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30-year sentence for transporting zines is a five-alarm fire for free speech
25 days ago
- Daniel 'Des' Sanchez Estrada sentenced to 30 years for transporting anarchist zines under NSPM-7, part of a broader crackdown on dissent.
- Trump administration expanding efforts to criminalize possession of information, as seen in cases against Don Lemon, Georgia Fort, and Project Veritas.
- NSPM-7 broadly targets 'anti-fascist' actors, enabling prosecution based on ideology and creating a chilling effect on free speech and press freedom.
- Authoritarian tactics include ignoring court orders, placing loyalists in key positions, and dismantling press freedom, with corporate media often complicit.
- The Intercept calls for support to expand independent journalism in defense of democracy amid the worst year for press freedom in modern U.S. history.
Mexico Speech Laws for Protecting the Powerless Instead Used to Silence Critics
15 days ago
- Well-meaning progressives often argue for speech-suppressing laws to prevent authoritarianism, but history shows these laws are eventually weaponized by the powerful to silence critics.
- In Mexico, laws designed to protect the marginalized, such as against gender-based political violence, are being used to imprison journalists and suppress satire, as seen in the case of politician Mara Chama Villa and Radio Teocelo.
- The chilling effects are widespread, with fines, mandatory apologies, and registry placements used against reporters, while activists and crime reporters also face sanctions under similar laws, leading to self-censorship.
- Such laws are defended as combating unacceptable acts like gender-based violence or terrorism, but their broad application makes them tools for abuse, as no one can oppose them without seeming to support those evils.
- Historical examples, like hate speech laws in Weimar Germany, demonstrate that speech restrictions fail to stop authoritarians and are instead co-opted by them once they gain power, turning laws intended for protection into weapons of oppression.
- The key test for any speech law is to imagine it wielded by the most distrusted politician, as power inevitably shifts, and relying on good actors to hold it first is naive wishful thinking.
- Strengthening elections, institutions, and public education is a more effective way to combat authoritarianism than outlawing speech, which risks abuse by those in power.
Russian Surveillance Software Suppresses Georgian Civilians Rights
14 days ago
- Georgia built a face recognition enforcement system using software from a Moscow-based company linked to the FSB, which suppresses protests through fines and bank freezes.
- Protesters like Nino and Luka were identified via surveillance cameras, fined heavily, and faced frozen accounts, leading many to stop demonstrating due to fear and financial pressure.
- The government escalated repressive laws: from 2023 to 2026, assembly rules tightened, face covering became criminalized, and online criticism was outlawed, eroding constitutional freedoms.
- The surveillance software, Polyface, uses automated identification, operator-directed searches, and watchlist alerts, integrated with civil registry data and social media for cross-platform monitoring.
- Psychological impact includes paranoia, route changes, and reduced protest participation, with a chilling effect fracturing society and creating moral divides among activists.
- Strategic risks involve Russian control over biometric data, potential integrity attacks, and long-term dominance threats to Georgia's national security and European integration path.
- Despite ongoing surveillance, hundreds still gather daily on Rustaveli Avenue, but the cost of protest has shifted from monetary fines to the loss of personal freedom.

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#authoritarianism

30-year sentence for transporting zines is a five-alarm fire for free speech

Mexico Speech Laws for Protecting the Powerless Instead Used to Silence Critics

Russian Surveillance Software Suppresses Georgian Civilians Rights