CALIFORNIA CONSIDERING CREATING ADVISORY GROUP FOR FAKE NEWS WITH ORWELLIAN BILL

BY AARON KESEL

In an Orwellian move straight out of 1984, California has proposed a bill to consider creating a “fake news” advisory group in order to monitor information posted and spread on social media, CBS reported.

Senate Bill 1424 would require the California Attorney General to create an advisory committee by April 1st, 2019. Further, the council would need to consist of at least one person from the Department of Justice, representatives from social media providers, civil liberties advocates, and First Amendment scholars.

The advisory group would be required to study how false information is spread online and come up with a plan for social media platforms to fix the problem. The Attorney General would then need to present that plan to the Legislature by December 31st, 2019. The group would also need to come up with criteria establishing what is “fake news” and what is just biased information.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation opposes the bill, calling it “flawed” and “misguided.” The group argues the measure would make the government and advisory group responsible for deciding what is true or false. It also points out the First Amendment prevents content-based restrictions, even if the statements of “admittedly false.”

Last year the previous iterations of California’s crusade against fake news Assembly Bill 1104 or “The California Political Cyberfraud Abatemen... included making it against the law to publish and spread so-called “fake news” that could potentially impact a political race.

In another Senate Bill 947 earlier this year senators proposed teaching students how to spot “fake news.” The legislation aims to come up with statewide school standards on Internet safety and digital citizenship, including cyberbullying and privacy as well as fighting fake news.

The text of the California Political Cyberfraud Abatement Act was so Orwellian that it could apply to anyone who writes, publishes or even shares news stories that could be false, if those news stories are later found to have had an impact on an election.

From the bill:

This bill would modify the definition of the terms “political cyberfraud” and “political Web site” to include Internet Web sites that urge or appear to urge the support or opposition of candidates for public office. The bill would also make it unlawful for a person to knowingly and willingly make, publish or circulate on a Web site, or cause to be made, published, or circulated in any writing posted on a Web site, a false or deceptive statement designed to influence the vote on any issue submitted to voters at an election or on any candidate for election to public office.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), once again fought back saying the bill was “so obviously unconstitutional, we had to double check that it was real.”

Memo to California Assemblymember Ed Chau: you can’t fight fake news with a bad law.

On Tuesday, the California Assembly’s Committee on Privacy and Consumer Affairs, which Chau chairs, will consider A.B. 1104—a censorship bill so obviously unconstitutional, we had to double check that it was real.

This bill will fuel a chaotic free-for-all of mudslinging with candidates and others being accused of crimes at the slightest hint of hyperbole, exaggeration, poetic license, or common error. While those accusations may not ultimately hold up, politically motivated prosecutions—or the threat of such—may harm democracy more than if the issue had just been left alone. Furthermore, A.B. 1104 makes no exception for satire and parody, leaving The Onion and Saturday Night Live open to accusations of illegal content. Nor does it exempt news organizations who quote deceptive statements made by politicians in their online reporting—even if their reporting is meant to debunk those claims. And what of everyday citizens who are duped by misleading materials: if 1,000 Californians retweet an incorrect statement by a presidential candidate, have they all broken the law?

At a time when political leaders are promoting “alternative facts” and branding unflattering reporting as “fake news,” we don’t think it’s a good idea to give the government more power to punish speech.

The legislation was then pulled after massive blowback from the public, EFF and other privacy rights groups.

The EFF wrote at the time, “At a time when political leaders are promoting “alternative facts” and branding unflattering reporting as “fake news,” we don’t think it’s a good idea to give the government more power to punish speech.”

I couldn’t agree more; it probably isn’t a good idea to give Trump’s government more power to punish free speech.  But beyond Trump this is a growing and worrying trend of legislators worldwide who want to censor information and decide what is and isn’t fake, a move that would undoubtedly allow tyranny by prohibiting negative information.

In April of this year, Malaysia approved a law against “fake news” under the Anti-Fake News 2018 bill that would allow for prison time of up to six years for offenders, shrugging off critics who say it was aimed at curbing dissent and free speech ahead of a general election and amid a multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Activist Post reported.

In recent years (increasingly at a rapid rate in the last few months especially), we have seen a visible crackdown on freedom of speech in a number of countries seeking to silence political opinion and news including – EgyptFranceGermanyIndonesiaBrazilItaly , SingaporePhilippinesRussia, India and of course China. (There still may be other countries missed at the time of this report, or further countries to add at a later time.)

Article 19, an organization formed in 1987 to defend free speech, stated in an article that “a number of countries around the world prohibit the dissemination of false information, even if it is not defamatory in nature.” It adds, however, that these laws against fake news are “rare in the more established democracies and have been ruled unconstitutional in some.”

The U.N. Human Rights Council has “reiterated that false news provisions ‘unduly limit the exercise of freedom of opinion and expression,’” notes Article 19.

The U.N. council has upheld this even in cases of news that may cause public unrest, on grounds that “in all such cases, imprisonment as punishment for the peaceful expression of an opinion constitutes a serious violation of human rights.”

Since the year 2000 in China it has been illegal to post rumors, and news deemed “fake” can lead to prison sentences.

In 2000, the China Finance Information Network was fined $1,807 for re-publishing a report from a Hong Kong news outlet that claimed the vice governor of Hubei Province had accepted bribes from a local company.

In Western countries, the State cannot simply fine a news outlet, and any lawsuit over a story can be defended against if the outlet can prove the article’s claims are verified to be true.

In China, there is no opportunity for outlets to defend themselves.

In November 2015, the Chinese Communist Party revised its law to impose sentences of up to seven years in prison for “spreading rumors” about disasters. Human Rights Watch stated the rule could be abused.

In the past, the Chinese government has detained netizens who questioned official casualty figures or who had published alternative information about disasters ranging from SARS in 2003 to the Tianjin chemical blast in 2015, under the guise of preventing “rumors.”

Meanwhile, in Russia, the Russian telecom regulator is preparing a draft decree designed purely and simply to block all content that contains false informat...

As such, since July 2016 content aggregators have been required to verify the veracity of reports that they publish if they do not com..., and could face harsh penalties for fake news. The Russian Foreign Ministry has posted a new section on its official website dedicated to debunking fake anti-Russian news stories published by international news outlets.

Aaron Kesel writes for Activist Post. Support us at Patreon. Follow us on FacebookTwitterSteemit, andBitChute. Ready for solutions? Subscribe to our premium newsletter Counter Markets

SHARE THIS ARTICLE...

Views: 107

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

Comment by Burbia on June 27, 2018 at 1:11am

Where did that NWO dictionary go from this site. Another submission here.

Fake news: 

ad·jec·tive
ˈajəktiv/
a word or phrase naming an attribute, added to or grammatically related to a noun to modify or describe Trump Derangement Syndrome.

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

tjdavis posted a video

Charlie Kirk: Grief And Outrage From Turning Point USA in Phoenix

We went to Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA headquarters in Phoenix to talk with people who were there to pay their respects.►Join my community to get exclus...
12 hours ago
Doc Vega posted blog posts
13 hours ago
Burbia commented on Doc Vega's blog post This Memorable Anthem Given by Nick Freitas Hit the Nail on the Head Please Listen!
18 hours ago
Doc Vega posted blog posts
yesterday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post A Few More Rats in Your Skull Concerning Charlie and the Rampaging Left
"cheeki kea, Yes that was released on to book sites 19 hours before the tragic event and also there…"
yesterday
Burbia commented on Sandy's video
yesterday
Sandy posted a video

Charlie Kirk Was Terrified Of Israel

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
Friday
Sandy posted a photo
Friday
cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post A Few More Rats in Your Skull Concerning Charlie and the Rampaging Left
"The internet is fractioned that's for sure but it never sleeps and the big question of the day…"
Friday
Burbia commented on Doc Vega's blog post A Few More Rats in Your Skull Concerning Charlie and the Rampaging Left
"It seems America has many meanings to many people. The internet has fractioned everybody. I had…"
Thursday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Plausible Explanation Behind Recent Cryptid Sightings in the Wild!
"Cheeki kea I'm glad that the giant Moa downsized to this turkey looking land walker.!"
Thursday
Burbia commented on Burbia's blog post Charlie Kirk Assaination
"I don't know what difference if any that he was also a member of Council for National Policy.…"
Thursday
Doc Vega commented on Burbia's blog post Charlie Kirk Assaination
"I remember when they found out that the united Council of Churches worldwide had been funding…"
Thursday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

A Few More Rats in Your Skull Concerning Charlie and the Rampaging Left

 Political violence and death has been perpetrated for a long time now in America. The Democrats…See More
Thursday
Burbia posted a blog post

Charlie Kirk Assaination

September 10th 2025 in Utah Turning Point USA CEO has been assassinated. Coincidentally,  answering…See More
Thursday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Bow to Your New Masters

 Dr. Jerome Corsi reports that the discovery of a new wireless system that can corrupt any…See More
Tuesday
cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post Plausible Explanation Behind Recent Cryptid Sightings in the Wild!
"Wow I never knew penguins got down sized also over time. I knew of the Moa which is really now a…"
Tuesday
Sandy posted a video

Civalyze meme

meme ad for a fake drug that would do away with black fatiguecivilyze you're not racist your just exhausted
Sep 8
Burbia posted a blog post

Is the Timing of Alex Jones and Charlie Sheen Connected?

Alex Jones is sperging out.Charlie Sheen is coming out of the closet.Is this why Alex Jones is…See More
Sep 6
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Buying the Last haunted House on the Left (A partial autobiography)

Note to the reader, there are events here that are true and some that are fictional.Chapter IIt was…See More
Sep 5

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted