Permission to Speak Sah!!

It's fitting, but also quite depressing that on the 50th Anniversary of Dad's Army (a TV programme about people that fought for the freedom of the country), that politicians are now discussing shutting down free speech and political discussion and eventually we'll have to use Jones' catchphrase in order to say anything.

After the Brexit referendum and the Trump election win, the supposedly liberal prograssive left (actually non of the sort) blamed their losses on outside influences, mainly Russia and their use of social media.

Now, it's very easy to blame Russia as a culprit, because all of those dodgy marketing notices to get about "you'll never believe what she said", or "Guess what this politician has been up to" variety are mainly hosted on Russian hosts. The reasons are cheap hosting for one and a weak adherence to regulations are another.

Guido's order-order.com website hosts in teh Rebublic of Ireland for a similar reason in that injuctions forbading release of information that apply to the UK, don't apply to Eire and so Guido is free to publish that which the UK-based media cannot.

There is no super-secret plot to destabilise governments, it's just business: businesses host crap sites cheaper abroad and they don't get regulated about spam as much.

"Fake News" is a term that has been done to death, but there are many interpretations of the phrase. Most people would say that fake news is untruths being stated as fact.

Basically fake news as promoted by the Elite is any news that does not follow their narrative. Truth doesn't come into it. Politicians and the news never tell the absolute truth. There will always be some spin, bias or slant to the information presented to the public. It's up to the public to inform themselves of the signs of this and peel away the half-truths to get at the real picture.

I always use the NHS as an example. On the Tory side they say they are putting ever more money into the NHS. Labour say that the NHS is suffering from cuts. In this instance both sides are telling the truth. How can that be/ You can't have cuts AND be putting more money into the NHS surely?

But both are correct, because more money IS going into the NHS budget but LESS of that money is getting to the front line and ending up in treatment.

There are several reasons for this, but the biggest is the NHS' legal bill. Incompetence and mistakes cost the NHS almost half it's budget settling lawsuits. But you never hear this news, why? Because it would kill the narrative of both side of the debate. Our adversarial politics likes to have opposing views: to make things black and white. Greyness has no place in politics because you can't rally the troops round fuzzy grey logic.

And this is where the latest discussions around fake news and the regulation of social media are going at the moment: Control of the Narrative. Politicians want control of the news from specific outlets, they want the message to be pure and unmuddied. They do not want alternative media outlets that can usurp the mainstream.

What a Weekend!

I did say that the Dan Hannan video marked a turning point in the importance of the blogosphere, but this weekend trumps that completely.

Guido's triumph over the Labour smear-vendors shows that given the right circumstances, online blogs can have just as much relevance as the mainstream media outlets. For too long the MSM has been in the grip of the old boys network: deals done, winks winked and nods nodded.
Its been plain to see for too long how the ruling elite have captured every media prize in order to control dissent.
The Blogosphere cuts through all of that: thousands of independant outlets cannot be controlled by done deals.

But thats where the collective entities of the blogosphere on all sides need to be careful, stay united and deny any chance those in power would seek to silence us.

Right now, in his bunker I can imagine Gordon Brown is scheming to silence us, because one of our number has dared to interfere with the machinations of his inner circle. I can well imagine some new law to regulate blogs will be mooted after this, because thats the way the control-freaks currently in power work. This weekends news will be twisted and spun as an attack on the government, spin that will state a government needs protection.

Those on the left of politics need to be wary. Its very easy to be swayed by "your" government that silencing dissenting comments on blogs is in the greater good, but what happens when the balance of power changes and a right-of-centre party is in power? Your right to independantly protest at injustices would be gone. Therefore I urge you especially to protect the right of free speech in blogs. If you are approached by anyone, or anyone close suggests that you promote such action, I ask you to tell them in no uncertain terms: NO!

We all need to stand firm and protect the blogosphere, all the voices within it need I would say have to be heard, it is our right to hold the government of the day (of whatever political spectrum) to account.