[rosalinekarr]

Just to be clear, I don't agree with N-O-D-E's political leanings, and I think the examples he used in this video were very poorly chosen, but I still think he has a strong point regarding censorship in general and the slippery slope our society has been sliding down lately, so despite the heavy-handed partisan overtones, I still wanted to share this video with you all. I'm curious what HN's take on it all will be.

[smt88]

Is the US sliding down a slippery slope of censorship? If so, what examples would you give?

[rosalinekarr]

I didn't necessarily mean the US exclusively. I was thinking more of the internet in general, but I'll provide some specific examples anyway: in the US, I believe [the efforts of our government to undermine net neutrality][1] pose a serious threat to free speech online; in the EU, [well-meaning but misguided laws regarding blocking hate speech and potential taxing internet access][2] pose a similar threat; and in Australia, the government has already [blocked some websites under the guise of copyright enforcement][3].

Outside the western world, the situation is even worse. In the past few months, [the Turkish government has blocked thousands of websites and several DNS servers including 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4][4]. While China has always maintained strict censorship on the internet within their borders, lately they've been stepping up their efforts by [replacing major websites with state-run alternatives][5]. Further, [Russia has started following China's model with aggressive, nationwide IP blocking][6].

I know censorship has been a big challenge to free speech on the internet for a long time now, but lately, it feels as if the problems are escalating much faster. Nations are locking down their citizens access to communication, discussion is becoming ever more politicized, and partisans on all sides are cheering along the erosion of our most fundamental rights.

I know I sound like a conspiracy nut and doomsayer waving around the classic "End is Nigh" sign and wearing a tinfoil hat, but I can't help but feel like the internet is inching ever closer to dystopia. I feel like we're on the verge of something terrible, and I'm afraid that despite our best efforts, it may already be too late to stop it.

[1]: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2017/05/9-senator...

[2]: https://openmedia.org/en/leak-eu-commission-points-link-tax-...

[3]: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/06/australia-passes...

[4]: https://turkeyblocks.org/

[5]: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39779088

[6]: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/0...