If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Canada is about to start grappling with yet another piece of divisive and controversial proposed legislation, this one coming from the opposition Conservatives, and heavily touching on online age verification. The bill that is set to be presented when the parliament resumes work this month, according to its proponents, deals with protecting Canadians on the internet while also managing to protect their civil liberties. However, despite what those promoting the bill are saying, the situation is not as clear-cut as all that: the consequences of the plan could also see some online anonymity tools swept away. The idea revolves around giving online harassment victims a chance to go to a judge and ask that the person behind the bullying be unmasked. Furthermore, the bill’s ambition is to bring clarity to various scenarios and criminal thresholds for these events – specifically, those under which “online operators (like social media platforms) must disclose the identity of an alleged abuser.” Still under the real or hyped-up notion of “clarity” that the opposition says the present government has been unable to provide with its legislation, is the idea to make repeated criminally harassing material sent anonymously “an aggravating factor.” This last bit refers to the so-called burner accounts, and here, although the bill does not clarify (pun intended) the real-world person behind such an account must be identified. Meanwhile, the only way to know if the same perpetrator had sent material from multiple anonymous accounts would be to identify them. The implication is clearly there when the draft mentions that online operators “must disclose the identity of an alleged abuser.” All this brings up the question – identify them how? And that road inevitably leads to a method involving age verification. Despite the authors of the bill taking pains to assure both the parliament and the public that this will be done with proper privacy-preserving measures in place, the concept of online age verification remains one inherently restrictive and exclusionary. But the bill’s authors seem keen to cover all the talking points: at once promising “privacy-preserving trustworthy age verification,” legal protection for online harassment victims, and, separately, inevitably, they’re also “thinking of the children” (“the new Conservative legislation will provide mechanisms specifically designed to protect minors who are online,” as one commentator said), plus – platforms who don’t comply will face “penalties and consequences.” The upcoming bill is being pitted against the government’s much-criticized Bill C-63, and the hope is to place this new legislative effort in a positive light in comparison. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Canadian Conservatives Propose Bill for Online Digital ID Verification and Anonymity Restrictions appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

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Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver came away with Emmy Awards on Sunday for most outstanding talk series and scripted variety show, respectively, for the year spanning June 1, 2023, through May 31, 2024. However, Hollywood’s definition of what makes “outstanding” comedy appears to be different than most people's, as evidenced by the two shows track record over that span. Hollywood really loves The Daily Show. This year marks the show’s 13th award in the category, but this win came without a permanent host. One of those hosts, Michael Kosta, was in the anchor chair for the season premiere on October 16, and he and guest Ian Bremmer proceeded to blame everybody but Hamas for the October 7 attacks. On October 25, Desus Nice showed his lack of comedic cleverness by calling new House Speaker Mike Johnson “a dick,” while Kosta and Charlamagne tha God accused Johnson of religious hypocrisy on the 30thfor not wanting to ban seafood. On November 13, Leslie Jones ranted that Sen. Tim Scott is a “[bleep]-ed ass anti-abortion, anti-gay, Milk Dud-looking mother[bleep]!"       On February 22, Desi Lydic labeled it “unmoderated” to claim that the integrity of women’s sports is a women’s issue. A week later, Kosta commented on Sen. Mitch McConnell’s decision to stand down as GOP Senate leader by blaming him for school shootings. For Easter, Lydic showed her theological illiteracy by claiming Jesus would approve of Transgender Visibility Day. This was after Grace Kuhlenschmidt declared Christmas to be “the queerest holiday of all.” After Iran attacked Israel in April, Jon Stewart knew who to blame for the world’s foreign policy crises: The United States and capitalism. Speaking of April and Israel, Jordan Klepper blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the anti-Semitic demonstrations on college campuses. If one theory of laughter is that it is a coping mechanism or a relief valve, The Daily Show’s favorite way to vent about Donald Trump is to torture a piñata while cursing in Spanish. Meanwhile, Last Week Tonight’s victory was its second consecutive in the scripted variety show category. Before that, it had won outstanding variety talk series for seven straight years. Oliver fancies himself as a thinking man’s comedian, someone who spends his show only discussing one or two topics but who uses humor to highlight the topic’s absurdities, hypocrisies, or moral failings. However, on November 7, he took the side of the Satanic Temple against Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, “But when it comes to responding to such wide-spreading devastation [pro-life laws], you could do a lot worse than the single best ‘Your mom’ joke of all time. Especially when you add in that one of that group's co-founders even said, in 1950, Samuel Alito's mother did not have options, and look what happened.’”     On February 18, Oliver bought a motorhome and tried to bribe Justice Clarence Thomas off the Court, “It's worth $2.4 million, and it's got a full bedroom—yes, that's a king bed—one and a half baths, a fucking fireplace, four TVs, a washer-dryer, and I quote, ‘Residential-sized fridge.’ … So that's the offer. A million dollars a year, Clarence, and a brand new condo on wheels, and all you have to do in return is sign the contract and get the fuck off the Supreme Court.” This is what passes for “outstanding” for Hollywood; no wonder people are going elsewhere to get their comedic entertainment.

The major networks were very eager to descend upon Springfield, Ohio and channel outrage over the “dogs and cats” controversy. However, the Regime Media do not share the same enthusiasm for more inconvenient immigration stories, such as those concerning violent Venezuelan transnational gang Tren de Aragua (TdA). Per Jennie Taer over at The New York Post: (Texas Governor Greg) Abbott labeled the Venezuelan gang a “foreign terrorist organization” as he detailed his plan to quash the gang’s threat. “Texas is aggressively going after these foreign terrorist organizations of TdA,” the governor declared during the Monday press conference. The plan would institute a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence for TdA smugglers bringing people into Texas, create a database to track members of the gang and beef up law enforcement’s capabilities to target the transnational criminal organization. “Our goal among law enforcement in the state of Texas is to defend our state from the growing threat of TdA. We are not going to allow them to use Texas as a base of operations to terrorize our citizens,” he fumed. Once upon a time, the designation of a violent transnational gang with an established foothold in America as a Foreign Terror Organization would've garnered significant coverage. But not today, and not on ABC, CBS, NBC or Telemundo’s evening newscasts.  In what may seem as a shock, Univision was the only newscast to cover the story: GREG ABBOTT: Texas is aggressively going after these foreign terrorist organizations of TdA.  REINA RODRÍGUEZ: At a press conference, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a declaration that designates the Venezuelan criminal group "Tren de Aragua" as a foreign terrorist organization. Abbott described several arrests of alleged gang members, and mentioned a hotel in El Paso allegedly taken over by the gang that was closed due to reports of criminal activity.  This coverage only looks shocking because Univision is so broadly known for their immigration activism. But the network has made a business interest decision here. Univision’s lengthy record of activist coverage compels them to cover the bad actors as well. To their credit, due here, they have done so. Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on Noticiero Univision on Monday, September 16th, 2024: ILIA CALDERÓN: Texas Governor Greg Abbott today declared the Venezuelan criminal gang “El Tren de Aragua” a foreign terrorist organization. He added that Texas is creating a database to detect immigrants belonging to that criminal organization. From McAllen, Reina Rodríguez has reaction from authorities, as well as Venezuelan migrants.  GREG ABBOTT: Texas is aggressively going after these foreign terrorist organizations of TdA.  REINA RODRÍGUEZ: At a press conference, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a declaration that designates the Venezuelan criminal group "Tren de Aragua" as a foreign terrorist organization. Abbott described several arrests of alleged gang members, and made mention of a hotel in El Paso allegedly taken over by the gang that was closed due to reports of criminal activity.  TOM SCHMERBER: In El Paso, which is about 6, 7 hours from here and we are at the border. We don't want those people here. RODRÍGUEZ: The prosecutor of that county denied versions of a takeover of the place to which the authorities responded about 700 times due to reports of violence. STEVEN MCCRAW: El Paso is really Ground Zero with that point… RODRÍGUEZ: Although data recently released by the FBI shows that reported crimes in El Paso fell drastically in the first 3 months of 2024, after 2 years of increases. DENNIS: Not all of us come, at least here, to work. Others come to do evil as well. RODRÍGUEZ: The (Texas DPS) will be in charge of an operation to deter and interrupt criminal operations of Tren de Aragua. In addition, you will have more resources to attack the group.  RENE CORDOVA: We pay attention to tattoos and all that. To find out who these terrorists are.  RODRÍGUEZ: Governor Abbott said that Texas is working on a database that will help determine which immigrants are affiliated with Tren de Aragua. Abbott's announcement comes shortly after some Republican leaders claimed that Aurora, Colorado, has been overrun by armed immigrants.  ROLANDO RODRÍGUEZ: That they are already acting just like some cartels in Mexico. They are seizing properties. We want good people to come and build the nation up. RODRÍGUEZ: In July, the Treasury Department designated Tren de Aragua as a Significant Transnational Organization.  ABBOTT: They could spread rapidly. RODRÍGUEZ: In McAllen, Texas: Reina Rodríguez, Univisión.