WH Is Setting Up a ‘Chinese Censorship Board’ to Control the Internet

2/17/2015
Sara Noble

The free Internet has allowed stunning innovation and growth but that’s about to take a sharp turn under the hands of an administration that will use it as a way to control the free flow of information which will result in limitations similar to what we see in socialist and communist countries.

The FCC, like all the other executive agencies is now directly and fully influenced by the imperial president. The days of the FCC acting as an independent agency appear to be over. As a result, the Democratic-controlled FCC will see to it that the Internet will become a government utility, squashing freedom and future intervention.

It’s happening February 26th.

Tom Wheeler, FCC Chairman

The Chairman of the Commission, Tom Wheeler, a Democrat, had worked out a compromise for the handling of net neutrality that was acceptable to the Republican minority commission and to many stakeholders. That’s when Barack Obama stepped in.

Last November Barack Obama pushed Chairman Wheeler into adopting the Title II approach to implement Net Neutrality rules which will make the Internet into Ma Bell on February 26th. As a public utility, the president through his minions will regulate rates and rules.

Obama was visible and directly intervened in the once-independent FCC proceedings since last year.

Secret meetings were held between the White House and FCC officials and as the Wall Street Journal put it, the president’s intervention “essentially killed the compromise proposed by Mr. Wheeler, leaving him no choice but to follow the path outlined by the president.”

Of course Mr. Wheeler had a choice. Under the law, the White House cannot direct the FCC commissioner’s actions but Mr. Wheeler is an obedient Democrat.

Political power grabbers win out over freedom every time.

Mr. Obama wants the Internet to be “fair” in the same way the “Fairness Act” was “fair” and once silenced free speech.

The FEC is also at work implementing Barack Obama’s “fairness”. The Democrats on the FEC want to place regulations on bloggers and other Internet users who support candidates and influence public policy.

They want even third-party Internet groups to reveal donor’s. No more “hands off the Internet”.

FEC Chairwoman and Democrat Ann Ravel has actually said she wants to control political information on the Internet.

Former FEC Chairman Lee E. Goodman, a Republican, described what Ms. Ravel wants as something like a Chinese censorship board.

He said if regulation extends that far, then anybody who writes a political blog, runs a politically active news site or even chat room could be regulated. He added that funny internet campaigns like “Obama Girl,” and “Jib Jab” would also face regulations.

“I told you this was coming,” he told Secrets. Earlier last year he warned that Democrats on the panel were gunning for conservative Internet sites like the Drudge Report.

In order for Democrat “fairness” to work, the Internet has to be controlled and voices opposing the liberal voice must be shut down.

On February 26th, the FCC commissioner, Tom Wheeler, and his two Democrat colleagues on the five-member commission will adopt the “Title II” public utility regulatory scheme, the same Title II they used to control Ma Bell.

Internet start-ups were the bright light in a country growing short on start ups because of government intervention. Internet startups have a dim outlook with taxes and regulations now at their doorstep.

Private-sector investment and innovation will be discouraged as Obama’s “fair” net neutrality rules are implemented. Special interests will be knocking down the FCC door and litigation will become a way of life once the government controls the Internet.

The FCC is publishing half-truths about the effect this will have.

They omit the obvious fact that the FCC will regulate rates. No doubt, they will regulate Internet usage tiers. Forget those “zero-rating” plans and look to all interconnecting facilities being regulated.

Regulations are burdensome in time and costs and taxes always come with regulations. It becomes a government piggy bank for needy politicians who want to fill the coffers for their special interest groups.

It’s also far too tempting for a partisan government to leave alone to operate as a free voice of the people.

The Obama-guided FCC will be able to decide what rates and rules are unjust or unreasonable or discriminatory. Direct rate regulations are allowed and will happen.

The idea of all this is supposedly to establish “bright line” rules which prohibit blocking, throttling, paid prioritization. Expect lawsuits.

There is a line in the FCC fact sheet concerning this issue which portends the future: 

“There must be a known standards by which to determine whether new practices are appropriate or not. Thus, the proposal will create a general Open Internet conduct standard that [Internet service providers] cannot harm consumers or edge providers.”

The FCC can expand its power almost limitlessly with this vague guideline, all the while saying they are looking out for the consumers. Almost anything can be twisted into “harming consumers.”

Of course the government wants you to believe this will make us all safer though the government has already shown us how inadequate they are as stewards of the peoples’ safety with Obamacare, the EPA, the VA, foreign affairs policy, and so on.

The rules being passed have absolutely nothing to do with making the Internet safer – nothing. It won’t affect hacking and other threats and isn’t intended to.

Once the control of the Internet fully rests in the hands of the executive, the control won’t end with political censorship.

Barack Obama is more than a big government president, he is a ubiquitous, all powerful power grabber who ignores the Constitution when it suits him and who intends to make every government agency into a vehicle of “fairness” – social justice “fairness” – regulating every aspect of our lives including what we hear. All this in an effort to control our very thoughts.

The FCC and FEC will control the news and opinions that reach the public.

The agencies have been politicized by a far-left “liberal” about whom nothing is liberal in the usual meaning of the word.

Read the Republican commissioner’s revelations on this link. More on the FEC here. Our only hope lies with the liberal-dominated courts and the weak-kneed Congress.

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