September 7, 2021 San Diego News Desk
Written by: Natalia Perez
Cuba has been swarmed in anti-government protests for weeks, making global headlines throughout many social media platforms. Recently, the Cuban government passed Decree 35, a law that treats “misinformation” as “cyber-terrorism.” Essentially, this new law bans the use of false news or content that “upsets public order.” Ultimately, those who choose to speak out against the constitutional order will be ruled as “cyber terrorists.”
The decree gives the government the power to deem what is misinformation and what isn’t. In essence, any information that goes against Cuban government motives will be considered cyber terrorism. The penalty for any such violations has not been released. However, considering the Cuban government’s stranglehold on its society, the punishment should be fierce.
As one can imagine, the U.S. greets the decree with much criticism. A Cuban-American representative, Maria Salazar (R-FL), recently said: “the Castro regime intends to criminalize posting on social media — but nothing is going to stop the people of Cuba and their determination to be free.”
There has been much dispute surrounding the censorship of misinformation in America as well. Recently in San Diego, during a Board of Supervisors meeting, Nathan Fletcher sounded off misinformation remarks that parallel Cuba’s. Recall that Fletcher asserted that “health misinformation now presents a greater threat to public health than a variant of COVID-19.” Fletcher’s comments suggest that he desires to censor any information that conflicts with his own.
Supervisor Jim Desmond is not one to shy away from Fletcher’s antics. He actively fights against censorship of any kind, asserting “that today’s facts may very well be tomorrow’s misinformation.” Desmond recognizes that it is essential not to make quick judgments and be open-minded to many possibilities, especially when “the science” is so new and continuously being studied.
Recently, Jim Desmond compared Cuba’s decree of misinformation similar to Nathan Fletcher’s comments. And he is right. It is quite astonishing that Democrat Supervisor’s like Nathan Fletcher are imitating Cuba’s playbook.
