-
She remained silent. We do not.
“Countries that restrict free access to information or violate the basic rights of internet users risk walling themselves off from the progress of the next century,” said SecState Hillary Clinton.
Clinton has made internet freedom and the rights of bloggers and journalists a cornerstone of her foreign policy, going as far as citing the free use of social media as a prime mover in the Arab Spring. At the Conference on Internet Freedom at the Hague, Clinton said:
When ideas are blocked, information deleted, conversations stifled, and people constrained in their choices, the internet is diminished for all of us.
In China, several dozen companies signed a pledge in October, committing to strengthen their – quote – “self-management, self-restraint, and strict self-discipline.” Now, if they were talking about fiscal responsibility, we might all agree. But they were talking about offering web-based services to the Chinese people, which is code for getting in line with the government’s tight control over the internet.
The United States wants the internet to remain a space where economic, political, and social exchanges flourish. To do that, we need to protect people who exercise their rights online.
Yet inside her own Department of State, Clinton presides over the censoring of the internet, blocking objectionable web sites that refer to Wikileaks, such as TomDispatch (above), while allowing sites that play to State’s own point of view, such as Fox.com, which also refer to Wikileaks. The use of specialized software and VPNs that State recommends to Iranians to circumvent the firewall block placed by the Tehran government are prohibited by the State Department to its own employees to get around State’s own firewall blocks.
While Clinton mocks Chinese companies, claiming terms like “self-management, self-restraint, and strict self-discipline” equate to censorship, her own Department’s social media guidance reminds employees to “be mindful of the weight of your expressed views as a U.S. government official,” and to “Remember that you are a Foreign Service USG employee.” Official guidance reminds employees that “All Department organizations with a social media site must monitor user-generated content,” and cites 27 laws and regulations that must be followed to be acceptable to the government. Self-censorship is the byword at State, as it is in China. Government bureaucrats know that this sort of slow-drip intimidation keeps people in line. They are meant to see what’s happening and remain silent.
One web site reported that when Matt Armstrong was hired as Executive Director for the now defunct Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, a condition to his hiring was to stop blogging. The condition was set by the office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
Whistleblower Ray McGovern was arrested merely for physically standing and turning his back on Clinton at a public rally where she was speaking about the importance of freedom of speech. Did Secretary of State Clinton say anything about the arrest?
She remained silent.
We do not.
Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved. The views expressed here are solely those of the author(s) in their private capacity.
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Rich Bauer said...
1http://www.tjcenter.org/muzzles/muzzle-2012/#item02
PVB,
if you’re not busy, maybe you can attend next year’s event.
04/12/12 12:43 PM | Comment Link
Welcome to the Memory Hole | InfoCnxn.com said...
2[…] approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/3/13 4:15 PM | Comment Link
Welcome to the Memory Hole – Technology – The Huffington Post | Internet Technology Business said...
3[…] approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/3/13 4:16 PM | Comment Link
Welcome to the Memory Hole | My Blog said...
4[…] approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/3/13 4:25 PM | Comment Link
Could Google and the NSA Make Whistleblowers Disappear? | INTELLIGENCE | WORLD said...
5[…] approve. The US government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing […]
12/3/13 5:23 PM | Comment Link
Peter Van Buren: Orwell’s 1984 was an instruction manual said...
6[…] approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/3/13 5:36 PM | Comment Link
Tomgram: Peter Van Buren, 1984 Was an Instruction Manual | Worldwide Hippies said...
7[…] don’t approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/3/13 5:57 PM | Comment Link
Today in Technology December 3, 2013 | Tech Fann.com said...
8[…] approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/3/13 8:15 PM | Comment Link
Welcome to the Memory Hole | Political Ration said...
9[…] approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/3/13 9:30 PM | Comment Link
Disappearing Edward Snowden « WORDVIRUS said...
10[…] don’t approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
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Peter Van Buren : What if Edward Snowden was made to disappear? What if everything a whistleblower had ever exposed could simply be made to go away? | Family Survival Protocol - Microcosm News said...
11[…] don’t approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/4/13 6:36 AM | Comment Link
Blacked Out: Could Governments just Erase Dissidents from the Internet with a Click? | Informed Comment said...
12[…] approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/4/13 7:16 AM | Comment Link
Arab News Blog » Blacked Out: Could Governments just Erase Dissidents from the Internet with a Click? said...
13[…] approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/4/13 8:20 AM | Comment Link
1984 Was an Instruction Manual: Welcome to the Memory Hole. | Alternative News Network said...
14[…] approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/4/13 12:06 PM | Comment Link
1984 WAS AN INSTRUCTION MANUAL: WELCOME TO THE MEMORY HOLE | sreaves32 said...
15[…] don’t approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/4/13 6:25 PM | Comment Link
Cómo hacer desaparecer la verdad en Internet | Kinkalla said...
16[…] gobierno de los Estados Unidos, del mismo modo (aunque infructuosamente) bloquea para sus empleados el acceso a Wikileaks y a material relativo a Edward Snowden (así como sitios como TomDispatch) en sus […]
12/5/13 2:08 PM | Comment Link
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17[…] don’t approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/6/13 4:01 PM | Comment Link
Cómo hacer desaparecer la verdad en Internet | publicogt.com said...
18[…] gobierno de los Estados Unidos, del mismo modo (aunque infructuosamente) bloquea para sus empleados el acceso a Wikileaks y a material relativo a Edward Snowden (así como sitios como TomDispatch) en sus […]
12/8/13 4:21 PM | Comment Link
‘1984’ as Instruction Manual | Michigan Standard said...
19[…] approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their […]
12/9/13 7:00 AM | Comment Link
‘1984’ as Instruction Manual | Expose The Matrix said...
20[…] don’t approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/9/13 7:51 AM | Comment Link
Welcome to the Memory Hole | distributedfreedom said...
21[…] don’t approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/9/13 4:43 PM | Comment Link
We’re watching, in real time, as 1984 turns from a futuristic fantasy long past into an instructional manual | Guillotine mediocrity in all its forms! said...
22[…] don’t approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/10/13 5:34 PM | Comment Link
Como o poderoso mundo da inteligência está à beira da capacidade de fazer as pessoas desaparecer digitalmente | Blog do Zé Antonio Filardo said...
23[…] O governo dos EUA, da mesma forma (mesmo que um pouco inutilmente) bloqueia seus funcionários de visualizar material do Wikileaks e de Edward Snowden (bem como sites tais como TomDispatch ) em seus […]
12/10/13 8:02 PM | Comment Link
George Orwell’s dystopian “memory hole” isn’t just the stuff of science fiction novels. « WORDVIRUS said...
24[…] don’t approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/10/13 11:41 PM | Comment Link
How the Powerful Intelligence World Is on the Verge of the Ability to Make People Digitally Disappear | Janet Wise said...
25[…] don’t approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewingWikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/11/13 1:19 PM | Comment Link
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26[…] don’t approve. The U.S. government similarly (if somewhat fruitlessly) blocks its employees from viewing Wikileaks and Edward Snowden material (as well as websites like TomDispatch) on their work […]
12/16/13 8:53 AM | Comment Link
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27[…] que não são aprovados pelos governos. Do mesmo modo (embora sem sucesso), o governo dos EUA bloqueia o acesso de seus funcionários ao Wikileaks e ao material divulgado por Edward Snowden, ainda que a […]
12/22/13 11:54 AM | Comment Link
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28[…] que não são aprovados pelos governos. Do mesmo modo (embora sem sucesso), o governo dos EUA bloqueia o acesso de seus funcionários ao Wikileaks e ao material divulgado por Edward Snowden, ainda que a […]
12/26/13 9:49 PM | Comment Link
Chi era Edward Snowden? Benvenuti nel buco della memoria » Blog said...
29[…] non approvano. Analogamente, il governo degli Stati Uniti (anche se parzialmente senza successo) impedisce ai propri dipendenti l’accesso a Wikileaks, al materiale di Edward Snowden eai siti web come […]
12/28/13 1:29 PM | Comment Link
E se o Grande Irmão controlar a internet? (por Peter van Buren) « Sul 21 Sul 21 said...
30[…] que não são aprovados pelos governos. Do mesmo modo (embora sem sucesso), o governo dos EUA bloqueia o acesso de seus funcionários ao Wikileaks e ao material divulgado por Edward Snowden, ainda que […]
12/30/13 8:05 AM | Comment Link