News Round-Up: France Building Up an Orwellian Surveillance System, Fauci's Part in Influencial Covid's “Proximal Origin” Paper and FBI Censorship on Social Media
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:
French police given the right to spy through a citizen's phone
Report: influential research denying Covid-19's lab origin in March 2020 was started on a suggestion by Anthony Fauci
FBI censored Americans unjustifiably at the request of Ukrainian intelligence agencies
Anglican archbishop says Lord's Prayer is problematic because it starts with “Our Father"
French commissioner threatens to shut down social media companies once again if they don't comply
New French law allows police to spy on citizens via their own phones
France's parliament passed a law in early July giving police the power to pinpoint the whereabouts of suspects via their phones or other devices, Le Monde reports. Under the new law, French police will be able to spy on suspects by turning on a camera, microphone and GPS on their phone or other device.
As expected, the new law has received widespread criticism as it not only infringes but directly violates fundamental human freedoms, including the right to privacy, the right to confidentiality of communications, freedom of movement and so on. The French Justice Minister, Éric Dupond-Moretti, said that in his view the law was far from and did not resemble a totalitarian society like George Orwell's 1984. He said that it would affect a small number of criminal investigations in the country – only dozens each year. "People's lives will be saved by the law," he added.
A citizen's phone can be used for surveillance purposes “when justified by the nature and seriousness of the crime”. Any use of the provision must be approved by a judge, while the total duration of the surveillance cannot exceed six months. Sensitive professions such as doctors, journalists, lawyers, judges and MPs would not be legitimate targets.
US Congress report: influential research denying Covid-19's lab origin was done at Fauci's suggestion
The US House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic investigating the origin of the coronavirus heard testimony on Tuesday from microbiologist and immunologist Dr. Robert Garry and evolutionary biologist Dr. Kristian Andersen. The two formed the core of a five-member group of scientists who published a highly influential article in the journal Nature Medicine in March 2020, claiming that SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory-created or engineered virus.
Interestingly, just before the article was written, the same men were of the opposite opinion. In early February of that year, Andersen wrote to Anthony Fauci, the then head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), who became the 'face' of US pandemic policy, that the virus had some features that “(potentially) look engineered”. After discussions with Fauci, the head of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Francis Collins, and other scientists and pandemic policymakers in key positions, Andersen and Garry changed their assessment and wrote the paper claiming the exact opposite.
In fact, Fauci and Collins were quick to point to the rapidly assembled research of the scientists as proof that the Wuhan virology labs had nothing to do with the virus.
A recent report by the House of Representatives subcommittee investigating the origins of the coronavirus shows that, in reality, Fauci and Collins were in step with the scientists as they did their research on the topic. It was Fauci who suggested the researchers to write on the subject after their initial contact, and Collins, when the work was completed, said he was very happy with the final product.
In addition, Andersen and Garry received grants totalling to $25.2 million from the NIH, led by Collins, for their research projects in the years 2020-2022.
Testifying in Congress, the scientists now tried to explain the whole situation. Andersen said he initially noticed features in the virus that led him to suspect a laboratory origin. But as he was not an expert on coronaviruses and was only just becoming familiar with its characteristics, he was simply not aware of them – a change of mind, he said, came when he became more knowledgeable, not after a conference call with Fauci and company. Fauci, he said, had nothing to do with their research or the grants they received.
Garry added that he is still convinced of the natural origin of Covid-19. "It is my opinion that SARS-CoV-2 emerged via wildlife trade on a market in Wuhan, China," he said.
We have written about the debate on the origin of Covid-19 and who and how benefited from it, while themselves painting a conspiracy theory about the possibility of a laboratory origin, here.
FBI restricts Americans' freedom of expression on social media at Ukraine's request – without any reason
The United States is reeling from another censorship scandal involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and social media. A report published earlier this week by the House Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives describes how the FBI engaged in censorship of Americans' social media accounts at the request of the Ukrainian intelligence service.
The report points out that the FBI failed to vet accounts flagged by the Ukrainian intelligence service SBU as spreading Russian disinformation and forwarded the lists to social media platforms. As a result, at the request of Ukrainians, users' posts were taken down, their accounts on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook were deleted or temporarily suspended. In many cases, these accounts had actually expressed pro-Ukrainian views or spoken out against Russian President Vladimir Putin. American journalists' accounts, as well as one Russian language account of the US State Department, were also affected by this censorship operation.
On Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray appeared before the House Judiciary Committee to give answers on the questions related to suppressing the freedom of expression and the use of censorship by the agency. “The FBI is not in the business of moderating content or causing any social media company to suppress or censor,” Wray told at the hearing.
This is not true, however, and there are many examples to the contrary, as members of Congress pointed out when questioning Wray. The situation is in fact so bad that, in early July, US Federal Judge Terry A. Doughty issued an injunction banning government officials from interacting with social media companies because, in his view, the demands for censorship on various topics have crossed all boundaries and the government “seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth””. The FBI was one of the agencies targeted by the injunction. We covered the issue in our news round-up last week.
The Biden administration in not complying with the injunction and appealed the order. A federal appeals court said on Friday that the appeal should be expedited and blocked the order temporarily.
Archbishop of York considers Lord’s Prayer problematic
Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York in the Anglican Church in the UK, says starting the Lord's Prayer with the words "Our Father" is problematic, reports The Daily Mail. According to Cottrell, many people can be distressed by addressing 'the father' because they may come from families where they were abused by their parents. Cottrell also pointed out that this can be a problem for anyone who suffers from a male-dominated society.
"Yes, I know the word 'Father' is problematic for those whose experience of earthly fathers has been destructive and abusive, and for all of us who have laboured rather too much from an oppressively patriarchal grip on life," he said in an address to the General Synod.
In addition, it has emerged this year that the Church of England is considering using non-gendered terms to refer to God in services.
However, as far as the Lord's Prayer is concerned, it comes from the New Testament and is mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the Sermon on the Mount and in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus taught this prayer to his disciples.
European Commissioner threatens to shut down social media platforms that avoid removing 'problematic' content
The European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said on Monday that social media platforms that do not take down "problematic" content will face closure, Politico reports.
Breton was commenting on French President Emmanuel Macron's recent suggestion that if there is mass unrest in the country, as there has just been in France, at least part of social media could consider being cut off.
"When there is hateful content, content that calls – for example – for revolt, that also calls for killing and burning of cars, they will be required to delete [the content] immediately," said Breton, referring to the Digital Services Act that will come into force in August, obliging internet companies to remove content deemed illegal. Companies could face fines of up to 6% of their global turnover for infringements.
"If they fail to do so, they will be immediately sanctioned. We have teams who can intervene immediately," Breton said. "If they don't act immediately, then yes, at that point we'll be able not only to impose a fine but also to ban the operation [of the platforms] in our territory.," he added.
Emanuel Macron's days as President France are numbered. He is just another Davos globalist operator, who has been rumbled.