Dear Tarek701, I enjoyed reading your post and wanted to respond, but struggled to do so concisely as it covers such a swathe of material. Anyway, I'm going to have a go....
On June 20th, the EU parliament is voting for a new EU law, called: "DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on copyright in the Digital Single Market". It practically allows to censor copyrighted content, however, it can be easily abused to censor any kind of content that does not fit the current narrative. This would be done via an "upload filter", that would check EU-wide every Internet user in the European Union what content is being currently uploaded. If that content is marked as "malicious" or somehow "copyrighted", it could be prevented from uploading.
We have freedom of speech and its erosion has nothing to do with the above. It has already been eroded. It is the same kind of discussion as the erosion of democracy at the hands of the media. Provocative and inflammatory, but ultimately useless because the issue is finished anyway. There never was, has been or could be any kind of functioning democracy. If there were, there would not be an orange ventriloquist sitting in the White House. We have free speech, though it's erosion (IMHO) is more linked to our own political apathy, which has been garnered deliberately and also stems from the medias control of absolutely everything. The article you refer to is desired. Were it not...we would not see it. How much of the excellent writing from Clues Forum members do you see featured anywhere of note?
It is desired so we can discuss it (as we are doing now) and share are worries about the possible bleakness it brings.
It would mean the end to memes, videos, selfies (with background pictures of some copyrighted content) and so on
So called razor sharp dissenting political memes fit well within the propaganda matrix to present the notion of political opposition. It's important to have them to make sure nobody sees for example that a) the UK has a privately funded state TV channel and that b) the US media decides elections. In short...the West is more or less the embodiment of the imaginary horror of North Korea, disguised by lots of shopping, the sports channel and Facebook memes!
If they vanished it would make little difference as nobody pays attention to them anyway. Their appearance on Facebook for example is always ignored in favour of a post showcasing somebody's feet at the beach or somebody's dinner or a cheeky bum. Political memes are meaningless, like so many of the mock political shows that indicate opposition, such as the abhorrent formless, 'Frankie Boyle's New World Order' or the slightly better, 'John Oliver' show. You'll always have people commenting about how Trump is totally lambasted in the media and
"can't have much longer to go"! He can and will go for as long as it is desired. He's political gold for his masters and the most effective actor I have ever seen, bar none.
But there was an article, from around mid-2017, in which plans were offered to give companies more strength towards dealing with deleting "hate speech".
I can't see a problem with companies dealing with genuine hate speech. Having said that, hate speech (to my mind)is either garnered, manufactured or promoted as a policy or simply does not exist at all. Generally though, hate speech refers to 'anti semitism', which is a fiction as the stunning film, 'Defamation' (Yoav Shamir) shows pointedly. Anti-semitism is a foil and has become an inside joke and is a wonderful weapon for the advancement of Israeli settlements, policy and Zionist interests anywhere in the world.
MEPs know very well that attempts like those would only damage the idealistic picture of the European Union as an union of countries working together and providing freedom, free speech, etc. So, in that case, they could not even risk such a vote, especially while the "alt-right" is in the uprise and wins more and more votes by each day. Just recently, Italy has elected a new government that could be considered politically right-wing.
Is there ever any real difference in policy outcome between left and right? I would suggest that any advancement in the cause of the people is only to increase productivity of human capital and any move to the right is to dehumanise one group over the other for power or control. And really....the constant move to fighting, war, selling arms, invading, conjuring necessary illusions, underfunding to fail public institutions, transfer or public wealth into private hands is all there ever is. Does the fact that the media constantly shows how poorly the police, nurses, teachers et al are treated and paid ever change this fact?
It really that simple. Could either Bernie Sanders or Jeremy Corbyn have made a difference had either of those modern Jesus characters been elected? Doubtful at best.
Why not? Because as you intimated, they are nothing more than bit part actors controlled by real money and power.
What's with the world-wide uprise of the alt-right?
Brilliant isn't it. Such an easy divide and conquer strategy. No doubt there is real anger in real Americans or Europeans who are increasingly squeezed with increased living costs where wages fail to match inflation. Particularly in America where the average American is poorer now than 20 years ago. Where can that anger go? Simply point it towards one of the minority groups, create some friction, panic and fear and distract people from the real movement of the orange Umpa Lumpa, Trump. I wouldn't worry...whilst it's not pleasant to see people frothing at the mouth and taunting people with 'Allah snackbar' there is really nothing new under the sun here. People are ignorant and easily swayed by the power of TV. We've always been duped and lied to, it's just now it is done so professionally, elegantly and with such aplomb.
So, we can even assume that the whole Trump bashing bandwagon by CNN, ABC and other "supposed" left-wing news channels is just a "scripted" show to cause an overton-window. And channels like FOX News being more positive towards Trump in any possible way, must be a part of this show. There is no other way.
Give the illusion of political criticism to give the sense we live in a democracy and gloss over the fact that thousands of radio channels, TV stations, magazines and newspapers and film studios are owned by five large companies who behave as a cartel. They effectively own our waking thoughts, dreams, hearts and minds, aspirations, buying habits and more.
I don't write often here, and if I do, it's mostly researching. But, this time, I believe we are heading towards something that I would describe as "bad", and this time, "really bad" for the world as a whole. This is not a "2012 doomsday" thing I am spitting out here; This is a serious message, that the attempts of censorship, radicalism and disinformation are slowly progressing and growing.
I'm afraid it has already happened. The propaganda matrix is elegant and all encompassing. People struggle to even admit that the BBC may be somewhat biased even in the face of unwatchable interviews. People agree that the media lies but are unable to call out a single lie. People consume thousands of images a day, but never suspect a single one. People absorb disinformation with relish and repeat it to their friends. We consumer hundreds of ongoing plot dramas in the news and never question their authenticity. We cannot see the wood for the trees.
Free speech is fine. It exists (save for the silly holocaust law) but the problem is you'll never hear the real messages because they're never relayed over through the mainstream media. If they were, we still wouldn't hear them as our attention is so diluted from from social media and silly mock political memes.
May I ever so politely suggest you may be overly worrying about the possible death of the Dodo. It's already gone.
Look at CluesForum, there exists here the healthiest forms of discussion and freedom of speech on the most challenging issues and yet.....
It remains hidden