{"id":92857,"date":"2025-01-18T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T17:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/?p=92857"},"modified":"2025-01-18T13:04:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T21:04:48","slug":"why-europe-fears-free-speech-and-prophecy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/prophecy\/why-europe-fears-free-speech-and-prophecy\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Europe Fears Free Speech and Prophecy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n(From Pixabay)<\/em><\/p>\n

COGwriter<\/a><\/p>\n

ZeroHedge<\/em> posted the following:<\/p>\n

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Why Europe Fears Free Speech<\/h2>\n

January 18, 2025<\/p>\n

We all know the old joke: when a European referendum delivers the \u201cwrong\u201d outcome, the country votes again until they get it \u201cright\u201d. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The EU thought this would be the case after Brexit. But so far, no one\u2019s laughing.<\/p>\n

If anything, things have got worse.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Take Romania, which recently cancelled its presidential election when C\u0103lin Georgescu, leader of a nationalist Right coalition, won the first round. Thierry Breton, former French European Commissioner, revealed the EU\u2019s mindset during a damning recent TV interview. \u201cWe did it in Romania and we will obviously do it in Germany if necessary,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>he said.<\/p>\n

In other words, if you can\u2019t beat the far-Right, ban them. …<\/p>\n

The most extreme of which is the Digital Services Act (DSA) which compels \u201cvery large online platforms\u201d, such as X and Meta, to check facts and filter out fake news.<\/p>\n

But, thanks to Breton, the truth is out there. <\/strong>Europe\u2019s ultimate aim isn\u2019t to save public discourse, it is to suffocate far-Right parties by depriving them of the oxygen of information. The DSA isn\u2019t even the last word in the EU\u2019s anti-digital jihad. One of Ursula von der Leyen\u2019s big ideas last year during the European election was the so-called \u201cdemocracy shield\u201d \u2014 effectively launching even more legislation to prevent outside interference in EU affairs. This notion conjures up images of laser beams and light-sabre fights. And in some respects it\u2019s not far from the truth: a frightened bloc needs a shield to protect itself from the encroaching enemy.<\/p>\n

Mark Zuckerberg is certainly on the attack. Last week he announced that he is abandoning fact-checking on his platforms \u2014 effectively defying the DSA. …<\/p>\n

Now they have Musk breathing down their neck, endorsing candidates from the AfD, a party that sits on the far-Right in the European Parliament\u2019s benches and which supports German withdrawal from the EU.<\/p>\n

The German media had a collective breakdown when Musk tweeted an endorsement for the AfD, interviewed Alice Weidel, the party\u2019s co-leader, on X, and then endorsed her in an article for\u00a0Die Welt<\/em>. The op-ed editor of the German daily resigned in protest. …<\/p>\n

Like all the modern political battles in Europe, this is about protecting vested interests.<\/p>\n

The Romanian case demonstrates how these restrictions on freedom of speech are the first salvos in a greater war of repression.<\/strong> The presidential elections there were cancelled on the grounds that a Russian-infested TikTok had misinformed voters. I am sure that the Russians were active. But it is shocking to think that an election was cancelled because someone lied on TikTok.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be clear, there was no suggestion of any vote rigging. Georgescu won the first round of the election fair and square. But as with the laughable misperception in Brussels after the Brexit vote, the presumption behind the EU\u2019s support for the nullification of the result, was that voters were too stupid to make up their own mind. …<\/p>\n

Marine Le Pen faces potential disqualification from the 2027 presidential elections following accusations of irregularities regarding her assistants in the European Parliament. …<\/p>\n

A banned Le Pen would be far more dangerous for the centrist establishment, and possibly even more extreme when she eventually gets to power. Likewise the AfD would surely be radicalised after a ban.<\/p>\n

Until then, the EU\u2019s blunt weapons of choice \u2014 the legal bans, political firewalls, and censorship \u2014 will inflict more self-harm than good. In the pecking order of democratic rights, freedom of speech has a relatively low priority in Europe.<\/strong> Like the creatures in George Orwell\u2019s\u00a0Animal Farm<\/em>, I am struggling to spot the difference between the extremists of the Right, and those who are trying to fight them. https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/geopolitical\/why-europe-fears-free-speech<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Notice also that Elon Musk is under investigation for giving some opinions as well as not censoring like the EU wants:<\/p>\n

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Musk pushes hard-right ‘Make Europe Great Again’ slogan amid EU inquiry<\/h2>\n

18 January 2025<\/p>\n

Elon Musk is continuing a campaign of support for hard-right parties in Europe, including AfD party candidates in the German election, and on Saturday another post on X further signalled his intentions:<\/p>\n

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From MAGA to MEGA:<\/p>\n

Make Europe Great Again!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 18, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n