Former Biden Homeland Security Official Criticizes Free Speech, Cites ‘Disinformation’ Impact on Election Security
A former Biden administration official has declared that disinformation around elections is “becoming the norm rather than the exception.”
Samantha Vinograd, until recently of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), also asserted that these days, because of what she considers to be election disinformation, “there is an unprecedented level of physical threats” while the US information ecosystem is “incredibly vulnerable.”
Dramatic and alarmist statements like this may be necessary to justify the rest of Vinograd’s message, which in effect attacks free speech, as it is legally protected in the US.
Appearing on CBS, Vinograd – who was until last December Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Counterterrorism and Threat Prevention – warned that the First Amendment might protect free speech, but that engaging in free speech is apparently not “cost-free.”
The Face the Nation hosts framed the problem as, essentially, federal laws (the Constitution) protecting speech, but the damage being done at the state level – and then what states, who organize elections, can do to fix that “problem.”
Spreading lies about candidates, as they put it, was given as an example of legal, protected speech becoming an issue by having the ability to create “a threat at the state level” – and asked Vinograd who she thought was supposed to correct the situation.
Vinograd – who has been bouncing between various administrations (including those of Bush and Obama, and private companies like Goldman Sachs and Stripe before landing at Biden’s DHS) – seemed to suggest that Big Tech (i.e., social media companies) should be assisting the government.
The federal government said Vinograd, “should not be the omnipresent fact checker for the American people.”
And even though, according to her, the government is debunking information about elections that is deemed to be inaccurate, social media companies “should be thinking about what kinds of election disinformation violate their terms of service.”
It’s difficult not to take this as a not-so-veiled added pressure on social platforms to not only continue with censoring content but perhaps expand it in terms of what qualifies as election disinformation.
Either way, Vinograd is in favor of enlisting “every American” to help out as well (although it is not clear in what specific way), invoking even the concept of patriotic duty.
And Vinograd did not miss the opportunity to assert that election misinformation threats are now of such magnitude as to present a national security issue.
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Germany: Green Minister’s Speech Drowned out as Right and Left Protest Against Her Pro-War Policies in Nuremberg
A wide assortment of protesters, including pro-Palestinian protesters, anti-war protesters, and protesters from the right, targeted Green Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s Nuremberg campaign event with loud jeers yesterday.
The protests were so loud that she was barely able to deliver her speech over the din while speaking in the run-up to the EU parliamentary elections next week.
???? “Your hands are covered in blood!”
— Маrina Wolf (@volkova_ma57183) May 25, 2024
During a fiery election speech in Nuremberg, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was booed by 150 pro-Palestinian activists. pic.twitter.com/d5yaKblTjE
Baerbock is seen as one of the most pro-war ministers in the German government and has enthusiastically called for more weapons to be sent to Ukraine. The Green party was founded on anti-war principles and opposition to NATO but has also come under pressure from the left for its support for Israel in its war against Gaza, a conflict that is increasingly splitting the left in Germany. The Greens have been walking a tightrope as of late, with Economy Minister Robert Habeck increasingly critical of Israeli actions in Rafah.
Notably, Green party supporters are the most likely to back sending weapons to Ukraine but also the least likely to want to defend their own homeland in the case of an attack, according to polling.
RT, a pro-Russian state media network, also filmed a segment from the protest.
Der Besuch in Nürnberg war eine absolute Katastrophe für die Außenministerin #Baerbock.
— Lexa ?? (@rebew_lexa) May 27, 2024
Baerbock wurde ausgebuht und beschimpft. Und das nicht nur von den sogenannten Rechten…
Ein Skandal wie man ihn sich besser nicht vorstellen kann.
Hier seht ihr die Wahrheit, wie ihr sie… pic.twitter.com/u4qmNxxhp3
“The Greens have ruined everything, said an outraged man. It is absolutely wrong to destroy everything we have built up in the past,” said one man who was interviewed at the protest.
“Baerbock is a pro-war agitator, not a diplomat,” chanted another man.
The crowd protesting against Baerbock reportedly outnumbered the supporters who were there to see Baerbock speak, but there are no independent police figures about the size of the protest or Baerbock’s crowd size.
Notably, numerous pro-Palestinian and peace flags were seen at the protest, including women in headscarves mixed in with what appeared to be protesters from the anti-war German right and left, making for a highly diverse group standing against Baerbock’s policies.
Most recently, a week ago, Baerbock, who expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people, promised further aid to Ukraine.
Baerbock said Germany needs a security budget because of the war: “This means that we have to provide resources for Ukraine. The security of Poland and Germany is at stake,” she said.
At the beginning of May, at a meeting of Council of Europe foreign ministers in Strasbourg, she said that Ukraine also needed “weapons capable of medium and long-range defense.”
The German foreign minister also wrote a controversial opinion piece published on Euractiv on May 1, where she reminded Europeans that every generation has its own role to play. She said the current one is to fight Russia.
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European Council Approves ‘Rapid Response Teams’ to Combat ‘Disinformation’
The EU has announced a guiding framework that will make it possible to set up what the bloc calls “Hybrid Rapid Response Teams” which will be “drawing on relevant sectoral national and EU civilian and military expertise.”
These teams will be created and then deployed to counter “disinformation” throughout the 27 member countries – but also to what Brussels calls partner countries. And Ireland might become an “early adopter.”
For a county to apply, it will first need to feel it is under attack by means of “hybrid threats and campaigns” and then request from the EU to help counter those by dispatching a “rapid response team.”
The EU is explaining the need for these teams as a result of a “deteriorating security environment, increasing disinformation, cyber attacks, attacks on critical infrastructure, and election interference by malign actors” – and even something the organization refers to as “instrumentalized migration.”
The framework comes out of the EU Hybrid Toolbox, which itself stems from the bloc’s Strategic Compass for Security and Defense.
Mere days after the EU made the announcement last week, news out of Ireland said that the Department of Foreign Affairs welcomed the development, stating that they will “now begin on operationalizing Ireland’s participation in this important initiative.”
The department explained what it sees as threats – there’s inevitably “disinformation,” along with cyber attacks, attacks on critical infrastructure, as well as “economic coercion.”
Ireland’s authorities appear to be particularly pleased with the EU announcement given that the country doesn’t have a centralized body that would fight such a disparate range of threats, real or construed.
The announcement about the “reaction teams” came from the Council of the EU, and was the next day “welcomed” by the European Commission, which repeated the points the original statement made about a myriad of threats.
The Hybrid Rapid Response Teams which have now been greenlit with the framework are seen as a key instrument in countering those threats.
Other than saying that the EU Hybrid Toolbox relies on “relevant civilian and military expertise,” the two EU press releases are short on detail about the composition of the future teams that will be sent on “short-term” missions.
However, it revealed that “rapid deployment to partner countries” will be made possible through the Emergency Response Coordination Center (ERCC) as the scheme’s operational hub.
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The World is Not Ready for the Second Great Depression, Getting Prepared Has Never Been More Important— Alex Jones Reports
On his Tuesday show Alex Jones discussed how welfare-dependent weak Americans will completely destroy society when the economy collapses.
“Do you know what 350 million people, half of which are lazy dumbasses, will do when the EBT cards get turned off,” Jones said.
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