Corporations censoring the internet.

So as we all know for the past several years a conflict over wether or not the internet should be "free" has been hotly debated not only in Congress here in the States but internationally as well. Governments such as china have implemented strong filters to remove any ideas that they dont want thier peoples to come into contact with. The current United States Government, IMHO, has been trying, and failing to do the same.

Well i was just watching CNN's In the Money saturday afternoon Economics news show and i was SHOCKED. They ran a piece about how more and more companies are doing online research about thier applicants, via Myspace, Friendster, etc...

Now yay this doesnt sound too bad right...Nope. Wat are the things they say you should not have on your websites...and this is a direct quote "Stay away from making "strong" political or religous statements."

So i get it....we can't make it illegal to speak out against Jesus and George W....but what we will do is make it impossible for you to get a job....OOOO yay.....this is INFURIATING....I am sooo livid...

What can we do? How much more of this can we as a people legitametly take before we are rightly justified in burning this corrupt system down.

I honestly think that this is going to be the next method used by which to control the internet. We wont make it illegal out and out but we will make it financial suicide if you do speak out against political and religous hypocrisy and intollerance.

Is anyone else APPALED by this...I will attempt to get the transcripts from CNN but until then I ask that you take my word that I haven't edited nor exaggerated what was thier show.

Yeah, that's not a comforting thought. I suppose the solution is to simply use an alias or false idenity on the internet, making it harder for anyone to find out who you actually are.

Well.... use Freenet and other darknets!

Freenet....Darknet....never heard of those....how do I access them....and this isnt like an IP address kind of thing. This is like....Im going to google your name and if you have a web page Im going to read it and if thier is anything I dont like on that web page I wont hire you.

My problem is this. The united States Government failed horribly at the War on Drugs...so they passed the buck on to Corporate America and the Drug Test for eligibility for employment. When and how is it legal/constitutional for a company to know what I do when im not at work. Should that even matter...as long as my work is being done as efficently as you have requested my personal habits and ideas should not play a role in wether or not I get a job.

Don't get me wrong...no one wants to hire a tweaker, but...i feel that this new effort at internet censorship is just a micrchasim of a larger ideal, control.

Unless you apply for a job with the name El Senor PomPom I think you'll be alright.

In all seriousness, I see what you're saying, and I agree that it's going to be more of a problem going forward. If people want to stand up and speak out against the power structure, there are going to be sacrifices, that's unavoidable. If there was no sacrifice, it wouldn't be hard to do, and everybody would be taking a stand for what's right.

To true....and while I do use alternate names it is something that I still worry about especially with sites like Friendster, Facebook, and Myspace...all opf which I am either a part of or I know peoiple who are.

However, I am making a concerted effort to Stand up against what I percieve as oppression....however it seems like it is making No difference wat so ever...its like if there arent enough people involved its never going to make it off the ground.

This should be something that American's get furious over....but unfortunetly I doubt they will....the sure fact that it happened to land on a Saturday afternoon news show is as far as I think we will see it go. Which is dishearting...because those who are affected by this will be afraid to come forward I think. I think that they will feel like well damn i just got burned for saying G.W bites the big one....whats going to happen if I say my civil rights are being violated by a non-government-agency. Similar to the reports of USAF and RAAF pilots not reporting UFO's for fear of being grounded pending psychological evals.

Censorship is the path towards oppression

I recognize the need to insure that your employees are not Tweakers, Crack heads, or Junkies....however...when did it become legal to FORCE someone to disclose what they do on THIER time away from the job. The offical government line is that everyone has a choice of wether or not to work at said location. However, in todays age EVERY job...well maybe not every but most jobs....drug test.....so its notlonger a choice either do it or you cant get work...and we all know what that means....I belive that this is simply the next step in controling the American people. By allowing buisness to control the probelms of people expressing SOLID RATIONAL anti-government(not anarachy) and anti-christian ideas the government is essentially allowing for the subjucation of our civil right to free speach, and it benefits both sides....Buisness keep getting thier tax breaks that only affect 2% of the population, but voted on and approved by Trailer Park residents....and Government gets to regulate, ablbiet indirectly, exactly what we feel we are allowed to say or feel. This is appaling and something needs to be done.



As i have argued for in the last several blogs....WE NEED TO REVOLT...not violently...even better...We need to stop buying products....stop buying gas...and stop going to work...dont pay our bills....dont pay our taxes...REFUSE to cooperate with a government that cant even secure our National Borders both in Mexico and in Canada, five years after we were SUPPOSEDLY attacked.....This government regardless of wether or not its Republican dominated or Democractic dominated...the American people's voice is not being heard because of the wealth and power of the Super rich elitests and Big Buisness.



"Violence only begets violence"---Ghandi......

we must not perpetuate the cycle...we must break free of this oppression....control is still control even if those who are controled arent aware of the leash.

El senor pom pom the master of your disaster



[edit on 20-5-2006 by Elsenorpompom]

Elsenorpompom,

While I do understand your concern, and I do not think it is right for employers to hire based on someone's religious affliliation, political affiliation, etc., I do have a point or two to bring up.

The internet is free to basically anyone with a library card. When you put your pictures, ramblings, and ideas on it, everybody from your employer to your grandmother to your next door neighbor can see/read them. Just like a newspaper or a book, you wouldn't want them to publish anything you say or do that is private with your name next to it, would you?

Incidentally, everyone has a choice wether or not they put personal things about themselves on the internet. If someone chooses to do so, they can always remain anonymous by using a fictitious name. As a general rule, I myself never post anything on any website that would allude to my name or where I live, or post any pictures of me, for safety reasons. I do have things like blogs, profiles, a myspace account, etc. But even if you did know my name, you wouldn't be able to find me unless I gave you my "alias".

That being said, if I was writing stuff or posting pictures of myself I wouldn't want my (potential) employer to see, I'd be far more concerned that it's also accessible to my mother.

Well, we use the internet to search and find things out about other people or companys

So why shouldn't they be able to do it to you, especailly if its to hire you for a job?

One example of a corporation censoring the internet that happened right here in my home town was by one of two local ISPs, Telus. (google Telus censor strike or something like that) A whole bunch of Telus' employees went on strike, and Telus censored websites that were supportive of the strikers. People did not like that very much at all, and with good reason.

And I've never heard of freenet or darknet, either... I'm going to go look those up, my curiousity has been piqued.

Originally posted by DodgeG1
So why shouldn't they be able to do it to you, especailly if its to hire you for a job?

'Cos despite what the law says, a corporation is not a flesh and blood person.

All that rubbish "Stay away from making "strong" political or religous statements." is stuff for youre CV. Blogs and whathaveyou are personal not work.

So lets imagine that a coporation has a myspace or a blog somewhere, well it cant but lets imagine, what would it say? Well, the number one love and interest is Profits - more production per unit, economising (sacking/out sourcing/hot desking). We would read about its enemies and friends, other corpoations and government agencies and hear about its activities and hobbies. Pick oooo lets say IMB... imagine THAT blog.

So in a nut shell, corporations sod off, read our CV and be done with it, just like we read your rubbish.