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Journalism is facing unprecedented assaults from attempts at censorship and the proliferation of fake news around the world. To push back against these threats, blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) applications are being developed to help authenticate media content, preserve records and maintain journalism integrity.

From Rappler CEO Maria Ressas persecution and conviction in the Philippines for cyber libel, to the arrests of reporters and media tycoons in Hong Kong, to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange potentially being extradited to the U.S. where he could face over 100 years in prison, media watchers say the outlook for press freedom is bleak.

Journalistic institutions working independently without interference from state actors or foreign actors is in peril in some countries, more so than in others, Bernat Ivancsics, a research fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, told Forkast.News.

What we see in extreme cases, like in the Philippines, in Hong Kong, mainland China, currently in Belarus and Eastern Europe, Brazil, etc. that type of phenomenon is creeping into Western and developed nations, Ivancsics said.

The Trump administrations decision to prosecute Assange in 2019 for allegedly violating the Espionage Act also set the tone for the deteriorating state of freedom of the press around the world. The charge comes as a result of Wikileaks publication of classified U.S. military documents known as collateral murder showing two Reuters journalists and Iraqis killed by gunfire from an American helicopter in 2007. The U.S. Justice Department has pledged to appeal a British judges recent rejection of their request for Assanges extradition to the U.S.

Any prosecution by the United States of Mr. Assange for Wikileaks publishing operations would be unprecedented and unconstitutional, and would open the door to criminal investigations of other news organizations, said Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions (ACLUs) Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project in a statement. Moreover, prosecuting a foreign publisher for violating U.S. secrecy laws would set an especially dangerous precedent for U.S. journalists, who routinely violate foreign secrecy laws to deliver information vital to the publics interest.

BREAKING: For the first time in the history of our country, the government has brought criminal charges under the Espionage Act against a publisher for the publication of truthful information. This is a direct assault on the First Amendment. https://t.co/RJxjFPfkHe

Ivancsics agreed that Assanges prosecution would very likely set a dangerous precedent in journalism. There is a silence, especially in British and American press, on what the Assange decision would entail is kind of worrisome, he said. I certainly do not see the amount of discourse or just anxiety that it should invoke in current journalists.

With attacks on the press from a variety of directions from both state actors and the private sector what role can blockchain play to ensure a better playing field for journalism? Forkast.News explores ways in which blockchain has been experimented with by media companies and how the technology could be used by journalists and readers in the future.

A number of journalism organizations are now experimenting with blockchain.

The New York Times News Provenance Project was one, which created a proof-of-concept of how images could be authenticated and recorded as authentic on blockchain to prevent the spread of doctored images.

The project simulated a social media platform where users would be able to quickly check if a photo on the site was modified by providing a transparent record of any changes and usages of images on the site.

See related article: Journalist Maria Ressas ordeal shines light on social medias dark side

According to Ivancsics, who worked on the New York Times project, the real threat in journalism is the prevalence of images and memes that are cheaply made and easily shared on social media that distort the truth of events in the news.

Its just a sheer obfuscation of whats going on and what is true, what is not true, what the mainstream media is hiding, he said. Those sorts of questions are going to be the ones that are really going to just mess with peoples minds and perceptions around political and cultural issues.

The Times concluded that the prototype did help make informed judgements about the authenticity of photos on social media, but more work is needed to make it easily accessible to users.

In order for a blockchain solution to become a reality, news organizations with varying financial and technical resources need to be able to participate, said the Times report on the project. Finding ways to lower the barriers to entry is an essential component of any future explorations.

1/5 Today, the News Provenance Project is sharing insights from the UX research it has done to find out if surfacing metadata on news photos would help people to better discern credible images from misinformation. An overview of what we learned https://t.co/08SFMyoiSe

Another project was Civil, which was an attempt to change financing in journalism through the use of cryptocurrency tokens, but which shut down operations in 2020 due to similar issues with accessibility.

Civil had the potential to revolutionize how journalism is funded, created, and distributed in a secure, verifiable, quality manner, said Jonathan Askin, a professor of clinical law at Brooklyn Law School, said in an interview with Forkast.News.

However, Civils use of blockchain technology was not smooth enough, widely adopted, or well enough understood to enable journalists and readers to use the platform to its full potential. One guide from the Nieman Journalism Lab outlined the 44-step process needed to buy Civil tokens, highlighting the complexities of becoming a participant.

We will learn from these early experiments and create more viable blockchain-based content funding, creation, and distribution platforms, largely free from the oversight of the media moguls, Askin said.

More work remains to be done to achieve those goals, particularly for the use of blockchains features as a decentralized, immutable store of information as a tool against censorship.

Blockchain usage for information security in terms of information dissemination and decentralized information dissemination hasnt really been explored, Ivancsics said. At least in the U.S. and certain Western European countries, I dont really see the incentive right now to explore this type of blockchain usage.

While the economic or political incentives may not be in place to explore the usage of blockchain or DLT chiefly as a way to deter censorship, the technologys application in journalism is still valid according to experts.

The immutability, and decentralized, redundant verifiability of blockchain-enabled networks and processes makes it well suited to prevent censorship, Askin said. No central, biased arbiters are positioned to mutate content without verification by the network.

The fact that we can now trace the provenance and flow of data, content, and information from creation to mutation through perpetual distribution makes it much easier for viewers to access and verify the authenticity and likely truth of the content, added Askin, who is also the founder and director of the Brooklyn Law Incubator & Policy Clinic, which focuses on tech-related media and policy issues.

The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is an example of a company using a combination of distributed ledgers, blockchain and cryptocurrency to store data and content such as articles securely in a decentralized fashion.

IPFS project lead Molly Mackinlay told Forkast.News that the company assists media with content addressing, meaning that users are able to view exact copies of articles independently of where they are hosted or published. This allows users to canonically reference and self-host a specific snapshot of an article, even if its later modified or deleted by the original provider.

Being able to fetch content by what it is means that anyone can host the data youre looking for decreasing the dependence on single, central news sources which might be censored if a group is trying to restrict access to information, Mackinlay said.

IPFS has been used to help document data that might be politically at-risk for later analysis and accountability. For example, the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative used IPFS to document climate change data during the 2016 U.S. election to ensure it was preserved despite USAID funding cuts.

This helps decouple data creation from data preservation, even if one party wants the data to be removed or destroyed, other organizations who find it valuable can preserve it, link to it, and keep using it, Mackinlay said.

However, neither IPFS nor its decentralized storage network affiliate Filecoin incentivize spreading information to parties that arent trying to find it, and users pay to maintain content on their networks.

Matters.news is one Chinese-language media company that is cryptocurrency driven and hosts content on IPFS nodes, and platforms such as STEEM, LikeCoin, DTube and Hive also fit in similar categories related to cryptocurrency and decentralized content creation.

The use of blockchain and distributed ledgers to maintain a transparent and public record of media may be the most immediate use of the technology, particularly as rumors and actual fake news proliferate on social media, and the impact of Covid-19 continues to shape global geopolitics and economics.

How do you prove or disprove if something is the authentic material or know it is not being censored? Jim Nasr, CEO of blockchain application developer Acoer, told Forkast.News.

Blockchain technology applied in ways similar to the News Provenance Project or Adobes Content Authenticity Initiative may provide the answer. We can timestamp [content], we can have non-intrusive ways to show the authentic content and its attribution to whoever created it, versus any of the alternatives, Nasr said.

Forkast.News is collaborating with Acoer to leverage NewsHashs authenticity tracking service. Readers can scan the QR code below to verify on Hedera Hashgraphs DLT whether this article or video is authentic.

Acoer has developed a pilot system for journalism that aims to do just that a news tracker that logs and stamps article hashes into the Hedera Hashgraph distributed ledger DLT to combat fake news. Users curious to check if an article is authentic could scan a QR code on the Newshash.io site to ensure the article and its contents are valid.

Chicago-based social enterprise Hala Systems is another example of a company using Hedera Hashgraph to provide journalists and civilians with an immutable digital record of events occurring in war-torn Syria, where disinformation campaigns have distorted public perceptions. Information gathered on the platform can be used to verify the authenticity of events that transpire as well as provide an early warning system to prevent civilian casualties from incoming air strikes.

A combination of decentralized content hosting and blockchain-enabled authentication could be a solution to the issue of fake news and censorship.

Certainly the infrastructure of a blockchain can help with that, particularly if you have not just a proof of it, but the content itself decentralized and distributed over many nodes, Nasr said.

Another potential application may involve using natural language processing algorithms to gauge the veracity of the content in articles and to stamp and store that information through DLT or blockchain in a way that readers can easily check the accuracy of statements.

A combination of these technologies could provide a reliability score for readers to help readers judge whether articles are trustworthy. This proposed system would require a consortium of vetted journalists working together over time to use the rating system, over time creating a large record of content and authors as well as their confidence scores through a network effect.

From a consumer perspective, if Jim is reading [a journalists] article with a 79% trust or confidence score, that intimates the algorithm basically looking at different sources, this triangulation in real time and saying theres a high degree of confidence that this is legit, Nasr said.

The same system could also be applied to find out if an article was censored, or to what degree one article is omitting information relevant to the reader compared to other articles.

While blockchain as applied to journalism is still in its experimental phase, experts agree that it does have the potential to assist the flow of information and to mitigate the spread of disinformation.

I like to think that blockchain will become a great democratizing tool to allow worthy ideas to reach broader audiences and advance global public discourse on ideas that affect all of society and the planet, Askin said.

When the technology and user interfaces become more user-friendly and idiot proof, well see broader adoption of blockchain-based journalism.

Forkast.News is collaborating with Acoer to leverage NewsHashs authenticity tracking service. Readers can scan a QR code to verify on Hedera Hashgraphs DLT whether this article or video is authentic. Read here to find out more.

Read the original:
Can blockchain prevent fake news and protect against censorship? - Forkast News

Meduzas editorial office received a notice from Russias federal censorship agency, Roskomnadzor, ordering the removal of an article about the flashlight protest Alexey Navalnys supporters are planning to conduct on Sunday, February 14.

The notice says specifically that the article contained information with calls for citizens to participate in mass (public) events on February 14, 2021, in Moscow and other Russian cities, conducted in support of A.A. Navalny in violation of the established procedures.

Roskomnadzor added that there wasnt any information confirming that the protests in question had been approved by the competent authorities in the manner prescribed by law.

Meduza deleted the article at the departments request.

The article that drew Roskomnadzors attention was titled Many made fun of flashlights as a new form of protest. But not the Russian government. It saw it as a NATO scheme and is even scaring [people] with terrorist attacks. The text didnt mention the exact time that the demonstration is scheduled to begin.

The article reported that Russias Investigative Committee, police officials, andAttorney Generals Office had issued warnings about the inadmissibility of violating the law in connection with the calls for mass demonstrations. It also cited reports from the state news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti, which said that according to anonymous sources, terrorist attacks were being planned during the protests in different Russian cities.

The text also cited the opinions of Russian lawmakers and the Foreign Ministrys spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova. In addition, it cited segments from state television channels, which have covered the upcoming demonstration in great detail one channel even aired a segment that included the tweet announcing the demonstrations posted by Navalnys chief of staff, Leonid Volkov.

In late 2020, the Russian State Duma adopted amendments to article 7 of the federal law On assemblies, demonstrations, rallies, marches, and picketing. These changes allow the courts to recognize nearly any gathering as a public event that can be deemed illegal unless it was sanctioned by the relevant authorities in advance.

No court decisions recognizing the demonstration planned for February 14 as a public event have been reported as of yet.

Read more from the original source:
Russias censorship agency orders Meduza to delete article about the official reaction to planned pro-Navalny demonstration - Meduza

Reflections on U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky's determination to censor Mary Miller's comments invoking Adolf Hitler's name to make a point, that the later was "right on one thing: whoever has the youth has the future."

A classical definition of evil is that it is the perversion of good, much like rust on metal. It cannot exist without being a leach, has to have something wholesome to hook itself onto in order to twist. Thus, an evil person has to have attributes of goodness (power, intellect, position) in order to even exist and do damage to self and others. In Western tradition, the devil was said to have incredible attributes that he uses for destructive ends. Similarly for the villain Adolf Hitler: What he said was right insofar as it went, as many other writers have said the same truism using slightly different phrasing.

Ought not Ms. Schakowsky assume the high road and give respect to another in one's stated profession? Doubly so for a first-year elected official? How would Ms. Schakowsky like it if a professional linguist or philosopher parsed her mistakes with razor-sharp accuracy for the times she has erroneously overstated something in the past?

Adolf Hitler's evil regime hurt a huge swath of humanity. But so did Josef Stalin and others. Are all evil persons hereby off-limits to quote in order to press home a point? Just where does Ms. Schakowsky's censorship end? Had Ms. Miller quoted Stalin, would she be just as irate?

Lastly, the chilling effects of government officials censoring others when the latter are making a point is quite scary. As in the medical field, a doctor's unintended therapy's bad consequences can overtake the very good that was intended.

Norman Suire

Elgin

See the original post:
Chilling trend toward censorship - Chicago Daily Herald

When I think of important topics to discuss, politically and socially, I think of censorship especially reflecting on its endless ability to generate controversy.

Can censorship be too much or too little? For me, it really depends.

Is censoring people and content on social media outlets going to be beneficial in the long run?

I am not one to condone violence, and I think extreme and violent hate speech should not be permitted on social media platforms.

Even though I agree with the First Amendment and understand that censorship can be contradictory to that, I think it is important to censor unnecessarily threatening speech on social media.

While we cannot censor all hate speech, because it is a protected right, there are times where I think that speech can go too far.

Radical speech that I believe deserved censorship could be seen through the recent ban on former President Donald Trump from a variety of social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, due to his involvement in the Capitol riots.

Right-winged supporters of Trump thought those bans were a violation of the First Amendment.

This is simply not true because social media platforms can censor whoever they please and there is not a limit. These social media platforms are private companies, making decisions of their own free will.

Social media platforms are not owned by the government, and there is no law that prevents these platforms from regulating their content. A Twitter account is not a First Amendment right.

According to USA Today, advocacy groups called for Marjorie Taylor Greene a recently elected Republican representative from Georgia who has been a controversial figure lately to be removed from Facebook for telling dangerous lies.

Civil rights and other advocacy groups told Facebook in a statement that it allowed Greene to exploit its platform for many years without taking any action.

Greene has made many controversial remarks on social media, including that the Sept. 11 attacks were all a hoax.

The Georgia representative also liked many controversial remarks on Facebook and has worn facemasks that said Trump Won and Free Speech.

Even though the House of Representatives voted to have Greene stripped of her committee assignments, how does that prevent her from spreading misinformation?

Greene was temporarily suspended from Twitter but did that help anything? While she may have different political views than me, I think the lies she has spread through tweets and other social media platforms need to be removed because I believe her statements can be threatening and dangerous.

But is it necessary to censor everything? What should actually be censored and what is unnecessary?

Being censored isnt what we grew up on, but it was kind of forced upon us due to radical speech in the age of social media. While I agree that everyone's opinions are valid, some things said online are offensive and violent that they need to be censored.

The recent statement released by Penn States Black Caucus about the Zoom bombing during the spring Involvement Fair said anti-Semitic and white supremacist language was used as well as racial and homophobic slurs.

Penn State officials have condemned the Zoom bombing and an investigation is still ongoing. But does taking action against these criminals prevent anything from happening in the future?

According to Black Caucuss statement, these kinds of hateful attacks happen all the time in real life and online. Even though incidents like these have happened before and are still going on today, how can we aim for somewhat of a resolution?

I genuinely believe the Zoom bombing incident was disgusting, and while Penn State could not have anticipated it happening, I am glad there is an investigation that will hopefully bring those criminals to justice.

We can prevent some of these things from happening with a bit of censorship.

I dont think censoring everything is the answer to the worlds problems, but censoring violent, dangerous and discriminatory speech even though it is a right is the next step for productive politics and our social wellbeing as a whole.

If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here.

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Why I think censorship is important in the age of social media | Column - The Daily Collegian Online

Censorship is understood to be the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information, on the basis that such material is considered inconvenient.

At the February 8, 2021 Clover Park School District Board meeting, Director Paul Wagemann asked his fellow board members to amend the December 21, 2020 meeting minutes to include his comments.

In response to Wagemanns request, Director and Board Vice-President Alyssa Anderson-Pearson stated, It is important to remember it (the December 21 minutes) was an overview that happened, not word for word.

The meeting minutes of that December 21 meeting clearly state that each director was given the opportunity to discuss how he or she felt about the choice of words used and to express what equity means to them.

The comments of Superintendent Banner are included.

The comments of Directors Schafer, Jacobs, Anderson-Pearson and Veliz are included.

But the comments of Director Wagemann are not included.

Why?

During the February 8, 2021 meeting, Schafer ironically stated, Objective and accurate these things are very important to me.

What has been objective and accurate about the censoring the suppression of speech of Paul Wagemanns comments during the December 21, 2020 CPSDB meeting?

Related

View original post here:
Letter: Censorship and the CPSDB - The Suburban Times