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Title: Feds may soon target Drudge Report and the alternative media through FCC censorship
Source:
Intellihub
URL Source: https://www.intellihub.com/feds-may ... -media-through-fcc-censorship/
Published: May 5, 2015
Author: Alex Thomas
Post Date: 2015-05-06 08:33:03 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 1533
Comments: 7
By Alex Thomas (INTELLIHUB) — The internet could soon be regulated by the federal government based off of political content, according to Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai. Speaking at a conference in Washington, Pai revealed his belief that internet censorship could be on the horizon and even detailed how he and his family had been targeted due to his outspoken opposition to net neutrality. His comments show the fine line free speech proponents face when attempting to use the FCC to stop corrupt corporations from ruling the internet. On one hand, regulating these corporations through net neutrality seems like a freedom protecting measure. On the other, giving the power to regulate to the federal government seems like a Orwellian nightmare waiting to happen. According to CNSNews, Pai said: “I could easily see this migrating over to the direction of content… What you’re seeing now is an impulse not just to regulate the roads over which traffic goes, but the traffic itself. It is conceivable to me to see the government saying, ‘We think the Drudge Report is having a disproportionate effect on our political discourse. He doesn’t have to file anything with the FEC. The FCC doesn’t have the ability to regulate anything he says, and we want to start tamping down on websites like that.’” While Pai specifically mentions the Drudge Report, it seems obvious that if the federal government were to go as far as to regulate a website as mainstream as Drudge they would absolutely also target the plethora of outstanding alternative media outlets who produce independent news on a daily basis. Sadly, the censorship of the alternative media would be openly cheered on by the hard left who label anyone questioning the establishment as right-wing crazies that need to be dealt with. Commissioner Pai also detailed threats he and his family had received: “I can tell you it has not been an easy couple of months personally. My address has been publicly released. My wife’s name, my kids’ names, my kids’ birthdays, my phone number, all kinds of threats [have come] online.” A small audio clip of Pai speaking at the conference included other comments he had about the targeting of political websites by the FCC. In the past we have written about how internet censorship would most likely be used in the name of “fairness,” essentially lowering the traffic on websites that do not tow the establishment line while propping up ones that do. We have already seen steps towards this in the last few years with backdoor censorship throughout popular social media and video websites well documented. Facebook routinely labels alternative media pages and content as spammy. This leads to either the owner of the page receiving a temporary ban or an entire website itself being banned from sharing anything on the popular social media network. Google has publicly talked about rating websites on their search engine based off what they deem to be the truth. In late March 2015 I reported on the plan by Google and the Orwellian nature of the idea of a “truth squad.” Google, the worlds largest search engine, has a plan to change their rankings that could, in theory, destroy any news outlet that doesn’t report from a mainstream perspective. Researchers at Google recently released a report that called for using a system that ranks websites on their trustworthiness rather than their popularity across the web. Instead of counting incoming links, the system would use Google’s Knowledge Vault to determine the accuracy of a website. While we have all dealt with disinformation on the internet, the fact that the search giant plans to decide what is and isn’t true should have any freedom minded individual worried, especially when you consider Google’s public positions on many controversial topics. An article in the New Scientist immediately makes clear which “incorrect” articles would be targeted: “THE internet is stuffed with garbage. Anti-vaccination websites make the front page of Google, and fact-free “news” stories spread like wildfire. Google has devised a fix – rank websites according to their truthfulness. Google’s search engine currently uses the number of incoming links to a web page as a proxy for quality, determining where it appears in search results. So pages that many other sites link to are ranked higher. This system has brought us the search engine as we know it today, but the downside is that websites full of misinformation can rise up the rankings, if enough people link to them.” Whether it be their position on man-made climate change, vaccinations, or immigration, Google has repeatedly shown themselves to be a left leaning corporation on many of today’s most important issues. Throughout YouTube one can find videos of users complaining about routine censorship of controversial videos. Twitter banning accounts belonging to ISIS also paves the way for alternative news outlets to be the next group labeled as extremists. For their part, popular internet rankings websites including Alexa have changed their ratings system which then somehow left numerous alternative news outlets with a much worse ranking on the system. All across the country actions being taken by both government and corporations are paving the way for a whole new internet, complete with the feds very own corporate thought police. About the Author Alex Thomas is a reporter who has worked in the alternative media for over three years. His work has been featured on numerous news outlets including Infowars and RT. Alex is an exclusive weapon of Intellihub. Read more articles by this author here.
FCC censorship of political websites could soon be on the horizon
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#1. To: Deckard (#0)
I wonder if "they" realize that the Drudge Report is merely a collection of headlines and links to other sources? That it contains zero original content? How do you shut down Drudge without shutting down every news agency in the world?
Ajit Pai is a sockpuppet for Verizon, his former employer.
Net neutrality has nothing to do with political censorship on the Internet.
Correct.
Ah ha..... to ask the question is to answer it Grasshopper.....
This is obvious.
‘We think the Drudge Report is having a disproportionate effect on our political discourse."
#2. To: misterwhite (#1)
according to Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai.
Pai/Verizon are engaged in fearmongering and actually oppose "Net Neutrality" so that Verizon can restrict high-speed internet access to those paying a premium, and effectively reducing true competition on the Internet.
#3. To: Willie Green (#2)
"and actually oppose "Net Neutrality" so that Verizon can restrict high-speed internet access"
#4. To: misterwhite (#3)
Net neutrality has nothing to do with political censorship on the Internet.
Drudge censorship is a red herring... deliberately misleading to obfuscate Pai/Verizon's actual motives: to boost profits by restricting competition.
#5. To: Willie Green (#4)
"Drudge censorship is a red herring... deliberately misleading to obfuscate Pai/Verizon's actual motives: to boost profits by restricting competition."
#6. To: misterwhite (#1)
#7. To: misterwhite (#5)
Drudge censorship is a red herring... deliberately misleading to obfuscate Pai/Verizon's actual motives: to boost profits by restricting competition."
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