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Censorship Industrial Complex

Chinese firms show off latest police-state surveillance tech at security expo

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From LifeSiteNews

By Angeline Tan

45 Chinese firms have showcased their latest police-state products and technologies, with one expert warning that the communist nation is doing so to normalize their method of surveillance and have it adopted abroad.

45 Chinese firms have showcased their latest police-state products and technologies, including state-of-the-art CCTV, precise DNA-testing technology and intrusive facial tracking software, at the inaugural Public Security Tech Expo inĀ Lianyungang, located in China’s Jiangsu province.

Hosted by China’s First Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security, the 6-day tech expo which began on September 7 showed off advanced technologies in the domains of ā€œcriminal technology, police protective equipment, traffic management equipment, anti-terrorism rescue, and command and communication,ā€Ā accordingĀ to the forum’s website.

The website’s official description says ā€œthe main purpose of holding the Public Security Tech Expo (Lianyungang) under the framework of the Forum is to deepen technical exchanges and international cooperation in the field of public security science and technology equipment, share useful experience in the application of science and technology equipment to public security practice, and jointly improve the ability and level of maintaining public security.ā€

One firm participating in the expo, Caltta Technologies, featured a project aimed at ā€œhelpingā€ the southern African nation of Mozambique establish an ā€œIncident Response Platform,ā€ extolling its abilities to harness data in ā€œrapid target location.ā€

Tech giant Huawei was also at the expo, boasting that its ā€œPublic Safety Solutionā€ is currently used in more than 100 countries and regions, from Kenya to Saudi Arabia. The United States sanctioned Huawei in 2019, castigating the firm as ā€œan armā€ of the Chinese surveillance state.

The expo also saw China’s Ministry of Public Security’s Institute of Forensic Science show off its new high-tech DNA testing technologies. In 2020, Washington banned the institute from accessing some U.S. technology after a number of Chinese firms decried the institute as being ā€œcomplicit in human rights violations and abuses.ā€

In 2018, the U.S. Treasury stated that residents of Xinjiang ā€œwere required to download a desktop versionā€ of the app ā€œso authorities could monitor for illicit activity.ā€

Communist China has been slammed for jailing over one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang – claims Beijing vehemently denies. Nonetheless, critics have pointed out how China’s surveillance technologies have been used to draconically suppress dissidents in the Xinjiang province.

During the expo’s opening ceremony, China’s police minister praised Beijing for training thousands of overseas police officers this past year – and pledged to aid in the training of thousands more over the coming year.

According toĀ UCA News, ā€œChina is one of the most surveilled societies on Earth, with millions of CCTV cameras scattered across cities and facial recognition technology widely used in everything from day-to-day law enforcement to political repression.ā€

The same UCA News articleĀ added:

Its police serve a dual purpose: keeping the peace and cracking down on petty crime while also ensuring challenges to the ruling Communist Party are swiftly stamped out.

Notably, various foreign police officers said they hoped to use Chinese surveillance technology to police their own countries.

ā€œWe can learn from China,ā€ said Sydney Gabela, a major general in the South African police service, according to UCA News.

ā€œWe wanted to check out the new technologies that are coming out so that we can deploy them in South Africa,ā€ Gabela said.

China’s notoriety for being a highly-surveilled state goes back a long way. In 2023,Ā The EconomistĀ ran anĀ articleĀ detailing how the prevalence of CCTV cameras in Communist China, many bedecked with facial-recognition technology, ā€œleave criminals with nowhere to hide.ā€ A September 2019Ā reportĀ by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also disclosedĀ  that ā€œthe Chinese government has increasingly employed advanced technology to amplify its repression of religious and faith communities.ā€

The executive summary of the same USCIRF report stated:

Authorities have installed surveillance cameras both outside and inside houses of worship to monitor and identify attendees. The government has deployed facial recognition systems that are purportedly able to distinguish Uighurs and Tibetans from other ethnic groups. Chinese authorities have also collected biometric information—including blood samples, voice recordings, and fingerprints—from religious and faith communities, often without their consent. The government uses advanced computing platforms and artificial intelligence to collate and recognize patterns in the data on religious and faith communities. Chinese technology companies have aided the government’s crackdown on religion and belief by supplying advanced hardware and computing systems to government agencies.

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Censorship Industrial Complex

Alberta senator wants to revive lapsed Trudeau internet censorship bill

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Senator Kristopher Wells and other senators are ‘interested’ in reviving the controversial Online Harms Act legislation that was abandoned after the election call.

A recent Trudeau-appointed Canadian senator said that he and other ā€œinterested senatorsā€ want the current Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney to revive a controversial Trudeau-era internet censorship bill that lapsed.

Kristopher Wells, appointed by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last year as a senator from Alberta, made the comments about reviving an internet censorship bill recently in the Senate.

ā€œIn the last Parliament, the government proposed important changes to theĀ Criminal CodeĀ of Canada designed to strengthen penalties for hate crime offences,ā€ he said of Bill C-63 that lapsed earlier this year after the federal election was called.

Bill C-63, or theĀ Online Harms Act, was put forth under the guise of protecting children from exploitation online.

While protecting children is indeed a duty of the state, the bill included several measures that targeted vaguely defined ā€œhate speechā€ infractions involving race, gender, and religion, among other categories. The proposal was thusĀ blastedĀ by many legal experts.

The Online Harms ActĀ would have in essence censored legal internet content that the government thought ā€œlikely to foment detestation or vilification of an individual or group.ā€ It would be up to the Canadian Human Rights Commission to investigate complaints.

Wells said that ā€œBill C-63 did not come to a vote in the other place and in the dying days of the last Parliament the government signaled it would be prioritizing other aspects of the bill.ā€

ā€œI believe Canada must get tougher on hate and send a clear and unequivocal message that hate and extremism will never be tolerated in this country no matter who it targets,ā€ he said.

Carney, asĀ reported by LifeSiteNews, vowed to continue in Trudeau’s footsteps, promising even more legislation to crack down on lawful internet content.

Wells asked if the current Carney government remains ā€œcommitted to tabling legislation that will amend theĀ Criminal CodeĀ as proposed in the previous Bill C-63 and will it commit to working with interested senators and community stakeholders to make the changes needed to ensure this important legislation is passed?ā€

Seasoned Senator Marc Gold replied that he is not in ā€œa position to speculateā€ on whether a new bill would be brought forward.

Before Bill C-63, a similar law, Bill C-36, lapsed in 2021 due to that year’s general election.

AsĀ noted byĀ LifeSiteNews, Wells has in the past advocated for closing Christian schools that refuse to violate their religious principles by accepting so-called Gay-Straight Alliance Clubs and spearheaded so-called ā€œconversion therapy bans.ā€

Other internet censorship bills that have become law have yet to be fully implemented.

Last month, LifeSiteNewsĀ reported thatĀ former Minister of Environment Steven Guilbeault, known for his radical climate views, will be the person in charge of implementing Bill C-11, a controversial bill passed in 2023 that aims to censor legal internet content in Canada.

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Censorship Industrial Complex

Conservatives slam Liberal bill to allow police to search through Canadians’ mail

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Conservatives are warning that the Liberals’ new border bill will allow police to search Canadians’ mail.

During aĀ June 5 debateĀ in the House of Commons, Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Frank Caputo voiced concerns over Bill C-2, theĀ Strong Borders Act, which will permit police and government officials to open and examine Canadians’ mail.

ā€œThis is something I know I am going to get mail about,ā€ Caputo said. ā€œWe are now talking about language in the Charter, what is referred to as an expectation of privacy.ā€

Bill C-2,Ā introducedĀ by the Liberals under Prime Minister Mark Carney, is framed as legislation to combat drugs making their way across the border. However, many have pointed out that it severely infringes on Canadians’ Charter rights.

The Liberals have failed to address this concern in their 130-page legislation, leading Conservatives to demand accountability.

ā€œIf they can put out a 130-page bill, certainly they can put out a four or five-page Charter statement,ā€ he said. ā€œCertainly, somebody in the government asked if it was Charter compliant — but they won’t say.ā€

Under Bill C-2, Canada would amend theĀ Canada Post Corporation ActĀ to ā€œremove barriers that prevent police from searching mail, where authorized to do so in accordance with an Act of Parliament, to carry out a criminal investigation.ā€

It also seeks to ā€œexpand Canada Post inspection authority to open mail.ā€

As LifeSiteNews previously reported, legal organizationsĀ have warnedĀ that the legislation could lead to a cashless economy as it would ban cash payments over $10,000.

In a June 4 X post, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) warned that ā€œIf Bill C-2 passes, it will become a Criminal Code offence for businesses, professionals, and charities to accept cash donations, deposits, or payments of $10,000 or more. Even if the $10,000 payment or donation is broken down into several smaller cash transactions, it will still be a crime for a business or charity to receive it.ā€

The JCCF pointed out that while cash payments of $10,000 are not common for Canadians, the government can easily reduce ā€œthe legal amount to $5,000, then $1,000, then $100, and eventually nothing.ā€

ā€œRestricting the use of cash is a dangerous step towards tyranny and totalitarianism,ā€ the organization warned. ā€œCash gives citizens privacy, autonomy, and freedom from surveillance by government and by banks, credit card companies, and other corporations.ā€

Similarly, Carney’s move to restrict Canadians is hardly surprising considering his close ties to the World Economic Forum and push for digital currency.

In a 2021 article, theĀ National PostĀ notedĀ that ā€œsince the advent of the COVID pandemic, Carney has been front and centre in the promotion of a political agenda known as the ā€˜Great Reset,’ or the ā€˜Green New Deal,’ or ā€˜Building Back Better.’

ā€œCarney’s Brave New World will be one of severely constrained choice, less flying, less meat, more inconvenience and more poverty,ā€ the outlet continued.

In light of Carney’s new leadership over Canadians, many areĀ sounding alarmĀ over his distinctly anti-freedom ideas.

Carney, who as reported by LifeSiteNews, has admitted he is an ā€œelitistā€ and a ā€œglobalist.ā€ Just recently, he criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for targeting woke ideology and has vowed to promote ā€œinclusivenessā€ in Canada.

Carney also said that he is willing to use all government powers, including ā€œemergency powers,ā€ to enforce his energy plan.

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