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Thursday, March 20, 2025

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https://nordictimes.com/europe/romanian-election-authorities-ban-georgescu-from-presidential-race/

Europe

Romanian election authorities ban Georgescu from presidential race

Totalitarianism

Published 10 March 2025
– By Editorial Staff
National conservative presidential candidate Călin Georgescu enjoys strong popular support in Romania.
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National conservative politician Călin Georgescu will not be allowed to run for re-election in May, Romania’s electoral authority announced on Sunday. The decision has sparked protests in the capital Bucharest, where demonstrators are demanding justice and democracy.

Romania’s Central Electoral Authority (BEC), decided on Sunday to disqualify Călin Georgescu from participating in the upcoming presidential elections, scheduled to be held in May.

Georgescu, who somewhat unexpectedly won the first round of the presidential election last November, has since been the subject of extensive legal investigations and political attacks.

The December election was annulled by Romania’s Constitutional Court just two days before the second round was due to take place, leading to widespread protests across the country.

Arrested on vague grounds

In the aftermath of the court’s decision, Georgescu was arrested on what appear to be politically motivated charges. Romanian authorities have also carried out dozens of raids across the country against Georgescu’s supporters, including people linked to his election campaigns.

The court cited alleged Russian interference in the election, via social media, and campaign financing as reasons for the annulment – allegations that Moscow rejects.

Călin Georgescu has called the decision “a formalized coup d’état” and claims it is an attempt to undermine democracy in the country, based on the fact that powerful interests simply did not appreciate the election results.

“Freedom!”

After the election authority’s announcement, hundreds of Georgescu’s supporters gathered outside the authority’s office in Bucharest, chanting “Freedom!” and tried to break through security barriers, leading to clashes with police, reports Al-Jazeera and others. Security forces used tear gas to disperse the crowd and several people were arrested during the protests.

Călin Georgescu has continued to lead the pre-election polls with around 40% of voter support. He has previously promised to “restore Romania’s dignity” and reduce the country’s dependence on international organizations such as NATO and the EU.

On social media, Georgescu criticized the electoral authority’s decision, calling it “A direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide! I have one message left! If democracy in Romania falls, the entire democratic world will fall! This is just the beginning. Europe is now a dictatorship, Romania is under tyranny!”

Support from the US government

US Vice President JD Vance and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk have also expressed support for Georgescu and criticized Romania’s handling of the election.

In February, Vance accused Romania of invalidating the election on the basis of “weak suspicions” from Romanian intelligence and pressure from neighboring countries. Elon Musk describes the electoral authority’s decision as “crazy”, on his platform X.

Georgescu now faces a range of criminal charges, including disseminating false information about campaign financing, supporting fascist organizations and sedition against the constitutional order. He denies all charges and says they are entirely politically motivated.

At the time of writing, not a single piece of evidence that stands up to objective scrutiny has so far been presented by the Romanian Central Election Authority or other Romanian authorities.

Decision under appeal

The decision of the electoral authority can still be appealed to Romania’s Constitutional Court, which is expected to make a final decision by Wednesday this week. Meanwhile, protests continue in Bucharest, with demonstrators demanding justice and freedom for Georgescu to run in the elections.

The disqualification of Călin Georgescu from the presidential elections has created a political crisis in Romania, with accusations of violations of democratic principles.

As his supporters protest in the streets, the question remains whether or not he will be allowed to participate in the elections – a decision that could have far-reaching consequences for both Romania and Europe.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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Europe

Von der Leyen: EU citizens must be “vaccinated” against disinformation

Totalitarianism

Published 7 March 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Ursula von der Leyen and other EU leaders from the EPP group at the Leaders retreat in January.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has long been accused by critics of exhibiting totalitarian tendencies.

Speaking at the Democracy Summit in Copenhagen, she called for a new “European democracy shield” against “disinformation”. She likened this to a “virus” that the EU should work to “vaccinate” citizens against so that they become “immune”.

In her May appearance, Von der Leyen pointed out that the development of artificial intelligence has been very fast and that it is now possible to create fake – but very realistic – movie clips and images (deepfakes) and that these fakes can be used, among other things, to shape opinion during election campaigns.

According to the EU leader, this is why Brussels has already put in place some guidelines on AI and ethics, and she stressed that the Union needs to do even more than today to fight both AI fakes and what it calls disinformation.

– It takes resilience. As technology evolves, we need to build up societal immunity around information manipulation. Research has shown that pre-bunking is more successful than de-bunking. Pre-bunking is the opposite of debunking. In short, prevention is preferable to cure, she argued.

– Think of information manipulation as a virus. Instead of treating an infection once it has taken hold, that’s the de-bunking, it is better vaccinate, so that our body is inoculated. Pre-bunking is the same approach, von der Leyen continued.

Recurring virus likenesses

According to the President of the European Commission, “disinformation relies on people passing it on to others” and it is therefore necessary that “people know what malign information’s influence is” and of the different disinformation techniques.

– As that knowledge goes up – our chances of being influenced goes down. And that builds up the societal resilience that we will need, it said.

Von der Leyen declared that EU leaders “must be vigilant and uncompromising” and ensure that “malign information or propaganda” must be quickly removed and blocked. She also pointed out that social media giants are also obliged to act in accordance with EU law.

Censorship of dissenters

The conference took place before von der Leyen was re-elected as President of the European Commission, and she said she wants to set up a “European democracy shield” to track down and delete “fraudulent” online content together with member states’ national authorities.

Critics argue that in practice this is more about stifling dissent within the Union, as has repeatedly been the case in controversial policy areas such as migration policy, cultural policy, COVID policy, climate policy and foreign policy. In this context, it is pointed out that it is ironic that von der Leyen likens disinformation to a virus that needs to be vaccinated – as criticism of the experimental mRNA vaccine was systematically censored during the coronavirus crisis. The EU chief was also a driving force behind the mass vaccination campaigns, advocating for the injections of the mRNA preparations to become compulsory.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/tech/assange-freedom-of-expression-at-a-dark-crossroad/

Tech

Assange: “Freedom of expression at a dark crossroad”

Totalitarianism

Published 28 February 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Assange says the repression of dissidents and dissenters is harsher today than it has been for a long time.
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During the years Julian Assange was imprisoned and in solitary confinement, technology progressed enormously and AI innovations have become an integral part of society.

At the same time, the journalist notes that there is a clear link between AI and mass surveillance, pointing out that the technology is already being used to carry out mass killings and bombings of civilians.

In the fall, Wikieaks founder Julian Assange made his first public appearance before Council of Europe parliamentarians after more than five years of imprisonment in the notorious British high-security prison Belmarsh. Before that, he had spent seven years at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Assange admitted that he was deeply scarred by his time in prison and solitary confinement, caused by years of US persecution after he published material through Wikileaks that exposed gross US war crimes in Iraq.

– The experience of isolation for years in a small cell is difficult to convey; it strips away one’s sense of self, leaving only the raw essence of existence.

– I am not yet fully equipped to speak about what I have endured – the relentless struggle to stay alive, both physically and mentally, nor can i speak yet about the deaths by hanging, murder, and medical neglect of my fellow prisoners, he continued.

Programmers were radicalized

Alongside the persecution from the US and the time in captivity, the Wikileaks founder, who is himself very interested in technology and has a background as a programmer, spoke about the technological developments that he believes are a more double-edged sword than ever.

– I am enthused about some of the developments that are happening with cryptography. Some of those developments provide alternatives to what we see as huge media power concentration in the hands of a few billionaires, he said, explaining that cryptography has allowed Wikileaks to protect its systems and sources.

– Other technologies emerged out of the campaign of mass surveillance and the Big Bang was the Snowden revelations that radicalised engineers and programmers in many places, who saw themselves as agents of history including algorithms to protect peoples’ privacy – including communication between journalists and their sources, Assange continued.

Mass executions with AI

At the same time, the other side of technological development carries great dangers and pitfalls, according to Assange – and he pointed to how AI technology has been used to carry out assassinations and mass murders.

– As I emerge from prison, I see that AI is being used to create mass assassinations. Where before there was a difference between assassination and warfare now the two are conjoined. Where many, perhaps the majority, of targets in Gaza are bombed as a result of Artificial Intelligence targeting.

– The connection between AI and surveillance is important. AI needs information to come up with targets, or ideas, or propaganda. When we are talking about the US of AI to conduct mass assassinations, surveillance data from telephones, internet, is key to training those algorithms, he further explained.

“More retaliation and self-censorship”

Julian Assange touched on several other sensitive issues during his speech, including strongly emphasizing that freedom of expression today “is at a dark crossroads”.

– I see more impunity, more secrecy, more retaliation for telling the truth and more self-censorship. It is hard not to draw a line from the US government crossing the Rubicon by internationally criminalizing journalism to the chilled climate for freedom of expression now.

– The fundamental issue is simple: Journalists should not be prosecuted for doing their jobs, he said.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/europe/romanian-election-winner-arrested-under-investigation-for-fascism/

Europe

Romanian election winner arrested – under investigation for “fascism”

Totalitarianism

Published 27 February 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Calin Georgescu is being investigated for “anti-constitutional acts”.
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Romanian police have arrested Calin Georgescu, the top candidate in last year’s annulled presidential election. Dozens of raids have been carried out across the country against his supporters and people linked to his election campaigns.

Georgescu, who is a strong critic of NATO and the EU and opposes sending military aid to Ukraine, made headlines last November when he unexpectedly won 23% of the vote in the first round of Romania’s presidential election.

However, the Constitutional Court annulled the result shortly before the second round, citing intelligence documents that alleged “irregularities” in his campaign.

Georgescu’s communications team said on Facebook that the politician was arrested just as he was about to file his new presidential candidacy:

“The system stopped him in traffic and he was pulled over for questioning at the Prosecutor General’s Office! Where is democracy, where are the partners who must defend democracy?”

Before his arrest, Georgescu himself condemned the raids on his supporters in another Facebook post:

“The communist-Bolshevik system continues its odious abuses“, he wrote, accusing the Romanian authorities of trying to “invent evidence to justify the theft of the elections and to do anything to block my new candidacy for the presidency”.

“Anti-constitutional acts”

The Romanian prosecutor’s office claims to be investigating Georgescu for “founding or supporting fascist, racist, xenophobic, or anti-Semitic organizations, as well as publicly promoting war criminals and extremist ideologies”.

The politician was released later that day but was banned by the court from leaving the country, posting on social media and appearing on TV, according to Romanian media. He faces a total of six charges, including “anti-constitutional acts” and economic crime, the authorities said in a statement.

It is also claimed that “weapons, live ammunition, and more than a million dollars hidden in a safe” were found during the raids.

“Political policing”

Following reports of Georgescu’s arrest, the politician’s supporters gathered outside the Attorney General’s office and chanted his name. The chairman of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party, George Simion, also announced that they had entered the Prosecutor General’s office to demand an explanation.

– Until we see undeniable evidence, we suspect that this is political policing, he told local media, adding that so far “not a single piece of evidence” has been presented.

Georgescu’s surprise election victory last year and subsequent annulment over unproven allegations of Russian interference in the electoral process sparked widespread protests in the country.


Both conservative and liberal parties have accused the established parties – the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the center-right National Liberal Party (PNL) – of trying to retain power by controlling the actions of the Constitutional Court. US Vice President JD Vance and Trump advisor Elon Musk have also criticized the handling of the election.

Throughout his campaign, Georgescu repeatedly insisted on Romania’s geopolitical non-alignment and stressed the importance of national sovereignty and self-sufficiency – while expressing skepticism about the strong influence of the US-led Western bloc on Romanian politics.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/tech/the-tech-mogul-on-the-future-of-ai-constant-mass-surveillance/

Tech

The tech mogul on the future of AI: Constant mass surveillance

Mass surveillance

Published 24 January 2025
– By Editorial Staff
With the help of AI, Ellison believes that in the future, those in power will be able to follow citizens' every move.
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Tech giant Oracle’s CEO Larry Ellison believes in a future where artificial intelligence becomes an integral part of a borderless mass surveillance society where privacy no longer exists and where everything citizens do is mapped and recorded.

Oracle and Larry Ellison will play a key role in Trump’s AI venture “Stargate” – expected to cost upwards of $500 billion and described by the President himself as “by far the largest AI infrastructure project in history”.

There is no doubt that Ellison is one of the world’s most successful tech moguls – just last fall he overtook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become the world’s second richest man after Elon Musk. But how does he see the future of artificial intelligence and how it will affect our lives?

During a meeting with financial analysts last fall, he predicted a future that critics say is reminiscent of dark dystopian novels like George Orwell’s 1984, where humans are subject to constant mass surveillance and AI is used to map citizens’ every move.

According to Ellison, it is highly likely that in the future, AI models will be used to analyze in real time all the material not only from surveillance cameras, police body cameras, but also from car cameras and doorbells.

– Citizens will be on their best behavior because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on.

– Every police officer is going to be supervised at all times, and if there’s a problem, AI will report the problem and report it to the appropriate person, he continued.

“Big brother is watching you”

The multi-billionaire also believes that AI-controlled drones will replace real police officers during car chases and other types of crime and disorder.

– If something happens in a shopping center, a drone goes out there and reaches the scene way faster than a police car.

Technology website Ars Technica’s writer Benji Edwards is one of many who reacted strongly to Ellison’s vision of AI surveillance, saying his comments raise questions about the future of citizens’ privacy and right to privacy.

“Ellison’s vision bears more than a passing resemblance to the cautionary world portrayed in George Orwell’s prescient novel 1984. In Orwell’s fiction, the totalitarian government of Oceania uses ubiquitous ‘telescreens’ to monitor citizens constantly, creating a society where privacy no longer exists and independent thought becomes nearly impossible“, Edwards notes.

“But Orwell’s famous phrase ‘Big Brother is watching you’ would take on new meaning in Ellison’s tech-driven scenario, where AI systems, rather than human watchers, would serve as the ever-vigilant eyes of authority. Once considered a sci-fi trope, automated systems are already becoming a reality: Similar automated CCTV surveillance systems have already been trialed in London Underground and at the 2024 Olympics“, he continues.

“A slave obeys”

He points out that automated surveillance systems have already been implemented in Chinese cities, among others, and that AI software is already available that can sort and organize the data collected on residents using a network of deployed surveillance cameras.

According to many observers, similar and even more advanced solutions may soon become part of everyday life in the United States and other countries, and there are warnings that a “digital dictatorship” is emerging where the surveillance state is so all-encompassing that it is impossible for anyone to escape.

“‘Good Behavior’ as defined by the billionaires who own and control everything. Otherwise known as blind obedience and willful subservience to their every whim and want. Because a slave obeys“, expresses one of many worried voices.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com
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