Tuesday, April 7, 2015

FACEBOOK'S WAR ON JOURNALISM by Colin Mulholland

It shouldn't be too unknown of a fact that Facebook are THE capitalists of virtual egotism. It was even said by Mark Zuckerberg's character (played by Jesse Eisenberg) in the 2010 biographical film "The Social Network", "Who's having sex, who isn't having sex" was the original vision of Facebook's early beginnings as an underground web page for Harvard students (Zuckerberg's college before later dropping out). But what isn't a well known fact is, as of 2011 under president Obama's NDAA (National Defense Act of America) the United States government gave the NSA (National Security Agency) the okay to partner up with Zuckerberg and Facebook to start the surveillence and search and seizure of personal photos and messages. This came following the crisis over the NSA's partnership with Verizon Wireless and their tapping/ surveillence of customer's phones. If it were not for Edward Snowden, none of this information would have been leaked to  journalists allover the world INCLUDING the New York TImes who have had several of their journalists jailed for using said information and giving it to the public. But sadly you cannot jail the truth. Millions of people are being previewed to the truth every day and are finally standing up and doing something about it. Whether it's through protests, music or through writing books or blogs (like yours truly) the oppurtunities are endless when it comes to exposing the governments OBVIOUSLY not so well hidden phenomena.
According to Amber Lyon, author of the book "Peace, Love and Pepper Spray" President Obama's war on  journalism began on December 31'st 2011 when after lying to the public by stating he would "veto the NDAA's indefinite-detention clauses. Instead, he surreptitiously signed the NDAA into law while most Americans were distracted celebrating New Year's Eve." (Amber Lyon is a three time Emmy award winning journalist and photographer who use to work for CNN.) The NDAA has alot to do with cops seizing phones from Americans who are filming police brutality, including Ramsey Orta the 22 year NYC man who is currently serving time in Rikers Island Prison prison on drug and gun charges, which, are just a scapegoat for his involvment in filming the NYPD's involvment in Eric Garner's murder.  (I will not rest until my voice is heard, Eric Garner's death is avenged and Ramsey Orta is free from prison!) This is both the plus and negative side of social media. On the one hand you are exposing the system for who they really are, but it is the same system watching every move and breath you make/ take.
My first glimpse into the NDAA came at the point when the whole argument about the guy from Duck Dynasty dissapproving of gay marriage came about. People were so damn focused on that situation, that they weren't paying attention to the fact that at that very moment gun rights were being violated.  I have stated this many times to people I know, Obama supporters always crack me up. I remember hearing from several (un-named for safety) people I knew who supported him about how he's going to ban guns. And then there were all the jerks on random Facebook pages who would say things like "Obama's gonna take your fucking guns away you stupid rednecks!" (which mind you not all gun owners are rednecks). Then all of a sudden these off duty ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) agents were coming to gun owner's houses unwarrantedly, and they would be the ones getting arrested. There were over a thousand of these situations being reported until one day it came to a cease fire (so to speak). Then the Obama supporters had new curtains on the house and were saying "Obama isn't trying to ban guns... why does everybody think he hates guns?" Now, I don't own a gun, nor do I wish to. But as a man who supports the very idea of all freedoms of our constitution, I do support the second ammendment, on this basis. You cannot support freedom of speech if you cannot support the right to bear arms. If you demand one be banned, than you are no better than the government trying to be rid of all our civil liberties. This small taste into the NDAA was what made me curious. Then the banners kept unfolding (more into that later in another piece I'm writing. "What to expect when you're unexpecting: The NDAA, Obamacare, and The War on Freedom").
This piece I am writing today is in response to my own experiance with not only Facebook's war on independent journalism, but Facebook's war on their members. For example, for unexplained and unjust reasons I have been restricted from creating more pages on Facebook. This comes after an unexpected and unforeseen error occurred after making a flyer for my friends Indocile/ Faces Turned Ashen's show last July (2014). Whilst on the FTA page my computer started acting funny than exited out of internet explorer altogether. Since, the only page I've been able to have is my music page for Mulholland  (Previously Fatty Talltree) my Colin's Punk Rock Central page, a page that interviewed bands and reviewed albums, which I worked my ass off on was taken away from me. I sent two appeals last year and have gotten nothing except my Mulholland page back. Which was a start. Today I have sent three appeals and will continue to send more throughout the next few years until my demands are met. This war on journalistic freedom needs to end!

"Facebook Kills Independent Journalists" By Colin Mulholland.

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