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UK Disinformation Unit Minutes Reveal Consideration of Placing Government Employees Inside Social Media Companies

By Didi Rankovic | Reclaim The Net | May 15, 2024

Recently released minutes from the UK government’s Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU) governing board, the Disinformation Board, provide further evidence of the authorities’ direct involvement in monitoring online speech during the pandemic but also flagging it for removal.

But even this wasn’t enough for CDU, which in 2023, after several years of criticism and scrutiny by some media and privacy groups, got rebranded as the National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT).

One of the moves considered by top UK officials was to “embed” civil servants in companies running social platforms, and it remains unclear if this was in fact done, writes Big Brother Watch’s Jake Hurfurt for Public.

CDU was only one building block in the UK’s Covid-era censorship effort; several military units were enlisted to participate as well, most notably and controversially the 77th Brigade, whose job is supposed to be spreading misinformation, and in general, finding its “psyops” targets abroad, not at home.

NSOIT (CDU) also states that it is “countering disinformation and hostile state narratives.” But these and several other outfits, as well as private contractors hired by the government, were tasked with surveillance of British citizens and suppression of those seen as “Covid measures dissenters.”

And so, what scores of freedom of information requests have since revealed is that they went not after disinformation-spreading “foreign adversary” – but ordinary British citizens, medical professionals, journalists, and even politicians who were engaging in legitimate, albeit critical of the government, speech.

Regarding the lengths to which the UK was prepared to go – specifically if officials actually got “embedded” in social media companies – this is unclear to this day thanks to the government’s refusal to provide access to reports compiled by Logically, a private company.

Logically made millions from contracts with the British military, Hurfurt notes. Completing the picture of the web of sometimes loosely, other times tightly inter-connected entities that work hard to censor online speech, he adds:

“(Logically) has a large US presence and is headed by US ex-intelligence officer Brian Murphy, who worked at the Department for Homeland Security (DHS).”

Meanwhile, the UK government explains its refusal to shed light on the question of whether or not its officials were directly involved with social media companies as fears those reports “would reveal its capabilities to hostile actors.”

May 15, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance | , , , | Leave a comment

Australia jails whistleblowers for telling the truth

By Maryanne Demasi, PhD and Magdalene L. D’Silva, BA/LLB, LLM, MA | May 15, 2024

On May 14, 2024, David McBride, a 60-year-old former military lawyer, was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison with a non-parole period of 27 months, for ultimately blowing the whistle on alleged war crimes committed by other Australian soldiers in 2013.

McBride initially tried to raise his concerns internally with the Australian Defence Force (ADF), but became unsatisfied with the process, so he set up a website and uploaded a trove of secret documents.

Former military lawyer David McBride

When ADF officials found the website containing classified material, they wrote to McBride reminding him of his duty not to disclose it, prompting him to take it down. No action was taken against McBride for his website leak and the Court noted in sentencing that those leaks gave rise to very little risk.

It was only after McBride leaked the material to ABC journalists who aired them in the ‘Afghan Files’ story alleging Australian soldiers did ‘kill people unnecessarily’ that McBride was arrested, interviewed and charged.

Federal police raided the ABC’s Sydney headquarters in 2019, searching for evidence of a leak, but decided against charging the journalists.

In 2023, McBride pleaded guilty to several charges, including stealing secret classified military documents and leaking them to journalists. However McBride couldn’t rely on those documents in his legal defence when the Australian government stopped them from being adduced as evidence on national security grounds.

McBride argued there was a “culture of cover-up” at the command level of the Australian Army. While most soldiers acted ethically, he said some were needlessly investigated and others were protected after allegedly, “put(ting) a gun to someone’s head and blow(ing) their head away” even if they were unarmed or handcuffed.

McBride says he felt a moral obligation to bring these issues to light, believing the Australian public deserved to know the truth about their country’s military actions.

The years-long legal battle which has now landed McBride in prison, has sparked acrimonious debates about the need for an independent Whistleblower Protection Authority in Australia, and the media’s vital role in making powerful institutions accountable.

Human rights whistleblower lawyers said McBride’s punishment sends a chilling message to potential whistleblowers. They contend the Australian government should protect those who expose wrongdoing, not punish them.

Critics argued, however, that McBride was entitled and self-interested. Prosecutors suggested McBride had abandoned the internal investigation he initiated without waiting for the result, violated his signed confidentiality acknowledgments as a military lawyer, and compromised the lives of soldiers and their families while potentially harming Australia’s national security and international relations.

The Brereton Inquiry, commenced by the ADF before McBride’s whistleblowing leaks, found credible information that Australian Special Forces had unlawfully killed people in Afghanistan.

It also appears no harm has been demonstrated because of McBride’s actions, though the ACT Supreme Court said in sentencing, that potential harm to Australia’s defence personnel, their families, Australia’s national security and international relations, still exists.

In sentencing McBride, ACT Supreme Court Justice David Mossop said that while he was a person of good character strongly devoted to duty, from his time in Afghanistan he was unable to accept that his opinions about the ADF may be incorrect.

Justice Mossop considered McBride knew he was committing a criminal offence when disclosing the information but hoped he would have a (public interest) defence. McBride had legal duties and constraints as a soldier and lawyer serving the Army, but no specific duty to disclose the secret information to outsiders when there were other legitimate ways he could have raised his concerns.

ACT Supreme Court Justice David Mossop

Justice Mossop also said McBride had no remorse and still believed he did the right thing, so he sentenced McBride to prison to deter him from disclosing anymore military information and to deter other people ‘with strong opinions’ who are also under a legal duty not to disclose information, from doing so.

McBride abandoned his defence of a higher duty to act in the public interest even if it involves disobeying orders, when the Court ruled this out. Yet he remained defiant, justifying his actions saying, “I served my country. I stand tall and I believe I did my duty and I see this as a beginning to a better Australia.”

In the lead up to his sentencing, he added “So long as people believe I stood up for what I believed in, I can go to jail with my head held high.”

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie was outraged by McBride’s prison sentence, saying that governments “hate people shining a light on official misconduct.”

He added, “They consistently want to punish the whistleblower, and they consistently want to send a signal to would be whistleblowers to shut up, to not break ranks, to not cause problems for governments.”

AAP: Independent MP Andrew Wilkie

Daniela Gavshon, Australian Director of Human Rights Watch, said McBride’s sentencing shows that Australia’s whistleblowing laws need exemptions in the public interest.

“It is a stain on Australia’s reputation that some of its soldiers have been accused of war crimes in Afghanistan, and yet the first person convicted in relation to these crimes is a whistleblower not the abusers,” Gavshon said in a statement.

Many regard whistleblowing as morally courageous, especially when done in the public interest, as McBride claimed he did. But whistleblowing is a dangerous endeavour in Australia because of the significant legal and personal risks.

Compared to the US, where whistleblower protections are considered more robust, McBride’s case demonstrates the protracted and costly legal battles faced by whistleblowers in Australia, when up against institutions with unlimited resources.

It’s now feared McBride’s prosecution and sentencing will deter other whistleblowers from disclosing information because Australia’s laws arguably do not protect whistleblowers like McBride, who try internal reporting channels first but then find them inadequate.

While there must be a balance between national security concerns and the public’s right to know about the actions of their government and military, McBride’s case means other Australians thinking about whistleblowing, risk imprisonment too, especially where there is low trust in internal reporting channels and no alternative external reporting channel.

Australia’s Government has already announced plans to bolster public whistleblowing protections. But that won’t help McBride whose imprisonment highlights the urgent need for clear guidance and protection when disclosing information to prevent more serious harms, and the vital need for a free press if and when internal whistleblowing channels, fail.

Prior to being imprisoned, McBride recorded the following video:

May 15, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Video, War Crimes | , | 1 Comment

British Palestinian surgeon wins legal battle against Germany’s travel ban

MEMO | May 15, 2024

In a significant legal victory, Professor Ghassan Abu Sitta, a renowned British-Palestinian war surgeon, has successfully overturned a Schengen-wide travel ban imposed on him by the German government. Abu Sitta’s legal team — lawyer Alexander Gorski of the International Centre of Justice for Palestine (ICJP), and the European Legal Support Centre (ELSC) — challenged the ban, which they argued had deprived the surgeon of his freedom of expression and freedom to travel.

His lawyers described how he had faced hostile media and a travel ban after returning from Gaza, where he worked in hospitals and witnessed war crimes during Israel’s ongoing military offensive. The ban prevented him from entering France, the Netherlands and Germany, where he had been invited to speak about his experiences.

The ban also extended to joining a German conference online, with the German authorities warning Abu Sitta that if he took part it would “constitute a breach of German law” and could result in fines or imprisonment. Most recently, he was prevented from entering the Netherlands, where he was due to speak later this week to civil society organisations and Dutch MPs at the University of Amsterdam.

“These efforts by the German authorities constitute a serious breach of freedom of movement and expression in Europe and now a judge has ruled that the travel ban should be overturned,” said the ICJP. “This is a significant victory for freedom of speech and a significant turning point in challenging the chilling environment that many Palestinian human rights advocates have to operate in.”

ICJP lawyer Gorski emphasised that the victory ensures that Abu Sitta’s freedom of expression and movement are no longer under threat, allowing him to speak out about what he witnessed in Gaza.

Since leaving the Palestinian enclave in late November, Abu Sitta has been raising awareness about the impact of Israel’s war, which has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. During his time in Gaza, he became the unofficial English-language representative of Palestinian doctors and surgeons treating the wounded, accusing Israel’s military of using illegal white phosphorus and deliberately targeting children.

May 15, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance | , , , , | Leave a comment

Israeli troops lament return to north Gaza months after ‘dismantling’ Hamas

The Cradle | May 15, 2024

Israeli troops say they are facing significant difficulty in battles with the Palestinian resistance in Gaza’s northern city of Jabalia, an area that Tel Aviv said months ago was “cleared” of Hamas fighters.

“Renewed operations in Jabalia and other parts of northern Gaza, like Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, point to two lessons learned: that the IDF failed to fully assess the scale of Hamas’ military infrastructure in Gaza [during the first rounds of fighting in the city months earlier],” Haaretz newspaper reported on 14 May.

“When Israeli forces left the area, [Hamas] quickly reestablished itself in the vacuum created by the lack of a ‘day after’ strategy.”

Tel Aviv claimed in early January that all of Hamas’ battalions were dismantled in northern Gaza, including Jabalia. Several Israeli army brigades are now back in the north, with the army’s 98th division operating in Jabalia after being diverted there instead of Rafah, according to Haaretz.

“We are in a learning contest with Hamas. You can see they’ve changed tactics and are now focusing more on setting explosive devices in buildings,” the commander of the Israeli army’s 196th Battalion is cited as saying.

The fighters of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades and other groups like the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s (PIJ) Quds Brigades have increasingly used the tactic of booby-trapping and detonating buildings with Israeli forces inside.

Traditional tactics, including RPG attacks on tanks and vehicles, sniping operations, and mortar attacks on troop concentrations, continue to be deployed. The Qassam Brigades released several videos over the past few days showcasing their operations against troops in Jabalia.

The Haaretz report notes that despite wide-scale operations across Jabalia months earlier, the resistance’s military capabilities remain intact. On 14 May, Israeli forces watched a barrage of rockets fly overhead, fired from nearby them in Jabalia northwards to Ashkelon.

“It’s frustrating to see this, seven and a half months after the war began,” a commander of the 196th battalion says.

According to Haaretz, the Israeli soldiers fighting in Jabalia have all used a single word to describe their presence in the city: “Sisyphean.” The word refers to the Greek myth of Sisyphus, who the gods punished by forcing him to roll a giant boulder up a hill, only for it to roll back down each time he neared the top.

Reservists are also increasingly frustrated, as they are being deployed to combat areas with no knowledge of when they could return.

“We were told that, in principle, we’re coming for a month, but the bottom line is that we’re here with open-ended orders,” the Israeli outlet cites a reservist as saying, adding that some are not reporting for service.

May 15, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | 1 Comment

Harvard agrees to discuss divestment from ‘Israel’ following protests

Al Mayadeen | May 15, 2024

After Harvard agreed to discuss student concerns on the university’s endowment concerning “Israel”, protesters against the Israeli war on Gaza took down their tents in the university yard on May 14.

Harvard oversees the biggest academic endowment in the world, amounting to around $50 billion, and invests part of it in funds and companies, some of which are linked to “Israel”.

In a statement on Instagram, the student protest group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine (HOOP coalition) said that after surviving beyond the student move-out, the encampment has come to an end, however, “the struggle for Palestinian liberation goes on.”

They added that they built the “Liberated Zone in Harvard Yard as a model of the world we want to see: one that proudly affirms Palestinian liberation rather than elimination.”

The students highlighted how every day they sustained their encampment, their organizing capacity was strengthened, adding that they forced the “question of Palestine on an institution that has historically refused it.”

HOOP: Harvard turned Yard into ‘surveillance state’

HOOP went on to describe how Harvard attempted to quietly “choke” them out from closing its gates to the public, to even turning Harvard Yard into a “surveillance state.”

According to the students, a pre-condition of the decamping is that the administration would take back student suspensions, adding that it has also offered them meetings regarding disclosure and divestment with members of the Harvard Management Company, alongside talks about the launch of a Center for Palestine Studies at Harvard.

HOOP emphasized that they are “under no illusions,” as they know that these meetings are not divestment wins but are rather attempts to “pacify” them from full disclosure and divestment, however, that will not work.

They ended their statement by saying “Harvard beware: the Liberated Zone is everywhere.”

Harvard University Interim President Alan Garber agreed to meet with the students and answer their questions.

Protests in support of Gaza are ongoing 

The director of Al Mayadeen‘s office in Geneva reported that student protests at Swiss universities are still taking place in support of Gaza and condemnation of Israeli crimes.

In addition, Herald Square in New York City has witnessed a massive demonstration in support of Palestine.

 

Harvard Law student gov. urged university to divest from ‘Israel’

The Harvard Law School (HLS) Student Government passed a resolution on March 29 urging the university to completely divest from any organization that supports the Israeli war on Gaza.

The measure urged the Harvard Management Company (HMC), which manages the school’s $50 billion endowment, “to divest completely from weapons manufacturers, firms, academic programs, corporations, and all other institutions that aid the ongoing occupation of Palestine and the genocide of Palestinians.”

The HLS Student Government alludes to Harvard’s commitment of nearly $200 million in businesses linked to the Israeli occupation military and illegal settlements in Palestine, similar to HMC’s prior divestment from South African apartheid and the tobacco industry in 1990.

The resolution’s author, Swap Agrawal, expressed that some Palestinian students at the school have “lost dozens of family members in the ongoing genocide,” noting that students reported feeling strongly that it was “necessary to put pressure on things to change.”

He added that students are deeply concerned that money held in trust may be funding this genocide, emphasizing that the resolution was affected by the International Court of Justice’s statement in January, which found it “plausible” that “Israel” had violated the Genocide Convention.

After the resolution vote, which had 12 supporters, four opponents, and three abstentions, two board members resigned, stating that they did so because they “strongly disagree” with it.

May 15, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Solidarity and Activism, War Crimes | Leave a comment

Orbán: We have enough warmongers in the EU parliament, don’t send more

BY DÉNES ALBERT | REMIX NEWS | MAY 15, 2024

The campaign for the European parliament is in full swing in Hungary, with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on a nationwide tour to make the case for Hungarians to vote for his brand of anti-war, anti-immigration politics

“Sending a pro-war MEP to Brussels is like throwing water into the Danube: It is possible, but unnecessary. There is enough of that there,” he said at a campaign stop in Tiszaladány.

Orbán further suggested that “instead of pro-war leftists who are bought by the kilo, let’s send pro-peace people to Brussels! Let’s show George Soros that there is no worse investment than a Hungarian pro-war politician.”

Orbán’s stance against mass immigration and war is particularly popular in Hungary, which may account for the historic popularity of his party and his ability to win absolute majorities in national elections. However, his stance is also becoming more popular throughout Europe, with polling showing that the vast majority of Europeans want an end to the war and mass immigration.

Most recently, Orbán visited the Hungarian cities of Szentendre, Pomaz, Solymar and Esztergom, which came on top of his recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Budapest — a visit that received considerable international coverage.

Currently, the ruling Fidesz party has 13 MEPs out of Hungary’s quota of 21. Orbán, who is the longest-serving European head of state currently still in power, is looking to maintain his large bloc of Fidesz MEPs and may potentially join an EU parliamentary group following the elections.

May 15, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Ukraine Prepares Total Mobilization in 5 Controlled Cities – Russian Official

Sputnik – 15.05.2024

SIMFEROPOL – Kiev is preparing full-scale mobilization in five Ukrainian-controlled cities in the coming days, Vladimir Rogov, a senior official of the Russia-appointed Zaporozhye regional administration, told Sputnik on Wednesday.

“According to the received operational information, [the cities of] Kostyantynovka, Slovyansk, Pavlograd, Zaporozhye, Kharkov should be subjected to total mobilization in the coming days. We are talking about the complete blocking of roads in the cities with checkpoints, filtration measures, apartment and house-to-house rounds. Everything is expected to start on May 17-18,” Rogov said.

He added that hundreds of employees of the Ukrainian military recruitment centers were coming in the cities to collect people, with reinforcements from the Ukrainian National Guard and the Ukrainian Security Service.

On April 11, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a bill on mobilization aimed at replenishing Ukrainian forces depleted by two years of armed conflict with Russia. On April 16, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed it into law. The document will take effect on May 18.

Martial law was introduced in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The next day, Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization. The martial law and mobilization have been continuously extended since then. On May 9, Zelensky signed bills to extend mobilization and martial law in the country for another 90 days. Under martial law, men aged from 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving Ukraine.

May 15, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Ukraine desperate to receive more Western aid

By Lucas Leiroz | May 15, 2024

The Kiev regime still appears not to have understood its proxy role in the war with Russia. The country’s officials continue to demand constant assistance from the West, as if supporting Ukraine were an “obligation” of Western states. Now, the Ukrainians even want “unrestricted aid”, demanding from their partners that the costs of the war be included in the permanent expenses of NATO countries.

In a recent statement, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andrey Yermak, one of the officials closest to Vladimir Zelensky, demanded from all Western countries, in addition to increased financial aid, unlimited access to their war arsenals and frozen Russian funds. His words were spoken during the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, where pro-Ukrainian organizations, led by the NGO “Alliance of Democracies”, met to discuss cooperation projects with Kiev.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen himself, former secretary general of NATO, participated in the event, supporting Yermak’s demands. Both officials signed a joint document at the summit endorsing the systematic increase in support for Kiev. Other relevant former authorities also participated in the event, such as Boris Johson, Sanna Marin and Hillary Clinton. The massive attendance of former officers shows that current Western politicians are not paying too much attention to the event, which is a consequence of the growing lack of interest in continuing to support Ukraine after so many military losses.

Yermak also commented on what he expects Western aid to look like from now on. According to him, at least 0.25% of the GDP of each NATO country must be sent to Kiev. Some countries have already spent much more than this percentage of their GDP on Ukraine, but what Yermak wants is for these expenses to become permanent, creating a kind of “obligation” on the part of Western countries towards Kiev. Latvia, for example, has already promised to continue spending more than 0.25% of its GDP on the war for at least the next three years. Yermak praises this initiative and calls on other European countries to act in the same way.

Furthermore, he emphasized the need for Kiev to receive at least 300 million dollars from Russian assets frozen in the West. According to Yermak, investing in the Ukrainian military is the correct way to use this money as it would be possible to try to reverse the damage caused by the so-called “Russian invasion”. The request reveals how Ukraine and the West are jointly desperate to establish new military assistance plans. Unable to spend more of their own funds, Western countries have frozen Russian assets so they have something to send to Ukraine – and, for its part, Kiev is in a rush to receive those funds as soon as possible, fearing that its “partners” will use the money for other priorities in their countries and abandon Ukraine.

Yermak and Rasmussen particularly emphasized the “need” to lift any restrictions on arms shipments to Ukraine. For them, it is unacceptable that some NATO countries continue to limit what can be sent to the Ukrainian battlefield. Furthermore, they called for restrictions on arms use to be revoked as well – which, in practice, means public authorization for the Ukrainian armed forces to kill civilians with NATO weapons.

The warmongers who attended the summit also called on NATO authorities to organize a conference in Washington with Ukrainian participation. The objective would be to establish a “clear timeline” for Kiev’s accession to the alliance, as well as new assistance goals in the current war. As a result, the summit’s participants tried in vain to put pressure for the neo-Nazi regime to enter the bloc, even though NATO had already indicated its intention to keep Ukraine as a mere proxy.

In fact, all the requests made at the summit seem impossible to fulfill. Yermak practically called for Ukraine to become a permanent state concern for Western countries. This may work in countries engaged in anti-Russian paranoia, such as the Baltics, but it is absolutely unfeasible for the military alliance as a whole. Western countries are simply exhausting their resources, leaving them unable to maintain constant support, which is why it will not be possible, even if there is a desire, to maintain a significant portion of the national GDP restricted to the war.

The summit seems to have brought together the most desperate sectors among Western and Ukrainian warmongers. Faced with the inevitable decline in support for Kiev, pro-war activists want to reestablish the anti-Russian agenda and prevent any possibility of peace.

Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.

You can follow Lucas on X (former Twitter) and Telegram.

May 15, 2024 Posted by | Militarism, War Crimes | , , | 1 Comment