If hundreds of millions of Americans and Europeans knew what was actually going on, they’d certainly be against the policies their unelected bureaucratic oligarchies are imposing, both at home and abroad. Precisely this is why knowing the truth is all the more important. Unfortunately, it can indeed be dangerous to think and speak freely at this time, and we can only expect more censorship and more “thought criminals”, as any deviation from the official narrative is “dangerous for our democracy”.

  • Southern Boy@lemmy.mlOP
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    22 days ago

    What do you think precipitated the dramatic censorship of social media and search engines? Have you been living under a rock for almost three years? Did you also put this URL into “Media Bias Fact Check” to decide whether or not to read it or did you see that a Russian wrote it and panic?

    • PotatoesFall
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      22 days ago

      I didn’t need to put this into anything because the writing style tells me everything I need to know. Highly opinionated. Essays posing as news. Opinion underlaid with paper-thin “arguments”. It’s the same that was around during covid spreading misinformation about vaccines and masks. The disinformation itself is not the goal. The goal is to capitalize on people’s fear and isolate them. Make them easy to manipulate later on.

      It’s not a new strategy either. Fear and hate have always been tools in the hands of the powerful. If you think the West has a monopoly on that, you’re sorely mistaken.

      Fuck Westerm hegemony and capitalism, sure. But also fuck Putin. Fuck all oligarchs.

      • Southern Boy@lemmy.mlOP
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        22 days ago

        Again you wrote a reply guy screed without engaging with a single word that was written. We are getting closer to making you read though, as you are now offended by “writing style”. Of course, all of your liberal opinions are fact, everyone else’s are Russian Evil Antivax Hate Propaganda. Do you have any more invective to heap on the piece without daring to attempt to refute a word?

        • PotatoesFall
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          22 days ago

          I can handle nonsense but please don’t call me a liberal.

          Can you point to the part you want me to engage with? Half your comments are you fantasizing about me so I’m not sure what you’re even trying to tell me.

          • Southern Boy@lemmy.mlOP
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            22 days ago

            I am speaking directly to you about what you are doing and saying there is no fantasy here I am describing you.

            That’s not how it works you’re the one complaining about the article you have to find a point that was made in the article that you disagree with you need to supply the evidence that refutes the point otherwise you’re just thoughtlessly dismissing it because that affirms your liberal worldview.

            Of course there are other reasons that you could dismiss the article such as actually pointing to something that made the source unreliable that they’d said in the past. But I don’t think you can do that either.

            • PotatoesFall
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              2 days ago

              alright sorry for leaving you hanging, I got some time gonna answer now.

              you’re the one complaining about the article you have to find a point that was made in the article that you disagree with

              That’s fair. Although I’m not really disagreeing with the content of the article. For one, it makes many claims itself that are not substantiated.

              And yet, despite constant blabbering about “freedom and democracy”, there’s (un)surprisingly little actual freedom in the belligerent power pole.

              Agreed, but there’s no example. This is just narrative.

              Worse yet, if new laws in the United States and European Union are anything to go by, there’s going to be less of it than ever before

              Agreed, but again it’s just narrative no examples. I can think for myself, I’d like to know why this is the case.

              I could keep going but this goes for both of the first paragraph. Every sentence is loaded with narrative, while depriving me of any actual information.

              Then it gets juicy.

              Back in 2020, the near-universal crackdown on actual free media

              Back in 2020, covid caused a shock to the global population, making them susceptible. Fake news and medical misinformation ran rampant, and there was an outcry against it, as conspiracy-crap isolated people even more. Russian state-sponsored propaganda quickly picked up on this, and capitalized on fear and shock in order to lure people into their propaganda. I investigated some of the “news outlets” spreading medical misinformation back then, and the articles were just like this one. All narrative, very little actual information. Just enough to confirm peoples beliefs and then a little more to influence them. Drago is basically admitting he was part of that.

              Maybe it’s not about covid, maybe it’s about something else. Anyway Drago makes no attempt to tell us what his great journalism was about.

              Then the article finally has some proper information about WikiLeaks being under attack. No complaints here

              Uncomfortable truths, otherwise known as “evil Russian disinformation”,

              for real? wow. Once again not a single bit of information. Which truths? What is the great journalistic effort that Drago seems to want my recognition for?

              Thousands of British citizens are arrested every year for social media posts.

              The source for this is… a twitter post? really? I’m not saying it’s not true I’m saying this article is not journalism. It’s an essay at best, and a shit one at that.

              In the meantime, “evil” Russia allows actual free speech to journalists from countries that banned virtually all Russian media.

              And the source for this is… links to Telegram channels? lmao

              The case of Tucker Carlson

              Another reminder that this is a far-right propaganda author. Tucker Carlson is a white supremacist piece of shit and his intentions were clear.

              “Russian disinformation” (i.e. the truth)

              come on you have to admit this is hilarious.

              Basically, the information conveyed in this article is next to none. There is only narrative. The article barely provides no evidence for its own narrative, and then you expect me to bring evidence to refute the narrative. I’m not here to do the authors job for him lol.

              I’m not even trying to refute the article. Like I’ve said many times now and you fail to understand, I don’t disagree with the opinion that censorship is becoming a bigger problem in the West. But the article isn’t trying to inform you. The article is trying to manipulate your opinion.

          • Southern Boy@lemmy.mlOP
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            22 days ago

            One important factor in the whole discussion over whether we take western propaganda seriously, whether we take the censorship to be benevolent, which I’m seeing completely neglected, is how we’re dismissing it because of all the lies which western governments have told in the past, we’re not just dismissing it because it’s state affiliated, or propaganda, all journalism is propaganda. When former CIA officers tell us that the purpose of the organization is misinformation I think we would be wise to listen to them, if only on that point. With a little bit of reading we can easily discover that western propaganda is based entirely in taking embedded reporters who serve alongside the Israeli military, the Ukrainian military, and other allies at face value, or taking statements by the US and its allies at face value without investigation or waiting for them to provide any evidence for these claims. Due to a monopoly on media distribution and high-ranking universities they don’t have to make any contact with reality to be taken seriously. Quite the opposite, the more uncritically they repeat what they’re told the more prestige is heaped upon them.

            • PotatoesFall
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              2 days ago

              whether we take the censorship to be benevolent,

              I do not take censorship to be benevolent. Fuck censorship