News Round-Up: Australia Goes After Free Speech Online, Non-German Organised Crime in Germany, and Covid Lockdown Harms for Children
Every week, the editorial team of Freedom Research compiles a round-up of news that caught our eye, or what felt like under-reported aspects of news deserving more attention.
Over the past week, the following topics attracted our attention:
Australia goes after free speech online.
Research: Covid lockdowns caused teenagers' brains to age prematurely.
Organised crime in Germany: most criminals are non-Germans.
EVs as one of the bigger polluters of rivers.
How many trans people are there in Britain?
Australia goes after free speech online
The Australian government is planning to introduce a new regulation for 'combatting misinformation and disinformation', which will oblige social media platforms to remove content deemed to be false under a threat of a huge fine. What constitutes ‘mis- or disinformation' will be decided by a national watchdog.
The new bill is in fact an updated version of the previous one, which the Australian government came out with last year. Now the plan has been slightly amended, but the substance remains the same – if the law is approved, enforcement will be in the hands of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which will have the power to decide what rules to impose on companies to combat 'misinformation' and 'disinformation'. This means that the ACMA will either create its own standards for the purpose or approve codes adopted by platforms such as X or Facebook. These codes of conduct, if approved by ACMA, will also be the basis for limiting the spread of posts deemed 'misinformation' or 'disinformation'. In other words, the government will be given the power to determine what is and what is not considered to be such content, in the constant insistence that these rules protect Australian society from 'serious harm'.
The problem, however, is that what the government authorities call 'misinformation' or 'disinformation' may actually be just fact-based information. Indeed, we are well aware from the experience of recent years that posts that have been stigmatised and removed as misinformation by social media platforms under the guidance or pressure of the authorities have often in fact been entirely true and have been restricted in their circulation only because they were deemed inappropriate by the authorities for whatever reason. We have written about this kind of social media censorship before at length, e.g. here, here, or here.
The fact that such rules do not actually remove false facts, but censor truthful information that the authorities do not want you to see, is the main problem with the Australian bill. In fact, it is similar in nature to laws already in force in other countries or regions, such as the UK or the EU. These laws set forth the principles and guidelines for social media platforms to remove content deemed illegal or 'misinforming', with failure to do so resulting in heavy fines depending on the global turnover of the company hosting the platform. For example, while the EU's Digital Services Act allows for a possible fine of 6% of turnover, in Australia the same is set at 5%. So the sums that companies would have to pay in the event of a breach could run into hundreds of millions or even billions of euros.
The Australian draft contains a number of other Orwellian elements too. For example, the ACMA will have the power to demand and seize documents from private individuals if this is considered necessary in the fight against 'misinformation' and 'disinformation'. The draft also places an obligation on the platforms to create "media literacy plans" to enable end-users to better identify 'misinformation' and 'disinformation' on the platform.
Research: Covid lockdowns caused teenagers' brains to age prematurely
Research published this week is yet more evidence of how Covid lockdowns have caused behavioural problems in adolescent girls and boys, increasing eating disorders, anxiety, and depression, writes NBC News.
Scientists at the University of Washington Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences began the study using MRIs in 2018 to see how the brain structure of 160 teens from the Seattle area developed over time. The participants, a nearly equal number of boys and girls, ranged in age from 9 to 19 at the start of the study.
After Covid lockdowns began in 2020, they couldn’t do brain scan follow-ups until 2021. So they shifted the focus of the study to learn how the lockdowns had affected adolescent brain structure.
By measuring the thickness of the cerebral cortex — the outer layer of tissue in the brain that controls higher level functions of the brain like reasoning and decision-making — they discovered the brains of teen boys had prematurely aged by 1.4 years. The brain scans of the girls showed accelerated aging of 4.2 years, according to the study.
The research suggests that the thinning of the cortex can be connected to increased anxiety, depression, and other behavioral disorders among adolescents.
The situation having a greater effect on girls could be due to differences in the importance of social interaction for girls versus boys. Boys tend to gather for sports and physical activity. Adolescent girls may rely on personal relationships for emotional support and self-identity.
Organised crime in Germany: powerful migrant gangs cause billions of euros in losses
According to a report by the German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA), 7347 persons were suspected of organised crime in 2023, of whom 32.5% were Germans, 57.8% were nationals of other countries and 9.7% were of unknown origin. It should be added that many of those with a German passport are also likely to be of immigrant background, but are considered German precisely because of the citizenship they have been granted, writes Remix News.
Organised crime caused German taxpayers a total of €2.7 billion in losses last year, the highest amount in 10 years. It is also double of the €1.3 billion in 2022. Cybercrime is the most damaging and has also increased significantly. In 2023, cybercrime losses amounted to €1.7 billion, compared to €588 million in 2022. The price tag for tax and customs related crimes reached €470 million last year, compared to €200 million in 2022. Drugs accounted for 41%, or the largest share, of the crimes.
The losses resulting from these crimes are on top of the money that German taxpayers already contribute for the benefit of immigrants. In 2023 alone, Germany spent almost €50 billion on services and housing for immigrants. This figure does not include the costs of legal aid and crime.
Because of uncontrolled immigration, Germany has decided to extend border controls along its entire land border. Germany's interior minister, Nancy Faeser, announced that the decision was made because immigration is out of control and the country needs to be protected from extremist threats, writes The Guardian. Germany had previously reintroduced border controls at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland. From September 16, border guards will also be deployed along the border with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. Initially, border controls are planned to be there for at least six months, pending a new agreement on the protection of the EU's external borders under the Common European Asylum System.
The decision to reintroduce border controls was taken by the German authorities after a serious attack in Solingen, where an Islamic extremist of Syrian origin killed three people and seriously injured at least eight others. There was also an exchange of fire last week at the Israeli consulate in Munich in which the assailant, who police said had links to Islamic State, was killed.
The German government's decision has also been influenced by the political situation in the country, as political pressure on the governing parties has increased following the recent local elections. In particular, the anti-immigration opposition party Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD) won the elections in Thuringia. In Saxony, the AfD came a close second.
EVs as one of the bigger polluters of rivers
Electric cars (EVs) are heavier than their combustion engine counterparts, and hence their tyres cause more emission of microplastics into the environment, which often end up in the waterways, according to Alan Lovell, chairman of the UK's Environment Agency, writes The Telegraph. Run-off from towns, cities and transport, including microplastics from tyres, contributes nearly 20% of the pollution problem in England’s rivers, according to a report from the Environmental Audit Committee. EVs pollute more than internal combustion engine vehicles because of their weight – EVs are on average 20% heavier. The heavier the vehicle, the more microplastic particles are released from the tyres when the vehicle is driven, in addition to metals and metal alloys from increased brake wear.
Faster wear means more small particles, often toxic, are released into the air. It has been estimated that EV brakes and tyres emit 1850 times more such particles compared to combustion engine cars.
It is due to this, the UK Environment Agency says, that the waterways are now more polluted. The UK has recognised that the impact of EVs on rivers is many times greater than thought and that it is not just agriculture or water companies that are to blame for river pollution. Water companies say that to tackle microplastic pollution in rivers, water and sewerage charges will need to rise more than they’re allowed to in the next five years.
How many trans people are there in Britain?
Census data suggesting there are 262,000 transgender people in the UK is unreliable and must be discarded, the Office for Statistics Regulations (OSR) said in a report, according to The Daily Mail. The figure comes from the 2021 Office for National Statistics (ONS) census which was the first to count transgender people, i.e. people who think that they might actually be of the opposite sex. It asked the question: ‘Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?’ The OSR said that, by wording the question this way rather than the simpler ‘Are you transgender?’, the survey had confused those whose first language is not English. It found people with a foreign first language were four times more likely to say they were ‘trans’ than those who had English as their mother tongue. Areas with big, religiously conservative migrant populations, such as Brent and Newham in London, were found to have higher numbers of trans people than Brighton, for example. Therefore the figures would no longer be recognised as an ‘accredited official statistic’. Yet the 262,000 figure from the survey is still used by public bodies, including the NHS.
Mis and Dis-information will be any truths that don't suit Big Pharma and those with a financial interest in the profits created b y UNSAFE and Ineffective injected poisons. At best, these jabs will simply reduce each recipient's longevity. Governments and national institutions intend to inject us all with mRNA poisons which destroys natural human resistance to illnesses and viruses. Why would any sane person take a dangerous experimental injection when the manufacturers refuse LIABILITY for the consequences? The reason is purely financial = There's no profit made from well people! Join the dots!
I'm 79 and get as much sunshine as possible. Even though I refused to acknowledge the stupid 'Lock-down' restrictions and went shopping frequently, I never had COVID, just a mild cold about 3 years ago. No doubt that would have been diagnosed as COVID, by the flawed tests, but still they use them to justify the UNSAFE and ineffective Culling injections recommended by the WEF's puppets!
Unjabbed Mick (UK).
Teenage brains.
I acknowledge that a tiny number of brains in teenagers in Seattle have had their cortical thickness measured. What that means is another matter.
I see no authentic cause/effect correlation established between those measurements and brief social impoverishment by infection control measures including some measure of social separation and isolation for a brief period - just a wild unfounded guess.
The cortex thins with age and maturation.
Let me see, what else is happening?
Well, the poor kids have been told the planet is boiling and their parents along with all responsible adults have done it and nobody is doing anything about it and the time is running out.
Evil scientists have cooked up a lethal virus which is spreading death and disability throughout the whole world. Or, evil scientists have lied to us, and there is no such a thing as a virus.
They cannot know if they or their friends are really male or female, even when they look between their legs in the bath or the shower.
Finding someone to love and marry and have kids with is so last century and anyway, marriage is a patriarchal tyranny and they should go it alone and become ruthless, independent rulers and bosses of the world and make it a better place in a female way.
Not to mention the danger of Islamic terrorists, nuclear war, Chinese world domination and getting fat.
Most of the earth is full of people, making beautiful animals extinct and there are really even some people building space vehicles to offload population to Mars.
And, half of them have been raised by just a mother with a father in stained relationship with her, or absent.
Maybe this and all the other threats to peaceful existence has matured them a little faster.