Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices • Hacker News Board

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#91

Post by kergonath » Sun, May 05, 2024, 8:36 PM UTC

Bullfight2Cond wrote: post #42

nkurz wrote: post #18

How much precedent is there for this? Are there parallels for other countries? Does the US prohibit any news agencies from operating in our borders? Does Europe? Does Russia? Does China? I presume North Korea does, but I don't actually know. These aren't designed to be leading questions. I don't know the answers, and rather than searching, I figured someone else here might know offhand.

RT was heavily censored in the USA and is banned in several European countries. Press censorship is pretty much the norm in 'western democracies' similar to everywhere else.

Like any decision, the difference is how it is made (e.g. a vote in parliament versus an executive order), how long it remains in force (a limited time while a investigation is done versus indefinitely), and how accountable the decision makers are.

All countries are on a spectrum, there is no clear line between shiny democracy and brutal dictatorship. They all have institutions that look similar on the surface. A democracy is not going to stop having a police force just because some police states also have one, for example.

So yes, some democracies ban some media spreading propaganda for foreign interests, but the details matter.

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#92

Post by NewJazz » Sun, May 05, 2024, 8:36 PM UTC

refulgentis wrote: post #71

ttul wrote: post #38

Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial looms large over all of this. If he were to lose power, he would be far more vulnerable to conviction and potential imprisonment. So from this vantage point, the Al Jazeera ban could be seen as an act of desperation - muzzling a high-profile critic as a concession to far-right parties, even at the expense of free press principles, all in service of his own political and personal s…

It was a very strange day yesterday: the whole week coverage had been building up to a meeting in Cairo, Hamas signalled they were going to accept the cease fire. Saturday AM EST, it was reported that Hamas confirmed they were going to accept the deal. By noon Saturday EST, the "Israel-Hamas War"...idk what to call it, live blog? collection-of-news headline?...was gone for the first time in months. Israel reporting (…

Netanyahu has also said that he intends to do an operation in Rafah regardless of whether Hamas gives up the remaining hostages.

https://text.npr.org/1248276817

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#93

Post by deciplex » Sun, May 05, 2024, 8:36 PM UTC

dkjaudyeqooe wrote: post #57

afavour wrote: post #15

I’m not sure about “dark day for the media” but it does feel like a dark day for Israel. Once you’ve established that the government can unilaterally ban a voice for reasons of “national security” you’ve essentially given them a free pass. As Americans living post-9/11 will know, “national security” is a deliberately elastic term that can cover anything required in the moment.

The only justification would be if they are broadcasting government secrets. Clearly they're not doing that, just criticizing the government. The obvious next step is outlawing any speech criticizing the government (or rather 'speech that is a threat to national security'), then you've got the same laws as in Russia.

Israel is also responsible for 3/4 of all journalist deaths in the last year.

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#94

Post by aqme28 » Sun, May 05, 2024, 8:37 PM UTC

dkjaudyeqooe wrote: post #46

If I was Jewish I'd be very upset of what is being done in my name. The Israeli government, by insisting any criticism is antisemitic, is equating Judaism with its own actions. With their existing extreme, brazen and opportunistic behavior they're slowly mainstreaming antisemitism as outrage grows at the government and people accept being called 'antisemitic' if they oppose it. It's a tragedy for Jews. I don't say th…

I am Jewish, and that's pretty much how I feel. Israel wants criticism of itself to be seen as antisemitic, which means that anything Israel does that warrants criticism (e.g. killing children) ends up driving people towards antisemitism.

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#95

Post by radlad » Sun, May 05, 2024, 8:37 PM UTC

taf2 wrote: post #64

brabel wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The EU has banned many Russian and Belarussian news sources since the invasion of Ukraine. The USA seems to not have followed through (as far as I know - as Russian news sites seem to be available).

We definitely did block or at least make them less available, as I recall prior to the invasion RT was commonly on when walking into a hotel room or in Youtube recommendation lists. Post invasion in US I never see it in any hotels or recommended on Youtube... was it censored or maybe just wildly boycotted, not sure... but seems appropriate as a response to me

I think there is a huge difference between the government blocking access to a media outlet versus hotels choosing to no longer display said media outlet on their televisions.

AFAIK, there has been no ban. It would probably face some backlash given the First Amendment right to freedom of press. (Though I'm not sure that truly extends to the press of a foreign country?)

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#96

Post by verdverm » Sun, May 05, 2024, 8:37 PM UTC

RobotToaster wrote: post #67

Ecstatify wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a forced divestment; they weren't banned but have a year to comply.

Eh, it's effectively the same thing. If Israel could force the sale of Al Jazeera to Israeli businesses I'm sure it's content would become far more acceptable to the Israeli government.

It's only "effectively" the same thing if ByteDance / China decide to take the loss over selling.

Also, the law could be changed or overruled in the next year. Don't count chickens before eggs hatch?

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#97

Post by orwin » Sun, May 05, 2024, 8:37 PM UTC

yonixwm wrote: post #21

phantompeace wrote: post #14

Any regime that seeks to suppress the media can't be up to any good, IMO.

On the other extreme, Are media that spread misinformation without any due process are just protected indefinitely? Like in this very recent case: https://honestreporting.com/damage-done-how-al-jazeeras-fake... Edit: haaretz link: https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/2024-0...

I've read the article. One counterpoint though:

The reason stated on why Hamas affirmed the rape story was false wasn't 'because it backfired and made civilians flee'. This never happened,and the justifications is too convoluted. No, they took a page out of IRA and ETA's: total transparency. They want people to believe what they say, and for that, you can't be caught lying. I don't know if it's recent or not, but that's also the reason why the death toll reported by Hamas is lower than the one expected by the US and most military intelligence. If a news is from a Hamas official spokesman, it's likely true (might be misleading, but always factually true)

Shame on Al-Jazeera to let liars on air, but to be fair, that 24h news for you.

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#98

Post by vbezhenar » Sun, May 05, 2024, 8:38 PM UTC

yonixwm wrote: post #21

phantompeace wrote: post #14

Any regime that seeks to suppress the media can't be up to any good, IMO.

On the other extreme, Are media that spread misinformation without any due process are just protected indefinitely? Like in this very recent case: https://honestreporting.com/damage-done-how-al-jazeeras-fake... Edit: haaretz link: https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/2024-0...

[flagged]

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#99

Post by underdeserver » Sun, May 05, 2024, 8:38 PM UTC

nkurz wrote: post #18

How much precedent is there for this? Are there parallels for other countries? Does the US prohibit any news agencies from operating in our borders? Does Europe? Does Russia? Does China? I presume North Korea does, but I don't actually know. These aren't designed to be leading questions. I don't know the answers, and rather than searching, I figured someone else here might know offhand.

Well, Al Jazeera is or had been banned in many Arab countries.

Also, this measure is temporary, only lasting 45 days.

Re: Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices

#100

Post by easyThrowaway » Sun, May 05, 2024, 8:38 PM UTC

ttul wrote: post #38

Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial looms large over all of this. If he were to lose power, he would be far more vulnerable to conviction and potential imprisonment. So from this vantage point, the Al Jazeera ban could be seen as an act of desperation - muzzling a high-profile critic as a concession to far-right parties, even at the expense of free press principles, all in service of his own political and personal s…

He's playing with the same rulebook of Slobodan Milošević - He's trying to make apparent to everybody that if he goes down, his own country will go down with him.

Frankly, it feels like the only hope for an end to this conflict is in the hands of the internal Israeli political opposition. I wouldn't be surprised if he's not stopped, we're gonna see the same... "approach" used with Palestinian people applied to whatever internal resistance is left.