NOTICE TO ALL MY FRIENDS: We have been asking ourselves lately if the government has been "reading" our blogs and wondered just how much "freedom" of speech we are allowed these days, under this present administration. Last year, our "new" administration considered American citizens who demonstrate and object to the domestic and foreign policies the "enemy" and were noted to be persons of interest and mentioned on the Homeland Security "Watch List".
We are not paranoid, but after reading the Homeland Security document on the Internet, and calling our Congreasional representatives, complaining that even our homecoming troops were on the "potential terrorist" list, Obama noted that what we had read was simply a "draft" and should never have been released. Obama then fired that government "Whistler Blower" and that should have been the end of our concerns.
However, it is not the end of the story - just the beginning! Slowly, Americans have noted that one by one, our freedoms are slipping away under this administration. If you wish to know what Obama really thinks of Americans speaking out, under the Constitution's First Amendment, read his Commencement speech of last Saturday, where he informed the new graduates that "the government is us".
Now, the following article, published by Israel's National News, has Google giving information on individual country's Government Requests" for Internet information on individuals and note that the United States rates as one of the highest (with Israel, one of the lowest).
Bee Sting
| The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.” | |
Israel National News by Hana Levi Julian Internet users can now see how many times their government has asked the powerful Google search engine to remove content, or reveal information about those who use its services. ,” an explanation of the new technology appears on a separate page posted by the company. Google added a disclaimer on the site noting that the map showing the number of such requests received between July 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 was “imperfect and may not provide a complete picture of these government requests.” That having been said, however, the tool itself is a major bonanza for any user who is interested in seeing where any country stands on the issue of censorship. One can select between data requests and removal requests, viewing an entire list of countries, as well as seeing the global map. China, where Google recently chose to shut down its operations, is excluded from the list altogether. Google explained in a post on its blog the reason for rolling out the new tool: "Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights states that 'everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression...' Written in 1948, the principle applies aptly to today's Internet – one of the most important means of free expression in the world. Yet government censorship of the web is growing rapidly... "Google, like other technology and telecommunications companies, regularly receives demands from government agencies to remove content from our services. Of course, many of these requests are entirely legitimate, such as requests for the removal of child pornography. We also regularly receive requests from law enforcement agencies to hand over private user data... However, data about these activities historically has not been broadly available. We believe that greater transparency will lead to less censorship.” US Among Top Censors, Israel at Bottom of List In the latter half of 2009, the United States filed the fourth highest number of requests to remove information, according to Google, and came in second on the list of governments asking the Internet company for information about its users. The country with the highest number of requests to remove information by far is Brazil (291), followed by Germany (188), India (142) and then the United States (123). Brazil was also at the top of the list of countries asking to provide information about users of Google services and content, with 3,663 requests. The South American nation was followed on this list by the United States (3,580), the UK (1,166) and India (1,061). On both lists, Israel was among those with the lowest number of requests: Israeli censors made less than 10 requests in the second half of 2009 to remove information from Google's Internet services. Israel was also listed last on the list of those to request information about users of its services. Israel's Censor: 'Independence is Sacred' Israeli chief censor Sima Vaknin-Gil told the Los Angeles Times in an interview this week that Israel's laws dealing with censorship date back to the British Mandate in 1945. However, she added, a simple, updated agreement is also in place, stating an understanding between the media and the censor that in order to safeguard state security, the press undertakes to submit materials to the censor. The censor agrees only to remove specific parts that are harmful to state security. According to a 1989 Supreme Court ruling, the censor may only block publication of an item in the case of “imminent certainty of actual harm to state security.” The censor must be the one to prove that to the court, and is answerable only to the court. The decision can be appealed through an arbitration committee comprised of a judge, a journalist and a defense ministry official. Likewise, the committee becomes involved if a journalist has violated a censorship decision. Because the censor is autonomous, said Vaknin-Gil, “A politician cannot call the censor and ask to prohibit a report that would harm his image, reputation or other interests... The censor's independence is sacred.” Monitoring the Internet, she acknowledged, has become an issue for her office, but not with the same focus as that of China, which employs some 30,000 censors. “Israel has 34 [censors],” she pointed out. “The Internet is definitely a challenge.” |
