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French Officials will censure Facebook France

French Officials will censure Facebook France

18 November 2018
Facebook has accepted allowing French state officials to form part of its censorship committee. So announced French President, Emmanuel Macron.
This announcement was made at an International Forum on the Internet Governance held on 12 November 2018 at UNESCO (Paris). The agreement is that this arrangement between the French Government and Facebook will last for six months.
The fact that the censorship of the net might be controlled by a government even if through a platform like Facebook, (...)

How CIA Spies Access India’s Biometric Aadhaar Database

by Shelley Kasli

How CIA Spies Access India's Biometric Aadhaar Database

Bangalore (India) | 25 August 2017
The Indian Supreme Court has just recognized the constitutional inviolability of the right to privacy. It will have to decide soon on the legality of the generalization of biometric identification. On the same day, Wikileaks published documents on the CIA’s tools. Using the data already available, the United States has illegally collected biometric informations from more than one billion Indians. What has long been told by fictional works has become a reality: we will all be immediately identifiable by the CIA.

Answer to OHCHR about the German Network Enforcement Act

by Heiko Maas

Answer to OHCHR about the German Network Enforcement Act

Berlin (Germany) | 9 August 2017
Answers to the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression in regard to the Act to Improve En-forcement of the Law in Social Networks (Network Enforcement Act), provided by the Federal Government of Germany
Reference: Letter, dated 1 June 2017
The concerns raised in the communication refer to the draft law on the Act to Improve En-forcement of the Law in Social Networks (Network Enforcement Act) of 14 March 2017.
First of all, the (...)

OHCHR Letter on the Heiko Maas Bill to combat Fake News

by David Kaye

OHCHR Letter on the Heiko Maas Bill to combat Fake News

Geneva (Switzerland) | 1 June 2017
Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection Heiko Maas Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Excellency,
I have the honour to address you in my capacity as Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 34/18.
In this connection, I would like to bring to the attention of your Excellency’s Government information I (...)

The penalisation of the client «prostitutor»

by Tülay Umay

The penalisation of the client «prostitutor»

Brussels (Belgium) | 26 April 2016
The new French law which penalises the clients of prostitutes is supposed to combat prostitution. In reality, it will do no more than move street commerce elsewhere. For the Socialist Party therefore, it is not designed to abolish prostitution, but to install a form of public morality – a morality which is so far removed from daily life that it becomes necessary to impose a double language for the phenomenon. But what if the disturbing problem with prostitution is not sex, but the power of women?

France – creation of a police state (part 1)

Exceptional procedures without a state of emergency

by Jean-Claude Paye

Exceptional procedures without a state of emergency

Brussels (Belgium) | 30 March 2016
In the context of the attacks claimed by Daesh, the French government is proceeding with a series of reforms which will considerably expand the powers of the police and the administration to the detriment of the judicial system. Given that these reforms have no bearing on the prevention of this type of attack, which primarily require political measures, it seems that France is moving towards the installation of an arbitrary regime.

U.S. law imposes itself on European territory

by Jean-Claude Paye

U.S. law imposes itself on European territory

Brussels (Belgium) | 10 July 2014
European governments most hypocritically claim that the mandate given to the European Commission to negotiate a transatlantic trade and investment partnership agreement with Washington falls within European law. Actually as with previous agreements such as Swift, data related to air passengers, and to tax evasion, the Commission has been told to suspend the application of European law when negotiating with the US. Consequently negotiations amount to deciding the areas in which Europeans will no longer be protected by their respectives States.

Pentagon preparing for mass civil breakdown

by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed

Pentagon preparing for mass civil breakdown

21 June 2014
At the end of the Cold War, a scandal rattled universities in the United States: renowned teachers and research laboratories were secretly funded by the Pentagon. On one hand, their expert opinions were tainted and, on the other, their research was oriented towards military applications. This era is back: the Pentagon is now the leading sponsor of social sciences in the United States. It seeks primarily to understand how citizens become involved in a political movement in order to manipulate and control it.

NYPD will no longer monitor Muslim community

NYPD will no longer monitor Muslim community

17 April 2014
The New York Police Department (NYPD) has decided to stop its secret surveillance program targeting the Muslim community, new Police Commissioner William J. Bratton reported.
The program was devised after the coup of September 11, 2001 by former CIA officer Lawrence Sanchez. The New York police was tasked with closely monitoring every action and move of Muslims in the city. A special unit (The Demographics Unit, later known as the Zone Assessment Unit) infiltrated Muslim organizations and (...)

Billionaire Pierre Omidyar’s double dealing

Billionaire Pierre Omidyar's double dealing

3 March 2014
On the occasion of the coup in Ukraine, we have learned that several associations of the pro-US opposition were co-financed by the State Department and the Franco-Iranian-American billionaire Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay .
Mr. Omidyar has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars into New Citizen, Chesno, AU Center and Stop Censorship .
At the same time, however, on 19 December 2013 Pierre Omidyar announced he was providing $ 50 million to Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras (...)

UK intercepts millions of private videos on Yahoo

UK intercepts millions of private videos on Yahoo

28 February 2014
According to an internal National Security Agency (NSA) document released by Edward Snowden, the GCHQ (secret service of the United Kingdom) - acting on its own behalf and that of the United States - intercepted millions of private webcam chats exchanged on Yahoo.
The document states that 3-11% of collected images are pornographic in nature and that Crown agents are exempt from opening them.
In 2008, during the first six months of the Optic Nerve program GCHQ intercepted the (...)

What purpose could mass surveillance in the EU possibly serve?

What purpose could mass surveillance in the EU possibly serve?

16 January 2014
The European Parliament commissioned a report on the mass surveillance programs implemented in the European Union. The document lays down the data available regarding five member States (France, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Sweden) and ponders about their impact on the economic system.
In the first place, the report ascertains that only four of the above run that type of program (not the Netherlands), but that the United Kingdom allocates a huge budget to it, on an altogether (...)

FBI becomes political police force

FBI becomes political police force

11 January 2014
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), whose primary function until now was to enforce the law, namely to fight against crime, has officially changed. Its purpose is now to guarantee the national security of the United States.
Initially created to investigate on interstate commerce disputes within the country, during the inter-war period, the FBI morphed into a high-level governmental agency serving as a scientific criminial investigative body, a counterintelligence service, and a (...)

Washington tries to prevent UN debate on mass surveillance

Washington tries to prevent UN debate on mass surveillance

28 November 2013
The White House issued instructions to its permanent mission to the UN to sabotage Brazil’s attempt to introduce a debate on mass surveillance . Strong pressure was exerted to stop the draft resolution from being presented in the General Assembly.
The United States argued that they have no obligation outside their borders and that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights does not apply to espionage.
The same line of argument had been used to deny all responsibility in (...)

UN draft resolution against US espionage

UN draft resolution against US espionage

31 October 2013
Following Brazil’s initiative, a dozen states are preparing a draft General Assembly resolution aiming to guarantee the confidentiality of internet communications (see draft here-below).
Even though the NSA is not explicitly named, this initiative is directed against the United-States, whose massive espionnage violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal declaration of Human rights. It makes it compulsory for state members to take the necessary (...)

Surveillance of Palestinian pilgrims at the Mecca

Surveillance of Palestinian pilgrims at the Mecca

10 October 2013
The Mecca pilgrimage authorities have signed a contract with Almajal G4S, a subsidiary of the international security giant G4S, in order to ensure the safety of Palestinian pilgrim.
The British-Danish owned subsidiary also supplies material and personnel to Israeli prisons, in violation of the 4th Geneva Convention. It is in G4S-managed structures that Palestinian detainees are tortured by the Israeli authorities.
The BDS campaign (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) has asked the Saudi (...)

Remarks by Dilma Rousseff at the 68th UN General Assembly

by Dilma Rousseff

Remarks by Dilma Rousseff at the 68th UN General Assembly

New York (USA) | 24 September 2013
Ambassador John Ashe, president of the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly,
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Heads of State and Government,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me initially to express my satisfaction in having a renowned representative of Antigua and Barbuda - a country that is part of the Caribbean, which is so cherished in Brazil and in our region - to conduct the work of this session of the General Assembly.
You can count, Excellency, (...)

The Way Anglo-Saxons Spy on Germans

by Natalia Meden

The Way Anglo-Saxons Spy on Germans

Moscow (Russia) | 20 July 2013
The revelations of Edward Snowden that never were: the monitoring programs of the United States and its Anglo-Saxon allies have long been known. The novelty resides in their magnitude. No one can escape. For the Germans, it was a rude awakening to discover that, according to the NSA surveillance map, they are the major targets in Europe. Their best ally, to which they have always been faithful, not only does not trust them and but also spies on them.

ACTA rejected by European Parliament committees

ACTA rejected by European Parliament committees

21 June 2012
The controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has been rejected by all three committees that advise the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee (ITC).
The Civil Liberties Committee voted overwhelmingly in favor of rejecting the agreement which aims to protect intellectual property rights but has been criticized for having been decided in secret and for infringing on basic rights and freedom (36 votes to one but with 21 abstentions). Votes in the Industry Committee (...)

Israel developing ’spy-butterfly’ for indoor surveillance

Israel developing 'spy-butterfly' for indoor surveillance

20 May 2012
The future is here and this is not a butterfly on your wall, as Israeli drones are getting tiny. Their latest project – a butterfly-shaped drone weighing just 20 grams - the smallest in its range so far – can gather intelligence inside buildings.
The new miniscule surveillance device can take color pictures and is capable of a vertical take-off and hover flight, just like a helicopter, reports the daily Israel Hayom. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) says this may come in handy in ground (...)

The NSA can spy on Google and more

The NSA can spy on Google and more

20 May 2012
The National Security Agency is under no obligation to disclose the nature of its relationship with Google, confirmed a Washington D.C. federal appeals court on 11 May 2012.
A three-judge panel ruled that in view of NSA’s special status, any arrangement with the Internet giant can remain secret.
"Any information relating to the relationship between Google and NSA would reveal proprietary information about the NSA", decreed Judge Janice Rogers Brown.
This decision came in response to a (...)

The Empire Holds Its War Council in Chicago

by Glen Ford

The Empire Holds Its War Council in Chicago

New York (USA) | 18 May 2012
The Obama administration imposed the most draconian police state legal structures in U.S. history before summoning the heads of NATO to Chicago. NATO accounts for 70 percent of military spending on the planet – combining the capacities of yesterday’s imperialists and the current superpower. According to the Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report, “The Black man in the White House is seen, ironically, as the last best hope of the old colonial racial order and the rule of capital.”

Kelly Thomas, victim of police brutality

Kelly Thomas, victim of police brutality

17 May 2012
On July 5 last year Kelly Thomas, a 37-year-old schizophrenic homeless man, was so badly beaten and stun-gunned by Fullerton California police officers that he was left unrecognizable. He died 5 days later from blunt force trauma to the head.
Up to 5 police officers assault him with batons, tasers and fists. When the unconscious and bloodied body of Thomas was finally delivered to the local hospital, the doctors determined that he had suffered multiple broken bones in his face, several (...)

How the US uses sexual humiliation as a political tool to control the masses

by Naomi Wolf

How the US uses sexual humiliation as a political tool to control the masses

17 April 2012
The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that it is now legitimate for police to strip search any person, regardless of the reason for the arrest. Under the pretext of security concerns, U.S. capitalism is using all the tools at its disposal to attain full control of its population. The body of the individual is no longer his. Meanwhile, the psychological facet of the individual’s stripping is provided by the social networks. The panoptic device which philosopher Michel Foucault portrays as the abstract model of a disciplinary society in "Discipline and Punish" has become reality.

From America to Amerika: The End Game

by James Fetzer

From America to Amerika: The End Game

16 December 2011
According to James Fetzer, the progressive erosion of civil rights in the United States started with "Operation Paperclip" and the recruitment of criminal Nazi scientists for employment by U.S. intelligence. The further trashing of the Bill of Rights under the Patriot Act, in the wake of 9/11, has now been surpassed by a Gestapo-like bill that legalizes arrest, indefinite detention, torture and interrogation of U.S. citizens without any charge or trial. On the back of the FY2012 National Defense Authorization Act, the U.S. government may be taking its citizens down the road to tyranny.

‘Senator Schumer Turning US into Islamophobic Police State’

‘Senator Schumer Turning US into Islamophobic Police State'

10 June 2011
Middle East Analyst Maidhc ‘O Cathail, accuses New York Senator Charles Schumer of turning the United States into “an Islamophobic police state”. He told Press TV’s U.S. Desk on Thursday that Schumer is “yet another reminder of who is stoking fear of Muslims in America.”
‘O Cathail also said that “Senator Schumer told a Jewish radio show that Hasham - an orthodox Jewish name for ‘God’ - gave him his name ‘Schumer’ which means guardian, so that he can fulfill the very important role in the U.S. Senate (...)

Gates revives military surveillance of citizens’ political activities

Gates revives military surveillance of citizens' political activities

18 June 2010
On 15 June 2010, Defence Secretary Robert Gates quietly created the Foreign Intelligence and Counterintelligence Operation Records (FICOR) within the Defense Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Center (DCHC).
The new unit will take over from the Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA), disbanded by Robert Gates himself in August 2008 after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) exposed it for gathering intelligence on the political opinions of private individuals.
Already in (...)

EU-U.S. and Member States 2010 Declaration on Counterterrorism

EU-U.S. and Member States 2010 Declaration on Counterterrorism

Brussels (Belgium) | 3 June 2010
Cecilia Malmström (EU) and Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba (Spain) Forging a durable framework to combat terrorism within the rule of Iaw
The European Union, its Member States and the United States of America, Recalling and reaffirming their commitments to counterterrorism cooperation contained in the 2004 EU-U.S. Declaration on combating terrorism, as well as in the 2009 EU-U.S. Washington Declaration and the January 2010 Toledo Joint Statement;
Noting that the enduring EU-U.S. partnership is and (...)

#6 News Story: Project Censored 2009

The Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act (Videos)

by Jessica Lee, Lindsay Beyerstein, Matt Renner

The Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act (Videos)

19 May 2010
Since 9/11 there has been an avalanche of legislation and commissions designed to crackdown on dissident activity inside the United States under the guise of fighting terrorism. In 2007, a "thought crime" bill quietly made its way through Congress with no media effort to inform the public. Three years down the road, Barack Obama has gone even farther than George Bush. He has claimed the authority to order U.S. citizens murdered, based solely on the unverified claim that they are associated with terrorism and pose "a continuing and imminent threat to U.S. persons and interests."

#3 News Story selected by Project Censored in 2009

Exclusive! The FBI Deputizes Business (video)

by Matthew Rothschild

Exclusive! The FBI Deputizes Business (video)

Madison, Wisconsin (USA) | 31 March 2010
FBI is outsourcing to the private sector, turning national security and population surveillance into an industry not quite like the others. With thousands of private contractors wielding extraordinary powers in the first line of "defense", the FBI has acquired a new set of eyes and ears with orders to protect their infrastructure at any cost. They have the power to "shoot and kill" and can do so without any repercussion.

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