Next Tuesday, the European Parliament will discuss with the European Commission “the need to implement digital services legislation to protect democracy on social media platforms, including against foreign interference and biased algorithms.” The Digital Services Act (DSA) is a Central European Union law that regulates social media.
EU bigwigs in Brussels are up in arms over Elon Musk's X conversation with Alternative for Germany leader Alice Weidel. The AfD is an increasingly popular right-wing party that the EU establishment wants to cordon off. The European Commission said the conversation between Weidel and Musk “unduly elevated” the subject of political rivals ahead of Germany's February 23 general election and amounted to “foreign interference” in Germany's electoral process. That's what it means.
The city of Brussels also reacted angrily to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's recent announcement to end the era of fact-checking and restore freedom of expression on Facebook. Mr. Zuckerberg regretted that Facebook had withheld information in the past, saying that years of systematic online censorship had been driven by the demands of politically biased “fact checkers” and direct government pressure. I acknowledged what I had been through. Zuckerberg said the US election was a “cultural turning point in favor of speech,” but Europe has yet to reach the same conclusion. “Europe continues to see more and more laws institutionalizing censorship,” he said.
Mehta's boss was immediately censured by the European Commission. It is not true to say that the EU has institutionalized censorship, complained European Commission Vice-President Hena Virkunen. She cried that it was “untrue” and “misleading”. At the same time, she attacked Elon Musk for supporting AfD on X and threatened the platform with legal sanctions. I'm saying “X has a duty under our country's Digital Services Act to assess and mitigate the risks it poses to the electoral process and public debate.”
Last December, Romania's presidential election was annulled after an outsider surprisingly won with 23 percent of the vote in the first round. EU bigwigs say this is the result of foreign “disinformation” spread through TikTok and other social media platforms.
The EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) pays lip service to freedom of speech, while restricting freedom of speech and censoring social media platforms to “risk the electoral process and public debate.” It functions as a means of “reducing'' “. These platforms allow all citizens, not just politicians like me who are victims of media bias, to speak freely and express their opinions without being “moderated” by the powers that be. can. The fact that platforms like X and Facebook are owned by Americans is being used as a xenophobic pretext for “foreign interference” at “risks to European electoral processes and civil debate” .
The EU uses the word “democracy” in the same way that East Germany's communist dictatorship once referred to itself as the German “Democratic” Republic. The infamous G“D”R also had to defend “democracy” from critics who were said to be colluding with foreign powers.
I am the leader of the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV), by far the most popular party in the Netherlands. For decades, the PVV and other political parties like mine were rarely treated fairly by mainstream journalists. But the European Commission has warned of how disinformation about us can “unduly strengthen” political opponents or how it can subvert “electoral processes.” He did not express any concerns about this. I'm not complaining, just pointing out the EU's hypocrisy.
I'm not complaining. The mainstream media's scandalous actions have had the same effect as water on a duck's back. It flowed away from us. Voters continued to flock to us because they were mature enough to make their own decisions.
For decades, we have also been victims of blatant censorship by some social media outlets. Political parties like mine have been censored online for years. I am one of many like-minded European politicians whose opinions have been banned. When we voiced our opinions about Islamization and mass immigration, so-called fact-checkers removed our messages as “hate speech.” The same thing happened with Twitter and YouTube before that company was acquired by Elon Musk.
But despite years of social media censorship, we continued to win elections. Voters can feel that they are being lied to. They feel cheated. When social media remains silent about what is happening on the streets of Europe, they are well aware that the authorities are deceiving them. In fact, voters are mature enough to make their own decisions.
Companies like X and Facebook are abandoning censorship. I commend them. mainstream media say They are “sprinting to kiss Trump's ring” and “suck the president-elect,” a decision that is clearly common sense. Censorship is an expensive business and simply not worth the effort. They are an endangered species, although the mainstream media refuses to see it. who cares what guardian Are you writing?
Political parties like mine have survived decades of media bias and disinformation. Rather, it has only made us stronger and more popular. In the end we won. This will happen everywhere. In the end, freedom and truth will prevail. The only “risk to the electoral process” I see in Europe is that the EU “intervenes” in the elections because Brussels doesn't like the results and claims it has to protect “democracy” from voters. It's about being there.
Geert Wilders is the leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV), the largest party in the Dutch parliament and government coalition.
