The Weekly Weird #19

Poland poops on speech, California's got its eye on you, Palm Pilot: Amazon is a hand scan fan, Facebook and Netflix sitting in a tree, don't say "cheese!"

Welcome back to your recurring romp reviewing regional wrongs in the rampantly roiling and rapidly ripening world of dystopia!

A fine hello to all our new subscribers and followers, and many thanks to

CJ Hopkins

for his ongoing support of our humble project.

This week had me worried for about three days. I thought it would be a quiet one and I’d have to style it out, but lo and behold, the constricting net of nonsense came through once again!

Episode 110 with Andy Agathangelou dropped this past Sunday, and it’s well worth a listen. It gets unexpectedly touching towards the end, because of Andy’s deep tangible compassion for people affected by financial malfeasance. Strong recommend.

Can you believe we’re already 10 episodes and 19 Weirds into this shared journey? Time flies when you’re documenting the slow eradication of civil liberties and privacy worldwide.

Anyway, onwards!

Poland Poops On Speech

Poland has been in the news recently because of a (new) hate speech law being pushed by the Tusk government. It has been sold as undoing the nationalistic/theocratic version of speech-chilling that happened under the previous administration, which was exemplified by such clangers as banning mention of Polish complicity in the Holocaust, enforcing a blasphemy law in the 21st century, and generally hating on the LGBT community.

The “Rainbow Mary” case, besides having a fabulous name, is a recent example of the tussle over speech in Poland.

From Article 19:

The prosecution of activists Elżbieta Podleśna, Anna Prus, and Joanna Gzyra-Iskandar under Article 196 of the Polish Criminal Code arises from an incident that took place in the Saint Dominic Church in Płock on 27 April 2019. The activists plastered the area around the church with images of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa adorned with a rainbow halo, in protest of an earlier homophobic display in the church, which depicted the words ‘gender’, ‘homo-deviation’ and ‘LGBT’ amidst the list of the deadly sins. The image was used in the context of the wider actions of local activists in support of the LGBTIQ community. The activists explained that their symbolic protest action was conducted in defiance of ‘indoctrination towards hate and segregation’. 

Frontline Defenders has a timeline of the saga here.

The short version is that the three activists were acquitted, but the “Life and Family Foundation, along with ultra-conservative Polish Catholic legal organisation Ordo Iuris, filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, attempting to overturn the activists’ acquittal verdict.”

The law used in the prosecution is from Article 196 of the Polish Penal Code:

Whoever offends the religious feelings of other persons by publicly insulting an object of religious worship, or a place designated for public religious ceremonies, is liable to pay a fine, have their liberty limited, or be deprived of their liberty for a period of up to two years.

Poland has a sordid history of pearl-clutching over sassy pronouncements. One example, from 2010, was the conviction of the singer Doda for saying that she believed in dinosaurs over the Bible since "it is hard to believe in something written by people who drank too much wine and smoked weed." That conviction was overturned in 2022 by the European Court of Human Rights, and Doda received (a small amount of) compensation for getting railroaded.

If “offending religious feelings” is an unacceptable excuse for atrocities like the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, it shouldn’t be grounds for the prosecution of activists or singers in Poland either.

I’m with Bill Hicks on this one.

Give the Virgin Mary a Pride halo, put a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad on the side of a bus, whatever. Let’s build our antibodies back up for this stuff.

However, that freedom to insult should surely cut both ways, right?

Ordo Iuris, the same organisation appealing the Rainbow Mary case acquittal, was at the centre of a case against Google that ended in 2023 with a Polish court upholding that their videos constituted “hate speech”.

From Remix News (link above):

Google never produced any definition of “hate speech” or a basis to remove content based on this label, argued Ordo Iuris, an NGO campaigning for the preservation of family values and freedom of speech. The NGO represented Paweł Lisicki and prepared his case against Google, arguing that Lisicki’s reputation had been put into doubt by Google’s actions as well as his right to free speech. They demanded that the two episodes of the program be reinstated and that they should not be referred to as “hate speech.”

The court ruled in favor of Google and stated that the programs promoted “hate speech.” However, the court did not define what the term “hate speech” actually meant. It just stated the views conveyed in the programs were “highly damaging.” However, the views presented also happened to be those of the Catholic Church. 

The rub is in the final sentence. The Catholic Church isn’t the only religious organisation that, shall we say, frowns on homosexuality and similarly alternative orientations. Some religious dogma on sexuality is downright hateful, as is some Jamaican dancehall music. Is Google, or the Polish government, going to start banning songs with troubling lyrics now?

Do I like the fact that some people hate other people, and try to justify it? No. Do I think it should be illegal? Also no.

Article 19 released recommendations for the new Polish government after Tusk ousted the Law and Justice Party (PiS). They make for a good read. However, in reviewing the issues of blasphemy, and the cynical denigration of LGBT people, the Polish government is now proposing punishment of up to three years in prison for offending people with protected characteristics.

Notably, the government does not seem to be as interested in properly reviewing its use of surveillance technology, outlined in the Article 19 proposal, as it is in prosecuting and imprisoning citizens for what they say to one another.

Curious.

From Article 19 again:

Currently, surveillance is on the rise due to the expanded statutory powers of the secret services, a broad range of offences justifying operational control, and the adoption of advanced surveillance techniques. The authorization for operational control and surveillance is dispersed among various legal acts, with Polish legislation equipping over ten secret services with the authority. This is justified, among other reasons, by the necessity to identify potential national security threats and combat terrorism. 

The new government should ensure that there is transparency and oversight of the work of the secret services and prioritise the safety of citizens including public watchdogs and not violate their right to privacy under the guise of national security. 

Perhaps they’ll need the surveillance infrastructure to enforce the hate speech law? Or they’ll get around to it one blessed day, when they believe in civil liberty again. Who knows?

Polish readers, let us know what it’s like over there.

In the meantime, three out of five poops. 💩💩💩

California’s Got Its Eye On You

Speaking of surveillance, it’s over to the Golden State now for Governor Gavin Newsom’s latest bold plan.

Newsom, as you may or may not recall, is the 100-watt smile with a $100 haircut who has been bankrupting California while biding his time for a run at the presidency. Debt is up, crime is up, population is down, so it’s a perfect time for him to go trample a Chinese schoolkid in the paint.

Particularly hard-hit by the rise in crime is the Bay Area of San Francisco and Oakland.

From the San Francisco Chronicle in January this year:

Reports of violent incidents rose 21% last year compared to 2022, while robberies climbed 38% and burglaries ticked up 23%. For the second consecutive year, the city logged 120 homicides. Fear seemed to ripple through every neighborhood…

To fix the rampant violence, Newsom just announced a contract to fit “hundreds of freeway surveillance cameras” in Oakland.

From The Guardian:

[T]he California highway patrol (CHP) has contracted with Flock Safety, a surveillance technology company, to install 480 cameras that can identify and track vehicles by license plate, type, color and even decals and bumper stickers. The cameras will provide authorities with real-time alerts of suspect vehicles.

Law enforcement already has “the Freeway Security Network, a surveillance system comprising ShotSpotter directional microphones and high-resolution cameras.”

This couldn’t possibly be a revenue grab by a debt-ridden state government looking to squeeze motorists while ignoring violent crime in less-convenient-to-police places, could it?

“Nearly 300 of the cameras will be deployed on city streets and the remainder will be deployed on nearby state highways,” according to Newsom’s statement on the new contract.

Meanwhile, no change in prosecutorial policy for the area has been announced.

From the SF Chronicle again:

Carl Chan, a safety advocate in Oakland’s Chinatown and spokesperson for the recall effort against [District Attorney Pamela] Price, said voters have “lost confidence in the legal system.” While the numbers show a spike in violence, they don’t tell the whole story, Chan said. He’s spoken with residents who claim to be so overwhelmed that they no longer report crime, having no faith it will be prosecuted. Price, a progressive, has sought to reduce incarceration — a stance that led some opponents to accuse her of enabling violent offenders.

Yeah, the cameras will fix this.

Palm Pilot: Amazon Is A Hand Scan Fan

Amazon has quietly constructed a payment system using human palms, and trained it with generative AI. Clearly made by people who haven’t watched the Mission Impossible movies, Amazon wants you to know that it’s definitely secure and totally fine.

From the Amazon One website:

Your palm is a unique part of you. It doesn't go anywhere you don't and can't be used by anyone but you.

Just scan your palm on a One device and your retail experience will be seamless.

From Bloomberg Law:

Amazon.com Inc. is deploying its pay-by-palm device to more retail locations, expanding to all of the company’s more than 500 Whole Foods Market stores by the end of this year. Other businesses such as payments giant Mastercard Inc. have tested new systems that likewise rely on people’s physical characteristics to confirm their identity as part of a purchase. CLEAR, known for its airport security program, offers a method for event goers to show their age eligibility for buying alcoholic beverages by snapping a selfie.

These tools are known as biometric payment systems because they are built around recognizing a person by measuring unique features, like the size and shape of their face or the lines, ridges, and vein patterns of their palm. The systems work by matching a person’s information presented at payment with their data previously collected during sign-up.

Globally, almost $5.8 trillion in annual payments are expected to be made using biometrics by 2026, with more than three billion users anticipated, according to a forecast from Goode Intelligence.

In India, “[s]everal major corporations have already signed on to pilot the technology, including hotel group IHG, turnstile maker Boon Edam, and elevator company Kone. Amazon says palm scanning is cheaper, more convenient, and more secure than conventional ID badges, keycards, or passwords.”

Speaking to Bloomberg Law, Leila Nashashibi of Fight for the Future put it plainly:

Tech is not actually convenient if it puts your very sensitive, unchangeable data at risk of potentially being abused or hacked or stolen.

Palm payments are so hot right now, even renowned friend of the working class J.P. Morgan has launched a palm payment system.

In line with a similar law in Colorado, New York is now debating a bill allowing the acceptance of biometric ID for alcohol purchases.

State Senator James Skoufis, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, told Bloomberg why it’s all good:

“If you’ve got concerns, don’t use the technology,” Skoufis said in an interview. “It’s all voluntary.”

Sound familiar?

Facebook and Netflix Sitting In A Tree…

Facebook (now Meta) is accused of allowing Netflix access to its users’ private direct messages for almost ten years, according to an ongoing court case.

From The Daily Mail:

Court documents unsealed on March 23 that were filed last April as part of a major anti-trust lawsuit against Meta appear to have exposed the intricate relationship between two of Silicon Valley's biggest players. 

The class-action lawsuit, filed by two US citizens, Maximilian Klein and Sarah Grabert, alleged Netflix and Facebook 'enjoyed a special relationship', with the social media platform giving the streaming site 'bespoke access' to user data. 

The two Silicon Valley players also agreed to 'custom partnerships and integrations that helped supercharge Facebook's ad targeting and ranking models' from at least 2011, thanks to the personal relationship between Netflix's co-founder Reed Hastings and Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg. 

At issue in the allegation is “an 'Inbox API' (Application Programming Interface) agreement that 'allowed Netflix programmatic access to Facebook's user's private message inboxes.'“

Meta rejected the allegation in its response to the Mail:

Meta didn't share people's private messages with Netflix. As the document says, the agreement allowed people to message their friends on Facebook about what they were watching on Netflix, directly from the Netflix app. Such agreements are commonplace in the industry. We are confident the facts will show this complaint is meritless.

Don’t Say “Cheese!”

On a lighter note to round things off, the activists at PETA have called for the cancellation of saying “cheese” when being photographed.

One respondent proposed a fair trade.

I’ll happily switch to saying “please” or “freeze” while posing from now on if it means that we all stop calling a block of fibres, flavourings, colouring, and chemical additives “vegan cheese.” Who’s with me?

That’s it for this week’s Weird.

Outro music from Johnny Otis with Hand Jive, in honour of our panoptic chums at Amazon.

Stay sane, friends.