Free speech is a problem – Not so much for the general population, but for the establishment class and their grip on social influence. Much like the invention of the printing press that created an information revolution in the Middle Ages, the internet has created a global platform which almost anyone on the planet can access and speak, hypothetically, to millions or even billions of people. This level of information sharing is unprecedented in human history and so it is no surprise that governments and globalists want the ability to filter what is said and what is heard to their benefit.
To this end, the EU Commission, using the covid event as a convenient cover, heralded the passage of the ‘Digital Services Act’ (DSA) in early 2022. The DSA was presented as a tool for the EU to “rein in” the power of social media corporations, but in reality its primary purpose is to give the EU legal precedence to force Big Tech companies to apply EU censorship standards to their platforms even if they are not European based businesses. In other words, the goal is to force the entire western world to accept the European governance of online speech while ignoring national boundaries and constitutional protections.
Similar to China’s “Great Fire Wall”, the EU plans to use the DSA as a means to shut down domestic access to offending websites and content. But where the EU situation is unique is in their focus on controlling speech outside of Europe as well. That is to say, information and speech among non-Europeans could still be identified as a threat to their leftist sensibilities and cited as a reason for sanctioning a website altogether.
This means, for example, that an EU-friendly (censored) version of Twitter might still not be allowed to operate, not because of information shared by Europeans, but because of information shared on Twitter outside of Europe. The EU will not be happy until every other country follows the same online rules they follow.
These rules would include EU “hate speech” and “disinformation” restrictions. Keep in mind that in many parts of Europe using the wrong pronouns for a trans person is considered punishable hate speech, and pointing out that medical masks are useless for stopping covid transmission is considered dangerous disinformation. Scientific facts don’t play into such determinations, they are purely political.
I bet most readers of this site will see that law as self-parody, the EU foolishly mocking itself with laws (which are speech) conjured out of dying imaginations. A civilization must be bold and not fear itself, or perish. I hope this stupid act is violated in every way we can think of. ABN
American Buddhist Net 