{"id":5561,"date":"2022-01-12T22:22:14","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T20:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/?p=5561"},"modified":"2022-01-12T22:22:14","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T20:22:14","slug":"rachel-riley-political-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/2022-01-12\/rachel-riley-political-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachel Riley libel ruling is the latest judicial attack on political speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Julian Assange and Craig Murray cases \u2013 and now Rachel Riley’s defamation win \u2013 the British judiciary is accumulating more weapons to crush political speech that challenges establishment narratives<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Mint Press – 12 January 2022<\/p>\n

Assaults on the right to speak, and to think, are coming thick and fast. But the significance \u2013 and coordination \u2013 of all these developments is being largely missed.<\/p>\n

Those who try to open up a little space \u2013 in politics, academia, and journalism \u2013 to think critically about our society and how power is misused are the chief targets. Western establishments have grown increasingly concerned about the expansion of popular freedoms that arrived with social media a decade or so ago, which have allowed us to analyze and critique elite interests and strategies. This has posed a very obvious threat to the establishment\u2019s continuing ability to propagandize us and has led to far more unpredictable and unstable social and political landscapes.<\/p>\n

Our increased ability to bypass corporate, billionaire-owned media has led to inevitable polarization. We have seen the emergence of three antagonistic tribes, based largely on the way each consumes media.<\/p>\n

Liberals and the traditional right tend to show little interest in the wealth of new critical information, regarding as authoritative only those outlets that belong to the corporate media. As a result, liberals and the traditional right tend to assume either that the system works relatively well or that, at least, it works in their favor. They favor mainstream political parties that protect elite interests.<\/p>\n

The populist left has slowly understood that the institutions and networks of power that rule over us are systematically corrupt, and that they will continue on the current ecocidal path to maintain their power. This left is internally divided \u2013 and largely ineffective \u2013 because it cannot agree on whether the remedy is to be more assertive in seeking reform or to work towards overthrowing the corrupt system.<\/p>\n

The populist right also appreciates that the system is corrupt but struggles to see this corruption as anything more than a temporary problem. It is easily triggered by the obsessive focus of liberals on divisive social issues, premised on identity politics. Importantly, it believes a charismatic leader can reverse course by sweeping away the liberal elites who occupy what they see as otherwise-well-intentioned institutions.<\/p>\n

Fog of propaganda<\/h3>\n

Both of these last two groups are a potential threat to Western establishments, especially if they can more effectively break through the fog of propaganda to see clearly what we are really up against.<\/p>\n

In consequence, we have been witnessing a concerted backlash from the establishment against the digital freedoms that recent technological innovations have inadvertently unleashed. The establishment has, of course, dressed up this assault on the right to know what is really going on as \u201cdemocracy defending itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Journalism has become a key battleground. New kinds of popular journalism have emerged over the last decade, made possible by the leveling-up role of digital technology. Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks \u2013 which made it safer for whistleblowers to get information out to the public about the crimes being committed, and the lies being told, by our elites \u2013 is now in a London high-security jail charged with \u201cespionage\u201d for revealing U.S. and U.K. war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. His prolonged confinement and psychological torture have sent a powerful message to other journalists about the dangers inherent in scrutinizing elite interests.<\/p>\n

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And to achieve this, we and the Americans have decided that truth-tellers like Julian Assange must be permanently locked up so you believe all this guff we tell you https:\/\/t.co\/lZRY3Qf3kV<\/a><\/p>\n

— Jonathan Cook (@Jonathan_K_Cook) January 1, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n