Check It Out: SOS or open debate?
By Joan Janzen
I came across a desperate call for help the other day on social media. A young woman from Cuba had posted a video, pleading for help. Here is what she had to say ....
“My Cubans have been in the streets for days asking for freedom, and this is important because the Cuban government is making fake news. We are alone and no one is saying anything, so it’s important. My Cubans started protesting, asking for freedom. The government responded to them by putting military and police on the streets, shooting them, hitting them, killing them. And the one thing they have to defend themselves is social media. And they cut our internet so they can’t show the world what is happening. I want to ask you to help us. Help the mothers who don’t know where their sons are, the sons who don’t know where their fathers are. Lots of kids have disappeared. There are lots of kids that have been killed.
“They are recruiting teenagers from their own houses, and they’re obligated to fight their own brothers and sisters on the street, and if they don’t they go to jail. Cuban government gets help from Venezuela with more military power. Tell the rest of the world what is happening. They have nothing, only social media to tell the world what is happening. This is not about politics, this is about humanity. Our obligation as humans, when we see something that is not fair, to say this is not fair for the Cuban people. It’s like nobody cares.”
Whether this SOS was issued last week or last year, it does illustrate why censorship is dangerous. Recently our Prime Minister said this to the Paris Peace Forum, “Hate speech, disinformation and online extremism can’t be allowed to prevent people from enjoying the freedom that cyberspace offers.” He was advocating for more censorship. But is his definition of hate speech anything that opposes his narrative? Is his definition of disinformation any facts that contradict what he claims to be true? Is his concept of “freedom that cyberspace offers” defined as freedom to agree with his “democratic values”?
As I scrolled through numerous news stories, division is the common thread throughout them all. Government plans to phase out Sask. and Alberta’s energy sector, imposed mandates, job losses, inflation or mushrooming government debt, are just a few examples of the issues that are resulting in divisions. More petitions have been signed in the last several years than ever before, yet most are ignored. If the government adds increased censorship, people are forced to find other options to make their voices heard.
The young woman’s words echo once again, “My Cubans have been in the streets for days asking for freedom.” It’s an example of what lies ahead when government not only refuses to listen to the voices of every day Canadians, but also censors them.
What do you prefer? Sending out an SOS, or being able to participate in open debate and problem solving?