UnAmerican RESTRICT Act would enable mass censorship – Freedom of the Press Foundation
When we previously wrote about the talk of banning TikTok which would be blatantly unconstitutional on its own we did not anticipate the scope of the absolutely awful legislation that would soon pick up steam in Congress.
The RESTRICT Act the bill purportedly intended to facilitate a TikTok ban does not stop at TikTok. It gives the executive branch broad discretion, with little to no judicial review, to ban or restrict communications technologies from any country on an open-ended list of foreign adversar[ies]. Its incredible that a single elected official would think the bill could pass Constitutional muster but it appears to have significant bipartisan support.
Journalists routinely use TikTok and other foreign-owned technologies to gather and report news and communicate with sources. Sources from foreign adversaries often possess highly newsworthy information for foreign policy journalists. The ways the government could abuse the RESTRICT Act to stifle investigative reporting and public discourse during times of conflict are truly horrifying to contemplate.
That doesnt mean that somehow exempting journalists would fix the bill far from it. Free speech is not just for journalists. But the bills impact on press freedoms serves to compound its trampling on the First Amendment as a whole.
Broad and unchecked censorship authority
It is well-established that the government is required to show a grave, imminent danger to national security before imposing a prior restraint on speech. But the bill contains no such requirement. It allows the government to issue explanations for its actions but only if it deems doing so practicable and in the interests of national security.
All it requires is a unilateral determination, by non-elected officials, that the technology poses an undue or unacceptable risk. What does that mean? Whatever the government wants. The kinds of risks permitting invocation of the RESTRICT Act include, among other things, steer[ing] policy and regulatory decisions in favor of the strategic objectives of a foreign adversary to the detriment of the national security of the United States. Then the bill tacks on a catch-all for other risks to national security or the safety of United States persons.
The language is broad enough to encompass platforms hosting content that might persuade someone to oppose U.S. policy or even information that just embarrasses officials. The First Amendment entitles Americans to access even false foreign propaganda if they so choose. But the RESTRICT Act would empower the government to ban, restrict and surveil platforms that host true information they would prefer Americans not know about.
No one in their right mind would ever suggest a similar legislative scheme for banning foreign newspapers, broadcasters or mail. But, for whatever reason, politicians seem unable or unwilling to apply analog precedents to digital times.
Had the RESTRICT Act (and the internet) existed during the Nixon administration, does anyone doubt it would have tried to ban foreign platforms hosting opposition to the Vietnam War, just as it sought to enjoin the Pentagon Papers? Could the government invoke the RESTRICT Act to ban Wikileaks? You might assume the government would never declare Iceland (where Wikileaks is based) an adversary. But the bill also allows restrictions on companies that adversaries direct or in which they have an interest. Is it that much of a stretch that the government might claim Wikileaks is directed by Russia?
Draconian penalties for common newsgathering methods
And what if a journalist, or anyone else, attempts to access a restricted platform through commonplace technologies like a VPN? Under the RESTRICT Act, they could spend 20 years in prison or pay up to a million dollars in fines. Thats especially disturbing to Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), where we often assist foreign journalists concerned about VPN restrictions by repressive regimes.
As FPF Principal Researcher Dr. Martin Shelton put it:
And the bill not only permits imprisonment of VPN users themselves but of people who aid, abet, counsel, command, induce, procure, permit, or approve their conduct (or other prohibited conduct). Publishers and editors beware.
Government: Just trust us
Sure, the bills sponsors, including Sen. Mark Warner, have disclaimed any intention to fine or imprison VPN users. But courts consider the words on the page over legislators intentions. The drafters of the Espionage Act could not have anticipated, let alone intended, that it would be used to charge someone like Julian Assange. Yet here we are.
Our current president insists on prosecuting Assange for routine newsgathering. Our last one wants journalists imprisoned and assaulted. The one before set records for whistleblower prosecutions. And a likely 2024 candidate wants to bankrupt his critics with litigation.
But those behind the RESTRICT Act say we should trust future administrations to use broad powers to silence dissent responsibly. Of course we shouldnt. Especially when even the supposed responsible use of the bill banning a platform used by half of the U.S. based on speculation is already an unprecedented act of mass censorship.
There is far more wrong with the bill than the censorship powers it creates. Its allowance of secret evidence in legal proceedings raises alarming due process concerns. The surveillance it would enable, including by allowing the government to broadly demand that any company it is investigating hand over information, has led some to call it the Patriot Act for the digital age. Its ironic that concerns about Chinese access to American user data ultimately prompted a bill that would grant our own executive branch surveillance authority reminiscent of Chinas.
Yet some still insist the bill can be rescued through revision. It cant. Nothing good can come of it. We say throw the whole thing out and pass serious digital privacy legislation instead.
Read the original post:
UnAmerican RESTRICT Act would enable mass censorship - Freedom of the Press Foundation
- Far-Right Seeks to Censor Science and Criminalize Researchers Studying Disinformation in Brazil | TechPolicy.Press - Tech Policy Press - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- Poet Jorie Graham Calls On Hollywood To Resist Censorship And Distribute The Apprentice Film - Deadline - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- Mozilla Firefox Blocks Add-Ons to Circumvent Russia Censorship - The Intercept - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- Celebrating the Right to Read: Bestselling Authors Stand Up to Censorship - PEN America - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- Escaping the Censors' Gaze: Lai Wen on Sci-Fi and the Need for Chinese Protest Literature Today - Literary Hub - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- With censorship on the rise, Providence librarian says Rhode Island needs to do more to protect libraries - TPR - The Public's Radio - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- Authors and advocates rally against book bans in Miami - Prism - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- 'Media Reporting' Is Now Just More Censorship And Suppression Of Information - The Federalist - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- Stop the censorship of war opponents and attacks on freedom of expression at Humboldt University Berlin! - WSWS - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- States That Have Banned Book Bans: Book Censorship News, June 14, 2024 - Book Riot - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- What's the definition of book ban? Librarians, authors, others weigh in - NPR - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- Fears of censorship grow as Modi begins third term - Index on Censorship - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- Congress To Probe Media Rating Firm NewsGuard For Possible Taxpayer-Funded Censorship - The Daily Wire - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- Israel's Military Censor Seems to Be Protecting Netanyahu, Not National Security - Opinion - Haaretz - June 8th, 2024 [June 8th, 2024]
- Jay Bhattacharya: 'I Sued the Biden Administration for COVID Censorship' - Reason - June 8th, 2024 [June 8th, 2024]
- Russias requests to block YouTube is political censorship, says rights group - Voice of America - VOA News - June 8th, 2024 [June 8th, 2024]
- Book bans have become a powerful censorship tool in Colorado. Libraries and patrons hold the line. - Rocky Mountain PBS - June 8th, 2024 [June 8th, 2024]
- The balancing act of censorship The Mirror - The Mirror - June 8th, 2024 [June 8th, 2024]
- Boundaries of Expression podcast: Tiananmen Square and 35 years of censorship - ARTICLE 19 - ARTICLE 19 - June 8th, 2024 [June 8th, 2024]
- Why Would a Comic About Censorship Get Banned? - Publishers Weekly - June 8th, 2024 [June 8th, 2024]
- Get Ready for the New Digital Censorship Regime - Daily Signal - June 8th, 2024 [June 8th, 2024]
- New Legal Challenge: Meta slapped with lawsuit over censorship in Moldova - EU Reporter - June 8th, 2024 [June 8th, 2024]
- 35 years on, Tiananmen memory eroded by Chinese censorship and Sino-U.S. rivalry - The Japan Times - June 8th, 2024 [June 8th, 2024]
- Anderson Cooper Calls Out China's Censorship of Tiananmen Square Anniversary Coverage - Adweek - June 8th, 2024 [June 8th, 2024]
- Lets say it plainly: Fact-checking is not censorship - Poynter - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- Little Cash, Lots of Censorship: Bothayna Al-Essa on Opening a Bookstore in Kuwait - Literary Hub - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- The danger of liberal censorship | Opinion - The Philadelphia Inquirer - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- The Democrats are hell-bent on alienating women - The Telegraph - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- Al Jazeera to be banned soon in Israel in unprecedented censorship after months of persecution - Reporters sans frontires - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- The Courage to Produce: A Conversation on High School Censorship - American Theatre - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- Netanyahu's regime is built on censorship Israeli culture is being smothered by silence - UnHerd - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- Opinion | Lets say it plainly: Fact-checking is not censorship - Editor And Publisher Magazine - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- U.S. Supreme Court Does Not Go Far Enough in Determining When Government Officials Are Barred from Censoring ... - EFF - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- Brazils dictatorship: Repression, torture, slaughter of Indigenous people and censorship - EL PAS USA - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- When Fighting Disinformation Becomes Censorship, New WSJ Swing State Polls, Wisconsin's "Zuckerbucks ... - RealClearPolitics - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- Bipartisan push to ban TikTok is a dangerous move toward censorship - The Ticker - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- New Hate Crime Hotline Proves Illegal Censorship Is HERE | Guest: Sheriff Bill Waybourn | 4/3/24 - The Glenn Beck ... - iHeartRadio - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- Censorship | Rod Kersh | The Blogs - The Times of Israel - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- South Korean censorship obscures vital information - East Asia Forum - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- Call it by it's name: Censorship - The Ely Times - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- Nebraska Obscenity Bill to Criminalize Librarians Fails to Advance | Censorship News - News Letter Journal - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- Group seeks to fight book censorship as Huntington Beach parent advisory board returns for final vote - Los Angeles Times - April 4th, 2024 [April 4th, 2024]
- Colleges Use His Antisemitism Definition to Censor. He Calls It a 'Travesty.' - The Chronicle of Higher Education - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Knesset legal adviser pans attempt to remove judicial oversight on foreign media censorship bill as 'constitutionally ... - The Times of Israel - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Misinformation 'experts' are paving the way for more censorship - UnHerd - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Meta Refuses To Provide Details On Its Gaza War Censorship - Report - I24NEWS - i24NEWS - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Nebraska Obscenity Bill to Criminalize Librarians Fails to Advance | Censorship News - School Library Journal - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- EU mulls removal of Iranian firm linked to internet blackout from censorship list - Arab News - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Supreme Court must rely on the First Amendment, not its own precedent, when deciding government censorship case - Washington Examiner - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Exclusive: Iran's Censoring Tech Firm To Be Removed From EU Sanctions - - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- How the Left Censors Dissent, From NBC to the Dane County Board [Up Against the Wall] - Wisconsin Right Now - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- UK comedian Photoshops poster to hilariously sidestep censors - Creative Bloq - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Censorship is only getting worse in the US - Daily Trojan Online - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- TikTok ban forgets the lessons of the Pentagon Papers - Columbia Journalism Review - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Instagram Creators: Check If Your Posts Are Political The Markup - The Markup - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Is Fighting Misinformation Censorship? The Supreme Court Will Decide. - The Journal. - WSJ Podcasts - The Wall Street Journal - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Microsoft faces bipartisan criticism for alleged censorship on Bing in China - The Register - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Meta oversight board finds censoring of word 'shaheed' discriminatory - Middle East Eye - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- AAUW speaker warns of rise in book censorship, 'similar to a pandemic' - Los Altos Town Crier - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- NSF paid universities to develop AI censorship tools for social media, House report alleges - The College Fix - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Cancel cultures: theatre censorship around the world - The Stage - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Bill Maher rips govt for censoring 'dissenting opinions' about COVID-19 pandemic that were the 'right ones' - Fox News - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- EFF Opposes California Initiative That Would Cause Mass Censorship - EFF - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- X disagrees with Centres censorship orders, calls for greater transparency - The Indian Express - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Quote of the Day: Fifteen Months Later, Despite 50 Alterations and Deletions, Censors Have Yet to Approve This Film. - China Digital Times - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Social Media Users say their Palestine Content is being Shadow-Banned -- How to Know if it's Happening to You - Informed Comment - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Censorship for minors is not the solution | Opinion - PantherNOW - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- China could be doing better at censorship, think tank finds - The Register - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- The blatant censorship of the 2023 Hugo Awards - Observer Online - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- The Library of Translations: An exploration of censorship and desensitization in We Had To Remove This Post - The Student Life - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Zimbabwe Army Accused of Forcing Investigative Outlet to Self-Censor - Voice of America - VOA News - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- U.S. urged to do more to counter China's growing censorship system - Washington Times - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Libraries, Beacons of Freedom, Now Face the Dangers of Censorship - Flagpole - Flagpole Magazine - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- An Argument for Free Speech, the Lifeblood of Democracy - Tufts Now - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Librarians could be criminally charged over 'obscene' books in West Virginia bill - ABC News - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Metropolis Public Library Director responds to censorship controversyY - The Southern - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- The Kids Online Safety Act will censor student journalists - Freedom of the Press Foundation - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Bills clarify that parental notice not meant to censor books - Richmond Times-Dispatch - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Meet the modern-day censors, wielding their purse-strings over artists and their work - The Guardian - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]
- Artists alter, deface their own work at YBCA to protest Gaza silence and decry censorship - 48 hills - 48 Hills - February 25th, 2024 [February 25th, 2024]