Spain to file ICC complaint over Israel’s mistreatment of Sumud flotilla activists
Press TV – October 7, 2025
Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has suggested that legal measures might be pursued at the International Criminal Court (ICC) following reports from Spanish citizens on board the Global Sumud Flotilla regarding mistreatment by Israeli guards during their custody.
“I am concerned as a minister, and I am concerned as a Spanish citizen, and simply as a person, about any violation of a fundamental right, evidently. But for that, there are also legal channels: the International Criminal Court and also the Spanish courts when it concerns national citizens,” Marlaska said in an interview with public television broadcaster TVE on Monday.
He reiterated that criminal liabilities regarding individuals who might have been victims will be assessed and dealt with through the relevant national and international legal frameworks.
Marlaska also emphasized that boarding ships in international waters is subject to an international criminal law classification, as defined by clear conventions and also recognized within the national legal system, because “this would be a deprivation of liberty, absolutely illegal, for the people who were victims of these acts.”
Marlaska noted that the foremost priority is for the final 28 members of the flotilla to return to Spain “safe and sound.”
He underscored that the Spanish government “is absolutely proactive” in this case, “appearing before the International Criminal Court to defend the fundamental rights and public freedoms of Spanish citizens and other citizens.”
“There will be time to respond from a legal perspective. The Spanish government has already stated this from the very beginning, as I mentioned, appearing before the International Criminal Court,” the senior Spanish official said.
He also said that the attorney general’s office has initiated investigative proceedings as well.
“I believe that, in defending human rights and fundamental freedoms, no one can say that we have not been defending them from minute one,” he said.
The remarks come as the Gaza flotilla activists were deported from the Israeli-occupied territories amid numerous accounts of their mistreatment in Israeli detention centers.
According to the Spanish EFE news agency, they reported a lack of access to legal counsel and were also unable to contact their families.
The activists added that armed personnel entered the cells accompanied by dogs, directing them towards their heads.
They said they were deprived of sleep, moved between cells to prevent them from resting, and were treated “worse than animals.”
Approximately 450 individuals involved in the flotilla were detained from last Wednesday to Friday as Israeli forces intercepted the vessels, which aimed to breach a naval blockade of Gaza and provide aid to Palestinians in the besieged region.
Israel has maintained the blockade on Gaza, which is inhabited by nearly 2.4 million individuals, for nearly 18 years.
According to the health ministry of Gaza, Israeli attacks have claimed the lives of at least 67,160 Palestinians, predominantly women and children, in the besieged Gaza Strip since October 2023.
Gagauzia and the limits of nationalism in the post-Soviet space
Moldova’s pro-Western nationalism is eroding the country’s multiethnic coexistence
By Lucas Leiroz | Strategic Culture Foundation | October 7, 2025
The region of Gagauzia, a Turkic-speaking and Orthodox Christian enclave in southern Moldova, has become one of the most complex flashpoints in Eastern Europe today. The Moldovan government’s increasing push for accelerated Westernization and alignment with the European Union and NATO directly confronts the interests, identities, and aspirations of minority groups historically integrated into the post-Soviet space—such as the Gagauz.
Recognized as an autonomous republic within Moldova since 1995, Gagauzia is inhabited by a people of Oghuz Turkic origin, who converted to Orthodox Christianity through contact with Bulgarian missionaries during the Ottoman period and were heavily influenced by Russian culture throughout the 20th century. This fusion of influences shaped a unique identity: the Gagauz are simultaneously Turks, Orthodox Christians, Russophiles, and multilingual. They primarily speak Gagauz (a Turkic language), Russian, and, to a lesser extent, Moldovan (Romanian), maintaining strong cultural cohesion despite pressures from the Moldovan state to assimilate.
Gagauz autonomy emerged in the context of the Soviet collapse. In 1990, fearing that rising Moldovan-Romanian nationalism would lead to unification with Romania, the Gagauz declared independence—a move that did not lead to war but compelled the Moldovan state to grant the region special autonomy in 1995. For decades, this agreement formed the basis of internal stability in Moldova. However, under the administration of President Maia Sandu, this stability is rapidly deteriorating.
Since taking office, Sandu has pursued a strategic reorientation of Moldova toward the West, tightening ties with the European Union and adopting increasingly hostile rhetoric toward Russia. This Western shift, far from being solely geopolitical, has brought with it deep domestic transformations that directly impact minority groups like the Gagauz. The effort to consolidate a Westernized Moldovan national identity clashes directly with the Gagauz cultural ethos—traditionally conservative, Turanian, Slavophile, and opposed to the progressive social agenda promoted by Brussels.
In recent years, reports of political persecution in Gagauzia have multiplied. Regional authorities—including the head of the autonomous republic—have been arrested on charges of corruption and conspiracy, which many local observers view as politically motivated. Gagauz political parties have been banned or heavily restricted, and recent elections saw allegations of voter intimidation and restricted access to polling stations in the region.
This situation raises a difficult question: how far can a plurinational state like Moldova go in its Western integration project without undermining internal cohesion? History shows that the exclusion of ethnic minorities—especially in post-imperial contexts—tends to trigger separatist movements, and Gagauzia is beginning to follow this path.
Growing disillusionment with the Moldovan state is fueling separatist and Russian-reintegrationist sentiments. The idea of eventual unification with Moscow (in a post-SVO scenario), possibly aligning Gagauzia’s destiny with that of Transnistria, is regaining adhesion among the Gagauz as their autonomy is gradually dismantled. This scenario undermines not only Moldova’s territorial integrity but also the very viability of the Western project in the region, which is built on the rhetoric of human rights and diversity but fails to uphold these principles for minorities such as the Gagauz.
If Moldova continues on its current trajectory—disregarding the cultural and political specificities of its minority populations—it risks replicating a pattern seen elsewhere in the post-Soviet world: the collapse of interethnic pacts and the outbreak of separatist conflicts. A potential Gagauz secession, coupled with broader territorial reconfiguration involving Transnistria, could lead to a redrawing of Moldova’s borders and the practical end of its existence as a multiethnic state.
Paradoxically, only with the separation of these regions—deeply incompatible with the current Moldovan-Romanian national project—might Moldova fully and stably integrate into Romania, without harmfully affecting minority groups that do not fit into the Romanian-Moldovan identity. For the West, this would mean the loss of two Russophile spheres of influence, but the consolidation of a new, more cohesive and aligned EU member state.
Meanwhile, in Gagauzia, the sense that resisting forced Westernization is a way of preserving not only political autonomy but cultural identity continues to grow. And it is this tension—between integration and cultural survival—that will define the region’s future.
‘Our goal should not be to defeat Russia, but to end the war,’ says Slovak PM Fico
By Thomas Brooke | Remix News | October 6, 2025
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has again denounced the European Union’s handling of the war in Ukraine, declaring that Slovakia’s goal is not Russia’s defeat but peace between “Slavs killing each other.”
Speaking during a televised discussion marking the 81st anniversary of the Battle of the Dukla Pass, Fico said that “the war could have ended three months after it started,” accusing Western powers of prolonging the conflict to fight Russia indirectly.
“War is no solution. If the EU had spent as much energy on peace as it does on supporting the war in Ukraine, the war could have ended long ago. I will never be a wartime prime minister,” Fico said, insisting that if Slovaks wanted such a leader, “they should elect someone else.”
The prime minister added that he would “never allow Slovakia to be dragged into any war adventure,” citing “no moral, historical, or legal reasons” for the country to become involved in the conflict.
“It is not our war,” he said. “It is a regional conflict with historical roots. Why should Slovakia talk about war now?”
Fico also dismissed recent EU discussions on creating an anti-drone defense wall along the bloc’s eastern flank. “Let the experts talk about it. What can a prime minister who has never fired a gun say about drone protection? That is an expert question,” he remarked.
He also confirmed that a new round of talks between the Slovak and Ukrainian governments would take place in Michalovce on Oct. 17.
Marking the wartime commemoration, Fico warned against what he described as historical amnesia, saying that Europe was “forbidding” celebrations of the end of World War II and dismantling Red Army monuments. “We have to talk about what the hell is happening today,” he said, condemning leaders who “speak so lightly about war” and “talk about defeating Russia” without recalling “the terrible suffering” of past generations.
Fico’s comments are in sharp contrast to those made last week by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who told the Warsaw Security Forum that the Ukraine war is “our war.” Tusk described it as “central to Europe’s security and values,” warning that “if we lose this war, the consequences will affect not only our generation but also the next generations in Poland, all of Europe, in the United States, everywhere in the world.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán swiftly rebuked Tusk, posting on X: “Dear Donald Tusk, you may think that you are at war with Russia, but Hungary is not. Neither is the European Union. You are playing a dangerous game with the lives and security of millions of Europeans.”
The divide highlights the deep fracture running through Central Europe’s response to the conflict. Orbán and Fico, both critical of EU sanctions and weapons deliveries, have positioned themselves as advocates for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations with Moscow.
They have also acquired a new ally over the weekend in Prague after Andrej Babiš’s ANO movement won national elections, leaving Tusk isolated within the Visegrád Group.
Babiš has pledged to withdraw from a Czech-led initiative to procure artillery shells for Ukraine and declared that Kyiv is “not ready” for EU membership. “We have to end the war first,” Babiš told a Ukrainian journalist. “Of course, we can cooperate with Ukraine. But you are not ready for the EU.”
Orban rejects Euro as EU ‘falling apart’
RT | October 6, 2025
Hungary will not adopt the euro as its currency, as the EU is “falling apart,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.
Bloc members are obliged to eventually join the Eurozone, with the exception of Denmark, which secured an opt-out. Seven of the 27 EU member states still use their national currencies.
In an interview with economic news site EconomX on Monday, Orban was asked whether he would move towards adopting the euro in Hungary.
“It will definitely not be on my agenda,” he replied.
“The European Union is in trouble, in the process of disintegration, it is currently falling apart,” he said.
Orban argued that, in light of this, he did not want to tie Hungary’s fate to the EU any further.
The Hungarian leader has been progressively more critical of the EU in recent years, clashing with its leadership over arms supplies to Ukraine, sanctions against Russia, and a shift towards militarization.
Orban has also vowed to veto Kiev’s EU bid, arguing that Ukrainian membership would destroy the bloc’s economy, and directly embroil it in a conflict with Russia.
EU leaders are increasingly pushing to fast-track Ukraine’s accession and want to finance more military aid, clearly showing that “the Brusselians want to go to war,” he wrote on X last week.
His position has led to tension with Kiev, exacerbated in recent months by Ukraine’s strikes on Russian energy facilities that supply oil to landlocked Hungary.
Kiev and certain senior figures in the EU are conspiring to influence Hungarian domestic politics to put a pro-Ukrainian government in power, Orban claimed on Saturday.
His accusation echoed a report from Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), published earlier this year.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen “is seriously studying regime change scenarios” in Hungary due to Orban’s overly “independent policy,” the spy agency claimed.
Ukrainian drone targets nuclear plant inside Russia – operator
RT | October 7, 2025
A Ukrainian drone has targeted a nuclear power station in Russia’s Voronezh Region overnight, Rosenergoatom, a state-run company which operates the country’s nuclear power plants, has said.
The UAV hit a cooling tower of the sixth power-generating unit at the Novovoronezh NPP after being diverted by electronic warfare means, the company said in a statement on Telegram on Tuesday.
There was no damage or injuries as a result of the incident, the statement read. A dark mark was left in the spot where the drone struck the tower, it added.
The attack did not affect the operations of the station, with the radiation level on site remaining unchanged and corresponding to natural levels, Rosenergoatom said.
“This is yet another act of aggression by the Ukrainian military against the Russian nuclear power plants. Previously, it had attempted attacks against the main facilities of the Kursk and Smolensk Nuclear Power Plants,” the company stated.
US admits F-35 program failure after decades and trillions spent
Al Mayadeen | October 7, 2025
Nearly 25 years after awarding Lockheed Martin the contract to build the Joint Strike Fighter Program, Responsible Statecraft analyst Dan Grazier says that the US government has finally admitted that the F-35 will never achieve the combat capabilities it was designed to deliver.
A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released last month details the program’s ongoing issues and includes a key acknowledgment: “The program plans to reduce the scope of Block 4 to deliver capabilities to the warfighter at a more predictable pace than in the past.”
Grazier says that this statement, while phrased bureaucratically, is a quiet admission that the F-35 will not meet its original goals. “Reducing the scope of Block 4” effectively means that planned combat capabilities are being abandoned.
The Joint Strike Fighter Program began in the early 2000s as the Pentagon’s most ambitious weapons development initiative, a single aircraft platform meant to serve multiple branches of the US military and allied nations.
However, as the GAO report notes, many of the F-35’s core design elements remain incomplete. Officials were unable to finish the jet’s baseline development on time or within budget. Instead of admitting failure, they rebranded the process as the “modernization phase,” also known as Block 4, to mask ongoing design work.
Grazier says “reducing the scope” of this modernization effort confirms that many of the F-35’s touted features in areas like electronic warfare, weapons integration, and navigation will never materialize.
Lockheed Martin’s ‘modernization’ phase masks ongoing failures
The decision marks a stunning reversal for the Pentagon, which for years defended the F-35 as the future of aerial warfare. With costs exceeding $2 trillion, the program has become the most expensive weapons project in history.
For two decades, Lockheed Martin and US military officials promised a revolutionary fighter jet that would ensure American air superiority for generations. Instead, the GAO findings reveal a project mired in delays, performance shortfalls, and spiraling expenses.
The report also highlights how the Pentagon reclassified unfinished development work as “modernization” to secure continued funding and avoid scrutiny from Congress.
Fallout for US allies and global weapons sales
Grazuer states that the ramifications of the F-35’s shortcomings go beyond wasted money. 19 countries have purchased or plan to operate the aircraft, including the United Kingdom, Norway, and Italy, many of whom were partners in the program from the outset.
These nations invested heavily, expecting the world’s most advanced fighter jet. Instead, they now face rising costs and reduced performance. For allies that committed billions based on Washington’s assurances, the admission could strain future defense spending cooperation and arms sales.
If the US military cannot deliver the promised technology, Grazier says skepticism toward future US weapons programs may grow, reducing trust in the country’s defense industry.
A symbol of flawed defense spending and mismanagement
The Responsible Statecraft report says the F-35 program has become a cautionary tale of overreach, that of an effort to design one aircraft to meet the needs of multiple branches and allies, while serving political and industrial interests at home.
As critics note, trying to build a single jet to satisfy at least 15 militaries worldwide was doomed from the start. What was intended as a triumph of innovation has turned into a $2 trillion emblem of waste, inefficiency, and failed accountability in US defense policy.
For the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin, Grazier says the F-35 may not stand as the future of warfare, but as a monument to the limits of ambition and the dangers of unchecked defense spending.
Iran discovers large natural gas reserve near Persian Gulf
Press TV – October 6, 2025
Iran has discovered a large gas reserve in its southern province of Fars near the Persian Gulf as the country moves ahead with plans to expand its massive petroleum sector despite foreign sanctions.
Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said on Monday that the Pazan gas reserve holds an estimated 10 trillion cubic feet, or more than 280 billion cubic meters (bcm), of natural gas.
Paknejad said the large gas field also covers areas in the neighboring province of Bushehr, which is the hub of Iran’s gas processing industry.
He said Iran had awarded a contract to develop the field, adding that production could start within the next 40 months.
The minister said exploration activities in Pazan had also led to the discovery of a reserve with at least 200 million barrels of crude oil, adding that the figure could increase as a result of ongoing operations in the field.
His comments came in a report by the Iranian Oil Ministry’s news service Shana, which indicated that the discovery of the Pazan gas field had taken place after drilling a second well in the field in recent years.
It said production from the field will boost Iran’s capacity to respond to an increasing demand for energy in the country in the coming years.
Iran is the second-largest holder of natural gas resources in the world. It is also the third-largest producer of natural gas after the United States and Russia, and the fourth-largest consumer after the US, Russia, and China.
Facing an increasing demand for natural gas in power plants and industries, the country has successfully increased its production in recent years by relying on domestic companies that have replaced foreign contractors wary of US sanctions.
The South Pars gas field, located on the maritime border between Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf, is responsible for more than 70% of Iran’s natural gas production of nearly 1 bcm per day.
China Slams Remarks by US Ambassador to Panama About Canal
Sputnik – 06.10.2025
BEIJING – The Chinese embassy in Panama on Monday criticized the remarks by US Ambassador to Panama Kevin Marino Cabrera about Beijing’s alleged meddling in matters concerning the Panama Canal.
On Sunday, Cabrera said in an interview with the Contrapeso newspaper that China had “malign” influence on the Panama Canal, accusing Beijing of cyberattacks and corruption and threatening visa cancellations for those who cooperate with Chinese enterprises.
“The statements of the US Ambassador about China have no factual basis and scientific justification, they are aimed at provoking conflict between China and other countries in the region. Depriving these countries of their diplomatic independence serves the geopolitical interests of the United States, causing more criticism and opposition,” the Chinese embassy said in a statement.
China adheres to the principle of “joint consultation, joint construction and joint use” in mutually beneficial cooperation with all countries, the statement read.
“The projects of Chinese companies in Panama and other Latin American countries make a significant contribution to social-economic development. High-quality Chinese goods at a low price are popular. The US ambassador’s statement casts doubt on the ability of countries in the region to think sensibly and ridicules the local population,” the embassy said.
Beijing urges Washington to put aside arrogance and bias and “focus on the matters that truly contribute to the development of the countries of the region and the well-being of their peoples,” the embassy added.
Free Speech After Charlie Kirk: an American Lesson for Pam Bondi, Donald Trump & Netanyahu
By Ilana Mercer | LewRockwell.com | October 4, 2025
Let us be clear about what freedom of speech à la America truly means:
The words people speak, chant, write and tweet; the beliefs they are known to hold, the flags they fly or burn, the symbolic, non-violent ceremonies and rituals they enact, the insignia, paraphernalia; the goose-stepping, Hitler salutes they muck around with—provided no physical aggression is involved (violence against animals included), all this counts as protected speech, licit in natural law.
So long as oddities and idiosyncrasies, whether performed alone or in groups, thoughts harbored privately or shared in public—so long as no violence accompanies such speech or behavior; so long as your mitts stop at the next man’s face (or at the next mutt’s fury face, Kristi Noem): SPEECH. It’s all speech. It should be free, unfettered and as wild and as wanton as can be.
At their worst, expressions of ostensible antisemitism, Naziism, racisms or other antipathies amount to thought crimes, nothing more, if expressed as a belief system severally or collectively, rather than in palpably violent actions. Whether your thoughts are spoken, chanted, written or preached; be they impolite or impolitic: they are, at worst, no more than thought crimes.
Thought crimes are nobody’s business in a free society. Thought crimes ought to be ferociously protected by a free people. By logical extension, any accusations of antisemitism, Naziism or other antipathies and racisms, are especially suspect when emitted as a meme from American institutionalized power structures.
One such obscenely wealthy and worthless power structure is the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), or Defamation League—a more apt moniker once suggested by Elon Musk, before he joined the ADL in severely censoring some speech on the X platform. The ADL is a meddlesome shakedown operation, in the mold of the Southern Poverty Law Center (“Smear Artists for the Total State,” wrote Tom DiLorenzo). It has taken it upon itself to decide who lives and who dies socially and financially on the basis of the unfortunate individual’s ideas, spoken and written.
In the American tradition, thoughts and words spoken or written that are politically impolite—again, racism; Naziism, antisemitism—retain protected status as speech beyond the adjudication of law-makers, bureaucrats, mediacrats, educrats and technocrats.
Sniffing out racists or anti-Semites is an absolute no-no for any and all self-respecting, libertarian-minded Americans, or any American, for that matter. Like creedal libertarians, Americans don’t, or should not, prosecute thought crimes or persecute thought “criminals.”
Ours should be The Skokie Standard of free speech and thinking (which I articulated in August 2022). What is The Skokie Standard of free speech? In 1978, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) took a stand for free speech by defending a neo-Nazi group that wanted to march through the Chicago suburb of Skokie, where many Holocaust survivors lived. The Skokie Standard of free speech is one that champions unpopular expression, and vigorously defends all marginalized speakers and thinkers, rather than purveying and protecting state and corporate ideology du jour.
Let me repeat what the Skokie Standard of free speech stands for here: However which way they are grouped, the words people individually or collectively speak, chant, write and tweet; the beliefs they are known to hold, the flags they fly or stomp, the symbolic, non-violent ceremonies, rituals and protests they perform; the insignia, paraphernalia, the goose-stepping, Hitler salutes they dick around with—provided no physical aggression is involved, all that counts as protected speech.
Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk, RIP, got it. On May 2, 2024, Kirk wrote the following: “Hate speech does not exist legally in America. There’s ugly speech. There’s gross speech. There’s evil speech. And ALL of it is protected by the First Amendment. Keep America free.”
Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi doesn’t get it. No wonder even Glenn Greenwald, once a practicing constitutional attorney—and a man of manners and decorum—regularly appends “dumb” and “lacking any grasp of constitutional law” to any mention of Bondi, who said this after Kirk’s murder:
The Justice Department would “absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech… There’s free speech, and then there’s hate speech. And there is no place—especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie — [for that] in our society,” Bondi told a podcaster likewise cerebrally compromised.
If you thought the nation’s chief law enforcement officer had blurted out on an impulse such promises of unconstitutional hate-speech prosecutions; I’m sorry to say that Bondi only doubled down. In scant regard for the letter and spirit of American constitutional law, she advised employers, on September 15, of their “obligation to get rid of people who are saying horrible things.”
While “The First Amendment doesn’t stop private employers from choosing to fire people for speech; it can be illegal for the government to use its power to pressure a private company into firing a staff member.” In America, not even do celebrations of Kirk’s assassination count as threats of violence or incitement to violence. In fact, “government retribution for speech,” lambasted U.S. District Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, “is directly forbidden by the First Amendment.”
For our libertarian purposes, moreover, speech should never be defended by deploying a contents-driven defense, such as that a book, an utterance or their author must be spared on account that the person is good and his words are not racist and are against bigotry.
The Argument from Freedom means arguing process, not content. Racism, (alleged) antisemitism or Naziism in targeted literature or in protests should always and everywhere be a peripheral issue. Or, preferably, no issue at all.
The Argument from Freedom means arguing not over the contents of publications like Mein Kampf or the merit of protests for Palestine, but for their publication and practice irrespective of their contents. Which is why I say freedom’s argument is an argument from process, not content.
Freedom makes the case for an unfettered free market in ideas, good and bad. Freedom argues for politically impolite books to be published and read freely. It demands that all offensive literature be available to the free men and women who inhabit the free society. And not because of history; so that we don’t forget it or repeat it. Rather, freedom needs no justification. It is an end unto itself. You are deficient in American solidarity if you don’t stand up for non-violent protest and all speech.
Liberty is a simple thing. It’s the unassailable right to shout, flail your arms, and verbally provoke people in power, unmolested. Tyranny is when those small things can get you assaulted, incarcerated, injured, deported, even killed.
Ultimately banning books or proscribing speech and speakers as the kangaroo courts of Britain, Europe and Canada do legally, assumes a lack of choice and agency among ostensibly “free” human beings. It’s also predicated on the acceptance of a higher authority which decides for the rest of us which cultural products are fit for our consumption.
I thus put it to you, dear reader, left and right, that speech restrictions stateside in the form of the Antisemitism Awareness Act mirror the worst of British and western Europe’s anti-speech tribunals. Tabled by a Republican and a Democrat, S. 4127, which mercifully is still in committee, would embed state agitprop throughout American education. For posterity. Aside being in violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Antisemitism Awareness Act would utterly enervate discourse in our country and criminalize vast tracts of speech as well as proscribe actions that are licit in constitutional and natural law.
Left, Right and libertarian; we can and must, then, join in unapologetically rejecting the very idea of policing, purging, persecuting or prosecuting people for holding and expressing politically unpopular ideas in action or in speech.
Mexico Bill Proposes Prison for AI Memes Mocking Public Figures
By Dan Frieth | Reclaim The Net | October 6, 2025
Mexico’s Congress is once again at the center of a free speech storm.
This time, Deputy Armando Corona Arvizu from the ruling Morena party is proposing to make it a crime to create or share AI-generated memes or digital images that make fun of someone without their consent.
His initiative, filed in the Chamber of Deputies, sets out prison terms of three to six years and fines for anyone who “create, manipulate, transform, reproduce or disseminate images, videos, audios or digital representations” made with artificial intelligence for the purpose of “ridiculing, harassing, impersonating or damaging” a person’s “reputation or dignity.”
Read the bill here.
The punishment would increase by half if the person targeted is a public official, minor, or person with a disability, or if the content spreads widely online or causes personal, psychological, or professional harm.
The bill presents itself as protection against digital abuse but is, as always, a new attempt at censorship.
The initiative would insert Articles 211 Bis 8 and 211 Bis 9 into the Federal Penal Code, written in vague and sweeping terms that could cover almost any form of online expression.
It makes no distinction between a malicious deepfake and a harmless meme.
By criminalizing content intended to “ridicule,” the bill allows courts or public figures to decide what counts as ridicule. That opens the door to arbitrary enforcement.
There are no explicit protections for parody, satire, or public-interest criticism, all of which are essential to a free society.
Even more troubling, the law increases penalties when the alleged victim is a public servant.
That provision could turn the law into a tool for politicians to insulate themselves from criticism, since any joke, meme, or cartoon could be claimed to harm their “dignity.”
Mexico has long relied on humor as a form of political expression.
Memes, cartoons, and viral jokes often serve as the public’s way of questioning authority. Turning that humor into a potential crime would be a serious step backward.
Instead of making the internet safer, this measure could create a chilling effect that discourages users from speaking or joking freely for fear of prison time.
This is not the first time Morena has tried to police online humor. Former Puebla governor Alejandro Armenta introduced what became known as the Censorship Law, which sought to punish people for “insulting or offending” others online.
The watchdog group Article 19 warned that its broad language could easily be used against journalists or ordinary citizens.
Earlier this year, Ricardo Monreal suggested an Anti-Memes Law that would have required humorous posts to be labeled as “memes” to avoid penalties. Public outrage forced him to abandon the idea.
Corona’s proposal follows the same path under a new label. While it claims to address the dangers of AI manipulation, its vague wording threatens free expression instead of safeguarding it.
Al-Azhar University levelled in Gaza amid intensified Israeli strikes
MEMO | October 6, 2025
Israeli airstrikes on Sunday levelled Al-Azhar University in Gaza City as part of a wave of attacks across the besieged enclave, according to Palestinian sources. The strikes left several civilians injured and caused extensive damage to homes and infrastructure.
The Palestinian News Agency, citing local sources, reported that Israeli aircraft also targeted tents sheltering displaced people near Asdaa city, north of Khan Yunis, wounding multiple civilians.
Elsewhere, Israeli artillery shelled crowds waiting for humanitarian aid east of Wadi Gaza, while air raids pounded the Al-Sabra, Al-Jalaa, and Al-Thalathini neighbourhoods around Tayaran Junction, striking residential buildings and damaging nearby homes.
In central Gaza, Israeli aircraft hit the Maghazi refugee camp, leaving injuries and further destruction to civilian property.
The bombing of Al-Azhar University marked the most significant strike of the day, with the landmark institution reduced to rubble. It comes amid a broader campaign targeting Gaza’s infrastructure and civilian facilities.
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Pilpul for Beginners
By Gilad Atzmon | May 18, 2020
Americans may be surprised to learn from Alan Dershowitz that their constitution is far more intrusive and oppressive than what they and their forefathers have believed for generations. The law ‘scholar’ declared yesterday that “you have no (constitutional) right to not be vaccinated.” … continue
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Aletho News- Congratulations On Your Diagnosis
- Scott Ritter say he was ‘de-banked’
- Leaked files tie Epstein to Israel-UAE backchannel and possible kompromat
- Alleged Ukrainian plot to influence Hungarian elections claims postal vote fraud and even a false flag attack
- Australia’s New Hate Speech Bill Is Reckless, Contradictory, and Repressive
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- Trump’s Options in Iran Limited By Military Buildup in Latin America
- Villains of Judea: Paul Singer’s Empire of Debt & Demographic Replacement
- The Gaza ceasefire’s Phase 2 only exists in the media and at UN meetings
- We must act before Palestinian hostages are executed in the world’s worst prisons
- If Americans Knew
- ‘My leg went to heaven before me’: Israeli war extinguishes Gaza childhoods
- Founders of deadly GHF ‘shaping’ new US-backed administration for Gaza: Report
- Genocide isn’t a mistake. Which is why the media can’t tell you the truth about Gaza
- “Praise Allah, There Are Still People Like You”: Jeffrey Epstein Nurtured Israel-Emirates Ties Before Abraham Accords
- 41% drop in Gaza births may be “reproductive violence” – Not a ceasefire Day 97
- Trump family has long record of supporting Israeli causes
- Militant Pro-Israel Group Agrees to Halt Operations in New York
- During “ceasefire,” at least 100 Gaza children killed – clearly NOT a ceasefire Day 96
- Israel Has Demolished 2,500 Buildings in Gaza Since Signing Ceasefire Deal
- Iran, Gaza and the politics of counting the dead
- No Tricks Zone
- New Study: Species Extinction Rates Declining Since 1980 – ‘Climate Change Is Not An Important Threat’
- Denmark Places Climate Protection Above Animal Welfare, Poisoning And Culling Cows
- New Study: Greenland Was 3-7°C Warmer And Far Less Glaciated Than Today 6000-8000 Years Ago
- German Media Report That Current Frigid Weather Can Be Explained By Arctic Warming!
- Berlin Blackout Shows Germany’s $5 Trillion Green Scheme Is “Left-Green Ideological Pipe Dream”
- Modeling Error In Estimating How Clouds Affect Climate Is 8700% Larger Than Alleged CO2 Forcing
- Berlin’s Terror-Blackout Enters 4th Day As Tens Of Thousands Suffer In Cold Without Heat!
- Expect Soon Another PIK Paper Claiming Warming Leads To Cold Snaps Over Europe
- New Study: Human CO2 Emissions Responsible For 1.57% Of Global Temperature Change Since 1750
- Welcome To 2026: Europe Laying Groundwork For Climate Science Censorship!
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