“Surveillance Society”

A federal law passed by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last year mandating regulation of online platforms such as YouTube and Netflix to ensure they meet government requirements will indeed affect content uploaded by ordinary users, admitted federal lawyers.

Despite successive Heritage Ministers stating that any user-generated content would not be affected by Bill C-11, known as the Online Streaming Act, that was passed into law in April 2023, a recent legal battle with Google regarding revenue compensation has exposed that this might not be the case.

Lawyers for Canada’s Justice Department admitted that Bill C-11 “does allow for regulation of user-uploaded programs on social media services.”

Two police services in the Greater Toronto Area are now using facial recognition technology as part of their investigations, sparking concerns from legal observers who say the investigative tool could come at the expense of privacy rights.

Peel Regional Police Service and York Regional Police Service announced the adoption of the software late last month, saying the move comes after consultations with the province’s information and privacy commissioner. The police services also held public consultations in March and April.

Portable knife scanners enabling police to detect weapons hidden on people at a distance are to be trialled on British streets.

Chris Philp, the policing minister, has said the Home Office is looking at versions of the technology developed by five different companies with a view to police officers trying it at knife crime hot spots by the end of 2024.

Experts say a partnership between Peel and York police to use facial recognition to search mug shots for matches with crime scene photos contributes to over-policing minority groups, violates privacy and poses a risk of misidentification.

While not the first GTA police service to use facial recognition technology for investigations, this move by York and Peel police, launched Monday, is part of a growing effort by police services across North America to use AI and facial recognition technology to investigate and prevent crime.

WTF? @fancypants_s https://t.co/XGtuaTDyHn

— Patti Jo (@TheSupeHero) May 30, 2024

Elon Musk called it “a Black Mirror episode” — a reference to Netflix’s creepy Twilight Zone-inspired show — that he’ll “definitely” be turning off, but Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says Windows is just trying to help.

h/t XC

It didn’t take long, once Johannes Gutenberg introduced the printing press, for those threatened by its power to react.

Sure, a few eyebrows were raised when, in 1455, Mr. Gutenberg first used his invention to print the Bible, making it more available for people to read and interpret for themselves. But a generation later, after rogue priest Martin Luther stepped out of line with the Roman Catholic church’s orthodoxies and triggered the Reformation, the suppression of ideas that challenged the status quo really got rolling.

Increasing numbers of worried Americans have been wondering over the last few years whether progressive Democrats have succeeded in creating a police state in America. From the Russia Hoax to the revelations of the Twitter Files release, to the coordinated attempts to quash scandalous and true Biden family stories, to the blatant display of dual justice, they’ve seen that the cabal of one political party, with its power bases in the government and the sycophant media, has succeeded in limiting or destroying political opponents while eliminating individual rights. Just how bad is it? Has that cabal suspended our American Constitution and Bill of Rights and created an authoritarian alternative? Are we there yet?

Do you have a conservative face or a liberal face? Take a look in the mirror and answer yourself as soon as possible because it is quite possible that your ideology — at least what some robot thinks about it — will become public or end up in someone else’s hands sooner rather than later.