New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced surveillance efforts on Americans. She, through the New York State government, claims a need to target and root out hate speech on social media to create a safer and more just New York State.
- $227 Million for Gun Violence Prevention Programs
- $90 Million to Expand and Implement Discovery and Support Pretrial Services
- $143 Million in Investments for Mental Health Crisis Infrastructure
- $62 Million for Cybersecurity
So much for defunding “the police.”
Kathy Hochul announced that New York is “collecting data” from “surveillance efforts” on social media
Hochul says the social media analysis unit will contact people who commit “hate speech”
This is to “ensure safety” Even though they got rid of Guiliani’s Stop and Frisk which… pic.twitter.com/QjlPiXfRpz
— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) November 13, 2023
Her spending initiative includes heightened surveillance of New York’s citizens with an emphasis on proactive contact with individuals expressing hate speech online. But if you are being proactive against hate speech, aren’t you anticipating it, prevent it?
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Some assert this next step raises questions about freedom of speech and privacy.
Why is it appropriate for state governments to be very focused on the data they’re collecting from surveillance efforts? Why do they need warrantless surveillance? What business is it of the state to be monitoring, let alone censoring free speech on social media platforms? How is that productive use of tax money? Do you think New York is alone in such efforts?
Where is hate speech defined? Who among us wants the State government to use police power to counter some perceived negativity? Who among us thinks speech police are appropriate? Incitement to violence is a different thing. It has been defined legally and adjudicated.
There is no right to feel safe. With the government not securing our borders, sanctuary jurisdictions, most especially, to whine about not feeling safe is beyond the pale. New York does not want you to be safe, but it says it wants to defend you from not feeling safe. It is hypocrisy beyond ignorance.
Communist regimes like New York regularly employ extensive surveillance systems. There was the Stasi in East Germany, the KGB in the Soviet Union, and Mao’s People’s Army in North Korea, Iran, and Cambodia. These are or were states with widespread networks of informants and advanced surveillance techniques.
They are regimes that are about repression, power, and control. They routinely monitor virtually every aspect of daily life… just like New York’s state government now, it seems. It is a feature of the Democrat Party, not an option. You will submit. You will comply. You will own nothing, and you will be happy.