Justin’s fear of the internet runs deep.
The internet is the 21st-century version of the printing press, and Justin’s Liberals want to control it because they are afraid of it.
When Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press around 1436, it changed the world. For example, people began printing Bibles.
They found theological discrepancies between the teachings of Jesus and the commands of the Catholic Church. The result was the Protestant Reformation.
The invention of the printing press threatened the old world powers. In 1483, Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire issued a decree banning the machine from his empire.
At the time, the Ottomans were the dominant superpower of the world. They controlled most of the Middle East, North Africa, and southeastern Europe.
But like Justin’s fear of the internet, Bayezid feared the printing press.
Justin’s Fear of the Internet, Like the Ottoman Fear of the Printing Press
In today’s parlance, Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire was worried about spreading misinformation. He wanted new ideas “fact-checked” by his experts.
So, the Ottoman Empire banned the printing press. They imposed the death penalty on anyone caught using it.
The result was as you would expect: for over 300 years, the only scientific advancement the Ottomans made was a medical text on syphilis imported from Europe.
They stagnated while Europe went through a golden age of discovery and ideas. What would Newton or Galileo have accomplished without the printing press?
Justin Trudeau’s fear of the internet led to Bill C-11. This, in effect, puts the internet, including social media posts and podcasts, under the regulatory arm of the Canadian government.
Societies that keep their internet free from political interference will undergo radical growth.
In the last two decades, we’ve already seen new content creators, online commerce, and new (and rediscovered) political ideas that can undo the corporate statism of the 20th century.
Western civilization wouldn’t exist without the invention of the printing press. Western governments think they’re still progressive and adhere to new technology and ideas.
But actions speak louder than words.
Western governments can’t handle competitive currencies to their fiat monopoly. So instead of embracing cryptocurrencies, they lie about who uses crypto (organized crime) and why (violence).
They can only handle political opinions within the 3×5 index card of allowable opinion. So they put pressure on social media companies to censor information.
Justin’s fear of the internet means Canada has taken another step toward more censorship and control. Bill C-11 gives the CRTC the power to regulate “the internet and social media in the same way that it regulates national broadcasting,” says the Heritage Ministry.
Cannabis Misinformation?
When Justin Trudeau’s Liberals legalized cannabis, they didn’t do it because Canadians are self-owning individuals with the right to consume a non-lethal, nontoxic plant.
They legalized for “public health and safety” reasons. Like how lockdowns and domestic passports were all part of the “public health and safety” strategy of combating a flu virus.
We saw with COVID how ideas and theories (many of them turning out to be correct) were censored on social media and labelled “conspiracy theories” by the corporate press.
Canadians put up with this blatant attack on free expression because the corporate press painted COVID as a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic.
But like the income tax, once censorship arrived to combat misinformation, it hasn’t gone away.
And now Justin’s fear of the internet has kicked into high gear. With Bill C-11, there’s nothing to stop government bureaucrats from ensuring you don’t read this type of content.
Consider, when the Liberals began the cannabis legalization process, they appointed Anne McLellan as head of a “task force.”
I criticized her appointment and the need for a task force. But more importantly, her insistence that legalization would cost taxpayers and that “the media should not describe,” it as a failure.
Justin’s Liberals have gone from suggesting how the media should report on something to outright demanding it.
How long until CRTC bureaucrats scrub cannabis misinformation (information counter to the regime’s interests) from online?
Justin’s Fear of the Internet
Justin’s fear of the internet has resulted in Bill C-11. Critics routinely reveal its shortcomings, particularly the negative impact it will have on Canadian Youtubers.
And while that is a real consequence, the long-term implications are even more devastating.
There’s a reason historians called the Ottoman Empire the “sick man of Europe.”
While the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire is multifaceted, there’s no denying that by banning the printing press, they put themselves at a competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis Europe.
Europe went from a plague-infested continent of old stone castles to leading the world in science, technology and capital.
Canada and the West are in similar positions. We can embrace the revolutionary, disruptive technology of the internet.
Or we can allow our bloated, centralized control systems to undermine the 21st century’s printing press.
Because of Justin’s fear of the internet, Canada will go the way of the Ottomans.
A country that restricts its citizens’ freedom of expression doesn’t deserve its status as a nation.