A “primal fear” among Europe’s left-wing dissidents leads them to believe that Elon Musk and Mr. X pose a greater threat to democracy than “totalitarian censorship” carried out in the name of freedom, a senior reporter for a major European newspaper has written.
The European Union has developed a penchant for the contradiction of trying to protect freedom by killing it, says an editorial in Germany’s official newspaper. Die Welt In response to the European Commission’s petulant letter to Elon Musk on Monday night.
A letter from European Commissioner Thierry Breton, a candidate for the European Union’s censorship chief, published just before Musk’s high-profile interview with President Trump on Monday night, called on X/Twitter to take “mitigation measures” against “harmful content” that “may have a detrimental impact on civil debate and public safety” in Europe.
Breton warned that he would retaliate if Elon Musk did not comply with his demands.
With his usual disdain, Musk, reveling in American freedom of expression to the fullest, told Commissioner Breton to “fuck off” in meme form.
Election interference: EU demands Musk comply with censorship order during Donald Trump interviewhttps://t.co/XUcKps5VHG
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 12, 2024
Anna Schneider, Chief Reporter Die Welt On Tuesday, Breton’s “totalitarian” bid came into view. An ironic view“Despite wanting to uphold values such as democracy, the rule of law, human rights and, finally, freedom, the European Union has somehow ended up treating laws that abolish freedom of expression as a masterpiece,” he said.
The Union, she quipped, stood “against freedom for freedom’s sake and all that.” Schneider’s paradoxical logic of Breton was soon Colonel Blimp Characters created by manga artists David Lawsatirizes the attitude of the British ruling class at the time, pointing out that the colonists needed the British Empire to protect them from genocide, and if they didn’t like it they had to be shot to be punished.
Free speech shouldn’t be about whether you’re for or against Donald Trump or Elon Musk, said Schneider, an editorial writer known for arguing for a classical liberal position in support of free speech that has been eclipsed by the left’s crackdown on dissent.
She writes: “Freedom lovers are united by a primal fear of anything that isn’t left-wing, which apparently leads to adventurous fantasies like the idea that Elon Musk and his tweets, or in general the X-Platform and what can be said there, are a bigger threat to democracy than the totalitarian censorship enshrined in European law.”
Schneider also rhetorically asked Breton “Does anyone really want this person empowered to speak on behalf of the EU?”, somewhat foreshadowing today’s dramatic turn of events, which does not appear to have been the case. As reported, Breton’s remarkable letter appears to have been published without consulting Breton’s superiors at the European Commission, who responded with contempt at the negative publicity the letter brought to their organisation.
One anonymous EU official was scathing in Breton’s criticism, reportedly saying: “The EU has no intention of interfering in elections… The conduct of the DSA is too important to be exploited by attention-seeking politicians seeking their next big job.”
To be honest, I wanted to respond with this “Tropic Thunder” meme, but I would never be so rude and irresponsible! https://t.co/jL0GDW5QUx pic.twitter.com/XhUxCSGFNP
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2024
