![Why is the Pentagon Blocking LGBT and Progressive Websites? (Mother Jones).
The Department of Defense issued a statement on Facebook on Friday that said it “does not block LGBT websites” deliberately. Rather, the pages “were denied access based on web filters blocking the Blog/Personal Pages” category. (Military officials have long blocked workers’ access to websites they consider non-secure, personal timewasters, or otherwise unfit for consumption in office hours.) Aravosis tells Mother Jones he found this initial statement “disturbing,” because websites like Ann Coulter’s blog and Red State, a conservative news blog, both appear to fall in this category, but were not blocked. “They didn’t seem to recognize the possibility of a problem, and appeared to have no intent to investigate,” he says.
But Aravosis was sent what he calls “a much better statement” from Pentagon Press Secretary George Little on Saturday, saying that “[t]he Department of Defense strongly supports the rights of gay and lesbian men and women in uniform” and “in certain instances, access may [be] limited to content not directly related to carrying out mission or professional duties.” Little added that “some sites may have been unnecessarily blocked” and promised that the matter would be looked into.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/7f88c2f8b71423299d72d4641e9dc794/tumblr_mgbdprcyCx1rsivj8o1_500.jpg)
Why is the Pentagon Blocking LGBT and Progressive Websites? (Mother Jones).
The Department of Defense issued a statement on Facebook on Friday that said it “does not block LGBT websites” deliberately. Rather, the pages “were denied access based on web filters blocking the Blog/Personal Pages” category. (Military officials have long blocked workers’ access to websites they consider non-secure, personal timewasters, or otherwise unfit for consumption in office hours.) Aravosis tells Mother Jones he found this initial statement “disturbing,” because websites like Ann Coulter’s blog and Red State, a conservative news blog, both appear to fall in this category, but were not blocked. “They didn’t seem to recognize the possibility of a problem, and appeared to have no intent to investigate,” he says.
But Aravosis was sent what he calls “a much better statement” from Pentagon Press Secretary George Little on Saturday, saying that “[t]he Department of Defense strongly supports the rights of gay and lesbian men and women in uniform” and “in certain instances, access may [be] limited to content not directly related to carrying out mission or professional duties.” Little added that “some sites may have been unnecessarily blocked” and promised that the matter would be looked into.
A sign of change? Or just a fluke? I suppose we’ll have to wait and see. What do you all think?
4 months ago -
1
Jon Stewart (via transformfeminism)
Indeed, what kind of world would we live in if everyone kept silent on behalf of the bigoted and closed-minded.
(Source: gunsareevil, via sneakingferocity)
According to the report from RT:
The last time anti-piracy legislation came close to approval, massive Internet campaigns stopped SOPA and PIPA dead in their tracks, but only after opponents practically waged a war against the entertainment industry and supporters of the bills. Netflix, a long-time opponent of online piracy, will now be able to endorse elected officials by way of big-time contributions, with the PAC now approved to hand out up to $5,000 per election. At the dawn of the SOPA scandal, Netflix was among the entertainment industry titans to support the proposed bill, only to late alter their stance as “neutral” amid massive public backlash. With other Internet services and service providers still throwing their weight behind the newest anti-piracy bills, however, Netflix is expected to follow suit, and use more than just urging to influence lawmakers. As they become one of the biggest names in Hollywood, the pull Netflix has over politicians could be major in terms of seeing CISPA or other similar acts are signed.
There’s no solid link between Netflix and the new internet censorship bills coming up, but given its history there’s a possibility they’ll use their influence to support it.
1 year ago -
1
