Talk about democracy .........

[SydneyRover]

As so much of off topic is about democracy and or lack of it, I thought it would be good to visit the recent libel trial between ARRON BANKS - and - CAROLE CADWALLADR

Let's see what you really really want.

The links below are:

''Arron Banks almost crushed me in court. Instead, my quest for the facts was vindicated''

published yesterday in yes you guessed right The Guardian 19/6/2022 (although this one is run and managed by the Scott Trust)

''Whatever happens next, we have these now. We held the line. There were at least four meetings between the main funder of the Brexit campaign and the Russian government. There are reasonable grounds to believe there were many more. Fact''

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/commentisfree/2022/jun/19/arron-banks-set-out-to-crush-me-in-court-instead-my-quest-for-the-facts-was-vindicated

And: The libel trial https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Banks-v-Cadwalladr-130622-Judgment.pdf

If you really really want and support democratically elected governments I would imagine you have already read these but I post the above just-in-case .....

I would also suggest that the intensity and passion that democracy fires up in many on here that they would want to pursue all lines of inquiry to ensure that we let nothing stand in its way.

Therefore I say an official inquiry into Russian interference in UK voting is on this evidence is warranted and will be supported, nay demanded by all.

[BillyStubbsTears]

There's not much competition, but this is the best news of the year.

[tyke1962]

It's things like this that have my blood boiling with regards to democracy .

This is absolutely astounding .

https://youtu.be/9YDAkevdI3o

[BobG]

Thank you Sydney.Thank you. I had managed to miss all that. I am very, very glad you brought it to our attention.

It's pretty plain, hugely shameful, and massively frightening what it means.

We are manipulated every single day of every single week. And the press are behind it. With a few glorious exceptions, they are evil f**king bas**rds. The lot of 'em. But to balance the good news of the trial result, sadly, there is bad too...

Last week in Parliament, the Government announced its plans to shield newspapers from any accountability for what they post online.
 
The government wants to introduce a new law for regulating social media, which will make everyone accountable for what say online – except for the press, who will get their own special exemption.
 
And what’s even worse is that the “press exemption” in the law stands to be exploited by extremists and dictators, spreading disinformation on behalf of hostile foreign states.

That’s why it has been branded an “extremists’ loophole”, and it means that anyone deemed a ‘news publisher’ can post on social media without accountability for what they say.
 
Instead of holding the government to account for this dangerous loophole, several national newspapers have rushed to defend it – because they themselves would benefit from it.
 
I'm sure we know all too well, from the history of debates about press regulation, that the national press in this country will do anything to avoid accountability.
 
But this is a new low.
 
These newspapers would sooner see dictators from hostile foreign states, racists and other extremists inflict harm on the country’s citizens online, than face accountability themselves.

if you're interested, you can read the full story here:

https://hackinginquiry.org/newspapers-leap-to-defence/?mc_cid=d1b03124f8&mc_eid=c1c21f7ae6

BobG

[Bristol Red Rover]

Living in a country where Johnson is still top dog after a lifetime of spreading misinformation, and the Blair being made a Sir after doing similar, leaves me with zero confidence about judgements on the lines drawn in the sand about what is "inflict(ing) harm on the country’s citizens online", or even where these lines lie.

You can be sure though that this will be used for social control by one group of "citizens" over another.

The issue is not in legislating what is right and wrong in terms of information but in the education system that teaches *things* rather than how to understand and process things. A big ask to change that but steps can be made. However, such a change means empowering the public - and here it relates to democracy. Empowering the public is not wanted by those that already have the power.

So I call BS on this and what's more, it's a distraction from more important issues.

[Bristol Red Rover]

Back to the OP - any interference is bad and I guess international interference stands out. What is worse is the interference from corporate and similar interests that are enshrined in our system.

Don't be pretending that if Russia or the US are called out that the thing is in any way fixed. For me, any covert interests whether with a government or a corporate body are equally bad, but the narrative here is focused on one thing. No surprise there.

[wilts rover]

Ignoring the rights and wrongs of what Banks did during Brexit (and the judge's summary seems to concur that there is more to it than what he has ever publically admitted) this is good news purely because it shows rich and powerful people cannot - and should not be able to - itimidate, bully and frighten journalists into not publishing negative stories about them.

It is a practice known as SLAPP - coincidentally for what Banks was alleged to have done common among Russian oligarchs - and the government were said to be going to cut down on it. Lets hope this wont be another promise they fail to deliver on

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022/mar/04/what-are-slapps-and-how-are-they-connected-to-russian-oligarchs

[SydneyRover]

And while we're on the subject .......................

10 Feb 2022

''Ban on Rupert Murdoch’s interference in Times and Sunday Times ended

Culture secretary Nadine Dorries removes restrictions, potentially paving way for merger of newspapers

Nadine Dorries has removed all legal barriers on Rupert Murdoch interfering in the editorial independence of the Times and the Sunday Times, ending restrictions that have been in place since he bought the newspapers in 1981''

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/feb/10/ban-on-rupert-murdochs-interference-in-times-and-sunday-times-ended

And .......................

''No 10 confirms it asked the Times to drop Carrie Johnson story
Newspaper swiftly withdrew article alleging Boris Johnson tried to hire his future wife as chief of staff''

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/20/no-10-confirms-asked-the-times-drop-carrie-johnson-story

When you need a friend .................

''Ofcom had warned that lifting the restrictions “would create the opportunity for greater proprietorial influence over the titles, which could affect free expression of opinion and accuracy of news”

''However, the media regulator also largely accepted the case that there is little incentive for Murdoch to interfere in editorial matters, because if that became public it would undermine the trust of the Times’s readers and cost Murdoch money''

[BobG]

That last sentence Sydney.....

What a wonderful excuse to give a man with more money than he can ever piss away even more of the power that he has used for 30 years to manipulate the politics of this country. Jesus H Christ..... What's a couple of hundred million to a guy like that...?

BobG

[BillyStubbsTears]

Back to the OP. Banks is a funny case isn't he?

No track record of donating more than a dribble of money to the Tory party before he got chummy with the Russian Ambassador. Then money starts pouring out of his pockets into UKIP and Leave.EU. And he repeatedly forgets how many off the record meetings he's had with the Ambassador. And his company accounts are filed offshore so no-one can see where he gets his money from.

And when a journalist points all this out, he drags her through the courts for two years, burning upwards of £2m on the case.

Still. That's the UK we live in these days. Nothing to see here - move on.

[BobG]

Can't imagine who might have paid his Court costs.....

BobG

[BillyStubbsTears]

This thread is well worth reading.

https://mobile.twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/1538537541271441409

One day, this woman will be lauded as a true patriot and defender of democracy.

[BobG]

It is yet another confirmation, isn't it, that Brexit was built on lies, foreign interference and personal agendas? Step forwards The Honourable Jacob Rees-Mogg amongst many, many others.

BobG