Well, here’s confirmation of something we’ve all been suspecting for a while:
Our government is preparing to monitor every word Americans say on the internet—the speech of journalists, politicians, religious organizations, advocacy groups, and even private citizens. Should those conversations conflict with the government’s viewpoint about what is in the best interests of our country and her citizens, that speech will be silenced.
Research by The Federalist reveals our tax dollars are funding the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) technology that will allow the government to easily discover “problematic” speech and track Americans reading or partaking in such conversations.
Then, in partnership with Big Tech, Big Business, and media outlets, the government will ensure the speech is censored, under the guise of combatting “misinformation” and “disinformation.”
Originally used as a marketing tool for businesses to track discussions about their brands and products and to track competitors, the DOD and other federal agencies are now paying for-profit public relations and communications firms to convert their technology into tools for the government to monitor speech on the internet.
The areas of the internet the companies monitor differ somewhat, and each business offers its own unique AI and ML proprietary technology, but the underlying approach and goals remain identical: The technology under development will “mine” large portions of the internet and identify conversations deemed indicative of an emerging harmful narrative, to allow the government to track those “threats” and adopt countermeasures before the messages go viral.
One would hope, of course, that this gross breach of the First Amendment would not pass judicial muster, but in true fascist form, the State has simply farmed its bastardy out to the private sector, thus creating a Clinton-like “technicality” that creates plausible deniability.
I also have no faith — none — that the Supreme Court will act in the Constitution’s best interests. (Okay, maybe a couple of the conservative justices may throw a hissy fit, but let’s just say that I wouldn’t put money on a full court decision because the Communist bloc will never vote against the socialist government, and the chief justice is a craven little fart who seems to caste his vote according to the New York fucking Times editorial opinion.)
The two choices one faces in confronting this looming catastrophe are therefore:
- Try to go “underground” (e.g. using the Soviet-era samizdat method) and hope that one can go undetected by the feral ferrets, or
- Stand astride the barricades, shouting “FUCK YOU!” at the top of your voice, at every opportunity.
The first choice is probably doomed to failure, if The Federalist is to be believed, because these bastards have already the tools to do what they want to do. Remember, the power of samizdat lay on the fact that it used actual paper — hidden printing presses and such — to spread the counter-State “disinformation”. Consider that your Epson or Brother printer already records everything you print and can therefore point a finger right at you, if you are judged to have written doubleplusungood crimethink, and the paper option disappears pretty quickly.
Longtime Readers will know that I’m far more likely to take the second choice, simply because that’s the path I’ve always chosen. Yes, it’s most likely a stupid, futile gesture just like the Delta frat’s destruction of the Animal House town parade; but always remember that in such a situation the Niedermayer character — the State — won’t be the only one carrying live ammunition.
And as I’ve said several times in the past that when it comes to dying I’d prefer to die in my wife’s arms; but spitting and cursing at the State from the barricades surrounded by expended brass doesn’t hold much terror, either.
I’m speaking figuratively, of course, in the latter scenario — but unfortunately for the State apparatchiks, I took an oath when I became a U.S. citizen, and I take that oath really seriously. My allegiance is not to the State — in whatever flavor it comes — but to the ideals and promises contained in the Constitution.
And I don’t need the fucking lawyers on the Supreme Court to interpret them for me.
...algorithms strike again.
