At the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for enacting technological censorship in the face of “industrial-scale disinformation”. , called for stronger cooperation between governments and private companies.
Following the example of WEF President Klaus Schwab's Global Risks Report, EU Prime Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday in her speech at Davos warned against the alleged “threat of disinformation and information.” Based on this, he emphasized the risks that could be assumed by allowing the free flow of information. False information.”
“These risks are serious because they limit our ability to address the great global challenges we face: climate change and geopolitical climate change. Demographic and technological change. “The spiraling regional conflicts and intensifying geopolitical competition, and their impact on supply chains,” she said. Said.
The EU chief called on governments and private companies to form a “new connective tissue” to “provide the solutions needed to combat threats such as climate change and industrial-scale disinformation”.
Ms von der Leyen said the need to combat disinformation was “more important than ever” given that 2024 will be the largest election year in world history, involving 41% of the world's population, or an estimated 3.2 billion people. He said that it has become. In the EU, he expects more than 450 million people to head to the polls this year.
“Like any democracy, our freedoms come with risks. There will always be those from within and outside who seek to exploit our openness, including disinformation and disinformation. There will always be attempts to throw us off track,” she said.
Climate change and industrial-scale disinformation are global threats.
Governments have a lot of influence, but businesses have the innovation, technology and talent to provide solutions.
They rely on openness and freedom for innovation, investment and competition.
To strengthen our democracy… pic.twitter.com/Bth4p2Uylf
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) January 16, 2024
Although left-wing globalists often tout themselves as custodians of democracy, this only seems to be the case when citizens vote the way they want. In fact, longtime Eurocrat Guy Verhofstadt declared that “democracy is fighting for survival” following Donald Trump's landslide victory in the Iowa caucuses on Monday. The window is closed for Europe too!” he warned.
As in the United States, where voters are increasingly dissatisfied with President Joe Biden's globalist rule, support for populism is growing in Europe, with right-wing parties expected to make significant gains in June's European Parliament elections. . .
But similar to the efforts by left-wing legal activists to block President Trump from voting, in Germany, for example, the populist right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) has emerged to “defend” democracy. There are also calls for it to be banned. From voters.
Heading into an election year, Brussels will have more censorship powers at its disposal than ever before. The EU President highlighted the Digital Services Act (DSA), which will be enacted in Brussels at the end of 2022 and will come into full force next month. The DSA significantly expanded the European Union's censorship powers to crack down on so-called “hate speech” and disinformation.
Starting in February, social media companies and websites will be fined up to 6% of their global revenue if they fail to comply with speech regulations. Moreover, the platform also faces the possibility of being banned from the block entirely under the new regulations.
“We have defined responsibility for the content that large internet platforms promote and disseminate. Not just for children and vulnerable people who are targeted by hate speech, but for our society as a whole. It's also a responsibility,” von der Leyen said.
WEF: US will soon make hate speech illegal, EU commissioner says https://t.co/lNvK4gUnFD
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 19, 2023
