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Arrested for misinformation?

Is it just me or have I been writing too much about the sorry state of our freedoms and privacy of late?

Every day I seem to spy another attempt to chip away at the very rights and freedoms that make is human, rather than just numbers or data-points in a government-run database.

Damn it, the old "peace, love, bells, beads" hippy in me is really busting out of late and my concern is that perhaps nothing is really wrong -- it's just my perspective that is changing.

Today I present more apparent evidence that we're headed for a very dystopian world where the only rights that matter are those of the ruling class.

I've already covered the seeming demise of the long-trusted media who were once ruled by and proudly protected the tenets of the Fourth Estate.

Instead, social media has created a class of citizen journalist who simply presents the facts, raw and unedited -- often with nothing more than a smartphone and a Youtube Livestream as their tools.

Clearly, both the MSM and governments who rely on an increasingly cosy/controlling relationship with that MSM are troubled by these changes. You might ask why the MSM would cosy-up to any government hell-bent on taking an authoritarian stance but the answer to that also lies in the power of the internet.

The revenue base for the MSM has been so eroded by the internet that now many publishers are reliant on handouts and special privileges that can only be bestowed by a government. I'm talking about things like the NZ On Air funding here in NZ and the Public Interest Journalism Fund that the previous government used to bribe news organisations into toeing the party line.

Governments are also currying favour with news publishers by threatening big-tech such as Facebook and Google with sanctions if they don't pay for the use of headlines and newsbites from the MSM.

All of this leaves the MSM mighty beholding to the government of the day and this means that no matter how much they might deny it, those publications are influenced to an increasing degree by politicians and government departments.

Now, perhaps we can see why so much of the true disinformation fed to us comes from the mouths of our political overlords via the MSM.

The latest worrying move is happening in the EU and is being billed as a media "freedom law" although, on closer inspection, it apears to be anything but.

The claim is that this law will give journalists and the MSM "protection" so that they can continue to bring us objective, reliable and unbiased reporting. That sounds fantastic, except for one thing...

Just who determines what's objective, reliable and unbiased?

Well wouldn't you know it -- it'll be the governments of the EU countries in which this law applies!

So long as you toe the party line, you'll be fine and protected. However, what happens if you report something that upsets the government?

Well this law allows for the arrests, sanctions, and surveillance of journalists whenever authorities say it serves an “overriding reason in the general interest".

Allow me to translate: If you say things we don't want the public to hear, you will go to jail.

Yeah, the fact that this law is called a "Freedom Law" is and of itself a huge piece of disinformation from EU authorities and speaks to the way they wish to shape our view of the world and suppress citizen journalism whilst protecting those MSM publishers that are prepared to show support for the government of the day.

Why are my alarm bells ringing at full volume when I see stuff like this?

Or maybe the article I've linked to is itself just a piece of crappy misinformation designed to inflame public outrage?

The world has reached a point where I really don't know any longer but I know I should care about such things. My real concern is that they'll keep grinding us down to the point where we just throw up our hands and say "too hard", before accepting whatever we're told without challenge or resistance.

Carpe Diem folks!

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