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by Aden Tate
September
27, 2021
from
TheOrganicPrepper Website
What do you suppose would happen if the President of the United
States deemed it necessary, for "national security," to flip the
Internet Kill Switch?
In these digital times, there should be great
concern over something like this.
However,
normalcy bias seems to have a firm hold on a majority of the
citizens of the US, and many are clinging to the "it
can't happen here" theory.
The
United States has yet to employ this particular tool.
However,
according to data gathered to examine the financial impact of
internet shutdowns, since 2019, there have been 237 major internet
shutdowns in 45 countries.
[source]
What is an internet kill switch?
An
internet kill switch is a
device/software/configuration that allows one to shut down all
internet access within a region or country indefinitely.
If
activated, the kill switch would prevent everyone from checking
social media, shopping online, using online messenger services,
sending emails, or anything else involving an internet connection.
In many
cases, this may also include any form of phone contact (it varies).
Which countries have already used
the internet kill switch?
Hackers
have the ability to down the entire internet system, as we have seen
with op article and op article.
However, governments around the globe have also resorted to
shutdowns, claiming it to be necessary for public safety.
For
example,
India (a
democratic nation) was the global leader in shutdowns in 2019, with
over 150 in 3 years.
[source]
See if
you spot the recurring theme among the following shutdowns:
Cuba
On July 11, Cuban
citizens rallied in the streets to protest food and medicine
shortages and electricity outages.
Within two
days, the Cuban government began restricting
internet access.
China
Back in 2009,
riots broke out in Xinjiang.
The communists
responded by shutting down the internet to the region for an
entire year.
[source]
Egypt
Amid protests, Egypt's
President Hosni Mubarak cut off nearly all internet access
and shut down all cell phone services.
The shutdown
lasted for five days.
[source]
Iran
November 16,
2019, Iran authorities flipped the switch, plunging citizens
into digital darkness for nearly 11 days.
According to
an Amnesty
International press release, the deliberate shutdown was an
attempt to hide the horrendous killings across the country.
Zimbabwe
In 2019,
President Mnangagwa announced a fuel price increase. Protests
against the increase caused Mnangagwa to shut down the internet.
Critics called
the shutdown,
"an attempt to hide growing
reports of a violent crackdown on protests."
[source]
South Sudan
Protests?
We can fix that
with an internet shutdown.
[source]
Zambia
Election day,
2021, warranted shutting down many social media platforms and
some messaging apps.
Although the
Zambian government denied the reports Secretary, Amos
Malupenga mentioned there would be no hesitation to take
appropriate measures.
[source]
Colombia
Colombia's
government used this innovative means of stopping protests here
in May 2021 - an internet shut down.
[source]
The Republic of
the Congo
Another
election day shutdown in 2021. This time in The Republic of the
Congo...
[source]
Armenia
Political
unrest led to an internet shutdown here.
[source]
Russia
I think
mentioning the word 'elections' regarding Russia is enough to
make anybody laugh.
Have a pesky
election-tracking app you need shut down? A partial internet
shutdown can do the trick.
[source]
Myanmar
Coup underway?
Better shut off the internet.
[source]
Ethiopia
Ethiopia's
government shut down the internet 12 times before blacking out
the country for nearly 16 days in 2020.
Reports said
this was an attempt to muzzle activists demanding justice for
the killing of a beloved musician.
[source]
Does the United States have an
internet kill switch?
Technically, yes.
Under an
entirely unconstitutional 1930s law on the books, 47 USC
606, War Powers of President; Chapter 5, Subchapter VI, the
President has the authority to wield that mighty weapon.
The 1930s law reads:
(c)
Suspension or amendment of rules and regulations applicable to
certain emission stations or devices
Upon
proclamation by the President that there exists war or a threat
of war, or a state of public peril or disaster or other national
emergency, or in order to preserve the neutrality of the United
States, the President, if he deems it necessary in the interest
of national security or defense, may suspend or amend, for such
time as he may see fit, the rules and regulations applicable to
any or all stations or devices capable of emitting
electromagnetic radiations within the jurisdiction of the United
States as prescribed by the Commission.
And
may cause the closing of any station for radio communication, or
any device capable of emitting electromagnetic radiations
between 10 kilocycles and 100,000 megacycles, which is suitable
for use as a navigational aid beyond five miles, and the removal
therefore of its apparatus and equipment, or he may authorize
the use or control of any such station or device and/or its
apparatus and equipment, by any department of the Government
under such regulations as he may prescribe upon just
compensation to the owners.
Perhaps
you think this only applies to radios.
It couldn't possibly apply to
your laptop or phone, right?
Don't
forget your devices use radio waves to receive their internet
access.
In addition, your devices can access
Google Maps, which
would qualify your computer as a navigational aid.
What's stopping the US Government
from labeling EVERYTHING a national emergency?
"The
natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and
government to gain ground."
Thomas Jefferson
If you
consider that America now believes racism is a,
"public health emergency," government authorities could very
likely deem a public health crisis as "public
peril, disaster or other national emergency."
Oh no...!
The
government must shut down the
internet...!
[source]
Emergencies' have always been the
pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have been
eroded - and once they are suspended it is not difficult for
anyone who has assumed such emergency powers to see to it that
the emergency persists."
FA
Hayek
source
This
bill also gives armed men the notion they can take your equipment.
And
should you say no...?
Well, you
can read the penalties section HERE.
And also,
before
deciding you're going down in a blaze of glory,
check out Selco's prediction of how that will work out for you.
What do you think would
happen in the US if the switch got flipped?
While the first
thing that comes to mind is communications, there are many more
ramifications, particularly if it went on for a longer period of
time.
Many people use
"paperless billing" and pay for everything online. We use online
banking for all sorts of purposes. ATMs are connected to the
internet.
Many businesses rely on an internet connection for daily
operations.
Daisy
said on the topic,
"When I worked
for a car dealership, we had to have internet access to program
all those computer modules controlling your vehicle, to look up
malfunction codes, and to determine whether or not a repair was
covered by warranty."
And that's just one
example of a business that uses the internet constantly. There are
many, many more...
A whole lot more
than social media and email would immediately grind to a halt.
Unplug the Internet Kill Switch
Act of 2020
Last year
in 2020, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard introduced the Unplug the Internet Kill
Switch Act of 2020 to Congress.
H.R.8336
would have directly attacked 47 USC 606, making it not pertain to
internet usage. While Congress did not refuse the bill, they left it
to sit with no further actions.
[source]
In 2016,
we experienced something similar when the Supreme Court denied
hearing a petition to release information on the 'secret' DHS
internet kill switch protocol.
[source]
Because we need an
internet kill switch, of course.
THAT is
an issue of national security...
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
William
Pitt
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