The EU has condemned US pressure to weaken its censorship rules as an attack on “regulatory sovereignty.” 🙄 
The UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal is under fire for hiding a secret government order forcing Apple to weaken iCloud encryption. Lawmakers, privacy groups, and politicians demand transparency, calling the secrecy undemocratic and a threat to millions' privacy... 
The UK’s Digital ID Power Play: Big Finance and Government Push Corporate IDs
https://reclaimthenet.org/k-digital-company-id-prototype-fintech-regulation
FOIA requests target the Biden admin’s alleged weaponization of government, investigating gov’t-bank collusion to flag conservative transactions, SPLC blacklists, and Big Tech censorship ties. 
Tim Scott’s Crackdown: The Push to End Debanking
https://reclaimthenet.org/tim-scott-debanking-bill-crypto-banking-regulation
President Donald Trump’s business trust just sued Capital One, claiming the bank shut down hundreds of accounts in 2021 purely for political reasons. The lawsuit says this wasn’t only an attack on Trump — it’s part of a larger industry-wide purge of people from financial services.
Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes is escalating his war on speech; this time, by issuing an arrest warrant for a US citizen over political speech made on US soil.
Flavia Cordeiro Magalhaes, a Florida resident for 20+ years, was targeted because of a 2022 post on X. Moraes had her account secretly blocked in Brazil, but since she didn’t know, she kept posting. That, according to him, was "contempt of court" — leading to an arrest order.
When she legally traveled to Brazil in 2023, she used her US passport; but Moraes claimed it was a “false document” and ordered pre-trial detention. Even Brazil’s federal police confirmed she traveled legally.
Her lawyer has been denied access to case files. The judiciary ignored the fact that Magalhaes was never served with any judicial order. Meanwhile, Brazil’s opposition calls this what it is: censorship and persecution.
Moraes seems to think his authority extends beyond his country’s borders—silencing dissent even abroad. And this isn’t his first move against free speech: he’s also used Brazil’s courts to strong-arm US social media companies.
Apple is taking the UK government to court over its demand to weaken encryption — a rare corporate stand against state surveillance. This isn't only about iCloud; it’s about whether any government can force tech companies to break security for everyone.
At the heart of this fight: the UK’s 2016 Investigatory Powers Act, aka the "Snooper’s Charter," which gives the government broad powers to demand access to encrypted data. The UK wants Apple to roll back its strongest security feature, iCloud Advanced Data Protection. Apple said no.
Instead of complying, Apple pulled its most secure backup service from the UK entirely. Now, the government is pushing back, arguing that Apple is legally required to provide access. And here’s the kicker—this demand might not stop at the UK’s borders.
If the UK wins, the precedent is set: governments everywhere will demand backdoors, killing encryption as we know it. 
New Zealand’s InternetNZ, which operates the country’s .nz domain system, is moving to revise its constitution. The goal? To become a “Te Tiriti-centric” organization, referencing the Treaty of Waitangi — a historic document between the British Crown and the Māori.
But critics aren’t buying it. They argue this is a power grab dressed in virtue, a way for InternetNZ to position itself as the ultimate authority on what domains are and aren’t allowed. The organization insists nothing will change in terms of domain rules or its authority, but skeptics see the writing on the wall.
If the Covid era taught us anything, it’s that “temporary” expansions of control have a way of sticking around. Now, in 2025, New Zealand, a country that went all-in on restrictions during the pandemic, is again flirting with centralized control, this time in the digital space. 
The EU DisinfoLab, a non-profit linked to EU censorship projects, is pushing for chatbots to be more aggressive in policing "misinformation." Their new report complains that AI chatbots aren’t doing enough to censor content and points to the Digital Services Act (DSA) as the legal tool to change that.
The goal? Expanding chatbot "moderation" to remove speech that doesn’t align with official narratives. The report even calls current chatbot policies "inadequate" because they don’t strictly enforce censorship. The solution, according to DisinfoLab? More regulation. More control.
And it’s not just Europe. In New York, a new bill (025-A222) would make chatbot companies liable for spreading "misleading, incorrect, contradictory, or harmful" info — an absurdly vague standard that could be weaponized to suppress speech.
AI is being drafted into the war on "disinformation" — but we all know what that really means: more top-down control over what you can say and what you can think. 
France is pushing to mandate encryption backdoors; forcing apps like WhatsApp and Signal to break security for police access. This “Narcotrafic” law is one of the most extreme surveillance attacks in EU history.
The law demands messaging services decrypt conversations of suspected drug traffickers within 72 hours or face massive fines — €1.5M per individual, 2% of global revenue for companies.
If passed, this kills privacy in France. It sets a dangerous precedent for the entire EU.
Encryption isn’t a crime; but surveillance at this scale should be. 
Germany just launched a hotline where you can report friends & family for “conspiracy thinking.”
Nancy Faeser’s Interior Ministry, known for banning media, now offers “Advice Compass on Conspiracy Thinking.” The idea? If someone you know questions “democratic institutions” too much, you can get confidential guidance on what to do.
Governments encouraging citizens to report on each other isn’t new. It’s a hallmark of authoritarianism. And Faeser frames this as a “holistic” approach to extremism. Because, of course, questioning official narratives is just a slippery slope to violence.
The reality? This is about policing thoughts, not actions. Suspicious of government policies? Skeptical of the media? That could mean you're on a path to radicalization. 
Scotland turned a private Facebook discussion into a full-blown scandal.
Sara Spencer, an American midwifery student in Scotland, was suspended from her NHS placement for...brace yourself...discussing her conscientious objection to abortion in a private group with fellow students.
No protests. No disruption. Just a conversation about ethics in midwifery.
NHS Fife responded like a caffeine-fueled hall monitor, launching a fitness-to-practice investigation faster than you can say “thought police.”
After months of bureaucratic nonsense, Spencer was finally cleared. But even with her name cleared, she got a stern warning about her social media activity. 
Encryption is either for everyone or no one.
Signal's Meredith Whittaker just threw down the gauntlet: If Sweden forces encryption backdoors, Signal leaves the market.
This fight isn’t new. Governments keep pushing for “just a little access” to private messages. But as Sweden’s own military warns, there’s no such thing—once a backdoor exists, it’s open to everyone. 
🚨 President Trump just declared war on EU and UK censorship. His latest directive orders a crackdown on foreign Digital Services Taxes (DSTs) AND the speech-policing laws that come with them.
The White House is targeting the EU’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, arguing they don’t only rob US companies—they force them into compliance with European censorship rules. If these policies hurt American business or free speech, tariffs are on the table.
"America’s economy will not be a source of revenue for countries that have failed to cultivate economic success of their own." This is about more than taxes—it’s about stopping foreign governments from dictating what people can say online. Buckle up. 🚀 
🚨 Apple just told the UK government to get lost.
Faced with a demand to build a surveillance backdoor into iCloud, Apple chose to remove its strongest encryption feature (Advanced Data Protection) from the UK — rather than compromise security for everyone.
This is about setting a precedent. A world where governments can secretly coerce tech companies into compliance, outlaw even discussing it, and use "public safety" as an excuse for mass surveillance.
A backdoor for the "good guys" is a backdoor for everyone—hackers, spies, authoritarian regimes. The UK just made its citizens less safe while pretending to protect them. And other governments are watching.
Apple resisted for now. But if encryption is negotiable, privacy is negotiable. And once you let governments decide who deserves privacy, the answer is always the same: Not you.
UK: Kristie Higgs won a major Court of Appeal case after being fired in 2019 for sharing Christian views on marriage and gender. The ruling strengthens legal protections for belief, affirming that employers cannot dismiss staff solely for expressing lawful views that others find offensive. The Court found her dismissal “unquestionably disproportionate,” reinforcing that belief expression must be judged on content, not subjective reactions. 
Report: Fact Checker Group Received $2.4M in US Government Funds Amid Fact-Checking Controversy
https://reclaimthenet.org/us-taxpayer-funds-poynter-institute-fact-checking
SURVEILLANCE: The UK’s secret push for an iCloud encryption backdoor is fueling US-UK tensions. Senators Wyden & Biggs warn it’s a “foreign cyber attack” and urge Intel Chief Gabbard to pressure the UK to reverse course or risk repercussions. 
Efforts to ban TikTok in the US stalled until Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel reignited debate. Former Rep. Mike Gallagher said pro-Palestinian speech on TikTok gave the bill "legs again."