(American Thinker) — With no pesky First Amendment to deal with, the bureaucrats of the European Union have a relatively easy time dictating what the truth is, and what is not allowed to be part of the public conversation. But “free speech absolutist” Elon Musk wants nothing to do with it and has withdrawn Twitter from the E.U.’s “voluntary Code of Practice against disinformation,” as if the “voluntary” part of that name is not itself disinformation.
But that may not be the case, as E.U. Commissioner Thierry Breton is already issuing not-so-veiled threats.
Natasha Lomas reports for Tech Crunch:
Twitter has withdrawn from the European Union’s Code of Practice on online disinformation, per the bloc’s internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton.
In a tweet last night – which confirmed earlier reports of Twitter’s impending exit from the EU Code – Breton issued the social media platform with a blunt warning: Telling Twitter it cannot hide from incoming legal liability in this area.
Twitter leaves EU voluntary Code of Practice against disinformation.
But obligations remain. You can run but you can’t hide.
Beyond voluntary commitments, fighting disinformation will be legal obligation under #DSA as of August 25.
Our teams will be ready for enforcement.
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) May 26, 2023
The DSA [Digital Services Act] that Monsieur Thierry references took effect last November and allows the bureaucrats to classify certain platforms as VLOPs (very large online platforms) or VLOSEs (very large online search engines), and subject them to extra stringent reporting and regulatory supervision.
UPDATE (04/22/23): Twitter has inexplicably removed its ‘government-funded media’ label from Canada’s CBC and NPR, with neither using their accounts despite Elon Musk seeming to backtrack on his decision to promote transparency around their funding.
That means, after what appeared to be a victory, our campaign is far from over.
Please sign and share the petition today!
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UPDATE (04/18/2023): The CBC — Canadian Broadcasting Corporation — is reeling after Elon Musk finally applied the ‘Government-funded Media’ label to its Twitter page on Sunday in a welcome victory for people like you who used LifePetitions.com to call for this transparency.
The CBC, which receives about $1.24 billion in public funding every year, lashed out at the move yesterday, announcing it would ‘pause’ its use of Twitter and insisting that the government provides less than 70% of its funding.
Elon Musk has wryly inserted “69%” beside the “Government-funded Media” Twitter label in response.
Canadian Broadcasting Corp said they’re “less than 70% government-funded”, so we corrected the label pic.twitter.com/lU1EWf76Zu
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 18, 2023
The broadcaster denys that the Canadian government wields any influence over its editorial decisions, but this claim may have been undermined by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s remarkably swift and public defense of the CBC in the wake of Twitter’s decision.
Trudeau claimed yesterday that the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leader Pierre Poilievre was trying to “attack a foundational Canadian institution” when, like you, he petitioned Elon Musk to label the CBC appropriately.
The Prime Minister appeared inconsolable yesterday, which speaks volumes for how useful the CBC was and is to his office.
Thank you for taking part in this LifePetition to Elon Musk – this victory shows once again that people-power matters.
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Elon Musk is taking unprecedented steps for free-speech advocates by exposing state-sponsored media for their lies and agendas — including the BBC and NPR.
The time is NOW while the trend is hot to ask that Elon Musk also label Canada’s CBC for what it is: state-sponsored media and a propaganda machine of the radical left.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre this week informed Musk that the public broadcaster receives the “vast majority of its funding” from the federal government.
CBC/Radio Canada received a whopping $1.24 billion in government funding in 2021-2022.
Now that Elon Musk is taking massive swings at the leftist mainstream media outlets like BBC and NPR it is time for Canadians to remind him of what’s happening up here.
In fact, Musk just DESTROYED a BBC reporter live on air in a widely televised “Twitter Spaces” interview.
Will Elon Musk also take aim at the CBC? WE MUST LET HIM KNOW THAT THE CBC IS A CORRUPT STATE-SPONSORED ARM OF THE ANTI-FREEDOM TRUDEAU GOVERNMENT.
War has been waged by Elon Musk against the mainstream media — we cannot let Canada’s biggest propaganda machine operate unnoticed!
Look at just some of the headlines in these agenda pieces proudly published by the CBC:
CLIMATE ALARMISM: “Researchers need help to determine which birds are most at risk from climate change.”
PRO LGBT AGENDA: “These kids’ books depicting ‘joyful, queer stories’ are being censored in Hungary and Russia.”
PRO TRANSGENDER AGENDA: “Two-spirit, trans, non-binary, gender diverse people face ‘exceptional barriers to overcome’: Manitoba artist”
ANTI-FREEDOM: “Conservative opposition to mandatory vaccinations is ‘irresponsible’ and ‘dangerous,’ says Trudeau.”
PRO EXPERIMENTAL VACCINE: “Here’s a science-backed approach to timing your next dose.”
AND SO MUCH MORE REPORTED BY LIFESITENEWS!
Now is the time to act — tell Elon Musk, owner of Twitter, to EXPOSE the CBC for the pro-Trudeau agenda-carrying propaganda machine that it is.
***SIGN: TWITTER MUST LABEL THE CBC AS STATE-SPONSORED MEDIA NOW***
Lomas notes:
Previous management at Twitter signed the platform up to the voluntary EU Code on Disinformation back in 2018. But Twitter’s current owner, billionaire Elon Musk, looks intent on picking a fight with the EU over speech moderation – belying early remarks he made to Breton in person when Musk had claimed to be on board with the bloc’s digital rulebook.
This is an expensive fight for Musk to pick. Breaches of the DSA can attract penalties of up to 6% of global annual turnover.
The Commission has also warned that serious, repeated non-compliance could lead it to block access to a service – which dangles the prospect of Twitter losing access to a region with some 440 million consumers.
Musk appears to be defiant and may be preparing to pull Twitter out of Europe, which has always been a “secondary market” for it, according to Lomas, who, incidentally, terms Twitter under Musk as “far right.” According to her, a “request for comment emailed to Twitter’s press office returned an automated reply containing a poop emoji.”
Pixy Misa of Ace of Spades Headquarters sums it up:
The media, and the bureaucrats, who believe they have the sole right to spread disinformation, are taking this about as well as can be expected, with Thierry Breton, head of the European Union’s Josef Goebbels Memorial Happy Fun Time Administration, issuing unveiled threats.
What they’re really upset about is that Twitter isn’t playing the game.
Reprinted with permission from American Thinker.