Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ted-cruz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ted Cruz</a> (R-TX) slammed the Biden administration&#8217;s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week for a program that paid millions of dollars to a far-left university group that links conservatives to Nazis.
Cruz made the remarks during an episode of his &#8220;Verdict&#8221; podcast this week while discussing DHS&#8217;s Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program.
Cruz <a href="https://omny.fm/shows/verdict-with-ted-cruz-1/5-31-23-podcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the average person might believe that the program, which gives funds to &#8220;establish or enhance capabilities to prevent targeted violence and terrorism,&#8221; is targeting terrorist organizations like ISIS and Antifa.
&#8220;Well, you would be wrong,&#8221; Cruz said, explaining that one of the organizations, the University of Dayton, received a $352,109 grant to &#8220;draw on the expertise of the University of Dayton faculty&#8221; to fight &#8220;domestic violence extremism and hate movements.&#8221;
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/university-program-linking-christians-republicans-nazis-granted-dhs-funds-part-anti-terror-initiative" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the university&#8217;s grant application included a footnote where one of the researchers presented a chart called the &#8220;Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization.&#8221;
The pyramid has more mainstream conservative organizations – such as the Heritage Foundation, Fox News, and PragerUniversity – on the bottom two levels and places neo-Nazi organizations at the top, seemingly linking all these groups together.
&#8220;What does the pyramid link them to? Hate groups like &#8216;The Base,’ which is a neo-Nazi paramilitary group, and the Daily Stormer, which is a pro Nazi publication,&#8221; Cruz said, adding, “And the Biden DHS said, &#8216;Oh, that sounds great to us,&#8217; and was happy to spend your and my tax dollars supporting a group that apparently sees no difference between the RNC, between the Heritage Foundation, between Fox News and Nazis.&#8221;
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://onelink.to/dwapp" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-96097">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
Cruz said that this was an example of the Biden administration weaponizing the federal government &#8220;to target you.&#8221;

Key Speakers At Conservative Political Action Conference

Cruz Blasts Biden Admin For Funding Extreme University Group That Casts Republicans As Nazis

Cruz Blasts Biden Admin For Funding Extreme University Group That Links Republicans With Nazis

Biden Administration

Executive

Hate Speech

Ted Cruz

U.S.

A prominent House Democrat raising concerns about hate speech on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a> received a terse response Thursday directly from Twitter CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a>.
Singling out &#8220;Elon Musk&#8217;s Twitter,&#8221; Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) shared statistics showing a rise in &#8220;slurs&#8221; against black people, women, Jewish people, and gay men. &#8220;These numbers are abysmal – and unacceptable,&#8221; Schiff said in a tweet, adding that he and Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) were &#8220;demanding action&#8221; in response to the numbers.
Musk replied to the tweet hours later. &#8220;False, hate speech impressions are actually down by 1/3 for Twitter now vs prior to acquisition,&#8221; Musk retorted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
False, hate speech impressions are actually down by 1/3 for Twitter now vs prior to acquisition <a href="https://twitter.com/CommunityNotes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CommunityNotes</a>
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1600944225964593152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Musk also tagged Community Notes, a feature previously called Birdwatch, which allows crowd-sourced notes meant to counter misleading information to be affixed to tweets.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Community Notes ftw <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@elonmusk</a> <a href="https://t.co/8R4bcVd7HS">pic.twitter.com/8R4bcVd7HS</a>
&mdash; Johnna Crider (@JohnnaCrider1) <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnnaCrider1/status/1600947242340614144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Since the Telsa and SpaceX boss completed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter in late October, Musk has <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1593673339826212864" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pledged negative and hate tweets</a> would be &#8220;max deboosted &amp; demonetized.&#8221; He claimed on November 23 that hate speech impressions were <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1595630109116989440" target="_blank" rel="noopener">down by a third</a> from &#8220;pre-spike levels,&#8221; but groups that study online platforms claim there has been a spike in slurs against marginalized groups in recent weeks.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Hate speech impressions down by 1/3 from pre-spike levels. Congrats to Twitter team! <a href="https://t.co/5BWaQoIlip">pic.twitter.com/5BWaQoIlip</a>
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1595630109116989440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/02/technology/twitter-hate-speech.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times published a report</a> earlier this month about researchers warning of an unprecedented surge in hate speech since Musk took over Twitter. This same report acknowledged a &#8220;relatively small&#8221; number of slurs posted per day — numbers in the low thousands — but otherwise focused on these groups raising the alarm and Twitter&#8217;s struggle to reassure concerned advertisers.
The newspaper posted the report on Twitter, noting their findings and featuring a quote from Imran Ahmed, the chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, saying the new Twitter CEO &#8220;sent up the Bat Signal to every kind of racist, misogynist and homophobe that Twitter was open for business.&#8221; Musk responded to the tweet, saying, &#8220;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1598755659499044879" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Utterly false</a>.&#8221;
In a letter to Musk, dated Thursday, Schiff and Takano cited the findings by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit operation, and <a href="https://takano.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/reps-takano-schiff-call-on-elon-musk-to-tamp-down-hate-speech-on-twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked four questions</a> about specific measures Twitter is taking to fight hate speech.
“With rapidly changing and unclear policies on content moderation on Twitter, amid documented negative trends and public evidence, we are concerned about the individual and community harm arising from Twitter, including how that could spill from online into real life,&#8221; the members wrote. &#8220;We are seeking further information about your plans for content moderation and the capability of your workforce to implement and enforce your policies.&#8221;

Elon Musk

Musk Fires Back At Schiff Over Hate Speech On Twitter

Adam Schiff

Business

Congress

Social Media

Twitter

U.S. House of Representatives

A <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criminal</a> case against street preacher John Dunn was tossed from the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/united-kingdom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">British</a> court system after two women in a <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/homosexuality" target="_blank" rel="noopener">same-sex marriage</a> accused the Christian of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hate-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hate speech</a>.
Dunn, a veteran of the British Army’s Special Forces and a throat cancer survivor, regularly preaches in the town square of Swindon, according to a <a href="https://christianconcern.com/ccpressreleases/win-for-arrested-preacher-after-crown-prosecution-claims-parts-of-bible-no-longer-appropriate-in-modern-society/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> from Christian Legal Centre, which represented him throughout the legal proceedings. Dunn, who often discusses biblical doctrine related to sexuality as described in Genesis 1, told two women holding hands that he hoped they were “sisters.” After the women responded that they were in a same-sex marriage, Dunn said that “homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God,” which is a direct quote from 1 Corinthians 6.
The women subsequently reported the preacher to law enforcement. Prosecutors contended that Dunn was guilty of hate speech because he had “offended” and “upset” a member of the public. The case was dismissed after the two women who accused Dunn failed to appear in court, even though a police officer reportedly visited their home and encouraged them to attend the hearing scheduled for November 13.
“When I preach, I only ever say what is in the Bible. When they told me they were in a same-sex marriage, I was concerned for them,” Dunn said in a statement provided to Christian Legal Centre after the dismissal. “I had to communicate the consequences of their actions based on what the Bible says. I wanted to warn them, not out of condemnation, but out of love. I wanted to them to know that there is forgiveness through the love of Jesus.”
The women accused Dunn of shouting that they would “burn in hell,” even though Dunn lost his voice box during his battle with cancer.
Prosecutors had argued that certain biblical doctrines “are simply no longer appropriate in modern society and which would be deemed offensive if stated in public.” Martin Parsons, a Christian theologian who provided expert evidence in response to the prosecutors’ assertions, noted that the public reading of Scripture during the Reformation was among the first steps toward broader freedom of religion in Britain. The words of the Old and New Testaments still hold an important place in British public life, including the coronation and funeral of recently deceased Queen Elizabeth II.
“The Bible has had a unique status within British constitutional history,” Parsons observed. “The suggestion by the crown that there are parts of the Bible ‘which are simply no longer appropriate in modern society and which would be deemed offensive if stated in public,’ is one that if accepted would have significant constitutional implications.”
Dunn remarked that he intends to continue street preaching. He is regularly joined by Shaun O’Sullivan, a former drug dealer who was converted under his ministry.
Several countries in Europe have made international headlines for penalizing citizens publicly espousing historic Christian teachings on matters such as homosexuality and transgenderism. Päivi Räsänen, a member of the Finnish Parliament, faced multiple criminal charges earlier this year after she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/christian-politician-in-finland-grandmother-of-six-on-trial-after-posting-bible-tweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> a screenshot of a Bible verse depicting pride as a sin.
Tobias Riemenschneider, a pastor in Frankfurt, Germany, recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/christians-against-the-abuse-of-power-theologians-around-the-world-sign-statement-rejecting-government-lockdowns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contended</a> in the Frankfurt Declaration of Christian and Civil Liberties that Western nations’ descent into totalitarianism encroaches upon individual liberties, particularly with respect to worship and religion. “God has delegated authority to civil governments for the purpose of rewarding good and punishing evil, and to protect the God-given rights and freedoms granted to all people,” the statement reads.

Reading Holy Bible

Charges Dropped Against British Street Preacher Accused Of ‘Hate Speech’

Charges Dropped Against British Street Preacher Accused By Two Lesbians Of 'Hate Speech'

Christianity

Homosexuality

Religion

United Kingdom

World

The American people’s vocal rejection of President Joe Biden has caused the 46th president to suffer “more vulgar and widespread” criticism than any president in modern times, possibly ever, The Washington Post has claimed.
“[I]t’s clear that after nine months in office, Biden — or at least what he represents — is increasingly becoming an object of hatred to many Trump supporters,” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-vulgar-signs-chants/2021/10/22/6071836e-3122-11ec-a880-a9d8c009a0b1_story.html">wrote</a> Ashley Parker and Carissa Wolf on Saturday.
Former presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump “were all heckled” with “[b]oos, jeers and insults,” and “‘F&#8212; Trump’ graffiti adorned some walls in Washington,” admit Parker and Wolf. “The current eruption of anti-Biden signs and chants, however, is on another level, far more vulgar and widespread.”
While stadiums of sports fans have chanted, “F*** Joe Biden” — and, since a misbegotten NBC report, “Let’s Go, Brandon!” — the level of vitriol and vulgarity Biden has experienced pale in comparison to the hatred, death threats, and simulated assassination attempts directed at his two most recent Republican predecessors.
During an August 2015 <a href="https://twitter.com/DonLemonTonight/status/630926147774119936">discussion</a> with CNN’s Don Lemon, sometimes Republican strategist Rick Wilson called candidate Donald Trump a “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb9noJXJXdE">douche canoe</a>” who lacks “gravitas.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Trump...Douche-Canoe?" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sb9noJXJXdE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
As Donald Trump’s presidency began, the 2017 Women’s March clogged the capital’s streets with a sea of hats shaped to look like female reproductive anatomy. In later years the p**sy hats, which some protesters even placed atop a statue of abolitionist <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/black-americans-outraged-after-feminists-foist-paul-bois">Harriet Tubman</a>, became controversial because they <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/no-more-knitwear-womens-march-urged-drop-pink-emily-zanotti">excluded</a> men who identify as women.
Far-Left Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) married vulgar anti-Trump rhetoric with threats to overturn an election shortly after her own election, saying in January 2019 that she told her young child, “We’re going to impeach the mother f***er.” Her campaign later <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rashida-tlaibs-campaign-selling-impeach-the-mf-t-shirts">sold t-shirts</a> emblazoned with the phrase.
But it was the immediate and persistent threat of assassination that placed the Trump presidency “on another level” from sports chants featuring carnal verbs. The Women’s March culminated with ‘80s singer Madonna saying, “Yes, I’m angry. Yes, I am outraged. Yes, I’ve thought a lot about blowing up the White House.” But, she said, “I know it won’t change anything.”
Actor Johnny Depp made a rambling reference to assassinating President Trump while overseas. “I think Trump needs help,” Depp <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/johnny-depp-when-was-last-time-actor-assassinated-joseph-curl">said</a> at a British film festival in January 2017. “When was the last time an actor assassinated a president?”
The following month, comedienne Sarah Silverman seemingly called for a military insurrection against President Trump, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/another-unfunny-comedian-goes-after-trump-lemuel-pitkin">tweeting</a>, “ONCE THE MILITARY IS W US FASCISTS GET OVERTHROWN. MAD KING &amp; HIS HANDLERS GO BYE BYE.” (All caps in original.)
Soon, the Left escalated beyond merely talking about assassinating President Donald Trump to depicting and enacting his bloody murder. When a summer 2017 version of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” in New York City’s Central Park showed President Donald Trump being brutally <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/proud-sponsor-president-trumps-nightly-john-nolte">stabbed to death</a>, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cnns-fareed-zakaria-hails-trump-assassination-play-john-nolte">tweeted</a> that the play had been “<a href="https://twitter.com/FareedZakaria/status/869951908689137664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E869951908689137664%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Fcnns-fareed-zakaria-hails-trump-assassination-play-john-nolte">brilliantly interpreted for Trump</a> era. A masterpiece.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
If you&#39;re in NYC, go see Julius Caesar, free in Central Park, brilliantly interpreted for Trump era. A masterpiece: <a href="https://t.co/RiJJnW3g8V">https://t.co/RiJJnW3g8V</a>
&mdash; Fareed Zakaria (@FareedZakaria) <a href="https://twitter.com/FareedZakaria/status/869951908689137664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Although not as high-brow as Shakespeare in the Park, rapper Snoop Dogg’s 2017 video for the song “Lavender” showed him <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/assassination-doggwhistle-snoop-shoots-trump-new-amanda-prestigiacomo">simulating the assassination of President Trump</a> by shooting a clown who looked like <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-fires-back-after-snoop-dogg-assassination-ben-shapiro">Donald Trump</a> with a toy gun.
Barbara Streisand <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/barbra-streisand-shares-gruesome-cartoon-of-pelosi-impaling-and-killing-trump">tweeted</a> a <a href="https://twitter.com/BarbraStreisand/status/1185431113243725824">photo</a> showing a high-heel with the word “Pelosi” impaling a bleeding Donald Trump in October 2019.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://t.co/OopxTqtx2A">pic.twitter.com/OopxTqtx2A</a>
&mdash; Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) <a href="https://twitter.com/BarbraStreisand/status/1185431113243725824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Perhaps no one has spouted as much virulent and violent anti-Trump rhetoric as actress and comedienne Kathy Griffin, who took part in an infamous May 2017 photoshoot showing her holding a simulation of President Donald Trump’s severed head. When President Trump hosted an event dedicated to raising awareness of diabetes at the White House last May, Griffin <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kathy-griffin-suggests-trump-should-use-syringe-with-nothing-but-air-inside-it-trump-jr-blasts-her-twitter">said</a> he should inject himself a “[s]yringe with <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/air-embolism">nothing but air</a> inside it,” adding, “F**K TRUMP.” Then <a href="https://twitter.com/kathygriffin/status/1323893513226870786">hours</a> after the polls closed during the 2020 election, she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/election-night-kathy-griffin-retweets-infamous-pic-of-her-with-trumps-severed-head">retweeted the photo</a> of herself holding Trump’s severed head.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://t.co/HG3wwVO8hm">pic.twitter.com/HG3wwVO8hm</a>
&mdash; Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) <a href="https://twitter.com/kathygriffin/status/1323893513226870786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Unfortunately, the Left’s rhetorical embrace of violence did not begin with President Donald Trump.
In May 2004, left-wing radio talk show host Randi Rhodes <a href="https://therightswriter.com/2009/05/all-the-rage/">likened</a> then-President George W. Bush to the least intelligent member of the Corleone family in The Godfather: “Like Fredo, somebody ought to take him out fishing and [sound of gunfire].” Although she apologized, the following April she <a href="https://therightswriter.com/2005/04/air-assassination/">played</a> a spot that criticized President Bush’s Social Security reform proposal that featured the sound of someone firing a gun at the “little bastard”:
<blockquote>A spoiled child is telling us our Social Security isn’t safe anymore, so he is going to fix it for us. Well, here’s your answer, you ungrateful whelp: [Audio sound of four gunshots being fired.] Just try it, you little bastard. [Audio of gun being cocked.]</blockquote>
In between her segments, in October 2004, U.K. Guardian columnist Charlie Brooker <a href="https://therightswriter.com/2004/10/euro-socialists-say-assassinate-bush/">asked</a>, “John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr. – where are you now that we need you?” In 2006, British filmmaker Gabriel Range <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5333220.stm">produced</a> the film Death of a President that depicted the assassination of George W. Bush.
In Bush’s case, the rhetoric spilled over into attempted violence. At a December 2008 press conference in Baghdad, Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw both his shoes at President George W. Bush, who ducked out of the way just in time. Ten years later, The Washington Post’s Amanda Erickson <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/05/02/remember-the-iraqi-man-who-threw-a-shoe-at-president-bush-hes-running-for-office/">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Zaidi&#8217;s protest has made him famous in the Arab world. The Baydan Shoe factory, which manufactured the shoes thrown at Bush, renamed the model the “ByeBye Bush” shoe. The shoe was even briefly <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/29/iraq.shoe.monument/">honored with a bronze statue</a> at an Iraqi orphanage.
Now, the 39-year-old is running for a seat in the Iraqi parliament.</blockquote>
As of this writing, the number of shoe-throwing incidents in the Biden presidency is zero.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

US-POLITICS-BIDEN

Is Anti-Biden Criticism Really ‘Far More Vulgar And Widespread’ Than Any Other President?

Donald Trump

Fact Check

George W. Bush

Joe Biden

Media Bias

Washington Post

Just a few days after three England soccer players were subjected to racist abuse online — including monkey emojis, slurs and taunts — British police have arrested at least four people for “hate crimes” in connection with the online messages. 
On Sunday, England lost in penalty kicks to Italy in the Euro 2020 final. England was hoping for its first major international championship since the 1966 World Cup, but once again fell short. 
After extra time, Italy and England were tied 1-1, but Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukaya Saka — who are black — missed their penalty kicks for England. 
According to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/uk-police-arrest-four-over-racist-abuse-england-soccer-players-2021-07-15/">Reuters</a>, the three black players were “targeted with racist abuse on social media sites Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.” 
The online abuse was quickly condemned by the English soccer team and England’s soccer governing body, the FA. 
“The FA strongly condemns all forms of discrimination and is appalled by the online racism that has been aimed at some of our England players on social media,” the FA statement <a href="https://twitter.com/FAspokesperson/status/1414388159769714690">said</a>. “We could not be clearer that anyone behind such disgusting behaviour is not welcome in following the team. We will do all we can to support the players affected while urging the toughest punishments possible for anyone responsible.” 
“We will continue to do everything we can to stamp discrimination out of the game, but we implore governemnt to act quickly and bring the appropriate legislation so this abuse has real life consequences. Social media companies need to step up and take accountability and action to ban abusers from their platforms, gather evidence that can lead to prosecution and support making their platforms free from this type of abhorrent abuse.” 
Prime Minister Boris Johnson also weighed in, condemning those responsible for the racist posts. 
“This England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter. “Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media.
Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves.
&mdash; Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson/status/1414465103374729220?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
The U.K. Football Policing Unit, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/united-kingdom-football-policing-unit-ukfpu">which</a> &#8220;strives to reduce violence, antisocial behaviour and disorder at football events involving UK football teams,&#8221; is leading a hate crime investigation. 
&#8220;We are working very closely with social media platforms, who are providing data we need to progress enquiries,&#8221; <a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/uk-police-arrest-four-over-racist-abuse-england-soccer-players-2021-07-15/">said</a> Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the officer responsible for leading Britain&#8217;s policing response on soccer issues.
&#8220;If we identify that you are behind this crime, we will track you down and you will face the serious consequences of your shameful actions.&#8221;
According to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/england-soccer-team-racist-abuse-players-police-arrest-suspects/">CBS News</a>, “897 football-related incidents were recorded and 264 arrests were made in the 24-hour period surrounding the game.” Four of those arrests were for “hate crimes.”
Hate speech laws in the United Kingdom make it an offense for a person to use “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause, another person harassment, alarm or distress.”
“Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 makes it illegal to send a message via a public electronic communications network that is considered grossly offensive, or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character,” per <a href="https://www.theweek.co.uk/97552/hate-speech-vs-free-speech-the-uk-laws">The Week</a>.
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to sports@dailywire.com.

Euro 2020

Police Make Arrests Over Online Racist Abuse Aimed At England’s Black Soccer Players

Free Speech

Soccer

On Thursday, a Muslim civil rights group filed a lawsuit against Facebook and top executives of the company over claims made about how the social media platform removes hate speech from its site.
The <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/d3deze5m12qxg22/GW_MuslimAdvocates_Facebook_Complaint_FILED_4_8_21.pdf?dl=0">lawsuit</a> was filed by Muslim Advocates in Washington, D.C., Superior Court, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lawsuits-mark-zuckerberg-district-of-columbia-b579010afbf11d3aa30000f1ee75178b">The Associated Press</a>. It claims that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other heads of the company &#8220;have engaged in a coordinated campaign to convince the public, elected representatives, federal officials, and non-profit leaders in the nation’s capital that Facebook is a safe product by misrepresenting that Facebook takes down or removes any content that violates Facebook’s Community Standards or other policies.&#8221;
The group&#8217;s lawsuit claims that Facebook and its senior team failed to &#8220;abide by their promises to the public, national officials, and civil rights leaders&#8221; in well-known instances that involve former president Donald Trump &#8220;or white nationalist militias.&#8221; The lawsuit says that &#8220;ordinary people are bombarded with harmful content in violation of Facebook’s own policies on hate speech, bullying, harassment, dangerous organizations, and violence&#8221; every day and that &#8220;Hateful, anti-Muslim attacks are especially pervasive on Facebook.&#8221;
The lawsuit continues:
<blockquote>Yet Facebook refuses to “remove” this content or “take it down,” as its executives repeatedly promised that they and the company would do when they learn of such content. Instead, in an effort to convince Congress, civil rights groups, and the public that their product is safe, Facebook’s officials have consistently misrepresented the company’s actual practices when it comes to enforcing Facebook’s own its own [sic] standards and policies to keep Facebook free of hate speech and other harmful content.
This failure has amplified the volume of anti-Muslim hate bombarding Facebook users. And the anti-Muslim hate that’s so pervasive on Facebook presents an enormous problem both online and in real life. </blockquote>
According to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lawsuits-mark-zuckerberg-district-of-columbia-b579010afbf11d3aa30000f1ee75178b">The Associated Press</a>, the lawsuit says that Facebook has done nothing or very little in response to many notices of hate speech or calls to violence. &#8220;Making false and deceptive statements about removing hateful and harmful content violates the District of Columbia’s consumer-protection law and its bar on fraud, the lawsuit says.&#8221;
“Just like a car company can’t exaggerate how safe their product is to boost sales, Facebook isn’t allowed to do that either. And that’s what they are doing,&#8221; Mary Bauer, legal director at Muslim Advocates, told <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/04/08/facebook-hate-speech-muslims-lawsuit-zuckerberg/4844524001/">USA Today</a>. &#8220;They are lying about the safety of their products to avoid regulation by Congress and to assuage the concerns of the public and nonprofit groups.”
<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/04/08/facebook-hate-speech-muslims-lawsuit-zuckerberg/4844524001/">USA Today</a> reported that Facebook responded to the lawsuit in a statement via email on Thursday, saying, &#8220;We do not allow hate speech on Facebook and regularly work with experts, non-profits, and stakeholders to help make sure Facebook is a safe place for everyone, recognizing anti-Muslim rhetoric can take different forms. We have invested in AI technologies to take down hate speech, and we proactively detect 97 percent of what we remove.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/communitystandards/hate_speech">Facebook&#8217;s policy on hate speech</a> says that it defines hate speech &#8220;as a direct attack against people on the basis of what we call protected characteristics: race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity and serious disease.&#8221;
The policy clarifies that the company defines attacks &#8220;as violent or dehumanizing speech, harmful stereotypes, statements of inferiority, expressions of contempt, disgust or dismissal, cursing, and calls for exclusion or segregation.&#8221;
Social media executives have gone before Congress to testify about the ways in which they push back against misinformation and extremism on their sites. Zuckerberg told the House Energy and Commerce Committee that the issue is “nuanced,” AP reported. “Any system can make mistakes” in moderating damaging material, he said.
The plaintiffs who brought the complaint are demanding a trial by jury and statutory damages of $1,500 per violation of the D.C. Consumer Protection Act.

F50BD129-FB07-42DE-AE39-59A58B66607C_1_105_c

Facebook Sued By Muslim Civil Rights Group Over Hate Speech Claims

Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg

A new bill introduced in the California State Assembly seeks to root out police officers who have made public comments supporting religious or conservative views.
The Federalist <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2021/03/16/california-bill-proposes-removing-cops-who-express-religious-or-conservative-beliefs/">reported</a> that the bill purports to simply remove officers who have engaged in “hate speech” or are affiliated with a “hate group.” The way the bill is written, however, many officers would lose their jobs or be prohibited from serving merely for stating their religious or conservative beliefs.
The bill, deceptively called the California Law Enforcement Accountability Reform Act or CLEAR Act, was introduced by State Rep. Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) and claims that it would stop “the infiltration of extremists in our law enforcement agencies” and mandate a background check for any officer who has “exchanged racist and homophobic messages.”
Kalra, The Federalist reported, insisted the bill was necessary to combat “the apparent cooperation, participation, and support of some law enforcement” in the January 6 Capitol riot in Washington, D.C.
But as The Federalist reported, the bill broadly defines hate speech as “as advocating or supporting the denial of constitutional rights of, the genocide of, or violence towards, any group of persons based upon race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.”
Pacific Justice Institute Senior Staff Attorney Matthew McReynolds <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v0aP5THNEmGns767b9iRq1wzPY4xs3RA/view">wrote</a> earlier this month in opposition of the bill, insisting that it would label Christians, Muslims, and conservatives as “hateful” due to certain beliefs.
“Under the guise of addressing police gangs, the bill at the same time launches an inexplicable, unwarranted, and unprecedented attack on peaceable, conscientious officers who happen to hold conservative political and religious views,” McReynolds wrote. “Indeed, this is one of the most undisguised and appalling attempts we have ever seen, in more than 20 years of monitoring such legislation, on the freedom of association and freedom to choose minority viewpoints.”
More from The Federalist:
<blockquote>The California GOP currently states in its platform that it believes in traditional marriage and does not believe that Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark Supreme Court case on same-sex marriage decided in 2015, can “coerce a church or religious institution into performing marriages that their faith does not recognize.”
According to this new Democratic bill, disagreeing on moral or religious grounds with homosexuality would technically mean the state GOP is espousing hate speech.</blockquote>
Greg Burt, Director of Capitol Engagement with the California Family Council told The Federalist that the bill would keep qualified people from serving based on political beliefs.
“Should the state now ban from public service qualified, fair-minded people who happen to hold religious or political views that conflict with controversial Supreme Court decisions on marriage and abortion?” Burt asked. “This is a blatantly unconstitutional violation of religious liberty and freedom of speech. It is also a tyrannical abuse of power from a politician seeking to ruin the lives of those he disagrees with.”

Police officer

California Bill Seeks To Ban Police Officers Who Have Expressed Religious Or Conservative Views

California

Police

Conservatives are sounding the alarm about an updated Amazon policy that bans books the ubiquitous billion-dollar company deems offensive or includes so-called &#8220;hate speech.&#8221;
As noted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/amazon-not-streaming-clarence-thomas-doc-during-black-history-month">The Daily Wire</a>, Amazon has ramped up its censorship on conservative views in recent weeks. For example, a popular documentary on U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was banned from their streaming service this past week. Before that move, the company deplatformed conservative Ryan Anderson’s book critical of gender theory, “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Movement.”
When Just the News <a href="https://justthenews.com/nation/technology/prior-removing-transgender-critical-book-amazon-changed-policies-ban-books-hate">reached out</a> to Amazon over the ban on Anderson&#8217;s book, the outlet said the company directed them to a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201995150">page</a> outlining their &#8220;Content Guidelines for Books.&#8221; Under a section labeled &#8220;Offensive Content,&#8221; Amazon states that they &#8220;don’t sell certain content including content that we determine is hate speech, promotes the abuse or sexual exploitation of children, contains pornography, glorifies rape or pedophilia, advocates terrorism, or other material we deem inappropriate or offensive.&#8221;
&#8220;A review of those policies suggests that sometime in the last few months Amazon made a major change to the ways in which it moderates book content on its servers, imposing a much stricter standard on books than it had previously done,&#8221; the <a href="https://justthenews.com/nation/technology/prior-removing-transgender-critical-book-amazon-changed-policies-ban-books-hate">report</a> said. It appears the company recently added so-called &#8220;hate speech&#8221; to their guidelines on book platforming and is amping up their censorship of the &#8220;offensive.&#8221;
Daily Wire podcast host and conservative author Matt Walsh warned that the designation from Amazon broadened to include conservative views, as it seems to be leaning, could lead to the potential &#8220;end of conservative books.&#8221;
&#8220;If Amazon decides to label conservative books &#8216;hate speech,&#8217; that’s effectively the end of conservative books,&#8221; he posted to Twitter on Saturday.
&#8220;Publishers won’t bother publishing books that can’t be sold on Amazon,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;This is a hugely important issue. I don’t think it’s getting all the attention it deserves.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
If Amazon decides to label conservative books “hate speech,” that’s effectively the end of conservative books. Publishers won’t bother publishing books that can’t be sold on Amazon. This is a hugely important issue. I don’t think it’s getting all the attention it deserves.
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1365691715840073731?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Author and critic of progressive gender theory Abigail Shrier posted a lengthy thread offering a similar warning, emphasizing Amazon&#8217;s reach. 
&#8220;We&#8217;re really not making a big enough deal of the fact that [Amazon] has begun deleting books,&#8221; she said on Saturday. &#8220;Amazon now claims the right to bar all books that are &#8216;inappropriate or offensive.&#8217; Of course, nearly *every book* worth reading could be characterized as &#8216;inappropriate&#8217; or &#8216;offensive&#8217; to someone.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Amazon now claims the right to bar all books that are &quot;inappropriate or offensive.&quot;<a href="https://t.co/marbANIvjM">https://t.co/marbANIvjM</a>
Of course, nearly *every book* worth reading could be characterized as &#39;inappropriate&#39; or &#39;offensive&#39; to someone. /2 <a href="https://t.co/TRALPVao0C">pic.twitter.com/TRALPVao0C</a>
&mdash; Abigail Shrier (@AbigailShrier) <a href="https://twitter.com/AbigailShrier/status/1365409348608909313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2021</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;But also, Amazon is manifestly dishonest about censoring books that are &#8216;offensive&#8217; or &#8216;inappropriate.&#8217; They continue to sell books like this, which discusses very young children performing fellatio,&#8221; Shrier highlighted. &#8220;And I don&#8217;t believe they should stop selling it!&#8221;
&#8220;Books that surprise and inform and challenge us to see things differently are usually offensive to someone. In the short term, sounding the alarm may increase sales of a particular book. But this is a dangerous move &#8211; and we are all too complacent about it,&#8221; she continued.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Books that surprise and inform and challenge us to see things differently are usually offensive to someone. 
In the short term, sounding the alarm may increase sales of a particular book. But this is a dangerous move &#8211; and we are all too complacent about it. /4
&mdash; Abigail Shrier (@AbigailShrier) <a href="https://twitter.com/AbigailShrier/status/1365409350777380866?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2021</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;When a company controls over 83% of the market for books, it begins the process of deleting ideas from a society,&#8221; the author argued. &#8220;A bookseller can sell whatever it wants. If &#8216;Marxist Books&#8217; wants to only sell books that conform to its ideology, OK; that has integrity.&#8221;
&#8220;But this is the &#8216;world&#8217;s largest bookseller.&#8217; Amazon can basically make books disappear for *all readers* &#8212; and does so on a blatantly dishonest basis. Under guise of removing ‘inappropriate’ content, they will really be removing ideas they disfavor,&#8221; she added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
But this is the &quot;world&#39;s largest bookseller.&quot; Amazon can basically make books disappear for *all readers* &#8212; and does so on a blatantly dishonest basis. 
Under guise of removing &quot;inappropriate&quot; content, they will really be removing ideas they disfavor.
/6
&mdash; Abigail Shrier (@AbigailShrier) <a href="https://twitter.com/AbigailShrier/status/1365409352396378112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2021</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Please do not make the mistake of analogizing this to a tiny Colorado bakery. There&#8217;s a huge difference betw one baker refusing to make a particular cake and Target, Amazon, or Apple deleting content: scale &#8211; i.e., the difference between homicide and genocide,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;Start to understand the power of scale. The difference between Maoist Books refusing a book and Amazon, is that books Amazon disfavors will never be published in the first place &#8212; which is exactly what the book banners want.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Start to understand the power of scale.
The difference between Maoist Books refusing a book and Amazon, is that books Amazon disfavors will never be published in the first place &#8212; which is exactly what the book banners want. /8
&mdash; Abigail Shrier (@AbigailShrier) <a href="https://twitter.com/AbigailShrier/status/1365409354015367170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2021</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;If the pipe that 83% of book sales flow through shuts off, those books will never get published. Why would a publisher take a chance on a book that [Amazon] won&#8217;t carry? It won&#8217;t. NOW is the time to get upset,&#8221; she urged. &#8220;For the moment, while we can still express this on [Twitter], NOW is the time. Writers are being dropped by agents and refused by publishers *right now* because of Amazon&#8217;s move. Time is running out.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
NOW is the time to get upset. For the moment, while we can still express this on <a href="https://twitter.com/Twitter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@twitter</a>, NOW is the time. 
Writers are being dropped by agents and refused by publishers *right now* because of Amazon&#39;s move.
Time is running out. /10
&mdash; Abigail Shrier (@AbigailShrier) <a href="https://twitter.com/AbigailShrier/status/1365409355609239553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/amazon-not-streaming-clarence-thomas-doc-during-black-history-month">Amazon Snubs Clarence Thomas During Black History Month</a>

Amazon logo

‘The End Of Conservative Books’: Amazon Quietly Bans Books They Deem Offensive, ‘Hate Speech’

Amazon

Books

Censorship

Internet mega-retailer Amazon appears to have quietly updated an internal rule, <a href="https://justthenews.com/nation/technology/prior-removing-transgender-critical-book-amazon-changed-policies-ban-books-hate?utm_medium=social_media&amp;utm_source=twitter_social_icon&amp;utm_campaign=social_icons">Just the News reports</a>, eliminating an exemption for books and periodicals from its site-wide policy against selling items that contain or promote “hate speech.”
The rule change might have gone unnoticed except that a conservative author posted on social media that Amazon had ended its own sales of his book on transgenderism and barred third parties from selling the work.
&#8220;Sometime before this week, when it removed from its digital shelves a book critical of transgender ideology, Amazon altered its content policy to explicitly forbid books that promote &#8216;hate speech,&#8217; a major rule change that could be used to rationalize action against a broader range of books sold by the digital retail giant,&#8221; <a href="https://justthenews.com/nation/technology/prior-removing-transgender-critical-book-amazon-changed-policies-ban-books-hate?utm_medium=social_media&amp;utm_source=twitter_social_icon&amp;utm_campaign=social_icons">Just the News noted</a>.
&#8220;Amazon this week yanked &#8216;When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Movement&#8217; from its main web store, its Kindle servers, and its audiobook lineup with no explanation, even as the book had been available on the site for three years with no apparent controversy,&#8221; the outlet added.
The policy, under which &#8220;When Harry Became Sally&#8221; was booted, now reads, &#8220;We don&#8217;t sell certain content including content that we determine is hate speech.&#8221;
The <a href="https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/amazon-created-new-hate-speech-policy-before-banning-bestselling-book-on-transgenderism/">Washington Free Beacon also reported</a> that the rule change appears inconsistent across Amazon&#8217;s seller guidelines, suggesting that the change was recent and that Amazon has yet to bring the full site into compliance.
&#8220;The company&#8217;s content guidelines previously contained no mention of hate speech,&#8221; the Free Beacon noted. &#8220;In an apparent contradiction, Amazon&#8217;s &#8216;<a href="https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/200164670" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/200164670&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1614276052580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHFwIUkYRDtNBR2fuC_abcIAyzKCQ">Seller Central</a>&#8216; page on &#8216;offensive and controversial materials&#8217; currently exempts books from bans on other products that &#8216;promote hatred.'&#8221;
Amazon has long since banned products that feature elements of &#8220;hate speech,&#8221; have even a tangential relation to &#8220;hate groups,&#8221; or which &#8220;promote hatred.&#8221; It also bans third-party retailers who use Amazon&#8217;s platform to sell their wares from selling items that feature or are associated with &#8220;hate speech.&#8221;
Books and other publications, though, were exempted from the ban, and &#8220;<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200810150659/https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&amp;nodeId=15015801">Internet archives show</a> that as recently as August of last year, Amazon&#8217;s book content policy did not include any mention of &#8216;hate speech,'&#8221; per Just the News. &#8220;At that time, the company stated only that &#8216;we reserve the right not to sell certain content, such as pornography or other inappropriate content.'&#8221;
A further inquiry into older versions of Amazon&#8217;s policy seemed to show that it, at one time, included a provision against items that &#8220;incite, promote, or glorify hatred,&#8221; but Just the News added that that version of the rule &#8220;explicitly noted that the policy did not apply to books.&#8221;
The <a href="https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/amazon-created-new-hate-speech-policy-before-banning-bestselling-book-on-transgenderism/">Free Beacon said that while Ryan T. Anderson</a>, who wrote &#8220;When Harry Became Sally,&#8221; received no explanation for why his book was pulled, Amazon does now seem to say it &#8220;moderates&#8221; its book content.
&#8220;Amazon says it moderates book content using &#8216;a combination of machine learning, automation, and dedicated teams of human reviewers. We&#8217;ll remove content that does not adhere to these guidelines and promptly investigate any book when notified of potential noncompliance. If we remove a title, we let the author, publisher, or selling partner know and they can appeal our decision.'&#8221;
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France’s Coronavirus Death Rate Continues To Slow But Country Remains On Lockdown

Report: Amazon Quietly Debuted New Policy Ending Sales Of Books Labeled ‘Hate Speech’

Former &#8220;Monty Python&#8221; star John Cleese has been an outspoken opponent of political correctness and its harmful effects on free expression. Now that Scotland has <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-53580326">proposed legislation</a> that seeks to prosecute people guilty of &#8220;stirring up hatred,&#8221; Cleese believes that creative expression may be seriously at risk.
Speaking during an <a href="https://www.christian.org.uk/news/hate-crime-bill-a-danger-to-comic-creativity-warns-john-cleese/">online debate</a> hosted by Dr. Simon Knight of the Academy of Ideas, Cleese said that the spontaneity of the creative process could be threatened by such hate speech legislation.
“Well, it’s disastrous to the creative process because the creative process above anything else is a matter of spontaneity,” said Cleese. “I mean, if you’re gonna come [up] with something really interesting artistically, it’s gonna come out of your unconscious, and if you’re having to, what&#8217;s the word, edit everything you say before you say it, then nothing is gonna happen creatively—and also things that are rather lovely and funny in ordinary conversation, they’re not gonna happen either, because everybody’s thinking ‘Ooh, somebody might offend.’”
Cleese recalled being attacked recently because he referred to someone as &#8220;jolly,&#8221; which critics took to mean &#8220;fat.&#8221;
&#8220;I got attacked recently ‘cause I called somebody, what was the word, jolly,&#8221; he said. “I called them jolly because they had what I call a jolly personality. And I was told, &#8216;No, no, you can’t say jolly now because that means fat.&#8217; So I looked it up in the dictionary, [of course], it doesn’t mean fat at all—but to a small number of people it means fat, and therefore they’re trying to control the way I speak because they have a little private rule [amongst] themselves that it has a completely different meaning from one I’ve grown up with.&#8221;
“This is a form of oversensitivity—and I think some of it is because people who are trying to feel that they are very good people almost sit around waiting to be offended so that they can say, &#8216;Oh, I’ve been offended! Sorry everyone, but that’s it, I’ve been offended, and this person who offended me is a very bad person.’ I mean, it’s actually very silly,&#8221; he continued.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="John Cleese: Scots hate crime Bill “disastrous to the creative process”" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dqv3T32tX80?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Speaking with <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-john-cleese/cancel-culture-takes-the-fun-out-of-life-says-comedian-john-cleese-idUSKCN24M2QV">Reuters </a>this past July, Cleese said that cancel culture, often fueled by political correctness, “misunderstands the main purposes of life, which is to have fun.”
“Everything humorous is critical. If you have someone who is perfectly kind and intelligent and flexible and who always behaves appropriately, they’re not funny. Funniness is about people who don’t do that, like Trump,” he said.
Cleese added that political correctness creates a problem for comedians because they “have to set the bar according to what we are told by the most touchy, most emotionally unstable and fragile, and least stoic people in the country.”
John Cleese has come under the gun of political correctness on more than one occasion. In 2018, for instance, BBC’s Head of Comedy Shane Allen <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5863405/No-Joke-Head-BBC-comedy-says-Oxbridge-white-blokes-Python-wouldnt-TV-now.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">criticized </a>the classic comedy troupe “Monty Python” for being too white, male, and middle class.
“If you’re going to assemble a team now, it’s not going to be six Oxbridge white blokes,” Allen said. “It’s going to be a diverse range of people who reflect the modern world.”
“And I think we’ve heard the metropolitan, educated experience,” he continued. “I think it’s about how original a voice you have over what school you went to.”
John Cleese immediately <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/monty-python-attacked-being-too-white-paul-bois">defended the franchise</a> on Twitter when he said, “BBC’s Head of Comedy puts Monty Python’s lack of originality down to a surfeit of education and racist bias. Unfair! We were remarkably diverse FOR OUR TIME. We had three grammar-school boys, one a poof, and Gilliam, though not actually black, was a Yank. And NO slave-owners.”
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/monty-python-star-john-cleese-cancel-culture-misunderstands-the-main-purposes-of-life">‘Monty Python’ Star John Cleese: Cancel Culture ‘Misunderstands The Main Purposes Of Life’</a>

“Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide” By John Cleese – Photocall

WATCH: ‘Monty Python’ Star John Cleese Says Scotland’s Hate Speech Bill ‘Disastrous To The Creative Process’

John Cleese

In our politically obsessed society, references to George Orwell&#8217;s “1984” are so common that they are at risk of becoming cliché. Terms like “thoughtcrime” and “doublespeak” are effective retorts to the reliable buffet of political lies told every day. The American Left have made <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/11/teaching-1984-in-2016/508226/">repeated</a> attempts to claim that the United States under the Trump administration is <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/teens-1984-george-orwell-trump_n_5892445ce4b070cf8b8060a7">synonymous</a> with the “dystopian world in which war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength” described in 1984. However, when we analyze the themes explored in George Orwell’s famous dystopian novel, we increasingly feel that we are reading what appears to be the American Left’s playbook.
1. History
“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
On multiple occasions, the Left have demonstrated a desire to rewrite history with two primary objectives. The first is to escape their own history, and the second is to reshape history to enable their future. After all, the Democratic Party is forever tarnished by the legacy of slavery, the KKK, and Jim Crow. Even after the controversial and refuted “switch,” Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson’s repeated use of the phrase “n***er bill” during the Civil Rights era exemplifies the fact that the American Left never truly banished racism from its platform. Instead, they embraced a paternalistic bigotry of low expectations which exists to this day.
While this strategy is applied to American history through absurdities like the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/historians-shred-nyt-1619-project-claiming-slavery-defines-america">intellectually fraudulent</a> “1619 Project,” the same effort has been exerted against inconvenient elements of world history. The fact that fascism is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/haworth-the-deadly-double-standard-of-communism-vs-fascism">rejected</a>while communism, socialism, and Marxism are accepted is testament to the success of the American Left in purposefully failing to educate younger generations on the inevitable failure of Leftist regimes.
Because of this erasure of history, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/22/politics/biden-charlamagne-tha-god-you-aint-black/index.html">comments</a> from Joe Biden like “if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black” or that Mitt Romney would put African Americans “<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-tells-african-american-audience-gop-ticket-would-put-them-back-in-chains/">back in chains</a>” are ignored. It is why those who openly describe themselves as communists, socialists, or Marxists are embraced and celebrated. It is why we seem to be repeating the mistakes of the past.
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”
2. Language
“Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.”
After history is reformatted to be politically convenient, the next component of the Left’s Orwellian strategy is to gain control of our language in order to achieve ideological ends. There are countless <a href="https://americanmind.org/essays/the-terms-of-our-defeat/">examples</a> of this tactic, including the redefinition of racism to align with the flawed notion of intersectionality, the demand that you prove fealty by chanting “Black Lives Matter” with no regard for its underlying premises or the radical organization it supports, or the assertion that we must “Believe Women” despite the obvious fact that men and women are equally capable of duplicity.
The Left understands that achieving full control of language will open the gateway to their subsequent goal of controlling our culture. The generational removal of methods of dissent or disagreement, alongside the subjective redefinition of words for political gain, will be difficult, if not impossible, to undo. For this reason, and this reason alone, the Left focuses on speech more than anything else. “Speech is violence” justifies a violent reaction to speech, until the only speech that remains is deemed politically acceptable.
“It&#8217;s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words.”
3. Truth
“Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one&#8217;s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.”
As the Left’s grip on our language grows tighter, and historical excerpts which debunk their radical principles and positions are intentionally wiped away, they are finally equipped to target and redefine the ultimate and central metric of ideological debate: truth and logic.
While the notion that politicians have a habit of being deceptive shouldn’t be a shocking revelation, the Left’s modern approach to the definition of truth goes far beyond the intentional use of simple falsehoods. To put things bluntly, we have left the realm of “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” and have instead entered an illogical universe where sex and gender simultaneously have no meaning while also being characteristics of upmost importance.
Just like Orwell in 1984, we use the mathematical certainty that “2 + 2 = 4” as an example of concrete truth. However, even such binary notions have been slowly eradicated, with the culturally dominant Left demanding that we accept a fluid version of truth which disregards fundamental logic. For example, if men are women and women are men, how can the Left concurrently posit that our society is dominated by a systemic scourge of malicious misogynistic males who forcefully hold females in positions of subjugation and servitude?
“In philosophy, or religion, or ethics, or politics, two and two might make five, but when one was designing a gun or an aeroplane they had to make four.”
4. Freedom
“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”
As truth becomes subjective, the unfortunate outcome is that freedom is diminished. The very notion of freedom has been subtly redefined to remove its original connection to individual liberty with the necessary partner of personal responsibility. Instead, freedom has become tainted by notions of selfishness and entitlement, with no regard for the individual freedom of others. In short, the negative rights of all have been replaced by the positive rights of some.
While this problem also exists on the American Right, the American Left approaches freedom in the same manner as George Orwell, with a distinct focus on the restriction of thought and speech.
Those who speak objective truths —  such as referencing <a href="https://www.manhattan-institute.org/the-myth-of-systemic-police-racism">statistical evidence</a> which counters the claim that police brutality is both racist and systemic, or that life cannot be measured as valid or invalid along a scale of convenience, or even that men and women are different — are castigated as bigots, societally “cancelled,” or even punished.
The fact that the Left attempts to justify such attacks on free speech — whether truthful or not — under the guise of achieving some notion of equality or tolerance is irrelevant when we consider that, without freedom of speech, we can never be free.
“The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness and for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better.”
5. Propaganda
“The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation. These contradictions are not accidental, nor do they result from ordinary hypocrisy: they are deliberate exercises in doublethink.”
No oppressive regime can exist in a vacuum, and all require a method of enforcing their demands. While the (remaining) pages of history are riddled with stories of power achieved through violence alone, the mainstream Left is potentially more dangerous because they exercise control and power not through the violence of groups like Antifa — whom they are happy to passively support — but through the control of truth through curated propaganda in the form of “objective journalism.”
The term “fake news” is so overused (and often misused) that it has lost all meaning. Unfortunately, this has allowed the dishonesty of the mainstream media to hide in plain sight. Instead of performing their assumed “duty” as objective journalists, they have morphed into an elitist gaggle of activists. Instead of screaming their demands in the streets, they shape their reality in our collective psyche through their words and voices.
Ultimately, the blame for this prevalence of shameless lies falls not just on the declining fraternity of journalists, but on society as their audience and consumers. However, it is arguably impossible for a society to question the given narrative when its freedom has been diluted, its ability to question stunted, and its understanding of contextual history rewritten. The nail in this particular coffin is the despicable compulsion of the political and journalistic classes to present adherence to subjective policy as proof of one’s virtue. By doing so, they bypass the need for debate or justification, instead providing people with a lazy method of proving virtue and ideological purity.
The mainstream media have abandoned any hint of objectivity, but continue to benefit from the generational levels of trust and respect earned by their predecessors. Until that changes, their deceitful words will remain powerful, and as a result they will continue to be convenient mouthpieces for the Left.
“Orthodoxy means not thinking&#8211;not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.”
****
George Orwell’s marvelous yet terrifying novel is a hauntingly appropriate novel to reference when criticizing the actions of any political movement. However, in recent years it appears as if the American Left have started to treat it not as a work of fiction, but as a guidebook for power.
Their objective is made simple if our children don’t read — and more crucially understand — profound political works like 1984. Why do you think the Left wants to control our education, our history, and our words?
More from Ian Haworth: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/haworth-the-difference-between-cancel-culture-and-free-speech">The Difference Between Cancel Culture And Free Speech</a>
Ian G. Haworth is a conservative commentator who provides an honest, principled, and hard-hitting insight into our politics and culture from his unique perspective as a British immigrant to the United States. Ian hosts “The Ian Haworth Show” and “The Truth in 60 Seconds.” He is a regular columnist for Townhall.com, and his work has appeared in other outlets including The American Mind, The Washington Examiner, and The Federalist. Ian graduated from Oxford University, and now lives in California. Follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/ighaworth">@ighaworth</a>

Lorne Greene In ‘1984’

HAWORTH: 5 Ways Orwell’s ‘1984’ Perfectly Describes The American Left’s Quest For Power

Democratic Party

Leftism

The companies that were first to boycott Facebook and denounce the company most vocally for supposedly not doing enough to curb &#8220;hate speech&#8221; had already dramatically dialed back ad buys before doing so.
REI, The North Face, and Patagonia experienced a steep decline in ad buying on Facebook even before they withdrew from the platform in a supposed attempt to combat its alleged allowance of &#8220;hateful lies and dangerous propaganda,&#8221; according to data obtained by The Daily Wire via Pathmatics.
Pathmatics is an advertiser database that is &#8220;driven to bring transparency and accountability to digital marketing,&#8221; according to its <a href="https://www.pathmatics.com/company" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">website</a>. Its information indicated that ad buying from the outdoor retailers had slumped considerably before they took their stance against the social media giant&#8217;s handling of untoward political opinions.
<div id="attachment_128869" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-128869" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-128869 size-large" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/8306A4AF-F321-4BCB-A72A-4DDFBEE01526-1024x381.jpeg" alt="REI chart." width="1024" height="381" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/8306A4AF-F321-4BCB-A72A-4DDFBEE01526-1024x381.jpeg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/8306A4AF-F321-4BCB-A72A-4DDFBEE01526-300x112.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/8306A4AF-F321-4BCB-A72A-4DDFBEE01526-768x286.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/8306A4AF-F321-4BCB-A72A-4DDFBEE01526-1536x571.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/8306A4AF-F321-4BCB-A72A-4DDFBEE01526-2048x761.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot via Pathmatics</div>
<div id="attachment_128870" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-128870" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-128870" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2CB0B7BE-1612-4026-9C32-B01416785396-1024x384.jpeg" alt="North Face chart." width="1024" height="384" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/2CB0B7BE-1612-4026-9C32-B01416785396-1024x384.jpeg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/2CB0B7BE-1612-4026-9C32-B01416785396-300x112.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/2CB0B7BE-1612-4026-9C32-B01416785396-768x288.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/2CB0B7BE-1612-4026-9C32-B01416785396-1536x576.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/2CB0B7BE-1612-4026-9C32-B01416785396-2048x768.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot via Pathmatics</div>
<div id="attachment_128871" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-128871" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-128871" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/E06E077C-EE40-478D-83ED-53ECA435465E-1024x320.jpeg" alt="Patagonia chart" width="1024" height="320" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/E06E077C-EE40-478D-83ED-53ECA435465E-1024x320.jpeg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/E06E077C-EE40-478D-83ED-53ECA435465E-300x94.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/E06E077C-EE40-478D-83ED-53ECA435465E-768x240.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/E06E077C-EE40-478D-83ED-53ECA435465E-1536x480.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/E06E077C-EE40-478D-83ED-53ECA435465E.jpeg 1580w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot via Pathmatics</div>
Patagonia joined with REI and The North Face last month to express indignation at Facebook&#8217;s alleged unwillingness &#8220;to take sufficient steps to stop the spread of hateful lies and dangerous propaganda,&#8221; according to a statement the company released on June 21.
The retailers also accused Facebook of being &#8220;complicit in spreading disinformation and fomenting fear and hatred,&#8221; as reported by <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook-boycott-patagonia-rei-north-face-stophateforprofit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CBS News</a>.
Their action was reportedly in response to demands from <a href="https://www.stophateforprofit.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Stop Hate for Profit</a>, which has claimed that Facebook is not doing enough to curb the promulgation of hate speech on its platform, for which reason it has urged companies to boycott them.
&#8220;We deeply respect any brand&#8217;s decision, and remain focused on the important work of removing hate speech and providing critical voting information,&#8221; said Carolyn Everson, Vice President of Global Business Group Facebook, in a statement to CBS News. &#8220;Our conversations with marketers and civil rights organizations are about how, together, we can be a force for good.&#8221;
Neither REI, The North Face, nor Patagonia responded to The Daily Wire in time for publication.
Other companies that have been <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/07/03/activists-advertising-boycott-facebook-348528" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lauded for pulling out of Facebook</a>, such as Ford, Ben &amp; Jerry&#8217;s, Hershey, and Unilever, also significantly dialed back ad buys during the months leading up to their boycott. In what CBS News described as &#8220;a powerful statement,&#8221; ice cream company Ben &amp; Jerry&#8217;s promised &#8220;to take stronger action to stop its platforms from being used to divide our nation, suppress voters, foment and fan the flames of racism and violence, and undermine our democracy.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_128875" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-128875" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-128875" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/98275BB9-EC15-443F-B14A-8FA5F3B5B66F-1024x386.jpeg" alt="Ford chart." width="1024" height="386" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/98275BB9-EC15-443F-B14A-8FA5F3B5B66F-1024x386.jpeg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/98275BB9-EC15-443F-B14A-8FA5F3B5B66F-300x113.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/98275BB9-EC15-443F-B14A-8FA5F3B5B66F-768x289.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/98275BB9-EC15-443F-B14A-8FA5F3B5B66F-1536x579.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/98275BB9-EC15-443F-B14A-8FA5F3B5B66F-2048x772.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot via Pathmatics</div>
<div id="attachment_128876" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-128876" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-128876" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/6A7EC7DD-5A93-428E-A165-FD9AEF9CAF8C-1024x379.jpeg" alt="Ben &amp; Jerry’s chart." width="1024" height="379" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/6A7EC7DD-5A93-428E-A165-FD9AEF9CAF8C-1024x379.jpeg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/6A7EC7DD-5A93-428E-A165-FD9AEF9CAF8C-300x111.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/6A7EC7DD-5A93-428E-A165-FD9AEF9CAF8C-768x284.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/6A7EC7DD-5A93-428E-A165-FD9AEF9CAF8C-1536x568.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/6A7EC7DD-5A93-428E-A165-FD9AEF9CAF8C-2048x757.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot via Pathmatics</div>
<div id="attachment_128877" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-128877" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-128877" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2217E557-BDDB-49D5-BD85-F2E189830F39-1024x382.jpeg" alt="Hershey chart." width="1024" height="382" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/2217E557-BDDB-49D5-BD85-F2E189830F39-1024x382.jpeg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/2217E557-BDDB-49D5-BD85-F2E189830F39-300x112.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/2217E557-BDDB-49D5-BD85-F2E189830F39-768x287.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/2217E557-BDDB-49D5-BD85-F2E189830F39-1536x573.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/2217E557-BDDB-49D5-BD85-F2E189830F39-2048x764.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot via Pathmatics</div>
<div id="attachment_128878" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-128878" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-128878" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/13771D61-8128-4970-A5E9-7440CBDFDB77-1024x389.jpeg" alt="Unilever chart." width="1024" height="389" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/13771D61-8128-4970-A5E9-7440CBDFDB77-1024x389.jpeg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/13771D61-8128-4970-A5E9-7440CBDFDB77-300x114.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/13771D61-8128-4970-A5E9-7440CBDFDB77-768x292.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/13771D61-8128-4970-A5E9-7440CBDFDB77-1536x583.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/13771D61-8128-4970-A5E9-7440CBDFDB77-2048x778.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot via Pathmatics</div>
Facebook took flak earlier this month from advertisers who promised to pull their ads from Facebook and Instagram at least through July in an attempt to join &#8220;the pressure campaign over the social network&#8217;s handling of hate speech and misinformation,&#8221; according to CNN.
&#8220;The protest came after Facebook decided not to take action on a series of controversial posts from President Donald Trump — including one during racial justice protests that said &#8216;looting&#8217; would lead to &#8216;shooting,'&#8221; CNN added.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-new-york-times-dropped-millions-on-facebook-to-advertise-the-1619-projectwhile-trying-to-bully-facebook-into-censoring-others">The New York Times Dropped Millions On Facebook To Advertise The 1619 Project…While Trying To Bully Facebook Into Censoring Others</a>

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REI, North Face, Patagonia Were Barely Spending Anything On Facebook Ads Before Boycotting Platform

Political Correctness

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