No one company should have this much power over a government.

Considering this is Murdoch. It is more than troubling. I don't think the UN has a convention on the free press. I might be wrong about that. But, this looks like a real opportunity for the BBC and possibly American newspapers like the Washington Post. I would think the owner of the Washington Post might consider giving Murdoch's media a real run for it's money.

Do Australians have access to any news Apps on their phones or laptops from other more reasonable news services?

May 25, 2019
By Blanc Hall

The day after the election, (click here) a fuming Kevin Rudd took to Twitter.

"In all the election commentary last night, not a single word on the elephant in the room," the former prime minister wrote.

"Murdoch, with 70 per cent control of Australia’s print media, ran the single most biased campaign in Australian political history. Reason for the silence? People are in fear of Murdoch’s power."

Rupert Murdoch's papers, which actually account for about 60 per cent of newspaper sales in Australia, ran a relentless campaign against Labor.

In addition to its newspapers' front pages and columnists, which were almost uniformly glowing in their praise of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and in attacking the ALP's policies and leadership, every Murdoch paper editorialised in favour of the Coalition on election eve....   

Revenge Porn Law

With burgeoning danger for political candidates of manipulated videos, they need to be cognizant of existing laws carrying penalties for wrongful use of an image of a person.

State Porn Revenge Laws (click here)

It is hard to believe a president of this country would repeat a manipulated image of Speaker Pelosi. It is more misogyny. There are laws against the wrongful use of a person's image. 

The Porn Revenge Laws occurred because a new phenomenon started to take shape. I believe it came to prominence when the actress Jennifer Lawrance was exposed online without her consent. The state laws made it possible for average people to file a complaint with the police and have it pursued by the prosecutors. That was an incredible inspiration that came out of the Lawrence frustration with her episode. I applaud her for valuing herself over the inadequacy of the law.

Previous to the Revenge Porn Laws the only real remedy was civil courts and filing by attorneys in liable cases. A person had to prove losses in order to achieve recognition of the personal tragedy that occurred. That personal tragedy is measurable in the pain a person feels when their privacy is violated and pictures intended for an intimate partner finds their way to exposure in some way never intended.

With the videos that victimize Speaker Nancy Pelosi as promoted by Trump, there needs to be an expansion of those Revenge Porn laws to include any image of a person exploited for any purpose.

Currently, when newspapers or news media online carry an image of a person it normally is printed with the consent of that person. Some images are simply within the public realm and do not need such permissions. The newspapers know how sensitive images can be. It is that level of concern of which states' legislatures should address the continuing exploitation of images that slander, demean and degrade another person.

Every American should feel secure in their own privacy. We know how hacking hurts people financially with Identity Theft. This is more of that same line of protections. A person's image has a right to contain it as she or he wishes. In the case of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the exploitive videos were backed and advocated in slanderous terms by Donald J. Trump, the current president. Those images and his words are global.

The USA needs to take the burgeoning technology of image manipulation seriously. Videos are allowed in court and the manipulated images that are beginning to emerge are damning. The courts have to rethink their allowance of videos and pictures. Perhaps the digital image should be excluded and return to regular film images allowed. The digital world is proving to be a problem more than helpful. The courts allowed videos into the courtroom long before manipulated digital content was even discovered and mastered. There are many challenges before the USA and the work to resolve the proper place of these images needs to begin.

Trump owes Speaker Pelosi an apology in the sincerest terms. The current US House was elected by the people and it is the people that he should be respected along with it's leadership such as Speaker Pelosi. This is a new level of insult by Trump which only reflects his lack of ability to discern what is right and best in any circumstance.

The 2016 elections have proven to be an eye-opener. The cyber invasion by Russia, the manipulation of the political environment, the presence of a Russsian pawn of an oligarch willing to act to become part of the political scene while enormous amounts of money was dumped into the NRA by foreign sources. And now a president that promotes his political position with the use of manipulated videos that are slanderous. 2016 was an eye opener, but, it is time to contain the loss of decency and return honesty to our elections, including, manipulated pictures and videos that damage candidates.

continued...