Category: National Security State

Get ready to resist the PCSC Act!

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Saturday, 25 June 2022 — NetPol – Save Our Rights

New Police powers are coming into force next week!

On 28th June, most of the powers in the Police, Crime and Sentencing Act will come into force. This includes the changes to the Public Order Act that will allow the police to impose conditions on protests that are too noisy. It also reduces the threshold for arrest and prosecution for breaching conditions from having to prove that a person knew the conditions were imposed to only having to prove they “ought to know”.

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The Federal Bureau of Tweets: Twitter Is Hiring an Alarming Number of FBI Agents

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tuesday, 21 June 2022 — MintPress News

SAN FRANCISCO – Twitter has been on a recruitment drive of late, hiring a host of former feds and spies. Studying a number of employment and recruitment websites, MintPress has ascertained that the social media giant has, in recent years, recruited dozens of individuals from the national security state to work in the fields of security, trust, safety and content.

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‘Another Dark Day’: UK Government Approves Assange’s Extradition To United States

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Friday, 17 June 2022 — The Dissenter

By Kevin Gosztola

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel (UK Government photo covered by fair use for news and commentary)

This article was funded by paid subscribers of The Dissenter Newsletter. Become a monthly subscriber to help us continue our independent journalism.

United Kingdom Home Secretary Priti Patel approved the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States.

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Statewatch News 10 June (Issue 09/22)

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Friday, 10 June 2022 — Statewatch

Available as a PDF)

After a short break due to public holidays we’re back with our latest edition, featuring:

  • New law that will break encryption must be withdrawn
  • Relocate refugees, or externalise borders?
  • Keeping an eye on Frontex

In this issue you will also find articles on: the latest steps in the move to expand the ‘Prüm’ police data-sharing network; a chilly reception for a plan to ensure the biometric registration of Ukrainian refugees, and more – plus our extensive roundup of news from across Europe.

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Priti Patel’s sweeping new threat to free expression

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Monday, 6 June 2022 — Declassified UK

Journalists and staff of civil society groups in the UK could be sentenced to life imprisonment for offences committed under the government’s proposed new National Security Bill.

Priti Patel leaves St Paul’s Cathedral with other ministers after the Platinum Jubilee service on Friday. (Photo: Andrew Parsons / No 10)

Journalists who receive some funding from foreign governments are at risk of committing offences under a bill that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The risk also applies to individuals working for civil society organisations such as human rights groups.

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Paul Mason’s covert intelligence-linked plot to destroy The Grayzone exposed

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Tuesday, 7 June 2022 — The Grayzone

 and ·

Leaked emails reveal British journalist Paul Mason plotting with an intel contractor to destroy The Grayzone through “relentless deplatforming” and a “full nuclear legal” attack. The scheme is part of a wider planned assault on the UK left.

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Major UK Political Parties Back ‘State Threats’ Bill That Would Restrict Press Freedom

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Monday, 30 May 2022 — The Dissenter

BY RICHARD SPENCE

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel is a leading supporter of the “state threats” bill that has press freedom advocates concerned. (Photo: ukhouseoflords)

This article was funded by paid subscribers of The Dissenter Newsletter. Take 25% off and become a monthly subscriber to help us continue our independent journalism

All main political parties in the United Kingdom have called for immediate passage in Parliament of new measures to fight “state threats,” which would restrict press freedom and threaten civil liberties.

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They’re Worried About The Spread Of Information, Not Disinformation

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Monday, 23 May 2022 — Caitlin Johnson

Caitlin Johnstone   

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We’re in the final countdown to British Home Secretary Priti Patel’s decision on the fate of Julian Assange, with the WikiLeaks founder’s extradition to the United States due to be approved or rejected by the end of the month. Joe Lauria has a new article out with Consortium News on the various pressures that Patel is being faced with from both sides of this history-making issue at this crucial time.

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Big Brother Watch responds to £7.5m Clearview AI fine by the ICO

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Monday, 23 May 2022 — Big Brother Watch

Big Brother Watch Team 

Responding to facial recognition company Clearview AI being fined over £7.5m & all UK data to be deleted, Silkie Carlo, Director of Big Brother Watch said:

“This important enforcement action by the ICO should be another nail in the coffin for facial recognition in the UK. Clearview AI has hoarded multiple photos of each and every one of us from the internet and made it available to the highest bidder. The use of facial recognition on billions of photos will end anonymity as we know it. Already, several police forces, banking firms and a university in the UK used this Orwellian spying tech. Facial recognition used as a mass surveillance tool like this has a serious, irreversible impact on all of our privacy. The ICO’s order for Clearview AI to delete all UK images is extremely welcome, but it may be difficult to enforce. Parliament must now to take action on facial recognition and impose an immediate ban on excessive face surveillance.”

ENDS. 

NOTES:
More information regarding our campaign against facial recognition is available here.
Spokespeople are available for interviews. Contact Big Brother Watch’s 24h media line on 07730439257 or email info@bigbrotherwatch.org.uk

Statewatch News 20 May (Issue 08/22)

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Friday, 20 May 2022 — Statewatch News

(also available as a PDF)

Welcome to our latest edition, featuring:

  • AI technology and migration: regulation required
  • Frontex’s disappearing documents
  • Italy denies rights to Tunisian deportees
  • “On the spot” biometric ID checks, more police data

Don’t forget to check out our extensive roundup of news from across Europe from the last fortnight, now categorised by theme.

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Twitter To Ramp Up Censorship Of ‘Misinformation’ About The Ukraine War

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Friday, 20 May 2022 — Caitlin Johnson

Caitlin Johnstone

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Twitter has published what it calls a “crisis misinformation policy” announcing that it will be actively reducing the visibility of content found to be false which pertains to “situations of armed conflict, public health emergencies, and large-scale natural disasters.”

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Cambridge Analytica Reborn? Private Spy Agency Weaponizes Facebook Again

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Thursday, 12 May 2022 — MintPress News

DeMENLO PARK, CA — On April 4, plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit brought against Facebook over its data-sharing practices following the eruption of the Cambridge Analytica scandal filed a fresh motion, charging that the social media giant deliberately obstructed discovery of information revealing the scale of its malfeasance.

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Statewatch News 6 May (Issue 07/22)

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Friday, 6 May 2022 — Statewatch

 Also available as a PDF

Welcome to our latest edition, featuring:

  • A new report from Statewatch and the Transnational Institute: At what cost? Funding the EU’s security, defence, and border policies, 2021–2027
  • Event: AI at the borders: negotiations, regulations and fundamental rights
  • EU sanctions against “radical rhetoric”, intelligence agencies in asylum proceedings
  • Spain and Morocco renew security cooperation agreement linking organised crime and “irregular” immigration

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PayPal Blocks Multiple Alternative Media Figures Critical Of US Empire Narratives

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Friday, 29 April 2022 — Caitlin Johnson

Caitlin Johnstone

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In what appears to be yet another escalation in Silicon Valley’s redoubled efforts to quash dissident voices since the beginning of the Ukraine war, PayPal has just blocked the accounts of multiple alternative media voices who’ve been speaking critically against official US empire narratives. These include journalist and speaker Caleb Maupin and Mnar Adley and Alan MacLeod of MintPress News.

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The D-Notice: A Very British Way Of Censoring The Press

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Tuesday, 26 April 2022 — The Dissenter

BY KIT KLARENBERG

Defense and Security Media Advisory Commitee members from 2021 (Photo from DSMA’s government website and in the public domain)

This article was funded by paid subscribers of The Dissenter Newsletter. Become a monthly subscriber to help us continue our independent journalism.

On April 20, a British judge approved the extradition of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to the U.S., to face trial under the Espionage Act. Home Secretary Priti Patel will now decide whether to sign off on the decision.

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An Intellectual No-Fly Zone: Online Censorship of Ukraine Dissent Is Becoming the New Norm

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Monday, 25 April 2022 — MintPress News

Old propaganda, new Cold War

“Censorship is the last resort of desperate and unpopular regimes. It magically appears to make a crisis go away. It comforts the powerful with the narrative they want to hear, one fed back to them by courtiers in the media, government agencies, think tanks, and academia.” – Chris Hedges

Alan Macleod

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA – Google has sent a warning shot across the world, ominously informing media outlets, bloggers, and content creators that it will no longer tolerate certain opinions when it comes to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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