The Online News Act Shows The Need For Hive
The Internet is being censored like never before. No, we are not referring to China, the leading surveillance state when it comes to digital technology. Instead, this is Canada which is basically eliminating news from the Internet.
Of course, the law that went into effect was not framed in this manner. Instead, it is basically a "link tax" where search engines and social media companies are required to pay Canadian news companies to link to their websites.
Like most bills coming out of governments, it has great marketing behind it. They design fancy names like Inflation Reduction Act when it does the exact opposite. Then the talking points refer to things that actually do not have anything to do with the bill. The Remove Your Freedom Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) is an example of this.
What was not espoused is the fact that this is a way for the Canadian government to censor the information its citizens receive. Not surprisingly, both Google and Facebook blocked Canadian news content.
This is another step that shows the need for something like Hive.
Censorship Resistant
There tends to be claims of censorship on Hive due to voting. The reality is what the Canadian government is doing is true censorship. When this occurs, something is not seen.
With Hive, anything posted can always be found on Hiveblocks. There is another open source block explorer in the works that will add to this. Finally, not all front ends use voting to determine what appears on the site.
In other words, the information is always on-chain.
The fact that Canadian news is being hidden from the population since the search engines are not carrying them is telling. Naturally, this does not apply to the government funded news agency.
Certainly, a case can be made that the citizens of Canada are better off without the majors news outlets. Mainstream media is a dumpster fire for many reasons. The "news" is mostly bogus, with many "conspiracy theories" turning out true.
Nevertheless, when content is effectively prohibited by the government, regardless of what it is, there is problem. Government is not good with power and simply moves to abuse it whenever possible.
That said, we are seeing broadcast media dying. Here is another area where Hive can excel.
Decentralized Media
Hive is becoming a well rounded media platform. While the focus originally was on blogging, we are seeing more medias showing up. This is providing content creators with the tools to provide the information in many different formats.
This is part of a larger trend we are seeing. There are people who have strong following on social media and are able to establish "networks" simply by going direct to their audience.
Technology is bringing the resources to create professional productions to small groups. This is no longer relegated to the major media entities. We have YouTube sports broadcasts that rival talk shows on ESPN.
It is a trend that we will see with Web 3.0. The monetization of content was obviously a problem in the past. Web 2.0 is run by siloed systems. We all know this. The bulk of the profits from the online activity goes to major corporations (or select billionaires). The majority of content creators are earning zero.
A single upvote on Hive that has any rewards tied to it means that one made more on that piece of content than most make from everything they did on social media. Think about that for a second. Even a few cents from a post (or comment) is worth more than most channels on YouTube ever earn.
These people spend hundreds, if not thousands, of hours, developing their videos and receive nothing for it, at least not from the platform.
We need to embrace how revolutionary that is.
Now we have DNS Media forming on Hive. This is designed to take content here to another level.
All of this is happening when broadcast media is encountering issues. This is why what we do each day is vital.
Future Clampdowns
This is conjecture but it is likely that what is taking place in Canada is going to occur elsewhere. The Biden Administration tried something similar before pulling back due to backlash. However, history shows the first attempt is only a "feeler". We can expect the US Government to take another stab at this.
As we see this occurring around the world, what we are building becomes crucial. Anything that has vulnerabilities will be targeted by governments. This means that true decentralization is required. Hive has this, at least for text.
We see SpkNetwork building a protocol for decentralized node systems that can house images, video, and other forms of media. This is another nugget that will help to provide resiliency against governments and their desire to shut down information.
This is shaping up to be a perfect storm. Those platforms that have companies or a few stakeholders will be targeted. We know this. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is already after them. Do not think this is the only agency to operate in this manner.
The governments are going to do all they can to retain control. They face a major challenge due to technological advancement. Since the tools are becoming more powerful, and less expensive, they are available to the masses. This is something that pushing the capabilities further out.
We saw the distribution of content really change with the Internet. Now we are starting to see the content creation realm get altered with more advanced software tools.
All of this is going to cause governments to crack down.
This is why something like Hive becomes more important each day.
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Not good. Thank goodness for Hive. Is Canadian news only being dripped in Canada by the big tech or worldwide?
Maybe you are allowing yourself to be manipulated by the junk media. I'm Canadian, I keep up to date with technology, social media and of course, the Parliament. I pay my taxes and enjoy the benefits the laws provide me as a citizen. Canada is an open and pluralistic society, the only thing I disagree with, but respect and try to tolerate, is the overwhelming sexual libertarianism that is being given to everything related to the LGBT+ world.
HIVE is an open, decentralised social network…, here too there are restrictions on use and for that, there are moderators, just like you, in each community that makes life here.
The rules of each house are set by the house's owner, right? And these must be respected? If we extrapolate this premise and take it to a country, the rules of the United States, those of Canada, or being more globalised, those of the European Union, be they of control, as you express it; they are the bases that forge a nation; and to survive in them, they must be digested and applied. This ensures that we do not fall into debauchery and gives us the basis to demand our rights.
You don't remember Canada de-banking the truck drivers? Sounds pretty totalitarian to me. Having your life destroyed for peacefully protesting government seems pretty totalitarian to me.
Certainly, my dear friend, but all my analysis is focused on social networks and the information process. When a certain group is affected, of course, that group manifests itself. All information has, after all, three points of view; those three points are influenced differently. I regret what is happening with the long-distance truckers. A hug from afar.
Well you're super sweet!
You got to be kidding. Canada is far from an open and pluralistic society. Trudeau declared a state of emergency to crush a peaceful protest by the truckers and had several protest leaders imprisoned. Protestors bank accounts were closed down. That is classic behaviour of a totalitarian society. You are living in lala land.
Fourteen years ago I emigrated to the beautiful country of Canada, like many others, in the hope of living the "Canadian" dream, and after ten years of working, learning, living together, and respecting others..., I was granted citizenship. I can easily make comparisons of what is a totalitarian country with a multicultural and pluralistic one, Canada will be, as you say, the country of dreams, here English and French intermingle giving shades of kaleidoscopic colour.
Boo Canada
The government up here definitely does som strange stuff. Often branded magnanimously for the preservation of our resources, identity and intellectual property. So many anterior reasons for moves like this and all the red and blue sheep do is reverberate political rhetoric at each other. As if either party would do any better or make a difference.
Been Hiving for years and I keep finding new reasons that was a good decision those years ago. 🇨🇦
I think an easy way to get around it is to share a picture of the article referenced and have the info for the person to search it themselves. It’s not a direct link but provides the documentation for a reference I think. Might hold up in court!
These are certainly desperate measures of a dying enterprise.
Hive, Qortal, Bitchute, Rumble.. Not sure about Truth Social.. Not using it..
There are a few.. Qortal is peer to peer and it would be cool to see People from Hive check it out.. The idea being to create a parallel decentralized internet. Like this one was supposed to be, in the beginning. We need another large protest in Canada.. I'm sick of the turd, but, we oust that idiot and we just get another idiot.. We need to send a message to the next idiot that we don't accept their agenda..
Hive will certainly play a major role in social platforms giving users to display their content on the blockchain is a realistic feature its offering to the world at large thanks for the share.
It's getting harder to tell the differences between Canada and North Korea every day.
It's amazing how many things I always discover when I visit your posts. You are absolutely right, this is true censorship, they have the power to hide everything that is not convenient for them. For me this is not a new issue, in my country it also happens and in many sister nations in Latin America, this seems like a cancer that spreads. I love the Hive platform and I wish it continues to be maintained, we must work hard to take care of this space and for that we must also be the right people. Excellent publication bro, I send you a hug!...
Thanks for a thought provoking article. Decentralized social media is more important than ever. Look at RFK jr he is being totally shunned by the MSM but he is getting his message across by going on podcasts on a variety of different platforms. The pandemic opened the eyes of many due to the vicious censorship of anyone who questioned official narratives. Censorship of thought and speech is nothing new but it is getting ever more insidious and all pervasive thanks to modern technology. Yet that same technology offers us a way of overcoming the censorship and promoting free speech.
I want to ask a question and please excuse my lack of technical knowledge. Could Hive survive state sanctioned action against it? We've seen legal action against Library as an example.
"Let everyone do as he pleases...", I do not support libertarianism. Any decision that is taken will often affect a certain sector, and the citizens of that sector will express their discontent... If they pinch you, you will jump; but if they put a wad of money in your hands, you will let them pinch you. That's the society of vested interests. I identify myself as a citizen who works to earn my daily bread; I produce to enjoy the abundance that surrounds me; I pay for the services I enjoy... Woe to those who are always waiting for handouts from their rulers...
If you haven't noticed, HIVE is moderated internally by those in control of the different communities that live here. And here, as in any government in the world, there are authorities who profit indecently from the work of others -call it "corruption"-.