Daily Archives: June 11, 2022

India's tech-related policies continue to create controversy, with fresh objections raised to a pair of proposed regulation packages.

One of those regulations is the infosec reporting and logging requirements introduced by India's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) in late April. That package requires VPN, cloud, and numerous other IT services providers to collect customers' personal information and log their activity, then surrender that info to Indian authorities on demand. One VPN provider, ExpressVPN, last week quit India on grounds that its local servers are designed not to record any logs so compliance would be impossible. ExpressVPN will soon route customers' traffic outside India.

On Tuesday, another VPN Surfshark announced it would do likewise.

The company announced its decision in a post that labelled CERT-In's rules "radical action that highly impacts the privacy of millions of people living in India."

India's government decide what millions of Indians can or cannot say online.

CERT-In's rules have also been criticized by The Internet Society, the nonprofit that advocates for an open internet.

In an Impact Brief [PDF] that assesses the impact of CERT-In's rules, the Society rates the requirement to sync with India-controlled network time protocol servers as creating a dangerous single point of failure. The Brief also takes issue with the rules' requirement to collect user data, as India lacks data privacy and data protection laws. The Society also suggests that CERT-In is not the appropriate body to collect data, as it is not a law enforcement agency.

Those criticisms come on top of similar suggestions from BSA The Software Alliance and ten other tech-related lobby groups, all of whom suggest the rules make India a less attractive destination for foreign investment.

India's government has so far shrugged off that criticism, but has earned itself more of the same at home by revising the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules that it introduced in 2021. Those rules saw social media companies push back on grounds that the regulations required them to identify users and could restrict free speech.

On Monday India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) published proposed amendments [PDF] to the Rules that, among other things, propose the creation of a government-run committee that would consider citizens' grievances about content posted to social media. That committee would have the power to override social networks' content moderation decisions.

That's scary, given that Indian police last year visited Twitter's local office to inquire why the microblogging service chose to label posts by a government spokesperson as "manipulated media."

India's Internet Freedom Foundation characterised the proposed committee's powers as follows:

Complicating perceptions of the proposed amendments is that MeitY published them last week, but then took down the file. An identical proposal re-appeared on Monday.

India's IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said the amended Rules add "more effective grievance addressal ensuring constitutional rights of citizens are respected" and will have "no impact on Indian Startups."

Many nations have laws that give local authorities the power to compel social media to remove content under specific circumstances.

India's proposed amendments allow citizens to seek takedown orders whenever they feel aggrieved.

The Register will be surprised if the proposed amendments don't generate another wave of letters from international lobby groups protesting India's plans.

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Another VPN quits India, as government proposes social media censorship powers - The Register

Congressional Democrats from New Jersey on Friday urged educational publishers to resist rewriting their textbooks in response to demands from Republican-led states, saying we will not stand for lowering our educational standards and learning opportunities for our students, based on the divisive politics of censorship.

Both of the states senators and five House members signed the letter, a response to GOP officials railing against what they call critical race theory and objecting to content that mentions gay and lesbian-led families and incidents of racism in American history.

If you comply with such demands to alter textbooks based on the Florida law or similar legislation in other states, we ask that you continue to make available the original, uncensored textbooks to schools in New Jersey and other states, the lawmakers wrote.

We are proud of having some of the highest rated public schools in the country in our state, and we will not stand for lowering our educational standards and learning opportunities for our students, based on the divisive politics of censorship from politicians in Florida, Texas or anywhere else.

The letter to four textbook publishers was led by Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-7th Dist., and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker. Malinowski has been hammered on the issue by Republican groups backing former state Senate GOP Leader Tom Kean Jr., who is trying to win the congressional seat he barely lost in 2020.

Democratic lawmakers said in their letter that Republican efforts to limit what can be taught in schools appears to be nothing more than a bigoted censorship campaign designed to frighten parents, stoke racial grievance, and bully textbook publishers into submission.

Florida rejected more than 40% of textbooks while Texas limited how teachers could discuss slavery and racism.

The lawmakers said they were worried that any changes made to appease their demands will affect the quality of public education in New Jersey and other states.

Republicans successfully made school curricula a wedge issue last fall as they came close to defeating Gov. Phil Murphy and won the governorship in Virginia for the first time in more than a decade.

I dont believe that we should be teaching that America is a racist nation, New Jersey GOP gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli said at a town hall meeting in August 2021.

Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway called the debate over critical race theory dog whistle politics.

Political conservatives have used this with incredible effectiveness to cause anxiety, to get people angry, and then get them to the polls, Holloway told The Star-Ledger editorial board shortly after the 2021 gubernatorial election.

The issue exploded anew this spring over New Jerseys 2-year-old health and physical education standards, which outline when students should be taught about such topics as sexual orientation, gender identity, and anatomy. Republicans insisted that the guidelines be repealed while Democrats said the concerns were blown out of proportion and were at odds with the facts.

The narrative that our New Jersey public schools are teaching young children inappropriate content flat out is not true, Malinowski tweeted in April. Republicans are using rhetoric that plays on parents fears to drum up votes.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has sought to make an issue out of Malinowskis comments.

Tom Malinowskis anti-parent tirade started a culture war in NJ-07 and hes just upset that New Jersey parents heard what he really thinks about them, spokeswoman Samantha Bullock said.

And the Tea Party Express cited the issue in endorsing Kean on Thursday.

While Governor Phil Murphy and his big-government pals are determined to force a radical liberal curriculum onto children and indoctrinate them with leftist propaganda, Tom Kean has been one of New Jerseys strongest advocates for parental rights and has used his position to fight on behalf of all New Jersey parents and their children, said Sal Russo, the groups co-founder and chief strategist.

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Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @JDSalant.

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Textbook publishers must ignore GOPs divisive politics of censorship, N.J. Democrats say - NJ.com

T

he subtitle to the controversial film The Lady of Heaven is the untold story and it looks as though its going to remain untold, at least in Britain, now that Cineworld has pulled the film out of concern for the safety of its staff. The latest outbreak of censorship is in Stratford, where a crowd is protesting outside the Vue cinema, demanding to speak to the manager.

So here we go again. Shades of Salman Rushdies The Satanic Verses, which I still havent got round to reading, and the French cartoons of Muhammad.

Both occasioned deaths on the part of those involved; Rushdie spent years in hiding, translators of the book were murdered. Same with the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists who depicted Muhammad offensively.

The stakes arent so high now. The protesters in Bradford the new City of Culture are merely declaring we have a right not to be insulted. And in the case of Stratford, theyre claiming that the film is not just blasphemous but also offensive to the BAME community. But it was fears for the safety of staff that led the cinema chain to pull the film. The thing is, the film, by all accounts, is rubbish.

It featured at Cannes, where they are more robust about these things, and got two stars from The Guardian, whose review notes its suffocating sense of orthodoxy. The New York Times review notes the shoddy script and an overwhelming reliance on clich.

It depicts the daughter of Muhammad veiled, focusing on her husband, Ali. It was written very much from a Muslim perspective. A sane response to the film would be to let it sink without trace.

There are two obvious points here. One is that we should be sensitive to the religious feelings of others. I am a Catholic and I have yet to bring myself to watch that undoubted comic masterpiece The Life of Brian, though I can quote from it with the best.

But where we should be troubled is in the effective censorship of even bad films because of the threat of violence. Its not just bad art that is affected; as the historian Tom Holland makes clear, even rational academic investigation into the origin stories of Islam are circumscribed at every turn.

It is dangerous to make truthful observations about the life of Muhammad. The Lady of Heaven is a bad film but it raises important questions of principle about our ability in a free society to discuss Islam.

The film will probably do terrifically well on streaming. The irony.

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These film protests are worryingly effective censorship - Evening Standard

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Social media sensation Libs of TikTok was locked out of its Twitter account on Wednesday for a tweet about kids at drag shows that was deemed to be "abuse and harassment."

Only after losing an appeal and deleting the offending tweet was Libs of TikTok allowed to tweet again. "Twitter thinks its abuse to document drag shows. I think its abuse for drag shows to be taking place in front of kids," Libs of TikTok wrote in an update on their Substack about the ordeal, which included the news that the tweet was banned in Germany.

On Wednesday night Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon reported, "BREAKING: Twitter just locked out @libsoftiktok for posting a thread about several recent drag shows for kids. The thread allegedly violates Twitter's rules against abuse and harassment. You know what's actually abusive? Drag shows for kids."

According to screenshots, the specific tweet flagged by Twitter read, "~MEGA DRAG THREAD~ They say its innocent. They say its just about inclusion and acceptance. They say no one is trying to confuse, corrupt, or sexualize kids. They lie." It was originally posted on May 30.

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST: GUNS HARM CHILDREN MORE THAN CHILD PORNAGRAPHY, SO LETS RESTRICT THEM

The Libs of TikTok account, which shares videos of left-wing individuals openly expressing their social and political views, was locked out of Twitter. (Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

"You can promote drag shows for kids on Twitter. That's fine. You can even share videos of yourself performing in them. The only thing you can't do is criticize them," Dillon tweeted. "Somehow the feelings of a few drag queens matter more to Twitter than the corruption of a generation of children."

In an update on Thursday morning, Dillon also announced that Twitter denied Libs of TikToks appeal to overturn the violation.

"Twitter has denied Libs of TikTok's appeal," Dillon tweeted with an image reading that Twitter determined "a violation did take place" of their "rules against abusive behavior" with the tweet.

Libs of TikTok tweeted later on Thursday afternoon, confirming that the account was reopened. The offending tweet has been replaced with the message "This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules. Learn more."

"Im back! Apparently posting videos and flyers of drag events is abusive but the actual events are just innocent family friendly entertainment," the accounted tweeted.

Dillon previously reported shortly after Libs of TikToks original tweet in May that the account was banned from participating in Twitter ads, though the notification did not specify the reason.

Twitter app displayed on an iPhone screen in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

SCHOOLS, ORGANIZATIONS CELEBRATE PRIDE MONTH WITH DRAG SHOWS FOR MINORS

"Libs of TikTok has been banned from running ads on Twitter. A notification of ineligibility was sent out that failed to offer a specific reason," Dillon tweeted at the time.

In May, Libs of TikTok was also suspended from Instagram over the claim that the account violated the platforms Community Guidelines but it was not specified how. Instagram later restored the account over twelve hours later claiming that Libs of TikTok was "disabled by mistake."

The Libs of TikTok account usually shares videos of left-wing individuals openly expressing their social and political views on social media. It has been suspended from Twitter twice so far, once only hours it had been reinstated.

The TikTok logo is seen on an iPhone. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Both Twitter and Dillon did not immediately respond to Fox News requests for comments.

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The recent moves by Twitter follow years of conservative users complaining that social media is attempting to censor their views. Dillons own company Babylon Bee was locked out its Twitter account back in March.

Lindsay Kornick is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to lindsay.kornick@fox.com and on Twitter: @lmkornick.

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Twitter censors Libs of TikTok, labels their tweets showing kids at drag shows 'abuse and harassment' - Fox News

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