#Skydance deal allows #Trump’s #FCC to “#CensorSpeech” and “#SilenceDissent” on #CBS

FCC now has “never-before-seen controls” over a #newsroom, commissioner warns.

by Ashley Belanger – Jul 25, 2025

Excerpt: "Like many protesting #Colbert's firing, Gomez suggested that the FCC's requirements to approve the Skydance acquisition 'may only be' the 'beginning' of the Trump administration's #censorship and ongoing 'assault on the #FirstAmendment.'

"Notably, the White House issued a rare statement in response to a recent #SouthPark episode Paramount aired, which mockingly depicted Trump seducing Satan. The White House fumed that 'no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump’s hot streak.' But Trump (whose current term's ratings are at an all-time low) taking the time to acknowledge the episode drew jokes on social media that South Park may have riled Trump enough to scramble the Paramount acquisition approval. At the very least, the statement shows that Trump still cares what people say about him on TV. Trump has long been considered the US president most obsessed with TV, and critics now fear that he has seized new powers to more effectively block negative coverage."

Read more:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/07/skydance-deal-allows-trumps-fcc-to-censor-speech-and-silence-dissent-on-cbs/

#Fascism #Authoritarianism #USPol #TrumpSucks #SilencingDissent #SilencingCritics #Censorship #CharacteristicsOfFascism #BrendanCarr

Another #Goosestep toward full-on #authoritarianism !

This Bill Would Fine Social Media Companies $5 Million Every Day for Not Fighting '#Terrorism'

The #StopHateAct wants social media platforms to report their #moderation policies and outcomes to the government. And it’s not the only #censorial measure Rep. #JoshGottheimer wants.

Matthew Petti | 7.24.2025 5:25 PM

"The idea that the federal government even talked to social media platforms about their moderation was a major scandal. After the Twitter Files leak revealed that the Biden administration was privately leaning on one platform to suppress "misinformation," the courts blocked officials from communicating with social media companies for several months on free speech grounds.

"A bipartisan bill, however, would make it mandatory for social media companies to work with the federal government. The Stopping Terrorists Online Presence and Holding Accountable Tech Entities (STOP HATE) Act would require companies to provide triennial reports on their moderation policies—and violations they catch—to the U.S. attorney general.

"The bill requires companies to issue specific policies for groups the federal government designates as terrorists and the director of national intelligence to also begin reporting on terrorist usage of social media. Companies would be fined $5 million per day that they fail to comply.

"Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D–N.J.) and Don Bacon (R–Neb.) had first proposed the bill in November 2023. It died in committee at the time. Gottheimer and Bacon announced that they would be reintroducing the bill at a press conference on Wednesday alongside Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.

" 'There is no reason why anyone, especially terrorists or anyone online, should access social media platforms to promote radical, hate-filled violence,' Gottheimer said at the press conference. He cited supportive social media comments about the May 2025 murder of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, and the AI platform Grok's sudden decision to declare itself 'MechaHitler' earlier this month.

"#Meta, the company that runs #Facebook and #Instagram, is already known to have a list of 'dangerous individuals and organizations' banned from the platform. When the list was leaked to The Intercept in 2021, it included around 1,000 entries taken straight from the U.S. government's foreign terrorist list, as well as various foreign and domestic entries sourced to private think tanks."

Read more:
https://reason.com/2025/07/24/this-bill-would-fine-social-media-companies-5-million-every-day-for-not-fighting-terrorism/

#USPol #CriminalizingProtest #SilencingCritics #SilencingDissent #Fascism #TrumpSucks #SocialMedia #Clampdown #Censorship #Decentralize #DecentralizeSocialMedia #CharacteristicsOfFascism

Well, here's a blast from the past... The #AlienAndSeditionActs of 1768! Embodied in the latest #Trump directive -- all done in the name of "protecting Jews" (just like the ones to "protect women"). Yeah, we can see where all this is going...

Additional Measures to Combat #AntiSemitism

EXECUTIVE ORDER
January 29, 2025

"(e) In addition to identifying relevant authorities to curb or combat anti-Semitism generally required by this section, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Education, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with each other, shall include in their reports recommendations for familiarizing institutions of higher education with the grounds for inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3) so that such institutions may monitor for and report activities by alien students and staff relevant to those grounds and for ensuring that such reports about aliens lead, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to investigations and, if warranted, actions to remove such aliens."

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/additional-measures-to-combat-anti-semitism/

Alien and Sedition Acts

"The Alien and Sedition Acts were a set of four laws enacted in 1798 that applied restrictions to #immigration and #speech in the United States. The Naturalization Act of 1798 increased the requirements to seek citizenship, the #AlienFriendsAct of 1798 allowed the president to imprison and deport #NonCitizens, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 gave the president additional powers to detain non-citizens during times of war, and the Sedition Act of 1798 criminalized false and malicious statements about the federal government. The Alien Friends Act and the Sedition Act expired after a set number of years, and the Naturalization Act was repealed in 1802. The Alien Enemies Act, as amended, is still in effect as 50 U.S.C. ch. 3.

"The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed by a Congress controlled by the Federalist Party, and they were directed against the other party at the time, against Democratic-Republicans, the party typically favored by new citizens. Only Democratic-Republican journalists were prosecuted by these laws. Publicity from Sedition Act trials caused massive criticism and contributed to the Federalists being removed from power in the 1800 election.

"The Acts were supported by the Federalist Party, and supporters argued that the bills strengthened national security during the Quasi-War, an undeclared naval war with France from 1798 to 1800. The acts were denounced by Democratic-Republicans as suppression of voters and violation of free speech under the First Amendment. While they were in effect, the Alien and Sedition Acts, and the Sedition Act in particular, were used to suppress publishers affiliated with the Democratic-Republicans, and several publishers were arrested for criticism of the Adams administration. The Democratic-Republicans took power in 1800 because of backlash to the Alien and Sedition Acts, and all but the Alien Enemies Act were eliminated by the next Congress.

"The #AlienEnemiesAct has been invoked several times since, particularly during World War II by President Roosevelt. These laws were used to imprison over tens of thousands of #noncitizens of #German, #Italian, and #Japanese descent, all known as 'Enemy Aliens.'

"The Alien and Sedition Acts are generally received negatively by modern historians. The U.S. Supreme Court beginning in the mid-20th century has indicated that aspects of the laws would likely be found unconstitutional. Recently, the Alien Enemies Act was mentioned by President-elect Donald Trump during a campaign rally held at Madison Square Garden for the 2024 presidential election, claiming that he would use them to remove illegal immigrants operating within gangs and criminal networks on "day one" if he were to win the presidency by invoking the acts. After being sworn in as President on January 20, 2025, he mentioned it again during his inaugural address."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts

#Censorship #SilencingDissent #SilencingCritics #FreeSpeech #Palestine #Israel #IsraeliWarCrimes #SeditionAct #Colonialism #ResistFascism #USInternmentCamps #Gitmo #Immigrants #IsIt1768Again? #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Sedition

#Trump’s #FCC chair investigates #NPR and #PBS, urges Congress to defund them

#BrendanCarr described as "Trump's #CensorshipCzar" as he launches media probes.

by Jon Brodkin – Jan 30, 2025

"The FCC's Democratic commissioners, #AnnaGomez and #GeoffreyStarks, issued statements denouncing the investigation. 'This appears to be yet another Administration effort to weaponize the power of the FCC. The FCC has no business intimidating and silencing broadcast media,' Gomez said.

"Starks said that '#PublicTelevision and #RadioStations play a significant role in our media ecosystem. Any attempt to intimidate these local media outlets is a threat to the free flow of information and the marketplace of ideas. The announcement of this investigation gives me serious concern.'"

Read more:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/01/trumps-fcc-chair-investigates-npr-and-pbs-urges-congress-to-defund-them/
#USPol #SilencingCritics #Fascism #Tyranny #Censorship