hackingbear writes: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison demanded an apology after a senior Chinese official posted a “fake image” of an Australian soldier holding a knife with blood on it to the throat of an Afghan child, calling it “truly repugnant” and demanding it be taken down. The Australian government has asked Twitter to remove the image, posted on Monday by China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on his official Twitter account, Morrison said. “It is utterly outrageous and cannot be justified on any basis,” Morrison said. “The Chinese government should be utterly ashamed of this post. It diminishes them in the world’s eyes.”

The image is actually an art work, originally posted on Weibo by online artist Wuhe Qilin, based on the recently uncovered war crimes committed by Australian special forces in the Afghan War. On Friday, Australia has told 13 special forces soldiers they face dismissal in relation to an independent report on alleged unlawful killings in Afghanistan, the head of the country’s army said on Friday. “It is the Australian government who should feel ashamed for their soldiers killing innocent Afghan civilians,” said Hua Chunying, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, when asked about Morrison’s comments. Wuhe Qilin praised Zhao’s re-posting [translation: “Deputy Zhao’s strong. Go for it!”] of his work.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot – Australia Demands Apology From China After Fake Image of Soldier Posted On Social Media

One of the original founders of The Pirate Bay, Peter Sunde, is warning against the power American corporations have on the internet. After several copyright industry groups reported Sunde’s domain registration service Njalla to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), branding it a “notorious market,” Sunde wrote a letter to the USTR, not to defend Njalla but to warn against the threat major U.S. corporations present to the Internet. TorrentFreak reports: “Being mentioned, both by name, and also through some of my earlier performance pieces, I felt it would be justified that I also bring a comment for the good of the discourse,” Sunde writes in his letter. Pirate Bay, one of my more known art pieces,” Sunde notes, adding that the ‘artwork’ was exhibited at prestigious festivals, inspiring millions of artists and fans around the world.

Over the years Sunde has launched several projects to support Internet freedom, freedom of speech, and online privacy. At the same time, however, he watched major U.S. companies use their powers to centralize the Internet and restrict the free flow of information. As a result, the established differences in the physical world are more and more reflected online. Those with power and money, have the most influence and control. “This is something that is very much the fault of a few Central North American companies and their lobbying efforts,” Sunde writes. “We’re now living in a world with fake news and trolls as presidents. We can’t take the rights to information for granted. We should not centralize the control over information, in any shape or form.”

While powerful industry groups may claim to represent artists, Sunde believes that power and money are the true drivers here. “The same organizations that promise to protect artists and culture are the ones screwing them over; always fiscally (like with Hollywood Accounting), sometimes physically (Harvey Weinstein is not the first nor last one).” This comes at the expense of the public at large, who see their power and control over information diminish rapidly. “These organizations are willingly putting our global democracy in jeopardy. The legislation brought forward by their lobbying, to protect one business model affected by the internet, is also being used for stopping people in opposition from overthrowing dictators. “As long as these mafia-esque organizations are allowed free reign over the immaterial rights discourse, they will never relinquish their power nor money to the intended recipients,” he warns.

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Source: Slashdot – Pirate Bay Founder Warns US Govt Against Mafia-Esque Copyright Lobby