Freedom is dying in the West. In the wake of the attempted assassination of President Trump, we have already seen the professional politicians in DC start the process to outlaw private communication apps. This time around it started with Senator Lindsey Graham saying that perhaps electronic encryption programs needed a legislative ban as an outcome of the Trump assassination attempt. Why? Because Thomas Matthew Crooks used encrypted messaging accounts on various platforms. This comes under the heading of “never let a crisis go to waste.”
One such private communication app is Telegram. The Intelligence Community (IC) would like to remove the ability of Americans to communicate privately without the government intercepting their communications. The selling point for this will be if you won’t give up some private communication tools, you do not care about the safety and security of PDJT or some other respected individual.
France has taken the next step in this process of government control. On Saturday Telegram app founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France.
Some background from Sundance:
Pavel Durov and his brother Nikolai are genuinely brilliant tech programmers, mathematicians and entrepreneurs. The Durov brothers founded the Telegram communication app in 2013. Telegram now has 950 million active users who can send messages, photos and videos, take part in chats for groups of up to 200,000 people and broadcast to unlimited audiences.
Telegram is the preferred messaging and communication app for those concerned with privacy. In my own travels, plans and purposeful interactions, I use Telegram frequently. It is the best communication tool available, and the tech interface is brilliant. However, various government agencies hate Telegram because of the privacy it provides.
ReclaimTheNet reported:
The arrest was executed by members of the GTA (Gendarmerie of Air Transport), acting on a French search warrant. This warrant, issued by the OFMIN of the national directorate of the French judicial police, was based on allegations that Telegram’s operational policies — specifically its lack of censorship and lack of cooperation with law enforcement’s censorship demands, along with features such as disposable phone numbers and cryptocurrency transactions — indirectly support illicit activities.
This is ludicrous. This is like saying that, because the government provides paved roads that make traveling easier, they are supporting illicit activities like drug dealing, child trafficking, etc. This would like arresting the CEO of ATT because criminals use phones to plan and to execute their illegal activities. The all-knowing, all-controlling government is lurking just around the corner.
As one commenter noted, if you own some sort of an establishment or business (say like a coffee shop, “Cheers”, etc.) that people visit to gather and share conversation, ideas, fellowship, etc. and you don’t monitor, record, restrict, or censor their conversations, and you don’t cooperate with law enforcement censorship demands, isn’t that indirectly supporting illicit activities?
French judicial authorities have extended the detention of Pavel Durov. According to French law, an initial detention for questioning can last up to 48 hours, but it can be extended by an additional 48 hours, bringing the maximum possible detention period to 96 hours. During this time, the individual is subject to interrogation and further “investigation.”
Once the 96-hour period expires, the presiding judge must make a crucial decision: either to release the detainee if there is insufficient evidence or to press formal charges, which could lead to further detention while the legal process continues.
All of this is taking place in France. Supposedly France is a country ruled by laws. Earlier this year French President Macron called for elections which were held on July 7th. Macron’s party lost badly. The New Popular Front was the winner. However, Macron seems to be simply refusing to acknowledge or accept the results of the election that he himself called.
Macron should have nominated a Prime Minister from the New Popular Front, the winners of the elections. The New Popular Front has a Prime Minister ready: Lucie Castets, a senior public servant. This has not happened.
Some of Macron’s lieutenants literally say that a New Popular Front government is unacceptable because it’d be bad for France. Is a coup underway in France? The people voted but, so far, the result of the vote has simply been rejected because those in power do not like it. Who is behind the curtain calling the shots in France? Is this what will happen here if Trump is elected in November?
Durov’s arrest is a gift to Vladimir Putin. Putin can rightly ask, “Where is your freedom of speech in the West?”
Telegram founder Pavel Durov recently revealed to Tucker Carlson that the FBI approached a Telegram engineer, attempting to secretly hire him to install a backdoor that would allow U.S. intelligence agencies to spy on users.
NEW: Telegram founder Pavel Durov arrested in France for “allowing criminal activity” on his app.
Local news sources say the investigation is focused on “a lack of moderators.”
Durov previously told Tucker Carlson that the FBI was constantly breathing down his neck.
“Whenever… pic.twitter.com/zn0lOD96Lh
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 24, 2024
So, did our State Department have anything to do with creating the arrest of Pavel Durov? It is clear that our government has no respect for freedom of speech. However, their recent losses in court on these issues may have made trying to arrest Durov in this country more problematic. I would certainly think that such an arrest was not taken without the concurrence of our government. Do we have another Julian Assange situation brewing?
The arrest of Durov is intended to shut down free speech. Governments are scared to death of the truth and these days will do whatever it takes to censor us. The mainstream media has become the government’s lapdog. Big Media has become the arch-enemy of freedom. Is this the world we want to live in or to pass on to our children?
Jonathan Turley, a legal expert, has weighed in the Durov arrest. Turley did an interview on Fox News. Below are some excerpts that interview.
“So, the authorities say the app was being used for organized crime, drug trafficking, fraud, cyber bullying and promotion of terrorism. Despite all of that, you’re still against his arrest. Why?” Earhardt asked.
“I am. People need to realize what’s really going on here. We haven’t seen anything akin to a charging sheet, but it appears that he’s being arrested under these European laws that are designed to force social media companies to engage in censorship.”
[Turley called the European] … Digital Services Act (DSA) … “one of the greatest threats to free speech that we have today around the world.”
Turley goes on to blame the US. The US does not have the anti-free speech laws that Europe has in the DSA. At this point in time, such laws would likely run afoul of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. So, is America using Europe as a proxy to attack free speech? Are these charges against Durov really just pressure to shut down accounts before any malfeasance is proved?
Turley went on.
“And the question for American citizens is whether we’re going to allow these global censors to basically control speech from Europe. Free speech is in a free fall in Europe. It was no accident when Elon Musk bought Twitter, figures like Hillary Clinton almost immediately went to Europe and called on them to use the DSA. Consider that. To use the DSA to censor American citizens. That’s a former presidential candidate calling for censorship through these officials.”
From Hillary Clinton:
For too long, tech platforms have amplified disinformation and extremism with no accountability. The EU is poised to do something about it.
I urge our transatlantic allies to push the Digital Services Act across the finish line and bolster global democracy before it’s too late.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 21, 2022
Of course, Hillary Clinton is always just trying to “bolster global democracy.” That’s what the Clinton Global Initiative was all about, right? Clinton would never try to suppress information that reflects negatively on her ambitions for global domination (sarc).
Let’s be reminded about what Clinton is talking about here. It is not human trafficking. It is not child pornography. It is not mass murder. It is not drug dealing. All of us would be against that. Clinton is talking about disinformation and “extreme ideology.” As Turley asks, who would define that?
Throwing out terms like human trafficking and disinformation in the same context is used to provide a smoke screen over what the government censors are trying to accomplish. And that is the control over the free flow of information throughout society. Viewpoint “moderation” is lumped in with actual criminal acts to accomplish the goal of allowing the government to moderate free speech.
To quote Turley:
“So there’s a very dangerous slippery slope that comes from these laws, and American citizens should not be distracted from the implications of things like the DSA. This is an important fight, and Americans’ rights are at stake here. Don’t be distracted. This Russian billionaire might not be sympathetic to you, but they’re using something that should scare you.”
The UK, which was the source of American freedoms and liberties, is well down that slippery slope. Mark Wauck shared the following about an elderly disabled man in the UK.
Here’s a telling excerpt that discusses the conviction of an elderly disabled man with supposedly neo-Nazi views:
The neo-Nazi was given a four-year sentence for what the court called his “toxic ideology” based on the contents of the home he shared with his mother in Maidenhead, Berkshire.
While most of us find Brock’s views repellent and hateful, they were confined to his head and his room. Yet, Judge Peter Lodder QC dismissed free speech or free thought concerns with a truly Orwellian statement: “I do not sentence you for your political views, but the extremity of those views informs the assessment of dangerousness.”
Lodder lambasted Brock for holding Nazi and other hateful values:
“[i]t is clear that you are a right-wing extremist, your enthusiasm for this repulsive and toxic ideology is demonstrated by the graphic and racist iconography which you have studied and appeared to share with others…”
Even though Lodder agreed that the defendant was older, had limited mobility, and “there was no evidence of disseminating to others,” he still sent him to prison for holding extremist views.
Detective Chief Superintendent Kath Barnes warned others that Brock was going to prison because he “showed a clear right-wing ideology” (emphasis added) with the evidence seized during the investigation. So, Brock was sent to prison because of thoughts that he had. Brock never engaged in or attempted to plan to engage in actual criminal acts.
Ireland has apparently decided to follow the example of the UK. Wauck notes:
“Toxic ideology” also appears to be the target of Ireland’s proposed Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) law. It covers the possession of material deemed hateful. The law is a free speech nightmare. The law makes it a crime to possess “harmful material” as well as “condoning, denying or grossly trivialising genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against peace.” The law expressly states the intent to combat “forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law.”
The Brock case proved, as feared, a harbinger of what was to come. The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has vowed to crack down on people “pushing harmful and hateful beliefs.” That includes what she calls extreme misogyny.
Tyrants will always attempt to control the mind. The pathway to that is outlawing the dissemination of information that would be detrimental to one’s control of the people. This is why communism always tries to outlaw religions. How long will it be before Christianity becomes a “toxic ideology?”
If Harris is installed, it’s not just that we’ll forever have an authoritarian boot pressing down upon our throats. It will become literally a struggle of Good versus Evil.
Do not cave to them!
You are not alone!
You can make a profound difference!
Godspeed!