Posted on 08/31/2024 6:55:49 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Our Op-Ed in The NY Post: Unlike things that happen in Vegas, European social media censorship doesn’t stay in Europe.
The detention of Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, by French police is a cautionary tale for how European bureaucratic internet control mechanisms can affect platforms used by millions of Americans.
Kemberlee and I write about it in an Op-Ed in The NY Post, Arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in France should scare Americans worried about free speech:
The famous Las Vegas tourism slogan asserts that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
But when it comes to European social media censorship, what happens in Europe doesn’t stay in Europe. Americans should be worried.
The case of Pavel Durov highlights the problem.
The co-founder of social media giant Telegram was detained upon his arrival in France last Saturday.
Durov is being investigated for refusal to cooperate with authorities in restricting the content being posted to Telegram and potentially is being held responsible for the alleged criminal use of the platform, or at least that’s the gist of France’s argument.
No big deal, you say. What does that have to do with us, you ask.
Everything.
The result is the chilling of free speech on a platform used by millions of Americans.
French investigators were quick to assure the public that this was most certainly not a political detention, which means it most certainly was.
Durov is a seasoned veteran in the fight to protect free speech and association.
Just over a decade ago, Durov was given a nasty ultimatum by the Russian government to hand over user data to his version of Facebook or hand over rights to the company and leave the country. Durov chose to leave.
The message was simple — fork over the data of private citizens or face political persecution. We expect this from the Russians, and sadly now the Europeans.
In the US, Telegram is home to many of those who were summarily deplatformed during the massive social media purges during the COVID years and especially following January 6, simply for questioning the status quo. It serves as an outlet for our own censored citizens.
France’s interference with Telegram is not the first European foray into regulating American speech. The EU has been on a mission for years to use its regulations to control American social media and other tech platforms.
The UK’s disturbing crackdown on online memes reached across the pond and into our own online speech, with threats to extradite Americans.
X owner Elon Musk has dealt with similar threats by foreign entities demanding he crack down on his platform, or else.
And it’s no surprise that X is in the crosshairs since it is now the number one platform for political speech in this election season.
What is happening in Europe to restrict online free speech already has reached our shores.
We can expect that European-style censorship will find a welcoming audience in the DC swamp.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee that the Biden administration pressured Facebook to censor COVID-19 content, “including humor and satire,” and that they stifled The New York Post’s coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop due to meddling from the FBI.
For all the fun, memes, and doom scrolling, the major social media platforms do remain magnets for the worst of the worst elements; possibly criminals, terrorists, and traffickers.
But criminals plan and commit crimes using the telephone, too, and governments around the world aren’t locking up the phone companies.
The message of Durov’s detention is simple — hand over the data of the private citizenry, monitor and police their free speech, or face political persecution.
We cannot allow our long-standing freedom of speech and assembly to become subject to European laws or lawmakers. And certainly not to the whims of globalists at the United Nations or in Davos.
Durov is a walking target for refusing to capitulate to the surveillance state. But like Trump famously said, “In the end, they’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you.”
Elon needs to be careful as well. He is currently in a censorship battle with the communist rulers of Brazil.
The EU and Brazil are being used as attack vectors against the people of the US. And I’ll add, with the collusion/coordination of the US Deep State.
Guess who collaborates and works behind the scenes with places like Brazil and France?
Come to the first annual Winston Churchill Day Celebration.
Come to the VE-Day Celebration marking the day Britain was finally able to overcome tyranny for a time.
Buy your “We shall never surrender.” button.
It’s possible the EU leadership will take the Vichy approach when the Muslims start calling the shots. Pretend to be independent while doing the Muslims’ bidding.
Hitler eventually shut down his Vichy collaborators. I’m sure that will happen with the Muslims as well.
“Elon needs”
to set up his own country.
There are nations that need cash.
Dear EU:
Elon is offering us $12 billion. Will you do better?
Dear Poorland:
How do we know he’s offering you $12 billion?
Dear EU:
You don’t. But can you afford to take a chance on him blocking your attempt at world domination?
The lust for power and control over the least of humanity has no bounds. It is the ageless struggle between good and evil that exists universally throughout all creation. It’s Satanically based and manifests itself on earth through human surrogates who have succumbed to the intoxicating lust for domination and control. Unfortunately what we are witnessing is the Devil’s progressive march across the planet. We need to keep praying for an epiphany and restoration of the Lord’s righteousness.
p
We see eye to eye on that.
When we wrote the Grundgesetz for West Germany in 1948-49, we modeled their civil liberties after ours - with one exception. That exception was that the Basic Law could not be changed by people voting or by lawmakers. And a special court was created with the unilateral power to ban speech, writing, singing, images, constitutional amendments, political figures and political parties, or anything that could return the NSDAP to power.
That was then. In 1948 there were millions of adult Germans who had voted the NSDAP into power, and who (plausibly) would do it again if allowed unrestricted civil liberties.
When East Germany was absorbed into West Germany, länder were required to subscribe to the Basic Law.
So far, so good.
Except now is now. The last person who could have legally joined the NSDAP on May 7, 1945 is now 97 years old.
But, like any government function, the special court has expanded its powers to attack "misinformation" and "hate speech", and as the supply of actual Nazis falls to zero, the demand for Nazis to repress has never been stronger.
Virtually all European states have adopted the powers conferred on the West German state in 1948-49, and don't doubt for a second that this poor Telegram guy is a target for that reason - and if they get him, Elon Musk, RFK jr, and our next President will all be attacked this way.
And many American liberals including high-achieving legal scholars are pushing "hate speech" and "misinformation" exceptions to our First Amendment. And if things break the wrong way, you can bet they will get those exceptions.
“Hate speech” and “misinformation” will become anything the leftists ruling the government don’t like. That will be very useful for them.
How did the communists steal the election in Brazil? Now there is no peaceful way to get them out.
The US Deep State. Musk has already been threatened by that creepy Uke Vindemen a week or two ago on X. This isn’t just a EU thing.
Watch Tucker’s sick realization when Benz keeps revealing how bad it really is and it is far worse than Tucker thought.
Elon knows what is coming. Part about Musk in the last 15-20 min.
Does this mean any American who travels to Europe for business or pleasure could be arrested for having posted texts upsetting to the powers that be?
Quite possibly. The EU is even threatening to extradite US citizens who post things that violate their rules and can be seen by their subjects.
.
There was a really good video on why the US can’t or won’t extradite US citizens for merely posting spicy memes. However, most of those arguments were based on legal precedents which could be overruled by a future Dem or RINO government.
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