{"id":8514,"date":"2018-04-30T10:57:20","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T17:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=8514"},"modified":"2018-04-30T10:57:20","modified_gmt":"2018-04-30T17:57:20","slug":"the-russia-narrative-is-nonsense-anti-social-media-censorship-mccarthyist-democrats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2018\/04\/30\/the-russia-narrative-is-nonsense-anti-social-media-censorship-mccarthyist-democrats\/","title":{"rendered":"The Russia Narrative Is Nonsense: Anti-Social Media Censorship & McCarthyist Democrats"},"content":{"rendered":"
April 29, 2018 (JohnLaurits.com)<\/div>\n
\n

\"Mainstream<\/a><\/p>\n

The article you are about to read is\u00a0100% pure Russian propaganda,<\/em>\u00a0written by some\u00a0shill<\/em>\u00a0to deliberately mislead you with false information on what is obviously\u00a0a fake news site<\/em>. That, at least, is the story being used to foment mistrust of divergent views and discredit independent news-media, educators, and journalists. Thanks to the normalization of xenophobic slurs by the mainstream outlets, terms like \u2018Russian troll\u2019 and \u2018Russian bot\u2019 have been weaponized to dismiss non-corporate news and perspectives. Whether democrats\u2019 repressive McCarthyism or the right-wing\u2019s equally absurd censure of \u2018fake news\u2019 with \u2018alternative facts,\u2019 the result is an identical silence of dissent. Meanwhile, big social media now openly curates billions of\u00a0newsfeeds at the request of governments in the US, Israel, and who knows where else and \u2014 as of April 23rd, Monday this week \u2014 the FCC\u2019s unilateral decision to trash net-neutrality was set in motion.<\/p>\n

\u200b<\/a>Before this constellation of repression and censorship revises history beyond repair, it is important to remember how all of this happened.<\/p>\n

Russian Bots, Anti Social Media,
\n& the Bleak Rise of Internet Censorship<\/em><\/h2>\n

\u201cthe Russians, who typically, almost genetically driven to co-opt, penetrate, gain favor, whatever, which is a typical Russian technique\u201d
\n\u2014\u00a0James Clapper<\/strong><\/a>, former director of national intelligence<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In January of 2017 (as this site reported<\/strong><\/a>), US intelligence\u2019s assessment of foreign meddling in the 2016 election seemed to define Russian propaganda as anything critical of US policy. Content that \u201cdescribed the current US political system as corrupt,\u201d characterized the US as \u201ca surveillance state,\u201d or voiced \u201ccriticism of the US economic system\u201d is presented as proof of a Russian influence-campaign. The report came a month after congress had passed the NDAA for 2017 that appropriated funds for a\u00a0\u201cGlobal Engagement Center,\u201d<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0which sounds far nicer than \u201cUS Department of Propaganda.\u201d Section 1259C authorized the center to covertly fund journalists, NGOs, scientific research, academic institutions, and \u201cprivate companies\u201d to counteract foreign influence on \u201cthe policies and social and political stability of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

Good thing that never resulted in state-censorship or the widespread persecution of dissenting views.<\/p>\n

The Hunt for Russian Influence Continues in 2018<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Anoa Changa \u2014 a Black activist, attorney, and podcast-host \u2014 was recently smeared by Atlanta NPR affiliate WABE after discussing issues like police violence on a radio station owned by Russian outlet Sputnik. This attack came un-ironically from an affiliate of NPR, founded and funded by the US government. As the\u00a0actual journalists<\/em>\u00a0at FAIR.org<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0explain:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026instead of using this opportunity to highlight the causes they\u2019re fighting for, or the injustices that brought them to become activists, WABE used its considerable resources and influence to talk about, you guessed, Russian influence\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In response to the hit-piece,\u00a0Changa writes<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201dThere\u2019s nothing new about American institutions attacking and delegitimizing the work of Black activists and organizers. What\u2019s new is that in the age of Russian election interference, journalists at establishment media companies are now using the Russia investigation as an excuse to mainstream these smear tactics. And it\u2019s an affront to the activism of people of color that must be identified for what it is.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Why Are So Many Russian Bots Also Journalists?<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201c[\u2018Russians\u2019] try to get individuals, including U.S. persons, to act on their behalf either wittingly or unwittingly. Individuals going on a treasonous path often do not realize it until it is too late\u201d \u2014\u00a0John Brennan, former director of the CIA<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Satire,<\/a>
Lee Camp, an obvious Russian bot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anoa Changa is not the only one who has been targeted by the neo-McCarthyists. YouTube now imposes a big warning beneath the videos of comedian and host of\u00a0Redacted Tonight, Lee Camp<\/strong><\/a>. This is not because he was exposed as a Kremlin operative poisoning the country with nefarious Russian propaganda \u2014 no, the reason we must be warned about Camp is that his insightful comedy and commentary airs on RT \u2014 a\u00a0Russian<\/em>\u00a0outlet!\u00a0Eugene Puryear<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Abby Martin<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Julian Assange<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0John Pilger<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Chris Hedges<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the list goes on.<\/p>\n

From Social Media to State Media<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cYou created these platforms\u2026 and now they\u2019re being misused.\u00a0And you have to be the ones who do something about it \u2014 or we will\u201d
\n\u2014\u00a0Sen. Diane Feinstein<\/strong><\/a>, to Facebook, Google, & Twitter Executives<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In October \u201917, Twitter\u2019s spokesperson\u00a0told congress<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0they had hidden 1\/2 of all tweets about the leaks that revealed\u00a0collusion by the media with DNC officials<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0during the primaries. But it was no confession \u2014 Twitter was\u00a0bragging<\/em>\u00a0about censoring the voices of tens of thousands to repress a news story. To congress. This is what \u201cnormal\u201d is now. Part of the statement reads:<\/p>\n

\u201cWith respect to #DNCLeak, approximately 23,000 users posted around 140,000 unique Tweets with that hashtag in the relevant period. Of those Tweets, roughly 2% were from Russian-linked accounts. As noted above, our automated systems at the time detected, labeled, and hid just under half (48%) of all the original Tweets with #DNCLeak.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Facebook also accommodates the US government by\u00a0removing profiles<\/strong><\/a>, ostensibly to fight fake news or Russian trolls. The social-media giant not only overhauled its newsfeed to\u00a0favor content from large news-corporations<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0over independent media but it has also granted 95% of requests by Israeli authorities to\u00a0censor content in Palestinian territories<\/strong><\/a>. Considering that Facebook alone is the\u00a0gatekeeper to 45% of news traffic<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(and social media altogether for 67%), the idea that US and Israeli politicians are able to act as its chief editors should be terrifying.<\/p>\n

The collaboration of big social with governments, the fake news invective, the McCarthyist witch-hunts, the FCC\u2019s unilateral demolition of net neutrality \u2014 is altogether a threat to any meaningfully free press and to online political organization. As grave as this assault may be, it is not unprecedented and \u2014 by adding a bit of historical context \u2014 it may be less hopeless than it first seems.<\/p>\n

From the Printing Press to the Internet
\n(& From the Inquisition to Online Censorship)<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cPrinting [\u2026] is the art of arts, the science of sciences. Thanks to its rapid diffusion the world is endowed with a treasure house of wisdom and knowledge, till now hidden from view. An infinite number of works [\u2026] are now translated into all languages and scattered abroad among all the nations of the world\u201d
\n\u2014\u00a0Werner Rolewinck 1474<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7<\/a>The\u00a0invention of movable-type<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0made it possible to cheaply imprint information onto paper, resulting in a mass-production of written material and expanded access to knowledge for unprecedented numbers of people. Before the printing press,\u2020 hand-copied manuscripts were so costly that access to education and specialized knowledge was mostly limited to the wealthy. The spread of printed media not only changed\u00a0how<\/em>\u00a0people shared information but\u00a0who<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0how many\u00a0<\/em>shared it. Because of this democratization of knowledge, printing technology\u2019s impact on human civilization has often been compared to that of writing itself and, more recently, to the internet.<\/p>\n

\u200bFor the most part, comparisons of the rise of online media to printing have emphasized the internet\u2019s potential to change things for the better. But this ignores the fact that the democratic tendencies of printed media met heavy repression. The worst\u00a0inquisitions and witch-hunts arose alongside the printing press<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0during the period of Europe\u2019s Renaissance that culminated in the Protestant Reformation and ended the political reign of the medieval Church.<\/p>\n

The Historical Democratization of Knowledge<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Technology has a strong tendency to tip the scales against power. The printing press ultimately led to a profound redistribution of access to knowledge \u2014 but not without upheaval. Before the victory, there were the accusations, the book burnings, and the witch-trials. \u200bPrior to printed media, the Church had been the major producer of manuscripts in Europe and that gave them a lot of power over what kinds of knowledge were copied and circulated. Naturally, they wanted to keep that power and \u2014 facing the spread of printed media that criticized the Church doctrines \u2014 power fought tooth and nail against the heretics to the bitter end.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/a>
Stolen without shame or regret from the Wall Street Journal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Online News-Media & Today\u2019s Inquisition<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cThe heresy of one age becomes the orthodoxy of the next\u201d
\n\u2014 Helen Keller<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Internet \u2014 like the printing press \u2014 increased the velocity of information to such a degree that there was\u00a0a qualitative change<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in how knowledge was created and distributed in societies. Just as small printing presses disrupted the Church\u2019s centralized production of manuscripts in Europe, the Internet has eroded the centralized information-regime of the TV news networks, Hollywood, and the print industry. Instead of popes or archbishops, there are the Murdochs, Turners, and celebrity show-hosts from Rachel Maddow to Sean Hannity who \u2014 much like the medieval dogmatists Church before them \u2014 propagate the doctrines of wealth and power.<\/p>\n

Old English Fake News<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

As Dan Bricklin has already noted<\/strong><\/a>, there seem to be many parallels between today\u2019s popular news-bloggers and pamphleteers who agitated for revolution during the early modern era. The first pamphleteers \u2014 like Martin Luther who challenged the establishment\u2019s narrative in his day \u2014 were smeared as \u201cheretics,\u201d\u00a0a word\u2021\u00a0that described people who believed the wrong ideas. Pamphlets were so effective at undermining religious and political authorities that they were\u00a0banned<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in many times and places throughout the 1500s. In 1590\u2019s\u00a0A Treatise Against Witchcraft<\/em>,\u00a0Henry Holland writes,<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u201cmany fabulous pamphletes are published, which give little light and lesse proofe,\u201d which is basically translates to \u201cfake news\u201d in ye Olde English.<\/p>\n

Considering the historical repression that followed the rise of the printing press, the attack on the informational democracy of the Internet can be viewed in a totally different light.<\/p>\n

Toward a New Narrative & a New Media<\/u><\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n

During the 2016 election cycle,\u00a0polls showed<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that US media\u2019s credibility had hit rock-bottom. The popular need for a relevant and informed social discourse led to the formation of decentralized, independent media, journalists, news-hubs, and grassroots distribution through social-media. In contrast to the packaged politics of the name brands, the improvised press was able to deliver a range of differing or even contradictory views by embracing the web\u2019s participatory framework.<\/p>\n

By the time the media realized how many had quit listening, a critical mass had rejected the narrative that the democratic candidate would unite the nation for an inspiring landslide against a clown supported by deplorable racist trash.\u00a0\u200bThat is the story that was being presented by the mainstream, celebrity-obsessed US media and it was rejected \u2014\u00a0not because<\/em>\u00a0people had been confused by Kremlin propagandists or duped by Macedonan teenagers\u2019 fake news \u2014 but\u00a0because it was\u00a0horse-shit<\/em>. Better, more compelling, more plausible, nuanced stories were being told in the new press and that successful act of heresy is what became the basis for the inquisitions today.<\/p>\n

The \u2018Russian Meddling\u2019 Narrative Is Absurd<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Each time pundits repeat this narrative that today\u2019s problems are a result of Russian meddling, remember\u00a0how US intelligence\u2019s assessment defined \u201cRussian propaganda.\u201d<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0By saying that Kremlin propagandists influenced the results, they are really saying that online media\u2019s \u201ccriticism of US policy\u201d is the problem and that reporting on US \u201cinfringements of civil liberties and police brutality\u201d harms democracy.\u00a0How dare they?<\/em>\u00a0By claiming Trump\u2019s election was due to Russian propaganda, the anchors are saying that those who didn\u2019t support the bipartisan consensus for endless war, mass-incarceration, and environmental destruction must have been fooled by the Kremlin. To accept this is to think that choosing between the status quo and a literal dumpster-fire was meaningful and that feeling uninspired by this choice is Russian propaganda.<\/p>\n

In solidarity,
\n<\/em>John Laurits<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

April 29, 2018 (JohnLaurits.com) The article you are about to read is\u00a0100% pure Russian propaganda,\u00a0written by some\u00a0shill\u00a0to deliberately mislead you with false information on what is obviously\u00a0a fake news site. That, at least, is the story being used to foment mistrust of divergent views and discredit independent news-media, educators, and… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8514"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8514"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8515,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8514\/revisions\/8515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}