%%Post image thumbnail below.%%  # Episode Overview > - **Date Aired:** [[11-25-2023]] > - **Title:** The Trolley Problem > - **Episode:** 263 > - **Description:** Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth. > - **Link:** <https://rumble.com/v3xvizp-big-dig-energy-263-the-trolley-problem.html> # Replay %% Get embed URL then highlight and hit ALT + I%% <iframe src="https://rumble.com/embed/v3va5bp/?pub=6eeyh" allow="fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" style="height:100%;width:100%; aspect-ratio: 16 / 9; "></iframe> <br> # Greetings & Announcements - I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!  - This Sunday (11-26-2023) I will be on [SimpCast!](https://www.youtube.com/@ChrissieMayr) - I will be out of town for the show on 12-07-2023 (Thursday two weeks from now) to join '[Donut Operator](https://www.youtube.com/@DonutOperator/featured)' for a range day with a group of other people. Should all go according to plan, I will be back on that Saturday with plenty of time to do a show that night.  # Segments ## Rumble Added Playlists On November 22, Rumble [announced](https://twitter.com/rumblevideo/status/1727381107572961367) they've added a few new features to the platform, including "playlists, watch later, and watch history" as well as "a new side panel navigation." I haven't gotten to fiddle around with it too much, but I did create a [playlist](https://rumble.com/playlists/d7FzBX25nH0) for episodes of the show that I will be testing some things on later tonight after the show ends.  I am also streaming to the platform using some different settings that *should* result in a higher-quality stream as well as significantly less latency overall. I've never used this setting before, so if things look/sound/behave wonky, please let me know, so I can adjust. Meemaw sometimes takes her time learning new things about how the internet tubes work… but she is learning. Slowly.:) The dig from Tuesday night on [[Gardner, Jimmie]] (whether it was obvious or not) was also a way for me to test a few new things that should integrate the index site with streams and information a little better and make the site more navigable. As I've said before, I really don't know if anyone ever even goes on the site, BUT ease of use is on my radar and I am working on it. That's all! ## Surveillance State Major media outlets have continued to promote an alliance between social media companies and federal government agencies, in the name of protecting elections from foreign interference and monitoring "hate." If this sounds hyperbolic, I assure you it's not. Let's take a look at a [November 10th article](http://archive.today/TmLrp) from [[NBC News]] titled: **<center>HOW THE GOP MUZZLED THE QUIET COALITION THAT FOUGHT FOREIGN PROPAGANDA</center>**  > A once-robust alliance of federal agencies, tech companies, election officials and researchers that worked together to thwart foreign propaganda and disinformation has fragmented after years of sustained Republican attacks. > > The GOP offensive started during the 2020 election as public critiques and has since escalated into lawsuits, governmental inquiries and public relations campaigns that have succeeded in stopping almost all coordination between the government and social media platforms. > > The most recent setback came when the FBI put an indefinite hold on most briefings to social media companies about Russian, Iranian and Chinese influence campaigns. Employees at two U.S. tech companies who used to receive regular briefings from the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force told NBC News that it has been months since the bureau reached out. > > In a testimony last week to the Senate Homeland Security Committee, FBI Director Christopher Wray signaled a significant pullback in communications with tech companies and tied the move to rulings by a conservative federal judge and appeals court that said some government agencies and officials should be restricted from communicating and meeting with social media companies to moderate content. The case is now on hold pending Supreme Court review. > > "We're having some interaction with social media companies," Wray said. "But all of those interactions have changed fundamentally in the wake of the court rulings." > > Wray didn't elaborate, but sources familiar with the matter told NBC News that all the FBI's interactions with tech platforms now have to be pre-approved and supervised by Justice Department lawyers. > > The FBI told the House Judiciary Committee that, since the court rulings, the bureau had discovered foreign influence campaigns on social media platforms but in some cases did not inform the companies about them because they were hamstrung by the new legal oversight, according to a congressional official. > > "This is the worst possible outcome in terms of the injunction," said one U.S. official familiar with the matter. "The symbiotic relationship between the government and the social media companies has definitely been fractured." > > More than a dozen current and former government and tech employees who have been involved in fighting online manipulation campaigns and election falsehoods since 2020 echoed those concerns. Most agreed to speak only on the condition that they not be named, all citing the current climate of harassment against people who work in election and information integrity. Pick up [here](https://archive.is/20231110133607/https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/gop-muzzled-quiet-coalition-fought-foreign-propaganda-rcna103373#selection-1529.0-1529.14). This article was [co-authored](https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2023/11/19/nbc-news-loves-deep-state-laments-gop-halting-coordination-between) by *NBC News*' Kevin Collier, who covers cybersecurity, privacy, and technology policy, and Ken Dilanian, D.C.-based justice and intelligence reporter. ### White House Executive Order [Archive](http://archive.today/jDZ4H)  From [Wall Street Journal](http://archive.today/KSlWa): > The Biden administration invoked emergency federal powers to assert oversight of powerful new artificial intelligence systems, part of a new executive order aimed at reining in the risks of the disruptive technology. ### Kathy Hochul On Monday November 13th, Kathy Hochul revealed plans for enhancing the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force personnel and assigning an extra $2.5 million to the State Police. Hochul announced that New York is **"very focused on the data we're collecting from surveillance efforts [and] what's being said on social media platforms,"** admitting to government surveillance. What is more, Hochul said they have **"launched an effort to be able to counter some of the negativity and reach out to people"** when they see what they deem to be **"hate speech being spoken about on online platforms."** Hochul said the state's social media analysis unit **"has ramped up its monitoring of sites to catch incitement to violence [and] direct threats to others."** **"And all of this is in response to our desire, our strong commitment, to ensure that not only do New Yorkers be [*sic*] safe, ==but they also feel safe==,"** she said, adding that **"personal security is about everything for them."** **"As I said, no one walking down the street or in a subway can feel they have to hide any indications of what their religious beliefs are. We expect to see people celebrating their lives, walking out freely, and that is no longer the case because people are living in fear. They have a right to do whatever they want here in the state of New York."** From [Eric Abbenante](https://twitter.com/EricAbbenante/status/1724138231191462282) on November 13: > Kathy Hochul announced that New York is "collecting data" from "surveillance efforts" on social media > > Hochul says the social media analysis unit will contact people who commit "hate speech" > > This is to "ensure safety" Even though they got rid of Guiliani's Stop and Frisk which actually made NY safe  This isn’t the first time Hochul has stuck her nose into monitoring online speech.  A New York law ([Senate Bill S4511A](https://archive.is/JNTT0)) aimed at regulating “hateful conduct” online was blocked by a judge. This law, signed by Governor Hochul, required social media networks to report and address hateful conduct, broadly defined as actions that vilify or incite violence based on various identity factors. Back in December 2022, [Rumble and Locals sued](https://reclaimthenet.org/rumble-lawsuit-new-york-social-media-censorship-law) New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James to challenge the social media censorship law, saying they say would force platforms to target constitutionally protected speech. [PDF Archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20231001021649/https://docs.reclaimthenet.org/rumble-locals-volokh-vs-james.pdf) <div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 60%;"><iframe src="https://docs.google.com/viewer?embedded=true&url=https://docs.reclaimthenet.org/rumble-locals-volokh-vs-james.pdf" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> In February 2023, Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. ruled that the law violated the First Amendment, emphasizing the importance of protecting even hateful speech. The court argued that the law not only restricted the speech of social media users but also compelled social media networks to adopt and endorse the state’s definition of hateful conduct. [PDF Archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20231003144704/https://docs.reclaimthenet.org/rumble-vs-ny-opinion-rtn-injunction-granted.pdf) <div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 60%;"><iframe src="https://docs.google.com/viewer?embedded=true&url=https://docs.reclaimthenet.org/rumble-vs-ny-opinion-rtn-injunction-granted.pdf" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> > “The First Amendment protects from state regulation speech that may be deemed ‘hateful,’” the court wrote, “and generally disfavors regulation of speech based on its content unless it is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling governmental interest.” > > The court added that the law, “chills the constitutionally protected speech of social media users,” adding “social media websites are publishers and curators of speech, and their users are engaged in speech by writing, posting, and creating content. Although the law ostensibly is aimed at social media networks, it fundamentally implicates the speech of the networks’ users by mandating a policy and mechanism by which users can complain about other users’ protected speech.” > > The court highlighted the ways in which the law violated the First Amendment, saying, “the law also requires that a social media network must make a ‘policy’ available on its website which details how the network will respond to a complaint of hateful content. In other words, the law requires that social media networks devise and implement a written policy—i.e., speech.” > > The other factor considered by the court was that the law “requires a social media network to endorse the state’s message about ‘hateful conduct’” – another First Amendment violation. > > “Implicit in this language is that each social media network’s definition of ‘hateful conduct’ must be at least as inclusive as the definition set forth in the law itself. In other words, the social media network’s policy must define ‘hateful conduct’ as conduct which tends to ‘vilify, humiliate, or incite violence’ ‘on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnicity, national origin, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.’” > > The court singled out how the law would have forced free speech platforms such as Rumble “whose websites have dedicated ‘pro-free speech purpose[s],’ which likely attract users who are ‘opposed to censorship’” to “speak about hateful conduct.” This would be a form of compelled speech. > > The court ruled that Rumble has, “an editorial right to keep certain information off their websites and to make decisions as to the sort of community they would like to foster on their platforms. It is well-established that a private entity has an ability to make ‘choices about whether, to what extent, and in what manner it will disseminate speech…’” ### Nimarata Randhawa Just a day later, everyone's least-favorite female candidate for president in 2024, [Nimarata Haley](http://archive.today/ai7rp), announced she wanted *everyone* on social media to be "verified by their name" claiming it was a "national security threat." [Video](https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/nikki-haley-every-name-1.mp4?_=1) ### The World Economic Forum Chimes In **<center>From January 28, 2023 - The Clear and Present Danger of Disinformation | Davos 2023</center>** <iframe title="The Clear and Present Danger of Disinformation | Davos 2023 | World Economic Forum" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2rTiVndszQ4?feature=oembed" height="113" width="200" style="aspect-ratio: 1.76991 / 1; width: 100%; height: 100%;" allowfullscreen="" allow="fullscreen"></iframe> [Archive](http://archive.today/avMqq)  > - UNESCO has released Guidelines for the **Governance of Digital Platforms** in a bid to protect people’s rights online. > - **==It includes five principles that aim to prevent issues such as misinformation, disinformation, hate speech and conspiracy theories.==** > - The World Economic Forum’s Toolkit for Digital Safety Design Interventions and Innovations aims to ==**harmonize universal perceptions of online threats following a fragmentation of efforts to tackle issues from cyberbullying to hate speech.**== “If we can no longer distinguish fiction from reality, falsehood from truth, the foundations of our societies crumble. Democracy, dialogue and debate – all essential to address major contemporary challenges – become impossible,” UNESCO says. “Faced with the global nature of these issues, we need to develop consistent responses around the world, and avoid the fragmentation of regulations or approaches that compromise human rights.”  [Document](https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000387339/PDF/387339eng.pdf.multi) - Guidelines for the Governance of Digital Platforms (page 8) - Guideline 28 - Section J (Page 19) %%Footer Starts Here%% ---  --- # Keep Digging %%Space%% ## Tags #Stream/BDE ### Footnotes & References