A breakdown of Elon Musk and "X" standing firm against a Brazilian Supreme Court Judge. X has been banned in Brazil and those who access it with a VPN face daily fines of more than the average Brazilian makes in a year.
Free speech is being squelched in the West in a troubling trend. Even in the United States, "misinformation" and "hate speech" are used as tools for the government to bully dissidents. Kamala Harris says that Elon Musk and X have to be stopped.
are we witnessing the dawn of a global
left versus right conflict centered on
freedom of speech it certainly feels
that way whether you lean left or you
lean right the stakes seem impossibly
high and of course you're deeply
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[Music]
all right let's take a look at the
current stir involving Elon Musk Brazil
and the platform X formerly known as
Twitter as us elections Loom musk's spat
with Brazil has become a hotbed of
global debate about free speech and
governmental overreach Brazil has been
imposing Draconian fines on users of
musk's X who defy the ban and the
Brazilian Supreme Court is caught in a
fierce battle with musk who has more
followers than there are Brazilians so
this ban on X in Brazil is a major
standoff on Free Speech Judge Alexander
de morus wielding immense power has
positioned himself as the arbitrator of
what constitutes free speech in Brazil
one guy his critics argue that he's less
about preserving democracy and more
about silencing
political opposition all while musk has
dug in his heels in this case he didn't
in India and he didn't in Turkey right
refusing to cooperate mores claims he's
upholding democracy the new democracy by
cracking down on hate speech and
misinformation what do you think of
those terms hate speech and
misinformation who defines hate speech
who defines misinformation we're going
to get into that misinformation here in
a minute showing that it can come from
the very worst places musk though is
echoing his defiant Free Speech
absolutist
stance he sees this all as censorship
and it is this drama is escalating into
a full-blown international incident with
morus even freezing the assets of musk's
other company starlink he's trying to
get $3 million in fines out of musk one
way or the other even though this is an
entirely different company a different
entity seems like a stretch Starling by
the way is the only way that the rural
natives of Brazil in the Amazon are
getting information and are getting
internet of course this judge Mor's
actions have drawn comparisons to the
restrictive practices seen in other
countries and we're going to go over a
few of those but musk remains unyielding
casting himself S as the last line of
defense against what he perceives as a
creeping
authoritarianism it's creeping in
everywhere in this scenario it's easy to
see a parallel with a broader Global
tension between left and right again
centered on Free Speech the left using
misinformation and disinformation and
hate speech as tools for censorship and
squelching Free Speech while the right
is wondering what in the world is going
on and how is this happening so fast
almost in an orchestrated manner around
the globe in this scenario it's easy to
see a parallel with the broader Global
tension between left and right centered
on Free Speech the left around the globe
seems to be squelching this at a very
bold rapid rate almost
orchestrated while the right is
wondering what is going on all of a
sudden all these incidents in a short
amount of time always using the tools of
hate speech and misinformation now
whether it's Brazil's judicial Crackdown
or the censorship laws being pushed
elsewhere around the globe the clash
between governance and free speech is
not just about policy it's a battle of
ideological
Supremacy and as the globe gets smaller
and smaller allies seem to be lying up
on the left to squelch free speech and
lining up on the right to fight for it
amid all of this chaos what's most
striking is the Silence of those who
would traditionally Champion Free Speech
where are the impassioned defenses from
global leaders or institutions like the
ACLU where did they go oh I know where
they went they went further left there's
an eerie quiet suggesting that the
battle lines of this global conflict are
being drawn not just in Brazil but
across the world this is a that would
make even George Orwell raise his
eyebrow and mutter I told you so let's
delve into this conflict with Elon Musk
in Brazil just a little bit more here
this is a plot twist that could have
been ripped from the pages of any
dystopian novel X the social media
Behemoth now under Elon musk's
stewardship has been unceremoniously
shown the door in Brazil just is the LA
just in the last couple of days as the
clock ticked past the deadline set by a
supreme court J Justice
morus X failed to comply with demands to
censor swaths of content and appoint a
local legal
scapegoat consequently it has been
rendered invisible to its 22 million
Brazilian ofix AOS approximately one in
every 10 Brazilians now left to ponder
their social medialess existence the
Brazilian Elites much like their
comrades scattered across the globe
Harbor particular disdain for X we're
going to see that from right here in the
United States they Point accusatory
fingers at it for the proliferation of
what they term disinformation or
misinformation this is a buzzword that's
become as fashionable as it is vague and
arbitrary since musk's acquisition and
subsequent relaxation of content
moderation X has been blamed for
everything from brexit to Trump's
presidency and now the election of
Brazil's own right-leaning Maverick Jer
bolsonaro the storming of the Brazilian
Congress by bolsonaro's supporters in
2023 well that was apparently also the
responsibility of the platform called X
now judge morus under the guise of
combating misinformation and hate speech
right quotation marks here here and what
he creatively labels digital
militias has issued censorship orders
that X and musk have defiantly ignored
these orders as reported by the New York
Times included the silencing of over 140
accounts featuring some of Brazil's most
vocal right-leaning figures and even
elected officials musk's
refusal to turn over this information to
this hard left Administration in Brazil
it's not just Defiance it's a standon
principle X is arguing that these orders
are illegal and they are
unconstitutional in Brazil and of course
even bigger than that is the principle
of free
speech the feud between morus and musk
isn't new it has been simmering since
April when musk labeled morus a dictator
which is a label that just might stick
given the current
circumstances the Twitter files a
treasure Trove of Revelations showed
that even before musk's tenure Twitter
was pushing back against what it saw as
politically motivated requests from the
Brazilian State this is not just musk as
some right-leaning Free Speech
Maverick even left leaning Twitter
before musk got there was pushing back
against against this hardle
Administration I think it's important to
see that Brazil's ban of X is not just a
footnote in the history of censorship
this is a bold new chapter such actions
are more typical of regimes where
democracy is a word used sparingly and
often in quotes Brazil now finds itself
in the dubious company of China Iran
Russia and North Korea Maybe even the
United
States right countries not exactly known
for their commitment to free
speech but the plot thickens further
Brazil didn't just stop at X as we
mentioned previously they escalated
things musk closed X's Brazilian offices
after staffed arrest threats and anyone
daring to use a VPN to go around the
typical internet Avenues and
identifiers and we're told that if they
access X they could face Hefty fines
daily fines that are more than the
average Brazilian makes in a year it's
clear the real Target here is not musk
it's not the platform it's not X it's
the users the everyday folks whom the
elite wish to muzzle this week's ban
coupled with last week's arrest of
telegrams Pavel durv the Russian who is
a French citizen said signals a chilling
escalation in the global war on online
free speech while laws like the UK's
Online safety act and the eu's Digital
Services act what an absolute disaster
and tyrannical act while they threaten
Tech firms with fines for non-compliance
Brazil's move suggests a future where
platforms might be outright banned for
descent you'd expect this in China you'd
expect this in Iran in Brazil in Canada
in the UK in the United
States Brazil in this narrative isn't
just a country it's a Harbinger a canary
in the coal mine of digital Freedom if
this trend continues we might all find
ourselves in a world where the only
tweets heard are those approved by the
powers that be a world where Free Speech
isn't just endangered it's on life
support
now I want to go over a few other
examples here globally just recently
that help form this orchestration or
apparent orchestration of hard left
squelching of free speech what you're
going to see here is eno Burke he is a
teacher who refuses to endorse and
affirm transgender ideology you know
part of the identitarian movement that
just wants
tolerance again it's not the individuals
there is a movement Behind these things
it has an agenda I'm not going to show
all this clip but take a look at this I
have right to work here he has a right I
have a right to be here and not to tell
students they need to
tell you're arresting him because
he I don't know does this remind you of
anything this is in the Western World
when might this to the United States how
about the new prime minister two-tier
starmer who is happy to arrest right
leaning protesters but with others he
turns a blind eye what can we expect
from starmer's reign as UK prime
minister independent journalist Matt
taibi someone I follow pretty closely he
explains the following in Britain
already home to extensive hate speech
legislation and orwellian non-crime hate
in idence the new labor government is
planning a Crackdown on those pushing
quote harmful and hateful beliefs
unquote and considering classifying
misogynistic speech as
extremism men and maybe some women look
out what would that mean for example uh
if you quoted the family proclamation
what if you supported a traditional
family is that misogynistic and again
these terms of hate harm or hateful
beliefs like hate speech and
misinformation are completely arbitrary
and governed by those who are in charge
in the US just what was it last week
Mark Zuckerberg of meta wrote a letter
talking about how in
2020 the Biden Administration put
pressure on him an overt amount of
pressure to be biased over certain
things such as Russia gate you know that
disinformation
that was passed on from the Biden
campaign and the FBI to meta saying that
Russia was influencing Facebook through
posts to help throw the election toward
Trump something we now know is
absolutely false and misinformation from
oh the Biden campaign and our own
government the FBI and in Canada you
have Justin Trudeau's metaphorical boot
and we start putting these things
together and we see This Global Trend
happening at what seems like break NE
speed already I want to get back to uh
paval durov from the CEO from telegram
that was arrested in France as a French
citizen he's Russian but as a French
citizen there are two things to look at
here right number one is on his platform
he's he's like completely wide open he
doesn't regulate anything and that's a
problem for example there are perhaps
terrorist organizations that are are
working through his platform number two
there are accusations of pedophiles
working on his platform that's a no no
but the other charges against him have
to do with misinformation and hate
speech issues we should be very very
concerned with here's another video this
is of kamla Harris just very recently
talking about Elon Musk and X he has he
has lost his Privileges and it should be
taken down and the bottom line is that
you can't say that you have one rule for
Facebook and you have a different rule
for Twitter the same rule has to apply
which is that there has to be a a
responsibility that is placed on these
social media sites to understand their
power they are directly speaking to
millions and millions of people without
any level of of of oversight or
regulation that has to stop okay so
oversight or regulation from whom the
government why does X have different
rules because they're supporting free
speech and Facebook is not Facebook
decides who is banned politically from
political bias and where does kamla
Harris come from here saying that he has
too much privilege the privilege of what
Free Speech the privilege free speech is
not a
privilege free speech is a right kamla
it's a right I would want to ask her the
question what would you do with X if you
were voted in as president
are you going to join in with the
hardle tyrants against Free Speech
globally and then I can quote her
running mate Tim Waltz right the guy
running for vice president he said
there's no guarantee to free speech on
misinformation or hate speech and
especially around our
democracy well what what kind of
oxymoron is
that there is no guarantee to Free
Speech or Mi on misinformation or hate
speech again who states what is
misinformation and who states what is
hate speech what about all the
misinformation that was spewed out on
covid-19 things we know absolutely were
Flatout lies and not just lies but
strategic lies and we all remember how
we were influenced under covid-19 on
social media you couldn't say anything
and yet the government was lying to us
this wasn't just a belief system this
just wasn't an opinion these were
strategic lies this video here is of Dr
Martin mockery a John's Hopkins surgeon
the greatest perpetrator of
misinformation during the pandemic has
been the United States government
misinformation that covid was spread
through surface transmission that
vaccinated immunity was far greater than
natural immunity that masks were
effective now we have the definitive
Cochran review what do you do with that
review Cochran is the most authoritative
evidence body in all of medicine and has
been for decades do you just ignore it
not talk about it yes that's what they
did that myocarditis was more common
After The Infection than the vaccine not
true it's 4 to 28 times more common
after the the vaccine that okay he goes
on and on here but again what do you
who's going to regulate the government
who's going to call the government out
on misinformation and be listened to
freedom of speech is allowing others to
speak things that you don't agree with
that you don't like and as long as they
are not advocating for violence it needs
to be allowed even if you don't agree
with it most government entities want to
follow the eu's DSA the Digital Services
Act very concerning document on a
previous episode we talked about this
how the EU was already threatening X and
Elon Musk based on the Digital Services
act we also have Jen Z right the younger
generation that's thinking you know
their thought is that things should be
illegal to say based on hate speech
based on
microaggressions we are sliding down a
muddy slope worst of all perhaps the
Twitter files showed that lobbyists in
Washington are pushing the people's
representatives of the United States
Congress right to push America more
toward the European model with the DSA
now the Constitution of the United
States the First Amendment there's
nothing like it in the world the
precedent of law that we have based on
that first amendment along with the
document itself are the strongest tools
against squelching free speech and we
might want to recognize also and this is
very important the first amendment is
not just free speech in fact the first
thing it mentions is freedom of religion
those two things go hand inand you
remove Free Speech you're going to
remove religion or you're going to
control it imagine Christianity
supporting things like the traditional
family and being thrown in jail for
saying things whether online or not or
fighting for freedom of religion even
when it goes against what the government
is trying to accomplish hopefully we
don't continue to see these events
popping off around the globe but there's
an eerie Eerie Trend developing you take
those Trends along with an internal
fight against the United States
Constitution we're going to show you
that in a an episode coming up here
shortly and you've got a real fight you
got something you need to stand up for
the worst thing anyone can do in a fight
against free speech is participate in
the spiral of s vience thanks for
listening
