Democrats in Colorado are pushing for a new dystopian “Ministry of Truth” to control the speech of the taxpaying public.
The Denver Republican Woman organization is raising the alarm about the new plan, warning the move is dangerous to a free society.
The anti-free speech plan is currently making its way through the Democrat-controlled state legislature in Colorado
A spokesman for GOP group warns the move would end up in speech controls not heard of since … “1984.”
That would be the novel “1984” by George Orwell.
The dystopian plot of the book included a government agency dubbed the “Ministry of Truth.”
In the book, the “Ministry of Truth” enforces absolute speech controls, with very little truth allowed.
Republican Women Vice President Ashley Troxell blasted the plans in an article for Complete Colorado.
“Novelist George Orwell’s vision of government-controlled thought and speech has taken a disturbing turn in Colorado with the introduction of Senate Bill 24-084,” Troxell writes.
“Sponsored by Senator Lisa Cutter and Representative Lorena García, both Democrats, the ‘Attorney General Duties to Prevent Mis- & Dis-information’ reads like a page straight from Orwell’s classic novel ‘1984,’ and should send shudders down the spine of freedom-loving Coloradans.”
She cited the Democrats’ demands for a state-monitored “curriculum” that would be intended to “facilitate productive and honest conversations” on various issues.
“On the surface, this may seem like a well-intentioned effort to combat misinformation,” she explains.
“But Orwell warns about the perils of government-controlled thought and speech. Echoing the tactics of the Thought Police in Orwell’s novel, the bill represents a troubling encroachment on the fundamental freedoms that form the bedrock of our democracy.”
The plan includes a “curriculum” attempt to “dictate the terms of public discourse.”
“Who gets to decide what counts as ‘honest’ and ‘productive’ dialogue?” she asks.
“By what authority does the government anoint itself arbiter of acceptable speech?”
However, the plan gets worse, she warns.
The bill orders the state AG to “coordinate with the Department of Education” to tell schools what resources to use.
“We cannot allow our lawmakers to twist rhetoric in service of an Orwellian agenda,” Troxell declares.
“The people of Colorado should see Senate Bill 84 for what it is: a blueprint for thought control, cloaked in the language of public safety.
“Orwell’s vision has become our reality, and we cannot afford to let our fundamental freedoms be gradually chipped away.”
Among other things, the bill proposes spending $150,000 of taxpayer dollars to “study how the internet and other media channels, including social media platforms, are used to share and spread misinformation and disinformation.”
Also, the AG must “review relevant state and federal constitutional provisions and federal laws and regulations to address preemption and the intersection of state and federal authority.”
The AG’s assignment, per the law, is to “prevent and combat the sharing and spreading of misinformation and disinformation.”
The state-required “curriculum” would be used to push people to “find common ground” and have “honest conservations.”
The legislation also orders the AG to “examine the legal framework governing the regulation of online speech.”
However, the legislation apparently completely ignores the First Amendment, which already establishes free speech rights.
The proposal includes a threat: of “civil liability” for companies that fail to prevent “the sharing and proliferation of misinformation and disinformation,” even if those words are left undefined.
Such controls, the legislation demands, must be instituted immediately, for the “preservation of the public peace, health, or safety…”
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