Is USA delegate getting nervous that they are negotiating away our first amendment rights?
Last week, Knowledge Ecology International posted an unofficial Pandemic Treaty draft dated March 27th, 2024. It was first released via Politico.
Censorship = “countering misinformation”
The first amendment of the US Constitution, in theory, prevents government censorship. Despite the 1984-themed world in which we now live, the first amendment still stands. Early drafts of the Pandemic Treaty have been decried for their inclusion of “countering and addressing misinformation and disinformation.” [That’s code for censorship.]
In the most recent unofficial leaked draft, we see suggestions from USA that appear to indicate they are uncomfortable: maybe the USA shouldn’t be negotiating international law that requires censorship?
How to read the following images:
-the clean paragraph shows the draft text.
-the boxed paragraph shows edits, by country.
-DEL = delete the bracketed text
-bracketed text = addition, by country
What could “culturally appropriate” mean in this context?
And for that matter, what’s the difference between “preventing” and “addressing”? Does “addressing” include advising social media companies about what sort of information is acceptable?
See item 6 below: it appears that two parties (Nigeria and Palestine) have requested that funds be provided for censorship.
Here’s the entire (unofficial) leaked draft from March 27th 2024. Fun task: check out what your country has suggested!
