Free Republic

Europeans can be so stupid on this: 1. “What about the Russians?” We are not allied with Russia. We have a wide variety of sanctions against them. We have long supported Ukraine in the current war. At least Putin doesn’t whine. 2. “We are democratic!” No. Europe is bureaucratic with many layers separating voters from policy. Plus you regulate media and control information so your voters are badly misinformed. 3. “We support free speech!” No you don’t. Either you think we’re stupid enough to believe that or you’re stupid enough to believe it. This whole conflict is driven by your...

When elections were annulled in Romania, Thierry Breton, the former EU commissioner, said: "We did it in Romania, and we will do it in Germany." It’s worth remembering that quote when the same institutions now lecture others about coercion and democratic norms. ... Elon Musk .. Tyranny Breton gets his dessert

Thierry Breton, the power-hungry EU bureaucrat known for trying to strong-arm Elon Musk’s X platform, has resigned.Breton, a French business executive and the Commissioner for Internal Market of the European Union, sent a scathing letter last month, threatening Musk over an interview with former President Donald Trump. The letter, dated August 12, 2024, epitomized the EU’s obsession with censorship and its blatant disregard for free speech. (snip) Now, Breton has thrown in the towel. Thierry Breton abruptly announced his resignation, citing “questionable governance” and unexplained “personal reasons.” The resignation letter, dripping with self-pity and indignation, revealed that French President Emmanuel...

The Trump administration has barred five Europeans from entering the U.S., accusing them of pressuring American tech companies to censor or suppress American speech online. The individuals—Thierry Breton, Imran Ahmed, Josephine Ballon, Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, and Clare Melford—are all leading figures in European efforts to regulate harmful or illegal content on social media platforms. The five were barred under a May policy targeting foreign nationals deemed responsible for suppressing speech protected under U.S. law.

The State Department announced Tuesday it was barring five Europeans it accused of leading efforts to pressure US tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints. The Europeans, described by Secretary of State Marco Rubio as “radical” activists and “weaponized” nongovernmental organizations, fell afoul of a new visa policy announced in May that restricts the entry of foreigners deemed responsible for the censorship of protected speech in the United States. “For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose,” Rubio posted on X. “The Trump administration will no...

Lies on Elon Musk’s X have instigated some of the worst racial riots in Britain’s history. Musk recently posted a comment to his hundreds of millions of followers claiming “Civil war is inevitable” in the U.K., and asserted that the British criminal justice system treats Muslims more leniently than far-right activists. European Union commissioner Thierry Breton sent Musk an open letter reminding him of EU laws against amplifying harmful content “that promotes hatred, disorder, incitement to violence, or certain instances of disinformation” and warning that the EU “will be extremely vigilant” about protecting “EU citizens from serious harm.” Musk’s response...

Former President Donald J. Trump has returned to X (formerly Twitter) with a string of posts made just after noon on Monday. The 2024 Republican presidential nominee had largely been absent from the social platform since the then-sitting President’s account was suspended on January 8, 2021, by the company’s former ownership under Jack Dorsey.Since his suspension over three years ago, the former Republican President founded his own social media company, Truth Social, which went public earlier this year—earning Trump billions. Over the past two years, an exclusivity agreement with Truth Social had largely kept Trump from other social media platforms....

The EU warns Elon Musk about tonight’s Donald Trump livestream on X. EU Commissioner Thierry Breton says the EU will watch for “spillovers” that violate the Digital Services Act, such as “content that may incite violence, hate and racism in conjunction with major political - or societal - events around the world, including debates and interviews in the context of elections.”

The European Commission will propose on Tuesday ways for the European Union to boost its arms industry so it can shift to “war economy mode” in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Thierry Breton, the European industry commissioner, will lay out proposals to encourage EU countries to buy more weapons together from European companies, and to help such firms increase production capacity, according to EU officials. “We need to change the paradigm and move into war economy mode. This also means that the European defense industry must take more risks, with our support,” said Breton, previewing the package. Breton, a...

Facebook parent company Meta responded to legal threats by the European Union over its attempts to regulate misinformation related to the Israel war by launching an operating center. Meta released an updated content monitoring action plan on Friday detailing its approach for handling misinformation arising out of the war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas. The plan arrived in response to a letter from EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, who threatened legal action against them over the Digital Services Act, a law that tightens the region's content moderation laws. The EU has already launched an inquiry into X, formerly known...

Senior EU officials were furious on Friday after Twitter owner Elon Musk pulled the platform out of the bloc’s online censorship project. Elon Musk has pulled Twitter out of the EU’s “Code of Practice”, a pro-censorship project aimed at countering so-called “disinformation” online, prompting fury from those in Brussels. It comes after months of mixed messages from the billionaire, who had publicly stated that he wanted to support free speech on the platform while repeatedly insisting that he would support the European Union in its pro-censorship crusade. According to a report by POLITICO, it appears that the Big Tech entrepreneur...

European government and regulatory bodies have authorized the European Union’s telecom operators and internet service providers to apply exceptional measures, including the throttling of online speeds, to prevent network congestion amid increased demand as millions of Europeans are forced to stay home and use online collaboration and teleworking tools amid the coronavirus. The EU’s governing body, the European Commission, and the Body of the European Regulators of Electronic Communications (BEREC) gave the greenlight to telcos to take the necessary measures to ensure there is no disruption in online traffic. The move comes after Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for internal...