UK Talking About Jailing Elon Musk

Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

One of the ways that the First Amendment is under attack is nearly invisible. European efforts to suppress speech over there is also aimed at what you say here, including about our own elections. 

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What, you may think, does the United Kingdom's swing toward left-wing fascism have to do with free speech rights in the United States?

Bear with me, and I will explain. It really isn't that difficult to see once you know where to look. 

First, some facts: the United Kingdom is engaged in a massive crackdown on speech, conducting raids and arrests of people for their social media posts. 

In this, they are just a bit ahead of the curve because other European states are doing the same thing, but the UK is special in this regard because the country is rushing through trials and putting people in jail for months or years on an expedited basis. You can go to jail in Great Britain for offending people or expressing rage. 

What is striking about the UK's approach is how dramatic, how aggressive, and how far-reaching it is. While the European Union is mostly going after Twitter as a company, Great Britain is threatening citizens of other countries with extradition to face trials in the UK. 

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You may have noticed the silence of the Biden Administration on this matter, which is bad enough. What they should be doing is pushing back hard in defense of the free speech rights of Americans. Obviously, they aren't.

But that is only half the equation because the Biden Administration has been stealth using the laws of other countries to censor speech in the United States. Our intelligence agencies collaborate with foreign governments to "fight disinformation" and in doing so, they get those governments to do the dirty work that our government is constitutionally incapable of doing...so far.

Since most communication we do these days takes place on global platforms, a government in Europe can suppress something an American says by pressuring the platforms to censor it. 

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This happens all the time. Offend any Western regime too much, and they can have you censored or even deplatformed. And if you think the Biden administration doesn't use this loophole to shut Americans up, I have some prime swampland in Florida to sell you so you can build up the real estate empire you started when you bought the Brooklyn Bridge. 

Pundits and politicians in the United Kingdom have started to openly muse about arresting Elon Musk for inciting the riots in Britain, which is truly rich. I think the UK government allowing rape gangs, acid attacks, knife attacks, and murders of little girls might have more to do with the anger of Brits than anything Elon Musk has done and that Twitter had pretty much nothing to do with the troubles. 

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The government is cracking down on British citizens faster and more harshly than they have on the Islamist attackers, insulting them as "far right" agitators while praising the Muslim community that is attacking police, British citizens, and essentially holding much of the country hostage. 

It is much easier to go after ordinary Brits than to confront mobs wielding machetes screaming about imposing Sharia law on the country, so that is what the government does. It's the same principle as attacking religious Christians--they are an easy target because, unlike the Islamists, they don't use suicide vests. 

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Musk, in a really badass flex, temporarily banned the UK government from Twitter. I forget what rule they were violating but who cares? These are the people who cheered on censorship of Trump, pushed to censor any truth about COVID, and who are pressuring Twitter to censor anybody they don't like. 

So screw 'em. Goose, gander, and all that. 

The European crackdown on free expression isn't just about Europe; it affects us all right here in the United States. And if it weren't for Twitter and independent news outlets like Townhall Media, you would have almost no free speech or accurate information available to you at all. 

You and I are the targets of a massive campaign to silence us. It is worldwide, pervasive, and largely effective. This is the big reason I keep on asking you to subscribe to our VIP program. It provides a huge chunk of our revenue because ads don't cut it (you also get rid of the ads for yourself!).  

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | November 20, 2024
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