The speech was never free for socialists under capital. Not in the west, not in the east. They only tacitly permit toothless, statedep approved "leftist" talking points, which still revolve around bashing the designated enemies
And if you believe otherwise, look to the example of the Uhuru Movement
Looks like the State Dept finally rang them up and said they were Roooosian propaganda or a threat to NATO security and of course they buckled. Only surprise is this didn't happen sooner but it shows the boot is falling, the clampdown is rolling. Ukraine has provided a great excuse to consolidate media control.
Back in WW2 the military had an office for controlling the press, people like to think that was in the past, a situation of special total war but with Ukraine that's coming back. Social media and tech companies obediently do what they're asked to by the government in the vague and nebulous name of national security or defending democracy or fighting disinformation or whatever and this isn't going to go away once Russia wins in Ukraine, it's part of the collapse, the tightening of the leash, to prevent counter-narratives that explain the decay of capital and empire. Russiagate was the first pretext, the real beginning of moving from just having intelligence analysts doing "narrative shaping" on social media sites to censorship, deplatforming, algorithmic suppression, a duty to combat "misinformation" as deemed by the bourgeois press subservient to the American empire.
We're not a large target right now but we could become one. Most large hosting companies talk up free speech but will buckle when Uncle Sam comes knocking, especially when he can threaten them with legal problems for other more profitable, dubiously legal content they host unless they comply on this.
…with Democratic Senator Mark Warner warning that allowing election information to proliferate “undermines trust and has dangerous consequences.”
At least he's honest.
While they beat the vast majoirty of news outlets, I do have my issues with some of their reporting. Regardless, critical support to them on this case. They certainly don't deserve to be blacklisted. It's not a surprise in the least though, and I can't imagine the alternatives will last very long either.
I heard Blumenthal in an interview saying that it seems like they are able to get refunds to everyone who donated at least. That's one good bit of news, hopefully GoFundMe won't be making anything off this.
EDIT:
The Grayzone is known for its critical coverage of US foreign policy and anti-war views, but has been accused of spreading misinformation and Chinese and Russian government propaganda, including debunked claims about the conflict in Ukraine and whitewashed accounts of Beijing’s repression of ethnic minority Muslims in far-western Xinjiang.
...what claims were debunked? What repression?
I don't like Grayzone being the most prominent anti-war outlet given their recent Larouchite turn. Reeks of shitcoating.
Yeah, the Grayzone has really gone down hill lately. It still produces decent articles from time to time, but it really seems like Max Blumenthal gave into right-wing griftery.
