A European politician with an anti-free speech track record has new, scarier propaganda to justify crushing speech.
European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourová previously touted European Union (EU) censorship legislation at Davos 2023, and this year she doubled down on her anti-free speech stance. “Disinformation is a security threat,” Jourová announced during a panel at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Davos 2024 conference.
Jourová continued by trying to associate the so-called “threat” of disinformation — which has typically indicated any speech that offends leftists — with Russian propaganda. “Maybe not many noticed, but it was part of the Russian military doctrine, that they will start information war. And we are in it now, and disinformation is a very powerful tool,” she claimed.
She then explained how EU officials “think about” this. “We are focusing on — ah — improving of the system where people will get the effects right,” Jourová rambled. “We don’t speak about opinions, we are not correcting anyone’s opinions or language,” she falsely asserted. “This is about the facts.” This falls right in line with the left’s behavior indicating that they somehow have a monopoly on “facts.” Activists both in Europe and America often define opinions they don’t agree with as lies that must be suppressed, such as viewpoints that question the left-wing orthodoxical positions on climate change.
Among the censorship legislation pushed by Jourová in the past is the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), which classified so-called “extremist” content and “hate speech” as illegal content. The Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) warned in 2022 that the DSA was a threat to freedom of expression. As far back as 2018, Reuters reported that Big Tech companies were censoring more speech after EU pressure to do so, with Jourová specifically mentioned as actively exerting the pressure.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency and an equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
