by: Tim Brown
It's amazing how people who whine about tolerance and coexisting and democracy and such are the first ones to look to censor other's free speech and freedom of the press. Take the European Union for example. On Sunday, The EU's justice commissioner called on Facebook to censor a plethora of online speech, including what the state-controlled media has referred to as "fake news," which is really independent journalists and commentators.
Breitbart reports:
The unelected executive arm of the European Union (EU) is threatening to escalate from "non-legislative" action if Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube do not censor what it considers "illegal" online speech within 24 hours.
In May of this year, the U.S. tech giants signed a "code of conduct", promising to work with the Commission and national law enforcement to "criminalize" and "sanction" "individual perpetrators" as well as committing to "promoting independent counter-narratives" that the EU favours.
Speaking on Sunday, the EU's justice commissioner added "fake news" to the list of what they want censored online.
The "series of commitments to combat the spread of illegal hate speech online in Europe" developed "together with… the IT companies" included a promise to "review the majority" of flagged "hate speech" within 24 hours.
So far, the Commission claims that this is only occurring in France and Germany. Interestingly, they have been the recipients of quite a few Muslim invaders. Does anyone smell political correctness to protect the guilty in all of this?
EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová told The Financial Times (FT): "If Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Microsoft want to convince me and the ministers that the non-legislative approach can work, they will have to act quickly and make a strong effort in the coming months."
"The last weeks and months have shown that social media companies need to live up to their important role and take up their share of responsibility when it comes to phenomena like online radicalisation, illegal hate speech or fake news," she added.
In an interview with Breitbart London in May, UKIP's former Justice and Home Affairs spokeswoman and (briefly) leader Diane James MEP said, "This legislation is so vague that it is the thin end of the wedge not just to curb hate speech but free speech as well."
"Different people and cultures across Europe have different ways of communicating," she added. "The Liberal tradition in Britain for instance is more open and very different from that of dictatorial former Communist countries in the East."
Melissa Dykes comments on exactly what this is all about.
And of course "hate speech" is very loosely defined here, so it can basically be used to censor free speech online. We all know what the phrase "fake news" has come to denote — and nearly the entire alternative media is encompassed within it.
It should be no surprise that the same "fake news" the EU wants to censor has been blamed for Brexit and the potential for other countries like Italy deciding to leave the EU as well.
Now that these companies have signed on willingly for the censorship, and President Obama has given up control of the Internet just like George Soros wanted him to, it's pretty clear where all of this is headed.
"They are shutting down freedom of speech on the Internet," she concludes. "Keep speaking the truth online… while you still can."
Facebook has already been attacking voices in opposition to Islam, the current administration, and Hillary Clinton. Google, Microsoft and other outfits are joining in that same campaign, which is to silence your voice in the online marketplace.
Censoring free speech is not a part of government's job.
Speak out!
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