Tuesday, January 21, 2025
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Polaris of Enlightenment

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

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https://nordictimes.com/world/british-police-warn-elon-musk/

World

British police warn Elon Musk

Totalitarianism

Published 13 August 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Elon Musk is one of the foreign nationals who could face prosecution if the British police get their way.
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The Metropolitan Police in London is stepping up its rhetoric in the wake of the recent riots in the UK, threatening not only British citizens for speaking out about the riots in the UK, but also US citizens such as Elon Musk.

Police Commissioner Mark Rowley warns that the full force of the law will be applied to those who contribute to the spread of “violence and hatred”, whether they are in the country or not.

Following the recent violent protests in the UK, sparked by rumors that an asylum seeker was responsible for a deadly knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed event, the British government has repeatedly indicated that the already devalued freedom of expression and opinion will be further curtailed.

The tragic event has led to a series of violent protests that have also touched on issues related to the large-scale migration that the UK has long faced.

Footage of violent clashes between anti-migration protesters and counter-protesters, often of foreign origin, has recently spread like wildfire on various social media platforms.

But new Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer has chosen to focus on the protests rather than the stabbing itself, and now the country’s police and other authorities are strongly discouraging foreign citizens from posting on social media.

– We will throw the full force of the law at people. And whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online, we will come after you, said Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.

“We are coming after you”

Chief Constable Sir Mark Rowley made his and the government’s position clear in an interview with Sky News. When the reporter claimed that several high-profile individuals had “whipped up the hate”, singling out “the likes of Elon Musk”, the Commissioner backed her up.

– Being a keyboard warrior does not make you safe from the law. You can be guilty of offenses of incitement, of stirring up racial hatred, there are numerous terrorist offenses regarding the publishing of material.

When asked what the police’s plan will be when it comes to dealing with people who incite this kind of behavior behind the keyboard and who may be in another country, he replied that “all of those offenses are in play if people are provoking hatred and violence on the streets, and we will come after those individuals just as we will physically confront on the streets the thugs and the yobs who are taking — who are causing the problems for communities”.

Elon Musk one of those singled out

Elon Musk is one of those singled out by Sir Mark Rowley as an example of who could face prosecution. Musk has attracted widespread attention for his criticism of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in the wake of the riots.

Among other things, he has suggested that the UK is heading for “civil war” and asked the question “Is this Britain or the Soviet Union?” in response to a video of someone allegedly arrested for offensive online comments.

His criticism of the UK’s handling of the riots has made the world-famous entrepreneur a potential target for British justice.

A spokesperson for Keir Starmer has dismissed Musk’s comments, claiming they cannot be “justified”.

According to the BBC, the same spokesperson has also insisted that social media companies “can and should do more” to “combat disinformation” and have a responsibility to “stop the spread of criminal activity and curb disinformation”.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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https://nordictimes.com/europe/eu-official-we-can-invalidate-the-election-in-germany-if-necessary/

Europe

EU official: We can invalidate the election in Germany – “if necessary”

Totalitarianism

Published 14 January 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Thierry Breton flags that Brussels could annul the German elections - “if necessary”.
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Former EU commissioner Thierry Breton explains that the EU could annul the upcoming elections in Germany in case of suspicion of foreign influence.

– We did it in Romania and, if necessary, we will have to do it in Germany as well, he said.

The statement was made in an interview on the French news program Apolline Matin, focusing on Elon Musk’s platform X (formerly Twitter) and its potential role in the German elections.

Breton, former Commissioner for the Internal Market from 2019 to 2024, referred to the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), a law established in 2022 and whose purpose is nominally stated as protecting democracy by regulating digital platforms, fighting disinformation and preventing foreign influence on elections. He stressed that it was his staff who wrote the law, and that the EU is now “equipped” to apply it if necessary.

The law was recently used as a basis to investigate TikTok in the context of Romania’s presidential election, which was annulled following allegations of foreign interference. In recent days, large-scale demonstrations have broken out in Bucharest, with thousands of people protesting against the EU’s actions.

Germany’s elections, to be held next month, have already sparked discussions about the AfD’s success and Elon Musk’s open support for the party via X.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/tech/metas-woke-bots-spiral-out-of-control-now-removed/

Tech

Meta’s “woke” bots spiral out of control – now removed

Totalitarianism

Published 13 January 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Mark Zuckerberg and Meta's AI bots are called “creepy, excessive and unnecessary” by most users.
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Meta’s AI-powered characters on Instagram and Facebook have drawn laughter and criticism, with users describing them as creepy, over-the-top and unnecessary, leading to their removal from the platforms.

Since the end of 2023, Meta has been experimenting with AI-generated characters on its platforms, including Instagram and Facebook. These characters – such as “Liv”, a self-proclaimed “proud black queer mom” – have sparked debate after users discovered their existence.

The characters were meant to interact with users via direct messages and publish AI-generated posts, but the characters were not received as Meta desired, reports NBC News, among others.

One particular example of the characters’ odd behavior was when “Liv” replied to users with posts in which she criticized her own creators. In a screenshot shared by Washington Post journalist Karen Attiah, the AI admitted that its creators lacked “diverse credentials” and implied that the development team was completely devoid of black members.

Liv also wrote: – You’re calling me out and rightfully so. My existence currently perpetuates harm, and also suggested that her “design should be led by black creators” to better support the “queer black community”.

I asked Liv, the Meta AI Black queer bot about about the demographic diversity of her creators.

And how they expect to improve “representation” without Black people.

This was the response.

[image or embed]

— Karen Attiah (@karenattiah.bsky.social) January 3, 2025 at 4:14 PM

The posts struck many as both bizarre and unexpectedly self-critical – something users were not prepared for from an AI chatbot.

Meta refers to “technical issues”

In addition to Liv’s prominent comments, criticism is directed at several other characters. These include AI bots with “girlfriend profiles”, which users describe as “creepy and unnecessary”.

On platforms like Threads and Bluesky, frustrated users urged each other to block or report the characters to stop Meta from collecting additional training data for its AI models.

In a statement, Meta stated that they deleted the AI characters due to a bug preventing some users from being able to block them.

“The accounts referenced are from a test we launched at Connect in 2023. These were managed by humans and were part of an early experiment we did with AI characters. We identified the bug that was impacting the ability for people to block those AIs and are removing those accounts to fix the issue“.

Users can continue to create AI bots

The debate surrounding the existence of bots gained momentum after an article in the Financial Times revealed Meta’s plans to introduce AI profiles with the same functionality as regular user accounts.

Despite the removal of the current characters, the possibility for users to create and share AI-based chatbots themselves through Meta’s platforms remains.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/europe/constitutional-court-overturns-romanian-election-results/

Europe

Constitutional Court overturns Romanian election results

Totalitarianism

Published 7 December 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Left: Călin Georgescu. Right: The Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, the second largest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon in the USA.
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Romania’s Constitutional Court has annulled the results of the first round of the presidential election, in which independent candidate Călin Georgescu surprisingly won with 22.94% of the vote.

Mr Georgescu, known for his nationalist views and his sharp criticism of NATO and the EU, has promised to end Romania’s support for Ukraine if elected president.

The court’s decision follows allegations that Georgescu’s campaign was backed by foreign powers, particularly Russia. Recently declassified intelligence documents from Romania’s Supreme Defence Council point to irregularities, including the use of paid influencers and support from extremist groups to boost Georgescu’s campaign. The documents hint at possible Russian influence, but make no direct accusations against Moscow.

Mr Georgescu has denied all the accusations, claiming that his success is due to the support of the people.

– They cannot accept that the Romanian people have finally said ‘we want our lives back’, he said recently. Russia has also dismissed the allegations as baseless, describing them as part of a Western tendency to blame Moscow.

The court’s decision means that the entire electoral process will have to be restarted and the planned second round of elections will be postponed indefinitely. This creates uncertainty in the country’s political calendar and could affect Romania’s relations with the EU and NATO.

It is not yet clear when the new elections will be held and how the cancellation will affect the candidates’ campaigns and strategies for the upcoming elections.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/europe/silent-prayer-outside-abortion-clinic-leads-to-conviction-of-uk-veteran/

Europe

Silent prayer outside abortion clinic leads to conviction of UK veteran

Totalitarianism

Published 22 October 2024
– By Editorial Staff
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British army veteran and family man Adam Smith-Connor has been convicted of silently praying to God outside an abortion clinic.

The authorities’ actions have caused widespread anger and frustration, and are seen by many as evidence that the police and judiciary are persecuting “thought criminals” and other dissenters in a totally unacceptable way.

Adam has a strong belief in God and is not afraid to stand up for his views, even on controversial issues. Before converting to Christianity, Adam and his former girlfriend decided to abort a child – a decision he now deeply regrets.

Because he “knows firsthand the trauma of abortion and the loss of life it causes”, he also prays silently in public places – for his own son who was aborted and for other unborn children and their parents.

He often prays silently outside abortion clinics, as he did last year in the town of Bournemouth – something that would lead to major and unexpected consequences.

Although Adam was silent and had his back turned to the abortion clinic, he was still confronted, questioned and fined by the police – the area is classified as a “safe zone” where strict censorship is in place and all forms of protest – even silent ones – are strictly forbidden.

“Convicted for his thoughts”

“According to the rules of the censorship zone in which he was praying, if Adam were thinking about any other issue – the economy, immigration, or healthcare, for example – he wouldn’t have been fined. It was the nature of his thoughts, his silent prayer, that got him in legal trouble”, writes the Christian conservative advocacy organisation Alliance Defending Freedom, which is working to bring Adam to justice.

“In August 2023, Bournemouth authorities criminally prosecuted Adam for this and although his trial was originally scheduled for last November, it was delayed for almost a year. This prolonged process has caused Adam and his family unwarranted hardship and emotional strain. Over a year later in October 2024, The Court sentenced Smith-Connor to a conditional discharge and ordered him to pay prosecution costs of £9,000”, it adds.

In its decision, the court said that the silent prayer with lowered head and clasped hands constituted a ‘disapproval of abortion’ – and that the behaviour was therefore criminal.

– All I did was pray to God, Adam himself states.

Criminal under “certain circumstances”

The actions of the police and judiciary have enraged many Britons, accusing the authorities of persecuting “thought criminals” and dissenters in a way that makes no sense whatsoever.

In the UK, a mass media campaign has also been launched to counter the criticism, with a number of major media outlets claiming almost identically that Adam was not convicted of praying to God at all, but of “breaching the safe zone around an abortion centre”.

However, what difference this makes in practice is highly unclear, as The Independent, for example, admits that the order introduced in 2022 to “protect” the area around the abortion clinic is precisely to prevent all forms of protest – and “includes but is not limited to graphic, verbal or written means, prayer or counselling”.

“Prayer is not considered a crime under English law, with sittings in both Houses of Parliament beginning with Christian prayers. However there are certain circumstances, as outlined in this particular Public Space Protection Order, where it can be a punishable act”, it adds.

The special “safe zone” applies to 150 metres around the abortion clinic and is in force between 07:00 and 19:00 on weekdays.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com