#BRAZIL: High Court Orders Some Twitter Accounts Blocked; Musk Defies

[world politics news]

At 5:52 pm Eastern Time, April 6, 2024, X corporation, formerly known as Twitter, announced that a Brazilian court had forced it to “block certain popular accounts in Brazil.” 

Then, less than one hour later, the owner of X, @ElonMusk announced that X would defy the court’s order, and lift all restrictions.

“As a result,” said Musk, “we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit.”

At any moment, Brazil’s Supreme Court could shut off all access to X/Twitter for the people of Brazil.

Musk attacked the judge in a post on X: "Those requests violate Brazilian law. This judge has brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached."

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

ISRAEL: Netanyahu Bans Aljazeera TV; Biden Condemns

[world politics news]

The Biden administration lashed out Monday, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled that he will ban Aljazeera, a Qatari government-controlled news channel, in Israel because of the lies it has told about the October 7 terrorist attack and because some of its journalists are said to have participated in the attack.

Israeli lawmakers in the Knesset passed a measure in a lopsided, 71-10 vote Monday, giving Netanyahu the authority to ban the organization.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#CANADA: Commons Passes Internet Streaming Bill

[world politics news]

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government have passed the controversial Bill C-11 after rushing it through the Commons without debate.

Bill C-11 is the Online Streaming Act, sometimes called the Online Censorship bill, as it would give the Canadian government the power to tell broadcasters like YouTube and Netflix what they should and should not recommend to viewers online.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#RUSSIA: Duma Adopts More Media Restrictions

[world politics news]

Days after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Russia adopted repressive legislation at full speed, aiming to criminalize any independent reporting or social media mentions of the war. 

Just over a year later, Russian lawmakers tightened these laws even further. On March 15, the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, adopted even more restrictive legislation in a third and final reading. IPI condemns Russia’s latest efforts to build a parallel reality inside the country by silencing independent media and critical voices.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#CANADA: Growing Opposition To Internet Censorship Bill

[world politics news]

The chorus of Canadians from all walks of life calling on the Senate to kill the Trudeau government’s Internet censorship bill is growing louder by the day.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#INDIA: Gov't Blocks YouTube Channels, Facebook Acct, For Misinformation

[world politics news]

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Monday issued directions for blocking 16 YouTube news channels and one Facebook account, a statement said.

Of the 16 news channels, six are from Pakistan and 10 from India, it said. The statement alleged that the YouTube channels, with a cumulative viewership of over 680 million people, were spreading disinformation.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Government Cuts Ties with Professional Teachers' Union After China Calls it "Cancer"

[world politics news]

China's state media People's Daily and Xinhua News Agency published opinion pieces yesterday against the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (#HKPTU), calling it "a cancer that must be removed".  

By the afternoon, the Education Bureau of the Hong Kong government announced it

that it is terminating its working relationship with the local teachers' Union.

The union responded to the opinion pieces by saying it has always promoted professional growth of teachers and advocating for their rights, giving attention to the development of the country and its people, as well as being "against Hong Kong independence".

The Education Bureau sent out a sternly-worded press release a mere half hour later, outlining its policy towards the Union:

-No further collaboration with the Union;

-No more meetings with the Union

-No consulting with the Union regarding education matters

-No processing of referred cases or topics of concern raised by the Union

The Bureau said that it would fully review its consultation groups, and would consider terminating the terms of any HKPTU members that hold committee positions or have other duties, and not recognize their status as committee members.  

Furthermore, the government would be refused entry into the Bureau's office building or the Bureau's meetings.

Also, the Education Bureau will no longer recognize professional development courses hosted by HKPTU, and schools are not to count the Union's courses toward their teachers' professional development requirements of 150 hours in 3 years.

The Bureau further criticizes the union for its pro-democracy stance and activities in recent years, claiming that they are not in line with the professionalism of educators, even claiming that the Union is effectively no different from a "political group."

The government's spokesperson also criticized the Union for being actively involved in the matters with the Civil Human Rights Front and the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, as well as for "bringing politics into schools" by organizing teachers' strikes.

Founded in 1973, the HKPTU is Hong Kong's largest teacher's union with over 90,000 members.  The other major union is the pro-Beijing Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, which claims over 40,000 members, though some member categories are not required to be in the education sector.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#BRAZIL: YouTube Removes 15 Videos Of Pres. Bolsonaro

[world politics news]

YouTube has removed videos posted by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for violating its content policies, in the strongest measure yet that tech giants in the social media–loving country have taken toward censoring the president. 

YouTube has said that if Bolsonaro breaks the video-sharing service’s rules again, his channel may be suspended for a week and, in case of recurrence, he should be permanently banned.

The video platform told the outspoken leader last week that 15 of his videos had been removed from his channel for spreading COVID-19 misinformation - some of which promoted alleged coronavirus "cures" that critics say can sometimes cause collateral health damages like kidney failure.    

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#CANADA: Senator Calls Internet Regulation Bill "Orwellian"

[world politics news]

Canada’s controversial Bill C-10 sends the country “down a rabbit hole on internet regulation,” according to Senator Michael MacDonald.

 The Nova Scotia senator, who is the Conservative chair of the Senate communications committee overseeing the bill, goes as far as to call the bill ‘Orwellian,’ reports Blacklock’s Reporter.

Bill C-10 would allow the CRTC regulate privately-viewed YouTube videos as they do with commercial broadcasters, with $15 million fines possible in some cases for violators.

The bill will not be taken up again by the Senate until the fall, because it has adjourned for the summer.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#NIGERIA: Nation Blocks Twitter After President's Tweet Deleted

[world politics news]

The Nigerian government says it has "indefinitely suspended" Twitter's operations in the country, the Ministry of Information and Culture announced in a statement on Friday.

"The Federal Government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria," it read.

The suspension comes two days after Twitter deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari that was widely perceived as offensive.

An estimated 39 million Nigerians use Twitter.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#CANADA: Gov't Moves To Regulate User Content On Social Media

[world politics news]

The Liberal Party-dominated House of Commons has cleared the way for the federal government to regulate video content on internet social media, such as YouTube, the same way it regulates national broadcasting, under a new amendment updating the Broadcasting Act.

Critics denounced the move to give the country’s broadcast regulator the ability to oversee user-generated content, and said it amounted to an attack on the free expression of Canadians, particularly in light of Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault’s recent plans to give Ottawa power to order take-downs of online content it deems objectionable.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#AUSTRALIA: Facebook Removes Controversial MP's Page For "Misinformation" About Covid-19

[world politics news]

Facebook has removed independent Member of Parliament Craig Kelly’s Facebook page for repeatedly breaching the social media company’s "misinformation" policy.

The member for Hughes, who quit the Liberal party in February in part because he wanted to keep posting about alternative treatments for Covid-19 such as hydroxychloroquine, had amassed a following on the site of more than 86,000 followers.

Kelly said he was “absolutely outraged” by Facebook’s conduct, labelling it “censorship” and “interference in Australian democracy."

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#GERMANY: Merkel Calls Trump Ban From Twitter "Problematic"

[world politics news] 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has concerns that Twitter's “problematic” suspension of Donald Trump's account, in the wake of last week's assault on the Capitol, is an encroachment on freedom of opinion, her spokesman said.

Steffan Seibert said on Monday that it was right for social media companies not to “stand back” when content inciting violence was posted online, such as by ‘flagging’ it, as Twitter has previously done to several of the US president's tweets.

Merkel’s spokesman stressed, however, that the right to freedom of opinion is a “fundamental right of elementary importance,” which can be interfered with through the law and legislation, “not according to the decision of the management of social media platforms.”

“From this point of view, the chancellor considers it problematic that the accounts of the US president have been permanently blocked,” he told reporters in Berlin.

Merkel's office made the comments despite her and several other European leaders having a troubled and complicated history with Trump, who often bluntly attack them for not paying their fair share in NATO.

Other world leaders also spoke out on the Twitter ban, for instance French president Emmanuel Macron also expressed reservations.

Mexico’s president criticized the social media censorship of President Trump.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador slammed the blocking of President Trump online. He noted everyone has the right to free speech on social media.

“I don’t like anyone to be censored and for them to have their right taken away to send a message on Twitter or on Facebook," he said.

Perhaps the most honest, and humorous, response came from the son of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who called Twitter “authoritarian” and tweeted: “A world where Maduro is on social media, but Trump is suspended cannot be normal.”

On Sunday, he announced that he would be “permanently” using Trump’s profile picture for his own account.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#POLAND: Bill Would Fine Social Media Giants For Removing Content Legal In Poland

[world politics news]

 

Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro has announced a legal initiative aimed at enabling internet users to file complaints against the removal of online posts as well as the creation of a special court for freedom of speech.

Ziobro said the aim of the bill is to give internet users the feeling that their rights are protected and that their posts cannot be arbitrarily removed from online platforms.

Under its provisions, social media services can be fined if they remove content or block accounts if the content on them does not break Polish law.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#AUSTRALIA: Chinese-Owned Chat App Censors Prime Minister's Post

[world politics news] 

Chinese social media app WeChat has censored a post by Australia's prime minister in the midst of a deepening diplomatic feud, raising concerns about Beijing's ability to export censorship overseas through technology groups.

The platform, which is owned by Chinese technology company Tencent, removed a post by Scott Morrison that contained a conciliatory message for the Chinese Australian community during a period of intense diplomatic tension between Canberra and Beijing.

The incident followed Australia's furious reaction to a Twitter post by a Chinese diplomat this week, which falsely depicted an Australian soldier holding a knife to the throat of an Afghan child, a reference to a war crimes inquiry.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#THAILAND: Government Seeks To Censor Coverage Of Bangkok Protests

[world politics news] 

Thai authorities are trying to stem ongoing protests calling for the Prime Minister to resign by threatening to censor news coverage, raiding a publishing house, and attempting to block the Telegram messaging app used by demonstrators.

The efforts by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's Government to drain the student-led protests of support and organisational abilities comes as demonstrations continue to swell in the capital and spread around the country.

This is despite an emergency decree which bans public gatherings of more than four people in Bangkok.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#RUSSIA: Duma Commission Calls Foreign Media, Facebook And Google "Spies," Violated Election Laws

[world politics news]

A special commission of the Russian Duma has called for the legislature to take measures against a number of foreign media for violating the Russian election laws, alleging that some of them were spies, the Commission said in a report.

The Commission on the Investigation of Foreign Interference in Russia’s Internal Affairs accused Radio Liberty, Current time, Medusa, BBC Russian Service, MBK-Media and Voice of America for violating “the legislation by carrying out an election campaign on election day,” during the country’s local elections in September.

Facebook and Google, according to the Commission’s Chairman Vasilii Piskarev, may also join the “team” waiting for “appropriate measures,” as the parliamentarians received confirmation that they have also violated the election laws.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#RUSSIA: Websites Banned, Censored, For Showing "Disrespect" To Russian Constitution, "State Symbols"

[world politics news]

Information showing disrespect to Russia, its society and official state symbols has been deleted from 79 websites, according to a state censorship agency, Roskomnadzor.

After the enactment of the law protecting Russia’s state symbols earlier this year, the agency received 45 claims against 85 Internet pages from the Prosecutor General’s Office, the most part of which (70%) related to the insults of Russia’s Constitution, flag and emblem.

To the date, four URLs have been blocked, banned information has been removed from 79 URLs and removal of the information from 2 websites is expected, the statement reads.

The law, signed by Pres. Putin in March, blocks websites containing defamatory information insulting Russia's society, state symbols and state bodies into law. The law stipulates fines from 30,000 rubles (about $455) to 100,000 rubles ($1,500). In case the offence is committed for the second time, it is to be punishable with fines from 100,000 rubles to 200,000 rubles ($1,500 – 3,000), or administrative detention for up to 15 days. Repeated violations are to be punished with fines ranging from 200,000 rubles to 300,000 rubles ($3,000 – 4,500), or administrative detention for the same term.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HONGKONG: Banned Pro-Independence Party Leaders To Appeal To Three-Member Panel In January

[world politics news]

The leaders of the outlawed Hong Kong National Party will get to appeal against the ban before a three-member committee of Executive Council members next month. Andy Chan Ho-tin and Jason Chow Ho-fai will appeal to the panel, comprised of attorney Martin Liao Cheung-kong, former stock exchange chairman Chow Chung-kong and former Monetary Authority chief Joseph Yam Chi-kwong. Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu banned the party under the Societies Ordinance on September 24, saying it was a "threat to national security and public order."

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#RUSSIA: Gov't Threatens Google, Facebook, Twitter With Shutdown Over Inability To Censor, Ban Users

[world politics news]

Russia's media watchdog has written to Google, Twitter and Facebook warning them against violating Russian Internet laws, saying they risk being blocked entirely if they do not give the government the ability to block users and take down websites  containing calls for "unsanctioned protests and unrest."