Unconstitutional RESTRICT Act Would Give US Government Power To Outlaw Undesirable News And Social Media
If you thought governmental outsourcing of surveillance and censorship on social media was bad enough when revealed after the Twitter leaks, now even more absurd and abusive draconian measures are being proposed by a control freak government and crooked politicians. The RESTRICT Act seeks to re-define the 1st and 4th Amendments when it comes to anything "National Security" (or related). Under this new legislative proposal, the government could deem anything (news, comments, dissent, speech and even critical thought in it's entirely) "foreign propaganda", making it a criminal offense to publish and seeking legal political retribution and criminal charges against any American who publishes or speaks out in any undesirable way which is claimed to impact "National Security" - and by doing so - effectively OUTLAWING both the protections of the 1st and 4th Amendments of the United States Constitution for American citizens.
This bill is as evil and draconian as it gets, just as bad - if not even more tyrannical - than Chinese internet censorship policies. This would effectively set up a weaponized Great Firewall over America's domestic online communications, even seeking to outlaw the use of foreign encryption schemes! Imagine the social consequences if the US government started banning VPN and Tor use! This would surely drive many people away from socializing online due to new legal and financial risks.
Anyone who wishes the internet - and our freedom of speech - to exist as it has should be alarmed and pressuring politicians to abandon such totalitarian legislation! This is NOT a "Democrat" or "Republican" issue, this is a Constitutional issue: the right to have an opposing opinion without being charged as a criminal. If the RESTRICT Act passes, you can kiss nearly ALL Constitutional rights goodbye, including a massive swath of existing information online too.
Even the ACLU is challenging this now.
https://www.change.org/p/say-no-to-the-restrict-act
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-raises-concerns-about-senate-bill-aimed-at-banning-tiktok
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2023/03/29/restrict-act-labeled-a-tiktok-ban-includes-jail-sentences-huge-fines-for-american-citizens/
https://reason.com/2023/03/31/the-restrict-act-would-restrict-a-lot-more-than-tiktok/
https://www.techradar.com/features/restrict-act-introduced-in-us-senate-to-fast-track-tiktok-ban
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2023/03/29/patriot-act-on-steroids-conservatives-slam-restrict-act-on-social-media/
https://www.coincenter.org/the-restrict-act-creates-blanket-authority-with-few-checks-to-ban-just-about-anything-linked-to-a-foreign-adversary/
https://decodetheworld.substack.com/p/restrict-act-is-unconstitutional
