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RSF and international groups call on Turkey’s parliament to reject the disinformation bill as a tool of digital censorship | RSF – Reporters sans…

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Twenty three international media freedom, freedom of expression and journalists organisations today called for the immediate dismissal of the bill on disinformation and fake news which was submitted to the parliament on May 27 by the governing alliance of Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

The bill threatens up to three years imprisonment for those found guilty of the deliberate publishing of disinformation and fake news intended to instigate fear or panic, endanger the countrys internal or external security, public order and general health of Turkeys society.

Such a bill, where the definition of disinformation and intent is left so vague, puts millions of Turkeys internet users at risk of criminal action for posting information that the government disagrees with.

Placed in the hands of Turkeys highly politicized judiciary, the law would become another tool for harassing journalists and activists and may cause blanket self-censorship across the internet.

The bill would also increase any sentence by 50% where information is published from anonymous user accounts. This severely undermines anonymity on the internet and further intimidates those wanting to publish evidence of corruption and wrongdoing but are afraid of the consequences of being publicly identified.

The governing alliance claim the bill is in line with the European Unions Digital Services Act and General Data Protection Regulation, however there are no such provisions under either of these laws.

The law would also bring news sites under the Press Law (Basin Kanunu). This gives their journalists access to the official press accreditation and also to public advertising funds through the official Press Advertising Agency, Basin Ilan Kurumu (BIK). In practice however this will simply enable the government to fund pro-government news sites while banning critical media deemed to have breached the disinformation law.

In the drafting stage, the government reportedly organized a consultation with international digital platforms yet it failed to hold any meetings with media representatives, editors, journalism associations or unions, despite these groups, and their members, being the most affected by the legislation.

The draft bill is currently before the Parliament. However the role of parliament has been so heavily undermined by the Presidential system that the bill is being rushed through without proper scrutiny or debate and expected to be passed swiftly into law within days.

Disinformation is an important issue and needs to be combatted but not at the price of restricting journalists rights and the publics rights of freedom of expression. Any such initiatives should be developed in close consultation with media and other stakeholders and include sufficient safeguards for free speech and independent journalism that can prevent their abuse by the government to impose arbitrary censorship.

We, therefore, call on all Turkeys parliamentarians who believe in the parliamentary process and the free flow of ideas and information as central to a democratic society, to vote down this bill.

Signed by:

International Press Institute (IPI)

ARTICLE 19

Articolo 21

Association of European Journalists

Committee to Protect Journalists

English PEN

European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)

European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)

IFEX

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)

Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA)

Media Research Association (MEDAR)

OBC Transeuropa (OBCT)

PEN America

PEN International

PEN Norway

Platform for Independent Journalism (P24)

Reporters sans frontires (RSF)

South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)

Swedish Pen

The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ)

Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project

World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)

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RSF and international groups call on Turkey's parliament to reject the disinformation bill as a tool of digital censorship | RSF - Reporters sans...

Margaret Atwood Triedand Failedto Burn a Copy of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’ Here’s Why – Smithsonian Magazine

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Margaret Atwood tried burning the new, fireproof version of her novelThe Handmaid's Talewith a flamethrower. Courtesy Rethink / Penguin Random House

First released in 1985, Margaret Atwoods The Handmaid's Tale is a longtime bestseller and a longtime object of censorship. The futuristic, dystopian novel about patriarchy run wild has long been one of the United States most-banned booksfodder for those who would censor or even burn its searing words.

Now, Atwood has partnered up with her publisher, Penguin Random House, to create a version of the book thats impossible to ignite anything other than heated debate. Its fireproof.

On Thursday, auction house Sothebys sold the unburnable book for $130,000. Proceeds will go to PEN America to support its advocacy for free expression and fight against book banning.

According to the group, The Handmaids Tale is a favorite scapegoat for those who would forbid books, and is often targeted for its sexual and health-related content.

The Handmaid's Tale has been banned many timessometimes by whole countries, such as Portugal and Spain in the days of Salazar and the Francoists, sometimes by school boards, sometimes by libraries, the Canadian author said in a statement.

In its recent report Banned in the USA, PEN documents 1,586 cases of a variety of reported book bans in the United States in 2021, spanning 26 states and 86 school districts. According to the report, a disproportionate number of bans target stories about people of color or LGBTQ+ people.

Out of all the bans listed, 98 percent deviated from reconsideration guidelines recommended by the American Library Association and the National Coalition Against Censorship, per PEN.

It is not just the number of books removed that is disturbing, but the processesor lack thereofthrough which such removals are being carried out that is cause for alarm, the group writes. The state with the greatest amount of book bans last year was Texas, with 713 prohibited books per the report, followed by Pennsylvania, Florida and Oklahoma. In 2021, Texas governor Greg Abbott requested school boards to discard books he referred to as "pornography," Sharif Paget and Nicole Chavez report for CNN.

Though Atwoods novel has often faced bans itself, the group says its symbolic of an entire modern-day movement to stifle literary expression.

In the face of a determined effort to censor and silence, this unburnable book is an emblem of our collective resolve to protect books, stories and ideas from those who fear and revile them, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement.

The Handmaids Tale debuted to mixed reviews. But over the years, it has become a classic, touted by some as a frighteningly prescient prediction about the trajectory of American society. It depicts life in the Republic of Gilead, the repressive, totalitarian religious state that replaced the U.S. in a fictitious future, putting men in charge and relegating women to lives of subservience as sexually subjugated handmaids.

The books main character, wrote author Mary McCarthy in a 1986 review in the New York Times, has an unwillingness to stick her neck out, and perhaps we are meant to conclude that such unwillingness, multiplied, may be fatal to a free society. Since its publication, the book has been translated into over 40 languages, per a 2017 essay by Atwood in the Times.

Although it might look like an ordinary 384-page book, the fireproof edition is mostly made from Cinefoil, a specially treated aluminum foil, and contains other products such as fire-resistant inks and nickel wire. The technologywhich protects the book even when heated to 2,200 degrees Fahrenheitwas designed by the creative agency Rethink and the graphic arts studio The Gas Company, Inc.

The 82-year-old author has published her works in more than 45 countries and has written over 50 books. Now, The Handmaids Tale is an award-winning TV series that can be streamed on Hulu.

In her 2017 essay in the Times, Atwood wrote that she is often asked if her bleak book is a prediction about where American society is headed. Lets say its an antiprediction: If this future can be described in detail, maybe it wont happen, she wrote. But such wishful thinking cannot be depended on either.

I stopped writing [the novel] several times, because I considered it too far-fetched," she wrote for theAtlanticlast month.Silly me. Theocratic dictatorships do not lie only in the distant past: There are a number of them on the planet today. What is to prevent the United States from becoming one of them?

In a launch video presenting the fireproof book, Atwood tries and fails to burn a prototype with a flamethrower. And she is just as evasive about the future of literary censorship.

Let's hope we don't reach the stage of wholesale book burnings, as in Fahrenheit 451, Atwood said in a statement referencing the classic Ray Bradbury novel. But if we do, let's hope some books will prove unburnablethat they will travel underground, as prohibited books did in the Soviet Union.

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Margaret Atwood Triedand Failedto Burn a Copy of 'The Handmaid's Tale.' Here's Why - Smithsonian Magazine

‘Censorship is a slippery slope.’ Ashland library rejects call to remove five books – Wooster Daily Record

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Ashland library board challenged on books about sexuality

Community members present a statement regarding the display of books they contend are inappropriate for children in the library.

Tom E. Puskar, Ashland Times Gazette

ASHLAND Whether or not nudity should be allowedin children's books was debatedThursday among some patronsand board members ofthe Ashland Public Library.

The five books in question are still in circulation and willstay there,Heather Miller, the library's director, assured everyone during theregular libraryboard meeting.

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And the four Ashland County residents who visited the meeting made it clearthey considerthe books to be pornographic in nature, and that their presence in the library stacks createsan unsafe environment for children.

Thursday's discussion was the third to be held about the five new books,Sandra Hedlund Tunnell, president of the library's Board of Directors, explained.

Among the titles are "Own Your Period: A Fact-filled Guide to Period Positivity" by Chella Quint and "MakingA Baby" by Rachel Greener.

The books started causing a ruckus at the start of the year when they reached the new arrival shelf of the children's section. Since they are now six months old, the titles have recently been moved from that display and placed onto the shelves with all of the other books.

As far as Tunnell can remember, it'sthe first batch of books to trouble some local residents.

"I appreciate their concerns," Tunnell said. "I think censorship is a slippery slope. I don't want to start going down the road where we start just picking books off the shelf willy-nilly because a couple of people have complained out of the thousands and thousands and thousands of people who use our library."

The charge to have the books removed is being led by two pastors and a set of parents.

The first to speak was Laura Brenning, a mother of two who was accompanied by her husband, Jeremy.

"It makes me sad because this is the first year we have not been able to do the summer reading program," Brenning said. "I don't feel safe letting them peruse the children's section."

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After evaluating the content ofthe five new books, she's concerned what materialmight be in other books she has yet to screen.

Brenning said one book had"many pictures of genitals and also discusses masturbation." Another "shows a couple in the act of having sex," and the others contained nudity, profanity"and other adult themes."

She said the books were labeled as being recommended for children as young as 5.

The Rev. John Bouquet, pastor ofBethel Baptist Church, told the library's leaders thathe is"beyond shocked to find the following materials in our public library in a children's section."

He asked that the books be removed, or at least taken out of the children's section.

"Parents are entrusted with the right to teach their children about sexuality and gender, not the library and not our public schools," Bouquet said. "Protect their innocence."

He said the adult section of the library would be the appropriate place to store reference material that might contain "adult-level content."

"Making babies is the title, but the pictures in the book are pornographic and obscene," Bouquet said. "To display naked men with childrenin a shower exposing body parts is just plain wrong and should not be done for children ages 5through 9."

The concerned residents' evaluation of the books doesnot accurately depict their content,Mike Zickefoose, secretary of the library board, maintains.

He examinedthe five titles,initially concernedthere might be a photo of a nude man instead, he found an educational illustration.

"It's not a sexual depiction of a man," Zickefoose said. "It's a reference book. It's science. These books are talking about puberty and what people go through."

Zickefoose urged those concernedto read the text around the images and consider the educational content being illustrated.

Bouquet argued most young children would not be reading the books, they would be flipping through them looking at pictures.

"They're not drawn to the words first, and you know that. They're drawn to the pictures," he said. "There is a definite societal fallout to this."

Professionals evaluate new materials to ensure they are accurate and provide education to the public, the board president explained.

"If the parents don't want their children to read them or to touch them, that's up to them," Tunnell said.

She said the library's job is not to protect, but to makeinformation readily available to everyone.

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"We have children in our community who do not have parents available to talk to them about things like puberty," Tunnell said.

Of the more than 90,000 books in the library's circulation, she said, she isn't worried that only five might offend someone, and that the books willremain.

"That's the first step toward censorship," Tunnell said. "You talk about freedom and liberty, but I don't think censorship and freedom can coexist."

Reach Zach at 419-564-3508 or ztuggle@gannett.com

On Twitter: @zachtuggle

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'Censorship is a slippery slope.' Ashland library rejects call to remove five books - Wooster Daily Record

Ken Paxton wants Texas to help defend Llano County officials being sued for banning books – The Texas Tribune

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants his office to help defend Llano County officials being sued for restricting and banning books from their public library system.

In a court filing Wednesday, Paxton asked Austin-based federal district court Judge Robert Pitman to let the state intervene in the lawsuit, which was filed by seven Llano County residents in April.

If Pitman grants the motion, Paxtons office could aid the county judge, county commissioners and library director in fighting the lawsuit.

In this weeks filing, Paxton notes that the plaintiffs are represented by nine lawyers, six of whom work for San Francisco-based law firm BraunHagey and Borden LLP. On the other hand, the Llano County Attorneys Office has only two lawyers.

With such a small number of lawyers, Llano County might not have the resources to handle daily legal obligations plus stand against lawyers whom Paxton describes as oriented toward systemic change rather than the resolution of a single lawsuit, according to his offices filing. However, the resources Paxton would bring from the Office of the Attorney General would be sufficient to ensure that the plaintiffs claims are fully and fairly explored and presented to the court, his office argues.

According to the lawsuit, Llano County officials removed several books from shelves, suspended access to digital library books, replaced the library board members with people who favor book bans, halted new book orders and allowed the board to close its meetings to the public in a coordinated censorship campaign that violates the First and 14th Amendments.

At the time, the plaintiffs said their constitutional rights were violated when public officials censored books based on content and failed to provide proper notice or an avenue for community comment, according to previous reporting by The Texas Tribune.

Attorneys for the residents either could not be reached or were unavailable to comment. Paxtons office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Books removed from the library include Maurice Sendaks In the Night Kitchen, Susan Campbell Bartolettis They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group and Jazz Jennings Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen.

Since last year, Texas Republican officials and grassroots conservatives have waged a battle against what they portray as indoctrination and obscenity in school and public libraries. Last fall, one state lawmaker compiled a list of some 850 books about race and sexuality that he sent to school districts, asking how many are available on their campuses.

This came after the Texas Legislature passed a law limiting how race, slavery and current events are taught in schools. They dubbed it the critical race theory bill, even though the legislation never mentioned the term. Critical race theory is a university-level concept that examines how racism shapes laws and policies. Public education experts, along with school administrators and teachers, say the theory is not taught in public schools.

Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have made parental rights a priority as they both seek reelection in November. Patrick has also vowed to push for a Dont Say Gay bill in Texas, mirroring Floridas conservative push to limit classroom discussions about LGBTQ people.

Join us Sept. 22-24 in person in downtown Austin for The Texas Tribune Festival and experience 100+ conversation events featuring big names you know and others you should from the worlds of politics, public policy, the media and tech all curated by The Texas Tribunes award-winning journalists. Buy tickets.

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Ken Paxton wants Texas to help defend Llano County officials being sued for banning books - The Texas Tribune

The Trouble with Twitter – Chronicles – A Magazine of American Culture

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I dont tweet. I probably never will. As a former English professor, I am too steeped in the idea that you must provide well-reasoned support for your assertionsnot just blurt them out rapid-fire with as many typos as you can manage.

Despite my lack of interest in the venue, however, I have noticed the recent uproar surrounding Elon Musks takeover of Twitter. The left is furious because it appears that Musk will disallow the censorship of which they had grown so fond. No more can they rest easy in the knowledge that their poorly formed ideas and false narratives will be unequivocally protected from dissidents by thought-police algorithms and official banishments.

Meanwhile, the right, being the hand most often slapped by the corporate dictatorship that was Twitter, is eating its popcorn now and watching with glee the recent turn of events in Dystopia. It is cheering Musk on and preparing all its pent-up one-liners for the new free-speech-friendly virtual world.

I admit there is satisfaction in seeing the smug enraged, but that is a base, sectarian satisfaction, which probably misses the forest for the trees. Free speech is a double-edged axe, as is censorship. Unbridled free speech is an open marketplace for ideas, not all of which are good for people and some of which are downright dangerous for both body and soul. Sure, you can say, as the free-market economists do about corporations, that the bad will be defeated by their betters in the free market of discourse, but this is nave. In a very truly well-educated society, the best ideas may prevail, for the citizens of that land have the tools to evaluate arguments on their merits. But we do not live in a well-educated society, not by a long shot, and the peddlers of bad ideas are often expert propagandists. They need not defeat their opponents (those with good ideas) in open debateindeed, they are incapable of winning on those grounds. They need only control positions of power: in the media, including social media and entertainment, in education, medicine, agriculture, politics, and so on.

With a poorly educated, highly indoctrinated society such as we have, it is not the better ideas that will prevail in a free-speech environment; it is the more pervasive propaganda. Admittedly, censorship offers no better an alternative. As we have seen with Twitter and other big-tech entities during the so-called pandemic and 2020 elections, censorship is executed by the powerful, not the wise.

In the hands of a wise parent, however, censorship of what comes into the home and into the minds of the children is not just a useful tool; it is essential for the familys healthmental, physical, and spiritual alike. So too with a wise government, with wise teachers, with wise editors of media outlets, with a wise religious authorityall potentially disseminators of truth and protectors of persons. In their hands, strict limitations on the flow of harmful ideas into society can only serve to limit the damage and carnage on a fallen, and therefore vulnerable, race.

The problem, of course, is that we do not have many wise people in government, in education, in media, or in religious authority at present, and, in fact, a great many of them are actively engaged in the destruction of the moral and political orders. Therefore, the censorship they impose is exactly the wrong kind: they cancel truth rather than lies.

Which brings us back to Twitter: a dictatorially leftist organization controlling the lions share of bellicose one-liner communications. Not only does the platform itself inhibit real debate, but its owners could not resist flexing the muscle of their market domination, and they started openly banning users who did not align with their weak-minded politics. To focus on their acts of censorship, though, and to cheer Musks alleged intention of bringing free speech back to the playing field is to miss the point of the problem.

The real offense of Twitter is not censorship. It never was a kindly, public-service endeavor meant beneficently to allow folks everywhere to speak their minds and be heard. It was about money and political power, and the owners of political power do not typically give equal time to their opponentsnot in their own backyard. And if you think about it, why should they?

The trouble with Twitter is not censorship but false advertising, a bait-and-switch scam. Come on in, everyone! The water is fine, and the speech is free. You can make a splash and spar with anyone about anything you like. There is the appearance of no vested interest behind the offering.

That Elon Musk just paid $44 billion dollars for it should shatter that illusion.

Michael Larson

Top image by Mohamed Hassan, Pixabay

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The Trouble with Twitter - Chronicles - A Magazine of American Culture

‘Married….With Children’ Signs Off On This Date in 1997 After 11 Year Run – iHeart

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Today in 1692,the town ofSalem, Massachusettsbegan hanging witches.

Today in 1943,after many years of heated debate,Congress finally authorized payroll tax withholding.

Today in 1943,Berlinwas declared "Judenrien" (free of Jews).

Today in 1965,Michel Jazyran the mile in 3-minutes, 53.6 secondsbreaking the record set by Peter Snell.

Today in 1980,actor/comedian RichardPryor suffered almost fatal burns at his San Fernando Valley, California homewhen a mixture of "free-base" cocaine exploded. He was hospitalized more than two months.

Today in 1985,the Los Angeles Lakerswon the NBA title by defeating the Boston Celtics. The Lakers had been shut out of a championship series since 1959 when they were based in Minneapolis. The MVP of the winning Lakers was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Today in 1986,General Electric Companybought the RCA Corporation, parent of NBC, for $6.4-billion. At the time, the deal was the largest non-oil acquisition in U.S. history.

Today in 1986,the Rogers Commissionreleased its report on the "Challenger" disaster, criticizing NASA and rocket-builder Morton Thiokol for management problems leading to the explosion that claimed the lives of seven astronauts.

Today in 1993,US officialsadmitted veterans of the Gulf War were suffering from a mystery illness. Later dubbed Gulf War Syndrome, the illness is a chronic multi-symptom disorder with a wide range of acute and chronic symptoms, including fatigue, muscle pain, cognitive problems, rashes and diarrhea. Approximately 250,000 of the 697,000 U.S. veterans who served in the 1991 Gulf War are afflicted with it.

Today in1994,a firedestroyed the Georgia mansion of Atlanta Falcons receiver Andre Rison. His girlfriend, rap singer Lisa Left Eye Lopes, later admitted causing the blaze after a fight, and was later sentenced to probation.

Today in1997,thefinal episode of Married with Children aired on Fox,ending the series 11-season run.

Today in 2001,Patrick Roybecame the first NHL player to win three Conn Smythe Trophies(and hes the only one to do so).

Today in 2013,Edward Snowdenpublicly made his identity known as the leaker of NSA documents.

Today in2014,Laverne Coxbecame the first transgender person to appear on the cover of "Time" Magazine.

Today in 2016,President Barack Obamaofficially endorsed Hillary Clinton as Democratic Presidential nominee. In a video he posted online, Obama added: Look, I know how hard this job can be. Thats why I know Hillary will be so good at it.

Today in2017,tennis player Venus Williamscaused a car accident that lead to the death of another passenger in Palm Beach, Florida.

Today in 2019,Ali Strokerbecame the first actress in a wheelchair to win a Tony awardfor her role in the musical, "Oklahoma!"

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'Married....With Children' Signs Off On This Date in 1997 After 11 Year Run - iHeart

Elon Musk Has a Message for The CIA – TheStreet

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Elon Musk isalmost everywhere.

Not a day goes by that he doesn't tweet. When it's not news about one of his multiple companies -- Tesla (TSLA) - Get Tesla Inc Report, SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink -- he posts about politics, geopolitical affairs, or engages with his millions of followers on a variety of topics, ranging from his states of mind to metaphysical questions such as happiness.

Often the tweets are about his quarrels and enmities. Basically, when Musk's tweets aren't about his companies, they're about him.

For two months, since April to be precise, he has monopolized the headlines with his ongoing acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion. This takeover, which is supposed to be finalized by the end of October, has made him more political. It comes in the wake of his public support for Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia on February 24.

This media overexposure is not about to recede as Musk knows how to feed it. It's all the more difficult to ignore him because the billionaire is one of the main reasons Tesla's stock market valuation hit $1 trillion last fall.

He is not only the CEO of the electric vehicle manufacturer, but also the chief product officer, the chief marketing officer and above all the spokesperson. For those who doubt it, Tesla stock had a tough time when Musk shifted his time in April and May, talking mostly about his bid to buy Twitter. Investors were worried he will be distracted.

Musk's importance to Tesla is equal to his importance to SpaceX. The rocket company is on a mission to take humans to live on Mars. This bold ambition is based on Musk's vision.

The richest man in the world has decided to use his platform to alert his millions of followers to another problem that concerns him. He has just revived a new worry, that of spying on American citizens by the CIA, saying that he would be surprised if he was not being spied on.

Musk tweeted a sort of meme with the logo, the name of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the following message:

"Does anyone else feel like their (sic) being watched?"

"You are," responded tech entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, who is who is accused of netting millions from his Megaupload file-sharing service. "24/7 on all your devices and online services, including your own Starlink. In your case it's not just mass surveillance. You are a priority target. Welcome to the club."

Which Musk confirmed by commenting on the post.

"I would be shocked if Im *not* being spied on haha," the billionaire said without saying which agency might be spying on him.

"My only ask is that anyone spying on me please not affect call quality too much or I cant hear whats being said!"

Musk did not provide any evidence to support his claims, which some Twitter users pointed out to him.

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"Prove it that it's a bad thing! I dare you," said one user.

The CIA did not respond to requests for comment from TheStreet.

It's noteworthy that SpaceX has national security contracts, including the launch cargo for NASA, a secretive spy satellite for the intelligence community and national security payloads for the US military. Some of the mission might require Musk to have security clearance.

In February,Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico raised alarms that the CIA is again spying on Americans.

They alleged, in a letter, that the Agencyhas a secret, undisclosed database of information collected on Americans. Although neither the agency nor lawmakers wanted to release details about that data, the two senators say the CIA had long hidden details of the program from the public and Congress.

Wyden and Heinrich, both democrats, called for more transparency from the CIA, including what kind of records were collected and the legal framework for the collection.

Information that the intelligence community gathers domestically has long raised concerns, not least because of past violations of Americans' civil liberties. The CIA and the National Security Agency (NSA) have a mission abroad and are generally prohibited from investigating Americans or American companies by the CIA's 1947 charter.

But the collection of foreign communications by American spy agencies results in the collection of American messages and data.

In 2013, NSA contractor turned whistle-blower Edward Snowden disclosed to the public the existence of a program of data collection, known as PRISM, using extensive internet and phone surveillance by American intelligence.

It was ruled unlawful by a court.

Last year, a government watchdog disclosed two CIA data collection efforts. Wyden and Heinrich claimed in February that the agency is likely to be again subjecting Americans to warrantless searches.

The CIA released a declassified report on one of the program in February, but declined to declassify the other to protect "sensitive tradecraft methods and operational sources,"the agency said,

"What these documents demonstrate is that many of the same concerns that Americans have about their privacy and civil liberties also apply to how the CIA collects and handles information under executive order and outside the FISA law," the two senators said in a press release. In the release they quoted the aletter sent to senior intelligence officials in April 2021.

"In particular, these documents reveal serious problems associated with warrantless backdoor searches of Americans, the same issue that has generated bipartisan concern in the FISA context.

Wyden and Heinrich learned about this program because they're members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. They urged top spy officials to declassify the details of this secret program.

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Elon Musk Has a Message for The CIA - TheStreet

With TNW 2022 around the corner, a look to the future – Silicon Canals

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TNW main stage in 2019 (Photo by Dan Taylor - Dan Taylor).

Is it a festival? A business conference? One big party? Whatever it is, it works. The Next Web Conference in Amsterdam has been a staple in tech events for 15 years now. Not everything has stayed the same though. COVID shut down the event space, the company was acquired by the Financial Times, and leadership changed. So with a new conference edition just around the corner, it is time to catch up and look ahead.

Next week, The Next Web Conference will kick off once again. On June 16th and 17th, over 10,000 people will flock to Taets Arts and Event park on the outskirts of Amsterdam to listen to speakers, connect with thousands of businesses and raise their glasses.

Has the Dutch workforce mastered all digital skills? Find out

The event has come a long way in the past 15 years. What started as a small get-together with 250 attendees ballooned into a globally known brand. The inspiring leadership of founders Patrick de Laive and Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten made the company into what it is today: an event organiser, media company, range of coworking spaces and programmes to boost startups that likes to do things just a little bit differently than the norm.

To continue TNWs growth, it was time to shake things up. Last year, Veldhuijzen van Zanten stepped down as CEO and named Myrthe van der Erve as his successor. So she is getting ready for her first real TNW Conference as the companys new leader.

TNW Conference feels like a festival, but we are also about doing business. We want to become a global super-connector. For Van der Erve, this means making sure TNW is being used to showcase the best of Dutch talent on an international stage. We believe that it is our role to help the Netherlands punch as one.

Thats why she brought in Zach Butler as Events Director. With over ten years of experience in the event business and involvement in, among others, London Tech Week, his task is to bring TNW Conference to the next level.

TNW has been moving up some levels for a while now. For example, their conference has been growing steadily over the years. As a result, The Financial Times acquired a majority stake in the company in 2019, providing them with the backing of a global media and events company.

It is good that FT is willing to invest in growth, says Van der Erve. Its great that we can team up with such an organisation on different things. For example, they helped us to double down on marketing. During COVID, we could use their event experience to move TNW Conference online. And they helped us recruit Zach.

For Butler, working at TNW and partnering with FT is a two-way street. FT is operating in spaces where corporates thrive, while our founders were able to start something no corporation would ever be able to. As such, it is the perfect match.

Despite the acquisition, TNW is operating as a completely independent brand. Van der Erve sees the connection between two companies more as a family thing. We both are global brands, but they are bigger, more corporate focused and a real authority in media land. To us they are the father that guides us in the right direction.

That father figure proved valuable in the past two years, especially when COVID shut down the event business entirely. As a result, TNW Conference had to move online in 2020, while in 2021, they were able to host a hybrid event. It was way smaller than usual, though. FT has a big event business. So they helped us out when moving online, says Van de Erve.

TNW is happy to be back offline when it comes to its event. However, the forced shutdown did provide valuable lessons. The biggest thing I learned was that diverse businesses have an advantage, Butler says, looking back. While their spaces were also largely empty during this time, with their news website and consultancy arm, they continued to be a thriving platform for startups. We can serve our audience outside the event as well.

Van der Erve: We have the potential to further build on that business diversification. Its important for us to create synergy in a unified business, to help our users better, faster and cheaper. Despite the different arms of the TNW brand, the event the reason TNW started back in 2006 is still the core pillar.

Our number one mission is still to be the ultimate connector in the Dutch ecosystem, Butler says. Traditionally, TNW is known for its Amsterdam presence. With the event taking up ever larger and more exciting venues around the city. However, Butler and Van der Erve are looking beyond the Dutch capital, even beyond The Netherlands.

Butler: If our goal is to help the Netherlands startup community punch as one, we need to be in all four corners of the country, helping unite fragmented ecosystems. I believe that it is my role to uncover every startup in the Netherlands, and connect them to someone or something that will help multiply their journey.

Make that a European thing, as Butler and Van der Erve admit they are also eyeing other countries for a TNW Conference. We want to become more European, says Butler. He says an excellent place to start decentralising the TNW Brand would be Ireland. We are seeing strong interest in an international brand helping accelerate a pretty exciting but currently underserved Irish startup ecosystem. We can take what TNW does and help accelerate the ecosystem there. We are part of an innovative culture with a tone of voice that works. Different cities are interested in speaking with us about the future.

First up, however, is Amsterdam. With a sold-out exhibition space, 10,000 visitors, over 1,500 startups, and a packed line-up of speakers, its like TNW has never been gone. For Van der Erve, it is her first real TNW. The last conference was in September. I had just become CEO then, which made it different for me. Now, my role will be more outward-facing. Im ready to meet so many more players in the ecosystem.

For Butler, it is his first conference as part of the TNW-team. Ive been twice as a visitor, in 2018 and 2019. It was great seeing so many people of the Dutch ecosystem meet, do business and have fun while doing so.

For this edition, Butler is also excited about seeing some of the speakers. The line-up is what I believe drives people to TNW. For instance, Edward Snowden is doing an Ask me anything live on stage. Hes never done a live, unfiltered Q&A.

Mo Gawdat of Google X and Tim Berners-Lee are among the other notable speakers. Butler also boasts a big opening ceremony, as is traditional for TNW Conferences. In line with the companys ambition, the ceremonys theme will be European tech united. Butler keeps the what and how under wraps. But overall, the goal is to create a positive motion and connections.

Catch our interview with Paul Down, Head of Sales at Intigriti.

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With TNW 2022 around the corner, a look to the future - Silicon Canals

Here Are The Events You Can’t Miss at Consensus 2022 Week | Bitcoinist.com – Bitcoinist

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Even though the last couple of years have seen a number of crypto-centric events pop up all over the globe, none can be compared to Consensus, a 4-day conference that helps bring together some of the biggest names from within the global economic landscape.

In this regard, Consensus 2022 will take place between June 9 12 in Austin, Texas and will be curated/managed by Coindesk, one of the worlds most prestigious crypto media publications. To elaborate, this years event will see the likes of Sam Bankman-Fried, Abby Johnson, Dan Schulman, Balaji Srinivasan, Edward Snowden, Jeremy Allaire, amongst others, discuss in detail a host of issues related to digital asset investments, NFTs, DeFi, regulation, Web 3 and the Metaverse.

Additionally, the conference will also witness heavy participation from a number of developers, creators, investors, policymakers, executives and academics from across the world

This full-day workshop is set to commence on June 10 and end the day after. The goal of this highly anticipated session is to help inform attendees regarding Fetch.ais immense capabilities surrounding futuristic technologies such as AI (Artificial Intelligence), Machine Learning (ML), and Blockchain-based toolkits.

Fetch.ai is a Cosmo SDK-centric blockchain and is designed to help usher in a high level of automation in relation to any chain/protocol. As part of the 2-day event, participants will be shown how to devise novel decentralized applications (dApps) on the Fetch.ai network and also be given a demonstration of the Fetch.ai App that helps connect individuals and businesses without the need of an intermediary. Lastly, attendees will be provided with access to Fetch.ais decentralized privacy solution DabbaFlow.

Set to start at 7 pm on June 10, the Coin Center Annual Dinner hosts some of the most reputed individuals working within the blockchain sector today. As part of the evening, attendees will be rubbing shoulders with the folks who have been touted to help the crypto market evolve and reach its true potential.

A brief one-day event, Health 3.0 How Decentralization Will Re-Invent Healthcare, as the name suggests is a Web3 centric program that harnesses the power of decentralized business models and technologies in an effort to help individuals gain complete control of their private healthcare info especially in regard to owing, sharing and monetizing it.

The session will be organized by the DecentraTech Collective and will have a number of startups giving detailed presentations about the technology. This will be followed by a Q&A session with each of the presenters.

Helium House ATX will commence on June 11 and will last the entire day. Its purpose is to bring together members of the fledgling Helium project while discussing the rapid evolution of The Peoples Network. In its simplest sense, The Peoples Network can be viewed as a one-of-a-kind P2P wireless mesh that affords its users a highly private, affordable way of powering the Internet of Things (IoT) devices primarily to send/receive data using traditional internet services.

The folks behind the massively popular subreddit WallStreetBets will be hosting an action-packed gathering of like-minded crypto enthusiasts on June 9. The event will feature table games like Blackjack and Roulette while also giving attendees a chance to participate in activities that have attractive prizes up for grabs.

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Here Are The Events You Can't Miss at Consensus 2022 Week | Bitcoinist.com - Bitcoinist

How Will Blockchain Revolutionize Communication – NewsBTC

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Blockchain is the technology that started it all its what makes millions of transactions sent through peer-to-peer cryptocurrency networks every year. And now, its making its way into one of the most important parts of everyday life communication. But what makes blockchain so powerful, and what exactly does it have to do with the way in which we talk to others?

Cryptocurrency networks decide on the true state of their blockchains using consensus mechanisms, processes that verify the legitimacy of data stored within blocks and decide where along a particular blockchain those blocks belong. If nodes within a cryptocurrency network disagree on a blockchains true state, then protocols specific to each network automatically settle the dispute and determine the correct blockchain. Because this is done automatically, it is very difficult for an attacker to commit fraudulent transactions.

Consensus mechanisms contribute to another attractive feature of blockchains, that being their immutability. Data stored within blockchains cannot be retroactively changed or reversed without majority consensus. 51% or more of all nodes within a cryptocurrency network must agree to change the state of a blockchain. As a cryptocurrency grows, it becomes harder and harder for a single entity to control 51% of the network. Because of this, large cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin ensure the integrity of transactions. In turn, this enables individuals and businesses to trust that their funds are safe.

TokLok, a rising messaging app, is using similar technology to revolutionize online communication. TokLok uses a decentralized and encrypted peer-to-peer network to send fully secure communications directly between phones, guaranteeing truly private correspondence.

When messages are sent from one phone to another, they are first wrapped in two layers of encryption. Then, they travel throughout the network to their intended destination. To ensure that they cannot be intercepted, only devices equipped with the correct secret codes can decrypt and read them. The combination of encryption and secret codes makes it impossible for anyone who attempts to insert themselves between senders and receivers to sniff or alter the contents of their messages. This enables users to trust that their conversations are unfiltered, uncensored, and secure.

While there are several encrypted messaging apps available, no other app goes to such lengths to protect user data. Because TokLok sends messages directly between phones, those messages never touch a third-party data provider, completely skipping cellular networks and internet service providers. This is important because messages that through third-party networks are vulnerable on the way to their destination. Without knowing what happens between a messages start and end point, its impossible to determine whether they are being spied upon or altered.

This concern is not unfounded. The famous PRISM documents, leaked by Edward Snowden in 2013, revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA) in the United States had back-door access to some of the largest internet platforms. Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Apple were all named either voluntarily or by force, these companies enabled the United States government to spy on anyone using their services. Between government surveillance and hackers, no data sent through a third party is safe.

Even without anything to hide, data privacy is important. Data sent through third-party services can be stored indefinitely and used in a plethora of nefarious ways. Personal data can be used to profile individuals in order to influence their beliefs, track their movements, impersonate them, steal their identity, and more.

Though TokLok is already developed, maintaining the most secure messenger is no small task. Cyber security threats evolve every single day. As such, TokLok has decided to go public via an ICO, or Initial Coin Offering. Sold TOL tokens will be distributed through the Ethereum blockchain, and the funds generated from these sales will be put towards continuous updates and the development of new features.

The first round of TokLoks ICO has already begun. In total, there will be three rounds, each round offering the token for a higher price than the last. Because TokLok has the competitive advantage of being the only messaging app that provides full security, investors from across the cryptocurrency space are jumping in.

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How Will Blockchain Revolutionize Communication - NewsBTC


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