Western Countries Continue To Enforce Oppressive Measures To Silence Free Speech
NaturalNews.com | Zoey Sky
Many civilizations used free speech as a crucial measure to keep overreaching centralized power in check for centuries. However, the West is now working to censor citizens online.
One man was arrested and could go to prison for months just for sharing memes. In March, a Brooklyn jury convicted Douglass Mackey, who goes by Ricky Vaughn on X (formerly Twitter), of scheming to "trick voters out of casting a ballot" during the 2016 presidential election.
However, he only shared memes that made fun of Hillary Clinton. The fake memes Mackey posted told people to vote from home via text messages.
In court, he claimed that he didn't think anyone would believe his posts. However, the federal government did not find Mackey's memes funny. On Oct. 23, he was sentenced to seven months in prison. (Related: 4th Branch with Tony and Sofia: Robert Stone discusses the CENSORSHIP of Trump and RFK Jr.)
On Nov. 23, a man in his 50s stabbed five people, including three schoolchildren. One of the children was wounded seriously. The man was an Algerian who had been in Ireland for more than 20 years and had previous brushes with the law.
Public anger over the shocking incident resulted in an outburst of rage in Dublin. At least 500 people participated in riots that involved looting, vandalism and burning police vehicles. Reports showed that 34 people were arrested.
But instead of voicing dismay over the violent stabbing, Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced that the riots were proof that Ireland’s hate speech laws needed updating. Varadkar said Ireland is only weeks away from passing the proposed hate speech legislation.
He was referring to the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence and Hatred or Hate Offenses) Bill 2022.
According to Section 10 (1) (a) of the bill, a person will be found guilty of an offense if he "prepares or possesses material that is likely to incite violence or hatred against a person or a group of persons on account of their protected characteristics or any of those characteristics with a view to the material being communicated to the public or a section of the public, whether by himself or herself or another person."
The vague and potentially broad offenses can result in jail time and hefty fines. The police will also have the authority to search homes and confiscate devices under the new law. This means they could search citizens' devices for offensive memes. The ridiculous law is already being processed through the Irish legislature, but it has been facing some resistance from the public.
Irish senators have also been hearing about it from their constituents. There had been some hope that the law would be heavily amended or retracted, but that was before the Dublin riots.
Western governments are working overtime to attack political dissidents
It seems like the West is at war with free speech. Western governments are now trying harder to attack political dissidents as far-right, racist conspiracy theorists.
In an allegedly free country like America, this extreme crackdown on inconvenient speech is alarming. Average citizens should be able to discuss their opinions on harmful immigration policies without being automatically labeled racist.
However, the crackdown on free speech is proof of the weakness of the governments trying to implement these speech laws.
But there is hope. In the U.S., people are fighting back.
The State of Texas, Consortium News, The Daily Wire and The Federalist are all suing the U.S. Department of State for conspiring with outlets like X, Newsguard and GDI to silence conservative and libertarian opinions in America.
Watch the video below to learn more about the censorship law being pushed in Ireland.
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Original Article: https://www.naturalnews.com/2024-01-02-western-countries-oppressive-measures-silence-free-speech.html