Iran Has Pivoted to Video. The classic US stereotype of attempted Iranian ideological indoctrination via chants of Death to America and such has been old hat for quite some time. As noted by the New York Times on Saturday, in the past few years Iranian pro government propaganda efforts have increasingly taken the form of rap videos glorifying the countrys military, spread on sites like local You. Tube equivalent Apparat and apps like Telegram. Theyre also more than a little uncomfortable, both because they show an oppressive governments approach to a digitized era of propaganda and, if were being. According to Ars Technica UK, by April 2018, Mays government plans to require all porn sites including free ones to check ID via credit card or another method. The Times rounded up some of the most high profile attempts to appeal to the nations youth by pairing Iranian rappers with sweeping shots of military personnel and CGI infused battle scenes, some of which are pretty over the top. Theyre fascinating to watch, especially at a time when the current presidential administration has gone full hawk on Iran. Theyre also more than a little uncomfortable, both because they show an oppressive governments approach to a digitized era of propaganda and, if were being honest, they do kind of resemble pro military media produced in places like the US. Latest trending topics being covered on ZDNet including Reviews, Tech Industry, Security, Hardware, Apple, and Windows. One video highlighted by the paper features Amir Tataloo, a musician with a hard partying, gangster style reputation, who extolled our absolute right to have an armed Persian gulf while singing alongside naval personnel on the frigate Damavand. The Simpsons fans may notice a strong Yvan Eht Nioj vibe. Another video from last year, titled We Will Resist, cost 2. US fighter jets bombing a mosque by a sunny beach, flanked by newly constructed oil refineries. A battalion of Iranian youth carrying flags retaliate by charging towards the water, conjuring up a gigantic tidal wave which sinks the US Navys Fifth Fleet. Another released in 2. Seraj Cyberspace Organization, which is affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Basij volunteer militia, shows Iranian backed fighters in Syria taking the fight to ISIS insurgents flying the terror groups infamous black flag. The video features Hamid Zamani, who the Times noted was the mastermind behind the anti imperialist song USA. By Zaynab, we are the defenders of Damascus the singer croons as a sniper takes out an ISIS fighter in slow motion. Husayns sister calls us to the Golden Shrine How can the flames of death possibly set it ablazeAnother Iranian propaganda effort highlighted by the Times was the 9. CGI action film Battle of the Persian Gulf II, which stars an animated version of Quds Force commander Gen. Qassem Suleimani annihilating US troops and naval forces. The Americans threaten us, we want to say, If you attack us, if you dare to do so, a rain of hot melted lead will be poured on you, co creator Farhad Azimi told the paper. The American aircraft carriers, vessels and warships will be sunk and converted into beautiful aquariums in the bed of the Persian Gulf. So yeah, all this is unsettling. But again, lest Americans get too high on their horses about this, the US military industrial complex, its marketing partners and Hollywood filmmakers have basically been doing higher budget versions of the same thing for decades. One of the more obvious examples is the NFL, where flashy flyovers with high tech military jets, troops marching with flags and even camouflage jersey sales have been a fixture for years, and the military has pumped tens of millions of dollars into patriotic displays at sports games. Others include the close relationship between the military and the video game industry, or its tight collaboration with the movie industry. Indications are strong President Donald Trumps administration is seeking ways to back out of the US Iran nuclear deal, per CNBC, which would set the stage for tensions to escalate rapidlythough with stakes a good bit realer than CGI tsunamis and bullet time. New York Times. Theresa Mays Government Announces Plan to Thwart All Porn Viewing Minors by April 2. Malfunctioning Dalek and British Prime Minister Theresa May, fresh off of securing the support of the far right Democratic Unionist Party, has reportedly set a timetable for her governments plan to force all porn sites operating in the U. K. to check the ages of its users. According to Ars Technica UK, by April 2. Mays government plans to require all porn sites including free ones to check ID via credit card or another method like comparison to voter rolls to verify users are 1. The technical details of the planwhich is essentially an attempt to defeat the ingenuity of every horned up teenager from Inverness to Southamptonare not yet apparent. But the British Board of Film Classifications would gain the power to fine sites which operate in defiance of the new regulations up to 2. U. K. based financial services and advertisers or even ban them across the entire U. K. We have taken steps to implement the new age verification requirement for online pornography as part of our continuing work to make the Internet safer, digital minister Matt Hancock said. The new scheme is complex and will not be fully in place until April 2. All this means that while we can enjoy the freedom of the web, the UK will have the most robust internet child protection measures of any country in the world, he added. Regulators authority to enforce the ban is essentially discretionary, Ars Technica previously reported. For example, social media sites like Twitter or Reddit could be classified as ancillary service providers if users can obtain pornography on it, though parliamentary under secretary for culture, media, and sports Lord Ashton said the government would seek a consensual regime with those sites. While major sites like Pornhub will likely have little choice but to comply with the regulations, easy ways for anyone to get around the verification system could include using a VPN, trading pornography on file sharing sites, or simply finding one of the innumerable smaller sites which slip under the BBFCs radar. Consider that somewhere between 4 1. Theres also the obvious risk of forcing millions of U. K. porn viewers to give their credit card information to an industry with notoriously bad cyber security, but thats just the price Brits might have to pay for Mays proper internet. Ars Technica UK, BBC.
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