Techdirt has a story that is quite disturbing on many levels:
Forget banning TikTok, the Trump State Department just suggested it wants to basically ban China from the internet. Rather than promoting an open internet and the concept of openness, it appears that under this administration we're slamming the gates shut and setting up the Great American Firewall for the internet. Under the guise of what it calls the Clean Network to Safeguard America, last night Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a program that is full of vague statements, that could, in practice, fragment the internet.
This is incredibly disappointing on multiple levels. While other countries -- especially China, but also Iran and Russia -- have created their own fragmented internet, the US used to stand for an open internet across the globe. Indeed, for whatever complaints we had about the State Department during the Obama administration (and we had many complaints), its commitment to an open internet was very strong and meaningful. That's clearly now gone. The "Clean Network to Safeguard America" consists of five programs that can be summed up as "fuck you China."
So much for Internet openness.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday August 10 2020, @02:30PM (1 child)
>I don't like seeing heavy government interference in basic rights.
The government has every right to interfere in basic rights. If the people don't like it, they can vote for different leaders. The American people voted for this government.
>While I don't expect Trudeau to be interested in a great firewall, eventually the Conservatives will get in, and like all conservatives, they've switched to being anti-China in a big way. They also have a record of not giving a shit about many rights.
Well if the Conservatives get in, it'll be because the Canadian people voted for them, so the Canadian people will be getting what they want and what they voted for.
(Score: 2) by dry on Monday August 10 2020, @03:19PM
Actually it'll be due to not enough people voting for the Liberals. With 4 or 5 parties in Parliament, mostly on the left, all the Conservatives need is to maintain is their 1/3rd of the vote and wait.