President Donald Trump is well known as the first agenda in the United States. Some interpreted this as an isolated position of retreat on the world stage. In the first few weeks, he showed active participation in foreign policy. The United States first did not mean separation from the world. Rather, it meant that it was a key value to accept the basic principles of the United States and to see when other countries were proudly proven.
One of these basic American principles is the freedom of the media, and the Trump administration allows the world to see the United States actively fighting for it.
The new posture, which strongly declared the US value of the US free speech on the global stage, had the greatest demonstration in the new administration last week. Friday, vice president of JD VANCE fat At the Munich Security Conference. VANCE has been interested in Europe’s main worrying trends, that is, aggressive censorship, rather than focusing on Russia and China’s external world threats.
Vance mourned for “retreat in Europe from some of the most fundamental values shared with the United States.” For Americans, censorship itself is an attack on democracy. The vice -president said, “It is not protected to dismiss people, dismiss concerns, get worse, close the media, close elections, or close people in the political process. In fact, it is the clearest way to destroy democracy. ” The freedom of speech is not the value of the United States, but a universally shared basic rights protected by the International Treaty and Charter, which was passionately signed by European allies.
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Vance, in particular, emphasized one example of the attack of freedom of expression, the attack of the British veteran and ADF international customers. Adam Smith-Connor. Smith-Connor was accused of violating the “buffer zone” outside the abortion clinic in England in November 2022. In October, Smith-Connor was convicted of a three-minute quiet road crime. The appeal of Smith-Connor will be heard in July.
But this is just one example of becoming more and more systematic in Europe in a larger scale to censor and control public discourse to exclude “wrong” opinions in Europe.
Like other cases Päivi räsänenFor nearly four years of allegations of “hatred speech” crimes, the Finnish parliamentary member of the “Hate” speech was investigated longer because he posted a Bible verse on the situation.
But at a wider level, DSA (Digital Services Act) in Europe will allow all European social media users to export censorship including censorship and the United States. DSA Impose A huge punishment for large -scale social media companies that does not comply with orders to censor “illegal content” is widely defined as illegal in accordance with EU or national law. In particular, as the above story shows, it can include ambiguous and subjective terms such as “hatred speech”, “wrong information”, “illegal act” and “disgrace”.
Since large social media companies are often American companies, DSA damage It leads to the censorship of Americans as well as the US business. From Adobe to Zoom, almost all major digital service providers and most social media platforms in the United States maintain this kind of harmful policy that prohibits “hatred speeches” or “wrong information” as reported by ADF. View Point Diversity Index. If you oppose the government’s position and voice on social media, it is very likely that European officials will silence your voice with “wrong information.” Look at the examples of Smith-Connor and Räsänen.
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European enthusiasts, which expand and export censorship, will feel as bad as themselves. On the US coast, Vance was an animation principle for free speeches in Europe last week. Main topic. At the beginning of his week, his while speech In AI, Vance directly criticized Digital Services Act and “large -scale regulations on stopping content and policy of so -called wrong information.” “The United States will not accept it and will not accept it,” he said.
VANCE is not pursuing the attitude of the media in Europe alone. Representative Jim Jordan, chairman of the House of Representatives, sent a European committee. letter At the end of last month, “Express[ing] Our serious concern about how DSA’s censorship affects the free media in the United States. ” Last week’s judicial committee a hearing Emphasize overseas censorship efforts in “Censors-Industrial Complex”.
One of President Trump’s first actions Executive order In the fight against the federal efforts to promote censorship of Americans, especially in the fight against “wrong information”, “information” and “malinformation”. This was sharp conversion Posts of government policies, from the pressure of the social media company at Biden-Harris Administration to censorship. Secretary of State Marco Rubio followed this presentation He will terminate all programs that censor the American people in any way.
Critics in the VANCE and Trump administration tried to make the Vance an extreme position during the weekend, but instead confirmed how he could strongly defend the free media. Margaret Brennan had no more serious reaction than CBS on Sunday. Ridiculously For 60 minutes, he criticized the freedom of the press for the Holocaust. Public relations Germany’s online “hatred speech” and thousands of cases of insults. Now that the inorganization of terms such as “wrong information” and “information” has been exposed, the laws of the opponents of the free media have become more directly.
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Vance’s speech was a clear moment. select Between free media and censorship. In relation to opposition to censorship around the world, especially when censorship can affect Americans, the Trump administration is fulfilling its promise early. Vance’s Munich speech is the most clear demonstration that the United States will take the lead in ensuring the protection of free media in the United States and the world.
Sean Nelson is an international human rights lawyer who works as a legal advisor to ADF International’s global religious freedom.
Syndicate with permission In RealClearwire.
