Today a fight for Catalonian independence and even the State domain of .cat are raging in Spain. Meanwhile, the internet is blacked out to suppress the Catalan attempt at retaining independence.
Spain has never been quite the poster-boy for free speech, from the Inquisition era on into <a href="http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/locked-up-for-joking-about-franco/19713#.WcrmCBdrz0o">April of this year</a> when a man was literally locked up for making a joke about Francisco Franco, the former Spanish dictator. Franco himself, ironically was a fan of the book burnings.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Spanish military police close website of Catalan National Assembly (ANC) <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Catalonia?src=hash">#Catalonia</a> <a href="https://t.co/wsFxQXLBx7">https://t.co/wsFxQXLBx7</a></p>— Julian Assange (@JulianAssange) <a href="https://twitter.com/JulianAssange/status/912563229930508293">September 26, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Coming out in support of the Catalonian fight via Twitter are security state subversion icons (and possible limited hangout jobs) Julian Assange and Edward Snowden. According to the <i>Sydney Morning Herald</i> Fairfax Media has confirmed independent research showing nearly 1/3 of all Twitter traffic utilizing #Catalonia stem from Wikileaks leader Assange and former National Security Administrator contractor, and leaker, Edward Snowden.
As of now the top influencers for #Catalonia in order are Snowden, Assange, Wikileaks, RT, NicolaSturgeon, AFP (Agence Free Presse). <i>Sydney Morning Herald</i> suggests that the hashtags popularity could be due to Russian influence, stemming from the so-called "Russian connection," that continuing, ever-elusive "hacker meddling" that Brexit, Trump, LePen's near win and more have been blamed for.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Domains are power: Spain's attempt to seize control over Catalonia's country domain ".cat". <a href="https://t.co/3qYCZNNdGT">https://t.co/3qYCZNNdGT</a></p>— Julian Assange (@JulianAssange) <a href="https://twitter.com/JulianAssange/status/912520560936136704">September 26, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<strong><h4>no LOLcat, this…</h4></strong>
Personally, I believe this is an issue of a struggle for independence. Whether it is the Irish Republicans, the Palestinians, the Basque, the Hmong Ukraine or Texas, any group that is striving for self-determination, independence and the preservation of their cultural and state identity has my support.
Assange spoke regarding censorship in Barcelona just today, amidst internet shutdowns before the referendum vote and the threat of civil or criminal action pending against those involved in the Catalan struggle, like the Deus ex Machina he seems Julian made his appearance to speak.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="es" dir="ltr">Y no te censuran? Interesante…</p>— Pablo RodrÃguez (@pabloroal) <a href="https://twitter.com/pabloroal/status/912776322224721922">September 26, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Muy interesante, indeed…
