After announcing increased state surveillance efforts allegedly searching for “hate speech” aimed at Jewish, Muslim and Arab populations on social media, New York Governor Kathy Hochul sent a letter to major social media companies on November 21. In this letter, she calls upon the companies to increase their efforts to monitor and intervene on the speech of individuals using their platforms. In particular, she calls for the companies to stop the spread of hate with “active attention and, as necessary, responsiveness to the changing ways that messages of hate are communicated, sometimes in coded language.” (emphasis added)
No specifics were given as to what “coded language” refers to. This point is not trivial, as it is easy to see hate almost anywhere and in anything once claims of a “code” are invoked. Under the guise of altruistic efforts to stop “hate speech,” Big Government is once again pushing itself across the sacred line the First Amendment holds for free speech and press. There has been no clear information from the governor on what the limits will be on these new interventions or what oversight will be implemented to prevent government overreach.
The governor also directed the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services to develop and distribute a “media literacy toolkit” to help public school educators teach their students how to spot misinformation/disinformation/malinformation (“MDM”) online.
Hellbound and Down 