Free speech advocates directly confronted the European Parliament (EP) and pushed the pro-censorship body to make a massive course correction.
Paul Coleman, the executive director of ADF International, and Stephen Nikola Bartulica, a Croatian EP member, participated in a hearing on Wednesday, where they slammed the controversial Digital Services Act (DSA). Notably, also in attendance were Rod Dreher, the author of Live Not by Lies, French member of the European Parliament Virginie Joron and Dan Schneider, the vice president for MRC Free Speech America.
“The act mentions hate speech; this is a very loosely defined concept, I would say impossible to define,” Bartulica said. “I find it really ridiculous to claim that you can read someone’s heart and know the intention behind a remark that is made. This is really a tool, an obvious tool for control and intimidation. According to some, even citing parts of scripture and the New Testament can qualify as hate speech in some cases.”
The EU and its member nations frequently suppress and prosecute the free speech of individuals while placing immense pressure on Big Tech companies to censor. The EU has targeted X owner Elon Musk with investigations for opposing censorship on his platform. According to Meta CEO and Founder Mark Zuckerberg, the EU has fined American tech companies over $30 billion. Additionally, the EU fined Apple and Meta $800 million in April.
What do social media platforms do when faced with brutal fines and vague prohibitions on hate speech? Coleman said that terms like misinformation, disinformation and hate speech are “deliberately vague”—- suggesting using undefined vague terms was a “feature, not a bug,” to promote broad censorship.
Coleman added that presumed illegal content was never properly defined in the DSA. He argued that the “DSA essentially writes a blank check for censorship” and creates a climate where platforms fear punishment for insufficient censorship but not for censoring too much.
Expanding on this point, Coleman noted that the closest the DSA comes to defining what is illegal under the act is a “somewhat circular definition,” saying that content that is banned or will be banned by the EU or any of its member states is illegal under the DSA. “The DSA allows for the worst laws in any one individual country to restrict speech across the entire bloc,” he said, summing up the awful situation.
And EU officials haven’t just sought censorship within the EU. During his remarks, Coleman addressed the outrageous example of a former EU commissioner threatening Musk ahead of a discussion with President Donald Trump.
Read More: MRC VP Schneider Denounces ‘Greatest Weapon’ for Censorship in Heart of EU
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