EU threatens to ban Twitter

(AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

They really really REALLY are scared of Elon Musk.

As I have written about before, the European Union has been making noises about Twitter’s compliance with its Digital Services Act, which among other things requires pretty aggressive censorship of speech, under the guise of preventing “misinformation.”

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Today the EU went a step further, openly threaten to ban Twitter in Europe unless Musk buckles to their demands:

The EU has threatened Elon Musk’s Twitter with a European ban unless the billionaire abides by its strict rules on content moderation, setting up a regulatory battle over the future of the social network.

Thierry Breton, the EU’s commissioner in charge of implementing the bloc’s digital rules, made the threat during a video meeting with Musk on Wednesday, according to people with knowledge of the conversation.

Breton told Musk he must adhere to a checklist of rules, including ditching an “arbitrary” approach to reinstating banned users, pursuing disinformation “aggressively” and agreeing to an “extensive independent audit” of the platform by next year.

Musk was warned that unless he stuck to those rules Twitter risked infringing the EU’s new Digital Services Act, a landmark law that sets the global standard for how Big Tech must police content on the internet. Breton reiterated that the law meant, if in breach, Twitter could face a Europe-wide ban or fines of up to 6 per cent of global turnover.

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As we all know, “disinformation” is very much in the eye of the beholder. The most infamous case of banning “disinformation” was of course the censorship of the New York Post’s story on the Hunter Biden laptop, including all references to it by Twitter users both in public and in private direct messages.

The “debunkings” of the story, in fact, were pure intentional disinformation, and were widely distributed on social media and the MSM. The laptop, originally described as Russian “disinformation” has been verified multiple times. The New York Post itself was banned for reporting the truth.

Disinformation is and always has been rampant on Twitter. As I have noted tons of times the governments of Iran, Russia, North Korea, the Taliban, and vast numbers of disinformation spreaders are allowed on and have been “verified” by Twitter. None of that has made a single Leftist blink. The only “disinformation” they care about is speech by conservatives. Actual child porn was exchanged on Twitter and that was totally OK. Musk bans that and now is threatened because he doesn’t censor enough.

COVID has been one of the main excuses for censorship, but again the most pervasive disinformation has come from government sources, not conspiracy theorists. Prominent and widely respected epidemiologists have been censored, speculation on the man-made origin of COVID was banned until Tony Fauci openly admitted it was possible after years. Twitter and Facebook unbanned mention of the gain-of-function theory only after given a green light.

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The White House has been attacking Twitter, the MSM as well. Google and Apple are threatening to kick the app of its platforms. None of this happened while Twitter was being actively used to distribute child porn. It only started once Musk said he bought Twitter and announced he was going to vote Republican.

The transnational Elite™ is absolutely committed to maintaining its grip on The Narrative™ and will apparently go to any length to accomplish that goal.

This is what that control looks like. Unanimity:

The EU is a bane on humanity. I wrote yesterday how the unaccountable continental government is putting the squeeze on food production. They are also putting the squeeze on free thought.

The EU censorship push is also a proxy battle for free speech in America, as they are trying to muzzle conservative speech worldwide. With the White House making it clear that they are interested in censoring Americans it is clearly convenient for them to have Europe be the bad guy.

The Post-Millennial has more on this story as well. I advise you to check it out and all related news, as this is going to be a huge battle in the future. Even if you are not a Twitter user this will have a direct impact on you, as Twitter is a crucial tool to spread alternate views. Ask the Ukrainians, Russians, and Iranians who use it to communicate alternate views unapproved by the government.

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Also check out Jazz’ post on Twitter’s transparency report. It makes for good and important reading.

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | November 22, 2024
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