(LifeSiteNews) – Authoritarian governments intend to control their people through “fragmentation” of the internet, says David Huberman, Senior Technical Engagement Specialist for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
A nonprofit overseen by the U.S. government until the Obama administration, ICANN coordinates the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the internet’s domain name system and IP addressing, which is necessary for safeguarding stable and secure operations on the world wide web.
In remarks made to the online infrastructure industry gathering CloudFest 2023 last month and reported by German news publication Der Spiegel, Huberman warned that “the potential fragmentation of the Internet is a worrying topic.” He specifically highlighted China, Iran, and Russia as examples of “authoritarian governments that want to control their people.”
At the same time, Huberman and ICANN reject proposals to cut off Russia’s access to the internet as a way of quashing Kremlin propaganda defending its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. “We say no. We have to remain neutral,” he said, echoing the position taken by tech mogul and free-speech minded Twitter owner Elon Musk.
The report does not cover whether or how Huberman elaborated, but “fragmentation” in this context generally refers to the blocking of internet access to or from certain countries or regions of the world, or barriers to the interaction among different internet services and functions, whether due to technical issues, government policies, or private decisions.
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As Catholics, we are taught that we must love our neighbour and treat every individual as a child of God, accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity.
Parents make a clear choice when they decide that their children will attend a Catholic school. They rightly expect that trustees, principals, teachers all partners in education will ensure that Catholic teaching is presented, lived and infused in all that we do. In that regard, the appropriate symbol that represents our faith, and the inclusion and acceptance of others, is the cross, which is visible at the entrance of every Catholic school. It is the primary symbol of our Christian faith.
We have created this petition to express opposition of flying the pride flag at schools for the month of June. Our kids should not be forced to celebrate anyones sexuality, and a flag will do nothing to keep anyone more safe. Its nothing more than a symbol of sexual celebration, completely inappropriate.
Catholicism and parental rights are being threatened, and we will not allow teachers like Mr. Paolo De Buono to influence our children.
We are not homophobes. We are trying to shield our children from any sexual ideologies, both gay and straight. Children are minors who have a right to a normal and innocent childhood. We are not STAKEHOLDERS. We are parents. EQUITY is not and will never be the same as EQUALITY. Inclusion means EVERYONE and the York Region Catholic District School Board & its Union members are infringing upon our religious beliefs by suffocating our children with woke political agendas & indoctrinations when they should be focusing on educating our kids!
We love all humans equally. Hate is the wrong word to describe parents feelings about the climate in schools today. Parents protesting the pride flag at school do not harbour any negative feelings towards the LGBTQ+ community. We do however feel that their rights seem to supersede everyone elses. We also believe that kids should never learn about sex at school and we condemn any classroom discussion or public display that encourages or promotes gender confusion and same sex lifestyles in a classroom setting. We also strongly condemn the nature of several library books that contain sensitive material on homosexuality and transgender issues in elementary school libraries. Similarly, we harbour no contempt for transgenders as individuals but their insistence on using female-only spaces is invasive.
The promotion of a pride sticker and the likelihood that a flag will go up in June at all schools suggests a particular political agenda, which warrants examination. Concern about alleged incidents of bullying directed at the LGBTQ community within schools has been raised. However when requesting specific information on the actual number of such reports, it was communicated that the data is currently confidential and not publicly available. Despite clarifying that only the number of incidents was desired, the same response was given.
The lack of transparency and information provided by the York Region Catholic District School Board concerning alleged incidents combined with these extreme campaigns using safe space stickers to promote political agendas, raises necessary questions about their motives. Despite facing opposition from relevant individuals, including the Archbishop of Toronto and Cardinal Collins, who have both explicitly expressed their disapproval of such displays, the union and its members have vehemently insisted the stickers remain.
We must stand up against this before Mr. De Buono has his way and the pride flag is flown too.
Please share this. We must get as many signatures as possible before May 20th so that we may present a united front at this months meeting with this petition in hand that will speak for itself and will represent all of us.
Thank you.
Sheree D
Reporting on the story, Breitbart’s Peter Caddle adds that authoritarian regimes aren’t the only ones who pose such risks.
“Politicians in the United Kingdom appear to be just as keen on implementing widespread Internet censorship, with the country’s planned Online Safety Bill set to hand regulators widespread powers to force social media firms to censor content deemed to problematic,” he writes, citing provisions that would effectively gut the privacy of personal messaging applications such as Signal and WhatsApp.
In the United States, bipartisan support has mounted for banning the social video platform TikTok due to its links to China and concerns that it is harvesting data on American users for nefarious purposes. But critics say that legislation currently being considered to do so, the RESTRICT Act, would actually give the president broad discretion to restrict any platforms and services he deems threatening.
The Epoch Times’ Joshua Phillips took the comments as a vindication of his 2014 warning that by ceding U.S. oversight of the internet to international authorities such as the United Nations-affiliated International Telecommunications Union, former President Barack Obama was potentially “allow[ing] authoritarian regimes in China and Russia to gain stronger influence over the global Internet.”
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