges, Scott Ritter & George Galloway, I think that is a valid criticism- because they are just the tip of the iceberg. But I certainly think it is wrong to cancel them for questioning the narrative. Whatever narrative. I bet David Icke's child sacrificing reptilian overlords conspiracy theory is not cancelled or censored though. Why? because it is so outlandish, it poses no threat. Think about that. Only cancel that which might just have credibility? H'mmm.

    On a broader topic, search engines like Google, Yahoo, Duck Duck Go and social media sites like Twitter have admitted to altering their algorithms to filter out perceived 'pro-Russian' content- presumably because of Ukraine war. Personally I think that is childish, and ridiculous. It also begs the question- where does it end? What else might they choose to filter out, or minimalize? Will we even be informed? And who decides?

    Ironically, this nonsense has made at least one Russian billionaire a lot richer! The owner of Telegram, which proudly boasts that it does not filter content or opinion. It has boomed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine- given that Twitter and ilk have gone down the censorship route. I have joined myself! So you'll be pleased to know- he doesn't like Putin. But even if you love Vlad, he won't censor you.

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    Despite supporting pro russian propaganda and being wrong about the invasion and just about everything else you seem to be trying to divert attention from your reputation, currently lying in the deepest darkest recesses of some disgusting sewer, by saying "hey guys dont shoot the messenger who is just trying to offer an alternative viewpoint"

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    ^FAIL, but I'm sure you get used to that.

    "hey guys dont shoot the messenger who is just trying to offer an alternative viewpoint"
    Yeh, that is basically what I am saying. You are bringing it back to Ukraine again, but the Pov of the foreign policy realists is quite valid, especially in light of the disastrous outcome we are now witnessing. You are certainly free to disagree- but you should also have the freedom to read and consider it. Just as the Pov of those who called out the bullshit being spruiked in the lead up to the disastrous Iraq invasion was proven right- but was widely disparaged at the time. Ditto those who called out the impending quagmire in Afghanistan, and so on. Dissidents are often proven right you know. Maybe that is why they are so resisted?

    Such viewpoint and analysis should not be censored, filtered, or kept from the public because it is inconvenient to the powers that be, and does not fit in with their short term agenda. So I find the current trends, and apparent public complacency about it alarming. That is the topic of this thread.

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    Realistically stupid people should be banned from posting bollocks in discussion threads.

    They have a drivel thread where they can post all the bollocks they want.

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    Social media platforms are aggressively censoring all who challenge the dominant narrative on Ukraine,
    What's that? That Russia invaded a sovereign nation?
    FFS.

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    It is indeed a very worrying trend when the major social media companies can dictate what and whose points of view are permissible to be read.

    Controlling the narrative seems to be the order of the day.

    TD itself is hardly a bastion of free speech, Eg any posters that do not totally support the Ukraine in its struggle are shot down immediately with repetitive name calling and puerile insults.

    I remember in the UK when Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness were not allowed to be seen on TV. To circumvent this censorship we heard their viewpoints via actors.
    Were the UK govt frightened we would hear the truth?

    A few years later they were meeting with the Queen and Prince Charles and were welcome everywhere.

    On a personal note I like to hear both sides of the debate, reasoned argument should be allowed to prevail.
    I am totally against censorship.

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