Certainly in a high school situation hanging out with the bad kids makes you ‘cool’, so I can understand why our very own ‘student politician’ might think that hanging out with bad boys Jordan and Senegal might be a good idea. I can only wonder however what the three countries have in common though.
Ardern’s goal, it appears, is to sit down with anyone who will listen, to work out how to limit our free speech on social media. This is a topic that many a wannabe dictator would be most interested to talk about, as it will also double as a convenient way to silence his or her political detractors and opponents.
The mainstream media and Helen Clark have been so busy praising Ardern that no one has stopped to ask the inconvenient questions about Jordan and Senegal who are two members of her new posse.
Human Rights Watch has this to say about Jordan.
quote.The Jordanian constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the government does not fully respect these rights in practice”. […]end quote
“Jordanian law criminalizes speech deemed critical of the king, foreign countries, government officials and institutions, and Islam […]
I can see why King Abdullah II of Jordan would be keen on swapping suggestions with Ardern on how to further restrict Jordanian citizens’ speech in his country. We will just have to hope that Ardern does not decide that criminalising speech deemed critical of her, foreign countries, government officials and institutions, and Islam is a good idea.
The other bad boy that Ardern is getting cosy with on her quest to control the internet is Senegal President Macky Sall. He too will have input into the group’s agreement to control the internet. Bear in mind that it is illegal to be gay in his country and that there are many human rights atrocities there. As long as no one live streams the atrocities, however, Ardern will no doubt feel that she has achieved something.
Last week Senegal President Macky Sall got rid of the position of prime minister in his country, and before the recent elections, he tightened internet censorship. This is the bad boy that Ardern will be swapping ideas with. We will just have to hope that Ardern does not decide that tightening internet censorship to silence conservative voices ahead of next year’s election is a good idea.
