The Westminster Declaration

A couple days ago, Matt Taibbi, Michael Shellenberger and others launched the Westminster Declaration. Signed by 138 big shots and very big shots, the Declaration is a powerful statement on the importance of free speech and the current threat to it from very strong censorious forces. The Declaration begins,

We write as journalists, artists, authors, activists, technologists, and academics to warn of increasing international censorship that threatens to erode centuries-old democratic norms.

Coming from the left, right, and centre, we are united by our commitment to universal human rights and freedom of speech, and we are all deeply concerned about attempts to label protected speech as ‘misinformation,’ ‘disinformation,’ and other ill-defined terms.

And, later,

We stand for your right to ask questions. Heated arguments, even those that may cause distress, are far better than no arguments at all. 

That’s all you really need.

It’s a great statement, both in its general call for principle and in its naming of specifically dangerous legislative schemes. This includes singling out Australia’s idiotic and insidious draft legislation on “misinformation”.

The introduction to the Westminster Declaration is here, and the full statement and list of signatories is here.

Matt Taibbi Tells Europe to Go Suck a Bag of Dicks

Matt Taibbi is a great reporter. He is sometimes referred to as a gonzo journalist, which is not unreasonable given Taibbi’s wild early days, and given that for years Taibbi was the politics journalist for Rolling Stone, following in the footsteps of the legendary Hunter S. Thompson. But Taibbi is, at least now, very different. He is incredibly hard working, meticulous and very careful with his words. Which is why it was striking when, a few days ago, Taibbi told Europe to go suck a bag of dicks. Continue reading “Matt Taibbi Tells Europe to Go Suck a Bag of Dicks”

RatS 26: Taibbi – Are Authorities Using the Internet to Sap Our Instinct for Freedom?

Last week, Meta-Facebook-Instagram announced a program to combat “misinformation” during the referendum for the Voice to Parliament. This is a bad move, if for no other reason that it will be viewed, probably correctly, as the silencing of voices in order to support the Voice. The ironic anti-message will undoubtedly be clear to Voice sceptics. We had thought to write on this, but figured we’d already written enough on inappropriate Voice spruiking, and on the dangers of half-wit authorities declaring what is or is not misinformation.

M-F-I’s misinformation program is not just a bad move, however, for unintentionally screwing up the Yes guys on the Voice. M-F-I claims that their program is “contributing to democracy”, but there is a solid argument that they’re doing the exact opposite. Which brings us to Matt Taibbi. Again.

Continue reading “RatS 26: Taibbi – Are Authorities Using the Internet to Sap Our Instinct for Freedom?”

Twitter Deals With a Censorious Twit

A couple day ago we wrote about the Federal Government’s new, insidious plan to legislate on “misinformation and disinformation”. That distracted us from our writing about insidious legislation already in place, and the insidious nature of its recent application. Here we go.

Last week, Twitter was hit with a “demand” from Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner. Fanfared with an eSafety media release, a “Twitter must come clean” sermon from Inman Grant herself, and a predictably gullible SMH puff piece from champion stenographer, Jordan Baker, the demand was in form of a legal notice, “seeking information about what the social media giant is doing to tackle online hate on the platform”. Continue reading “Twitter Deals With a Censorious Twit”

RatS 25: Taibbi – On the Loony Van Gogh Protests

We try to avoid recommending paywalled stuff, but the Van Gogh nonsense, and the response, is just so depressing, and Taibbi’s critique is so good, we decided to make an exception. Of course, regular readers will be used to our badgering them to read Taibbi, and the subscription is worth it. But readers can also avoid paying by “trying 7 days for free”, and then cancelling immediately (so you don’t then forget and get billed).

A couple paragraphs are below. Read all of Taibbi’s post, and then scream.

Continue reading “RatS 25: Taibbi – On the Loony Van Gogh Protests”

RatS 22: Taibbi – PayPal’s IndyMedia Wipeout

Matt Taibbi has another in his infinite series of posts on powerful and sanctimonious thugs, this one free to the public. This time it’s PayPal doing the thugging, and thieving, and not for the first time, or second time, all the while preening as the defender of Truth, Justice and the American Way. A nice touch is that this time the thugging seems to be in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League. Proving, as if it were needed, that the Old Jews can be just as much assholes as the New Jews.

Read Taibbi’s post, and then scream.

Continue reading “RatS 22: Taibbi – PayPal’s IndyMedia Wipeout”