[At-Large] Fwd: Censorship Attempts in India

[Carlton Samuels]

FWIW, my position is unambiguous and immutable; I denounce and condemn all
attempts at censorship, howsoever designed or orchestrated.

Here are some excerpts from a thread I wrote elsewhere in context....

- Carlton
==============================
....We must reject any and all 'star chamber' procedures in this regard as
inimical to the public interest.

Here is one moment where so-called ' sunshine laws' should apply in spades.
For in matters of conscience [or cant!], light is and remains the best
disinfectant......

....I am long socialized to notice and understand the hypocrisy that
sometimes get cloaked a s good governance in our societies.  So I am
unanimous that the ALAC ought not to be witting conspirators for hypocrites.

Reflect on the many statements of condemnation of the Chinese, North
Koreans, Iranians, Cubans, and assorted 'enemies of the people and
democracy' for their unpalatable impulse to censorship and thought control from
'western' governments,  quondam interests and spokespersons.

The fact is the official impulses to censor, to drop the veil secrecy and
to basic thought control is not unique to those governments. Recall, for
example, how easy it was for the British Prime Minister to suggest
censorship and access limitations to Twitter in the recent London riots!
 Another example, think about the many ways pressure was brought to bear on
Wikileaks to heel!  The Wikileaks incident saw an immediate conflation of
interests to suppress information flows.  For example, in its revelations
about Jamaica, officialdom was embarrassed by what was told in casual
conversations to 'public affair officers' in the US Embassy in KIN.  And it
is clear that the US State Dept was embarrassed more so on the methods
employed for acquiring information; really a concern that the uninitiated
would realize how much of 'scuttlebut'  and 'verandah talk' constituted
'intelligence'.

We should insist that objection to strings finger not just the target but
the objector in an open way.  Let us know the courage of their convictions.
And leave it to each and every one of us to make our own determination as
to motive.

Trust....but verify.  Let them  do it in the light of day.

- Carlton


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