Sunday Sermon: Open Internet

I was very shocked and highly disappointed that Oregon’s most prestigious medical institution, Oregon Health & Science University, that attracts talent globally and enforces a very strict non-discrimination policy had an internet server for its institution that blocked all Russian and Chinese internet sites—government and public. After Russia’s SMO began and the Outlaw US Empire blocked access to most Russian sites, that policy was curtailed and I encountered no issues; China was never blocked. One of the events I was prevented from learning about was Maria Zakharova’s briefing on 20 July, which is always a source of news Western media never provides. And as luck would have it, Maria’s seventh item in her remarks was “Washington's double standards in regulating the Internet,” which since the release of the “Twitter Files” has been much discussed outside of BigLie Media.

A vastly important point readers must know is the announced goal prior to the USA’s entry into WW2 was to establish the Four Freedoms, which became the basis for the Atlantic Charter and then the UN Charter. #1 of the four is Freedom of Speech. The other three: Freedom of Worship; Freedom from Want; Freedom from Fear. Needless to say, the four have yet to be accomplished just as the elimination of Nazism remains to be attained. When one reads the several joint declarations made by China/Russia and the four Global Initiatives Chian’s President Xi has announced, you will see the goals within them are to finish the job—attain the goals—set for WW2. That’s all mentioned because it has a direct relationship to current Outlaw US Empire and NATO policies aimed at undermining all that. Do keep that in mind as you read Maria’s short remonstration of US policy:

Another topic in which the United States considers itself pioneers is freedom of speech.

We have taken note of yet another piece of evidence of gross violations of rights and freedoms on the Internet by US intelligence agencies. According to the July report of the lower house of the US Congress, the FBI, on a tip from the Kiev regime, forced the IT corporations Meta and Google to block the accounts of users allegedly convicted of pro-Russian propaganda, that is, [pro-Russian] views. It is noteworthy that American citizens also fell under the distribution, and, you will laugh, but the Russian-language page of the US State Department became the victim of this "denunciation". As they say, the main thing in the investigation is not to come out on yourself. In the United States, this happens regularly.

There is another example of a policy of double standards: the United States, which lectures the whole world about freedom of speech, incl. on the global network, were again caught censored. Moreover, in the case of American citizens, we are talking about a violation of their own legislation - the notorious First Amendment to the US Constitution. Now the Biden administration is trying to appeal the recent injunction against the authorities to interfere in the activities of social networks. It is understandable, the White House is afraid of losing such a lever of influence on public opinion like fire.

It's worse than censorship. In each country, traditions are formed in different ways: sometimes the professional community is engaged in censorship. For example, public figures, representatives of various professions (journalists, lawyers, lawyers, etc.) who carry out censorship segmentally or globally on the basis of clear laws. There is also an amazing mixture of the influence of the Kyiv regime and the tasks facing the US special services. This is no longer censorship – it is a dictatorship. It's much worse.

The plot is also indicative in terms of the lack of independence of American IT giants. Despite the advertised status of transnational corporations (which previously forbade themselves to impose any restrictions that would run counter to the freedom of speech and pluralism recited in the United States, etc.), now Meta and Google are ready to sacrifice both market and ethical principles in favor of the "deep state", the US government. It is no secret that these companies and many of their colleagues (such as Apple and Microsoft) meekly "work out" Washington's ideological attitudes, actively help the special services and, according to American laws, engage in illegal actions. We urge all users of the products of these companies to remember this and understand under whose control Silicon Valley is.

Against this background, the rhetoric of the United States and its satellites in defense of a business-centric model of Internet governance sounds especially ridiculous. What kind of business is it like? Business will be completely crushed by American intelligence agencies. The calculation is simple: with the hands of submissive IT corporations, Washington seeks to take control of the entire sphere of use of information and communication technologies.

In turn, Russia, together with the majority of developing countries on specialized multilateral platforms, advocates the construction of a transparent intergovernmental system for regulating the global network, which would guarantee true equality (including before the law). This is especially true for those countries that do not have their own large IT corporations.

Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a monthly/yearly pledge to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!