New Law Criminalizing Online Student Speech Takes Effect Dec. 1
November 28, 2012 Press Release
ACLU-NC Says the First-in-the-Nation Law is Misguided and Chills Free Speech; Group Calls on Students Charged Under the Law to Contact ACLU-NC Office
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RALEIGH - A new state law, the 2012 School Violence Prevention Act, that will be the first in the nation to impose criminal sanctions on public school students who use computers with the "intent to intimidate or torment" school employees will go into effect Dec. 1.
The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina opposes the law because it is too broad, threatens to chill students' free speech, sets a bad precedent by telling students it's wrong to criticize government officials, and could saddle students as young as 16 with up to 60 days in jail or a $1,000 fine for a wide range of acts that do not merit a criminal punishment. The law would even criminalize true statements by prohibiting online statements "whether true or false, (emphasis added) intending to immediately provoke, and that is likely to provoke, any third party to stalk or harass a school employee."
The ACLU-NC is urging any student who is charged under this new law to contact its office.
"This law is so vague that it could easily result in a student being arrested simply for posting something on the Internet that a school official finds offensive," said ACLU-NC Policy Director Sarah Preston. "Young people should not be taught that they will be punished for telling the truth, speaking freely, or questioning authority - yet that is exactly what could happen under this law. If it is okay to criminalize students who criticize teachers online, what is to stop the government from making it illegal for any one of us to criticize some other government official, whether the comments are made online or not? We urge any student charged under this misguided law to contact our office immediately."
A factsheet with additional information about the new law can be found at acluofnc.org.
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What in the past has been a general eroding of the right to free speech has now officially become a full frontal Big Brother assault. As mentioned above this is a first, and as is the case with all 'firsts', the precedent has been set. In this case the precedent that has been set in North Carolina is that to speak is to now risk freedom.
Surely North Carolina will not be the only state for long. What happens if someone out of state posts something on his North Carolina "public school student" friend's facebook page that is 'arbitrarily' considered objectionable by the NWO schoolmaster? No, the line has been crossed, clearly signalling the beginning of full-blown Orwellian censorship in New Amerika. It is a critical moment.
The Gospel of John chapter 9 verse 4 reads (in part): "...the night cometh, when no man can work"
December 2012 - it is now the twilight's last gleaming. fyi
***
compare: Free Speech Takes Huge Hit In The EU: Brussels Outlaws "Insults" 9-8-12 “Any form of insult is from now on punishable, whether it be racist, homophobic or otherwise...”
November 28, 2012 Press Release
ACLU-NC Says the First-in-the-Nation Law is Misguided and Chills Free Speech; Group Calls on Students Charged Under the Law to Contact ACLU-NC Office
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RALEIGH - A new state law, the 2012 School Violence Prevention Act, that will be the first in the nation to impose criminal sanctions on public school students who use computers with the "intent to intimidate or torment" school employees will go into effect Dec. 1.
The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina opposes the law because it is too broad, threatens to chill students' free speech, sets a bad precedent by telling students it's wrong to criticize government officials, and could saddle students as young as 16 with up to 60 days in jail or a $1,000 fine for a wide range of acts that do not merit a criminal punishment. The law would even criminalize true statements by prohibiting online statements "whether true or false, (emphasis added) intending to immediately provoke, and that is likely to provoke, any third party to stalk or harass a school employee."
The ACLU-NC is urging any student who is charged under this new law to contact its office.
"This law is so vague that it could easily result in a student being arrested simply for posting something on the Internet that a school official finds offensive," said ACLU-NC Policy Director Sarah Preston. "Young people should not be taught that they will be punished for telling the truth, speaking freely, or questioning authority - yet that is exactly what could happen under this law. If it is okay to criminalize students who criticize teachers online, what is to stop the government from making it illegal for any one of us to criticize some other government official, whether the comments are made online or not? We urge any student charged under this misguided law to contact our office immediately."
A factsheet with additional information about the new law can be found at acluofnc.org.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
What in the past has been a general eroding of the right to free speech has now officially become a full frontal Big Brother assault. As mentioned above this is a first, and as is the case with all 'firsts', the precedent has been set. In this case the precedent that has been set in North Carolina is that to speak is to now risk freedom.
Surely North Carolina will not be the only state for long. What happens if someone out of state posts something on his North Carolina "public school student" friend's facebook page that is 'arbitrarily' considered objectionable by the NWO schoolmaster? No, the line has been crossed, clearly signalling the beginning of full-blown Orwellian censorship in New Amerika. It is a critical moment.
The Gospel of John chapter 9 verse 4 reads (in part): "...the night cometh, when no man can work"
December 2012 - it is now the twilight's last gleaming. fyi
***
compare: Free Speech Takes Huge Hit In The EU: Brussels Outlaws "Insults" 9-8-12 “Any form of insult is from now on punishable, whether it be racist, homophobic or otherwise...”
5 comments :
Tom, I don't know what is causing this to happen, or what to categorize it under, and you don't have to include this as a comment here if you don't want to, as it is not directly related to anything you have shared on here, that I know of, but I wanted you to know about this:
I got on YouTube today to post a new song and they asked me to change my name from my screen name of “Christsfreeservant” to my real name, which they had as “Sue Love.” I have been a member of Google sites for at least 6 years, they have my real name, Sue Love was the name on my profile, they have my email address which begins with sjlove, but yet YouTube/Google decided that Sue Love was not a real name, so they asked me to change the name to my real name. They would not accept Sue Love no matter what I tried, so the only option was for me to give them proof that I was Sue Love, even though I have been all my married life (40 years) and I’ve been a member on their sites under that name for 6+ years. Since they would not accept Sue Love, I added my middle initial of J, hoping they would accept that.
Google + accepted me under that name and then they immediately shot me an email saying that I could not use that name but that I had to use my real name. Ok, this is getting ridiculous at this point. Evidently if they decide that Sue Love or Sue J Love is not a legitimate name they can suspend my Google accounts, which includes most everything I use on the internet. The only option I have, evidently, is to prove I am Sue Love by supplying them with my email address, which they have had for 6+ years, “a link to an established online identity with a meaningful following,” and to supply them with “offline documents such as scans of official documents (such as a photo ID or passport), newspaper articles, or other printed media that refer to you by this name.” I am not comfortable with giving them all this personal information. My Google profile is presently under review. If it doesn’t pass, they will give me further instructions.
I don’t know what will happen next, yet, I know God is in control, he allowed this, and he can make a way where there seems to be no way. My husband researched this, and evidently this is hitting many people.
Sue, this should be posted because it sounds to me like what you are describing does indirectly relate to the above article.
I'm thinking though that what is happening here has to do with "Google +" being a so-called 'social network'. I do not know too much about it, never wanted anything to do with the '+' part of Google - that is being part of their 'social network' - but I'm thinking that the explanation would be that they want to 'guard the integrity' (so to speak) of their '+' network by ensuring that everybody is exactly who they say they are, and that everybody else would be able to know with certainty that they really are who they say they are. This of course would preclude the use of any anonymity, including online identities. That is how Google+ is marketed - with the 'high ideal' of keeping it real, keeping out the bad guys, a 'social network' of real people for real people, etc. etc.
No question that social networks, Facebook, Google+, all of them, are being used to plug people into the global data bank though. For me - not interested.
Tom,
I joined Facebook a few years back because my children, nieces, nephews, siblings, etc. were on there, and it was a good way for us all to keep in touch with each other. But, then I didn't do anything with it for a long while until the Lord encouraged me to use it as a way of reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and as a way of encouraging the body of Christ. I am well and keenly aware of its connections with the whole global order of things, yet I see it as a mission field where I can share the truths of God's word, so that is why I stay.
I was not really on Google + until this thing with You Tube arose where they are requesting that people using You Tube now use their real identities instead of screen names. I was ok with that. I am not trying to hide who I am. The thing of it was that they did not see my real name as a legitimate name, and there was something to do with Google +, so my husband thought if I signed up for Google + and established my identity there, that perhaps You Tube would recognize me as who I am, but that backfired, at least initially.
My profile went under review, and I had no idea where it was going to go from there, so I placed it in the hands of the Lord. 24 hours later my profile was no longer under review and I have not yet received any notifications from Google that any other requirements are necessary.
You Tube has not yet requested again that I use my real name, but I am assuming that, now that Google recognizes me as being a real person that You Tube will follow suit, when that occasion presents itself. I am also on You Tube to present the gospel of Jesus Christ in song, and now also with audio devotionals.
It was just disconcerting to me that YouTube seems to be forcing, or moving that direction toward strongly encouraging its participants to use their real names instead of screen names, and that when I said I would use my real name, which they supplied me with, which means they had my real name, they would not recognize it, and when I went through Google to try to get You Tube to see my real name as my real name, they also rejected my real name and were asking for proof of identity such as photo ID, which I thought was a little bit invasive of my privacy. There was also the threat of suspension of my account if I did not comply.
The whole thing just felt, to me, as though what I was seeing and experiencing could possibly be just the beginning of what we know is the inevitable as far as government control over the internet and social media. Although unpleasant, it is a fact of life. Yet, as long as God gives me breath, and he keeps these doors open, I will continue to use whatever means he gives me for sharing his word and for sharing the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to all who will listen.
Sincerely,
Sue Love
www.originalworks.info
Sue, sounds like you must have passed the TSA/DHS/CIA/FBI/UN background check
(that's a joke)
You may already know about this, but here's something posted on this blog only two months ago (10-5-12):
UK To Announce Plan To Use "Internet Identities" For Official Identification - To Be Basis For Global System
"The Government will announce details this month of a controversial national identity scheme which will allow people to use their mobile phones and social media profiles as official identification documents for accessing public services...
The Cabinet Office is understood to have held discussions with the Post Office, high street banks, mobile phone companies and technology giants ranging from Facebook and Microsoft to Google, PayPal and BT."
The article linked there also reveals the U.S. involvement - with a virtually identical program that has been pending for probably about two years now called the "National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace" (NSTIC)
Your experience with Youtube/Google would seem to indicate a definite move in that direction.
Did a follow up this morning for the status of the UK system but there was nothing new, apparently still working on it.
Oh well, here they come...
Praise the Lord anyway Ps. 34:1
Yes, Tom, it does appear that there possibly could be a connection, which would explain YouTube's push to make everyone use their true identities consistently across the internet, and to also make sure people are who they say they are. And, yes, I had read the article, and I read it again just in case I missed something the first time.
We know where this is all headed, and it is inevitable, yet God's purposes will be accomplished through it all, because he is sovereign over all things. We know this time must come, because the Bible told us it would come. Yet we know how the story ends - to God be the glory! So, I am not worried and I have no need to be afraid - what can man do to me? My trust is in the Lord, from whence cometh my help!
P.S. This is new - when I got ready to send this reply, and it asked me to choose an identity, always previously it said "Christsfreeservant." Now it just says "Google Account." And, then it says I will be asked to sign in after submitting my comment. I don't believe I ever had to do that before. So, I guess they have switched to my true identity now?
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