Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Digital Iron Curtain: How the RESTRICT Act Threatens to Devastate Privacy and Crush Free Speech Online
Activist Post ^ | March 28, 2023 | Matt Agorist

Posted on 03/29/2023 10:16:38 AM PDT by Heartlander

The Digital Iron Curtain: How the RESTRICT Act Threatens to Devastate Privacy and Crush Free Speech Online

This is going way past banning TikTok.

In an era where the world has become more Orwellian than Orwell himself could have ever imagined, it should come as no surprise that the US government is once again attempting to expand its stranglehold on individual liberty. Enter Senate Bill 686, also known as the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act (RESTRICT Act). Far from being the limited TikTok ban it purports to be, the RESTRICT Act represents an unprecedented expansion of government power and surveillance, reaching into nearly every aspect of our digital lives.

Make no mistake, this piece of legislation is the "Patriot Act on steroids." The RESTRICT Act would seemingly grant the US government total control over all devices connected to the internet, including cars, Ring cameras, refrigerators, Alexa devices, and your phone. It goes beyond the pale, with the end goal being nothing short of a complete invasion of your privacy.

Under the guise of national security, the RESTRICT Act targets not only TikTok but all hardware, software, and mobile apps used by more than one million people. This means that anything from your Google Home device to your smartphone could be subject to government monitoring and control.

Should you dare to defy the RESTRICT Act, you'll face devastating consequences. Violators can be slapped with a 20-year prison sentence, civil forfeiture, and denied freedom of information requests. All this, mind you, for simply trying to maintain some semblance of privacy in your own home.

The insidious nature of the RESTRICT Act doesn't stop there. As reported by @underthedesknews, the bill's proponents are also seeking to undermine Section 230 and limit free speech. The implications are clear: this legislation is not about protecting Americans but rather about stripping away our rights and liberties.

The list of supporters for this draconian bill reads like a who's who of Big Government cheerleaders and like all attacks on freedom, it has bipartisan support. Among them are Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, Sen. John Thune, R-N.D., National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and nine Democratic co-sponsors such as Hillary Clinton's former VP pick, Tim Kaine, and U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin.

It's time to call this bill what it truly is: an all-out assault on individual freedom and privacy. The RESTRICT Act would usher in an era of unparalleled state control over our digital lives, a nightmare scenario that even George Orwell would have struggled to imagine,

We must stand united against this abomination of a bill, lest we allow our government to transform the internet into a dystopian surveillance state. The RESTRICT Act represents the antithesis of the free and open web we have come to cherish, and it must be stopped before it's too late.

In the past, it was outraged citizens who rose to the challenge and struck down this huge step toward the police state. And we can do it again.

Share this article with your friends and family and ask them to call their representative now, and tell them to oppose this Orwellian legislation.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ccp; china; restrictact; tiktok
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-25 next last
*Modems, Routers, Mobile networks, VPNs (personal phones, laptops, etc)... Are BANNED if used to contact any any "foreign adversaries" (such as Korea, China, Cuba, Iran) Also this is subject to change, meaning anywhere in Europe could be next if deemed "appropriate")

*If you are found using a method to bypass banned content, you are now a criminal. You can face up to 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine. OR $1mil if you knowingly used a method to access this said content. (Because this bill is vague, it can mean anything from a VPN to proxy or something else entirely)

*If this bill is PASSED. The government has liberty to appoint a secretary of communication to create a small group that can ban/deem ANYTHING innapropriate or risk to security (VOTERS CANNOT HAVE INPUT ON THEIR DECISIONS). Essentially, they can go through our emails, DMs, texts, etc if they deem appropriate.

*The Bill gives our government the power to monitor any activity used by the devices listed above (including home cameras). (ESSENTIALLY, they can access our in-home cameras and literally spy on us at any time without even informing us, if they deem appropriate)

https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/686

1 posted on 03/29/2023 10:16:38 AM PDT by Heartlander
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Heartlander

Bookmark


2 posted on 03/29/2023 10:22:22 AM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican (The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Heartlander

I remember a long time ago when Bush was trying to pass the Patriot Act. The smart people saw that it was bigger than it seemed and would bite us all in the end. At the time, I was not one of the smart ones, and in the wake of 9/11 I thought maybe we needed a tool like the Patriot Act to help us fight terrorists. But I was wrong and now we are all surveilled all the time.

I don’t like Tik Tok. I consider it a tool of the Chinese government to hurt America. But I think I’ve learned a thing or two and I say that throwing out the First Amendment because some people don’t like Tik Tok is pretty foolish. Especially if Biden wants it, it just can’t be good. Privacy and free speech are worth preserving.


3 posted on 03/29/2023 10:22:38 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (“You want it one way, but it's the other way”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ClearCase_guy

Our own government is doing a lot more damage than the Chinese government.


4 posted on 03/29/2023 10:23:27 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Heartlander

The RESPECT act and AI are the hammer and anvil with which they intend to crush free speech, even as they push to eliminate Americans’ guns.


5 posted on 03/29/2023 10:23:34 AM PDT by grey_whiskers ( The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Heartlander

This bill was probably written a while ago and they were just waiting for an excuse to pass it. While claiming to protect use from tyranny they will eagerly implement it. And they will more likely use it to keep you from watching a Disney movie over VPN instead of keeping China from spying on us.


6 posted on 03/29/2023 10:24:26 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (Gain of Pfunction. Gain of Pfunding. Gain of Pfizer. Now in control of Project Pferitas.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Heartlander

I have read scientific papers from Russia, Iran and China using a VPN. Do I get thrown in the dungeon?


7 posted on 03/29/2023 10:34:07 AM PDT by packagingguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Heartlander

*Modems, Routers, Mobile networks, VPNs (personal phones, laptops, etc)... Are BANNED if used to contact any any “foreign adversaries” (such as Korea, China, Cuba, Iran) Also this is subject to change, meaning anywhere in Europe could be next if deemed “appropriate”)


So in Amateur radio a computer can be used to generate a signal that is transmitted through your radio and into the aether. That signal is picked up by a Chinese station say BD5XXX—a signal report is is exchanged and everyone is on their way...

There is another mode that operates in a similar fashion that allows for a short exchange of written messages called JS8Call... Again a computer or tablet is used to generate the signals that are transmitted through one’s radio.

JS8Call is the ultimate sharing of information outside the internet—although a laptop or tablet is used.

So the question is—will this bill make such modes of transmission illegal?


8 posted on 03/29/2023 10:34:54 AM PDT by abigkahuna (Honk Honk. It’s Clown World Out There. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: abigkahuna

“So the question is—will this bill make such modes of transmission illegal?”

We have to pass it to see what it can do to you ?

Heard that before !!


9 posted on 03/29/2023 10:35:54 AM PDT by George from New England
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: ClearCase_guy

I agreed with you about TikTok, and I agree with your take on the “Restrict Act”. Everything I needed to know about the government regulating technology I learned from the CDA, unfortunately, and we’ll never stop feeling its negative effects. Why would we want more?


10 posted on 03/29/2023 10:50:54 AM PDT by Retrofitted
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: All

Write your Senator and Representative immediately!


11 posted on 03/29/2023 10:56:53 AM PDT by Wallace T.
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

Comment #12 Removed by Moderator

To: Heartlander

Flat out control of all speech which might be contrary to the king’s narrative.

“Pamphleteers”...they printed and distributed the real news to the colonists, despite the king prohibiting it. The origins of “freedom of the press”...press...as in printing press...not “journalists”, which are all too often merely the king’s propagandists in print and tell-a-vision programming media.

These evil monsters are being exposed by average people who have a platform...a modern printing press...and the king cannot have his lies exposed.

This bill is the EXACT same muzzle the colonists faced.

IF it is passed...
DO NOT COMPLY
We have printers (modern printing press), we have scanners and telephone poles upon which to nail the truth. Press on pamphleteers!

Remember the plandemic...churches closed, taverns closed. The exact places where free exchange of ideas and information take place. It was a muscle on free speech and association to control the propaganda narrative and a test to see how we would comply. Too many DID and everyone suffered the pain. They now have completed the beta testing of total population control and the next rollout will be much more harsh and maybe unending...until we take this nation back from this evil.

Anons are ding great work exposing Evo tyrants and their schemes and he time for sitting on our hands is long past. The evil minions’ propaganda is intent upon keeping us silent and inactive.

We must unite and STAND TOGETHER against this tyranny.
...and soon


13 posted on 03/29/2023 11:09:48 AM PDT by SheepWhisperer ("Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SheepWhisperer

Ping to my FBI agent, please let me know of any spelling, syntax, or grammar errors in my post.

Thank you =o)


14 posted on 03/29/2023 11:11:59 AM PDT by SheepWhisperer ("Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

Comment #15 Removed by Moderator

BKMRK.


16 posted on 03/29/2023 4:42:25 PM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ClearCase_guy
I consider it a tool of the Chinese government to hurt America. But I think I’ve learned a thing or two and I say that throwing out the First Amendment because some people don’t like Tik Tok is pretty foolish. Especially if Biden wants it, it just can’t be good. Privacy and free speech are worth preserving.

It's no big deal that the Chinese are spying on us. Joe Biden wants to destroy Tik-Tok because he doesn't have control over it. Next on his list is Elon Musk. That leaves Mark Zuckerberg in control of all social media in the U.S.

17 posted on 03/29/2023 4:44:49 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: packagingguy
I have read scientific papers from Russia, Iran and China using a VPN. Do I get thrown in the dungeon?
It depends.

Who did you vote for in the last election?

18 posted on 03/29/2023 5:17:15 PM PDT by Bratch
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: abigkahuna
So in Amateur radio a computer can be used to generate a signal that is transmitted through your radio and into the aether. That signal is picked up by a Chinese station say BD5XXX—a signal report is is exchanged and everyone is on their way...

There is another mode that operates in a similar fashion that allows for a short exchange of written messages called JS8Call... Again a computer or tablet is used to generate the signals that are transmitted through one’s radio.

JS8Call is the ultimate sharing of information outside the internet—although a laptop or tablet is used.

So the question is—will this bill make such modes of transmission illegal?

It depends.

Who did you vote for in the last election?

19 posted on 03/29/2023 5:20:15 PM PDT by Bratch
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Heartlander

The goal is NOT to restrict the Chinese... the goal is ‘more totalitarian boots’ to grind into the faces of conservative Americans.

Our democracy is safer with the Chinese doing mind control on our kids than the goons and thugs running ‘intelligence’ to have one more tool to use against citizens.


20 posted on 03/29/2023 5:29:27 PM PDT by GOPJ (When Morning Joe's sycophants say "My Democracy" it sounds like Gollum saying "my precious")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-25 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson