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Showing posts with label European Commission. Show all posts
Showing posts with label European Commission. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Freedom Of Speech Is Going Away In Europe

Europe: Making Totalitarianism Great Again

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  • The European Union has programs in place that seek heavily to influence mainstream news outlets and journalists with its own agendas -- such as that of continued mass-migration into Europe from Africa and the Middle East. For this purpose, the European Commission recently funded the publication of a handbook with guidelines for journalists on how to write about migrants and migration.
  • It is seemingly in the interest of these media representatives to label competition from alternative or new media, "fake news".
  • A proposed French law would allow authorities to block websites during election seasons, a draconian measure to combat political opponents, which would place France in the same category as countries such as China and Iran that block websites that do not suit the agendas of the regime.
The European Union is intensifying its efforts to censor and marginalize voices that disagree with its policies, under the convenient euphemism of combating "fake news".
"The Commission needs to look into the challenges the online platforms create for our democracies as regards the spreading of fake information and initiate a reflection on what would be needed at EU level to protect our citizens," wrote Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, in May 2017. How considerate that Juncker, in totalitarian fashion, wishes to protect EU citizens from news that does not fit the Commission's narratives and agendas.
In October 2017, the European Commission announced its "fake news" policiesand how it intends to "design solutions to address the spread of fake news". According to the Commission, "Fake news consists of intentional disinformation spread via online social platforms, broadcast news media or traditional print". Furthermore, according to the Commission, the EU's fake news policy is guided by, among other things, "the freedom of expression, media pluralism, and the right of citizens to diverse and reliable information".
This assurance of freedom of expression and pluralism comes across as rather laughable: the EU already does what it can to eliminate "media pluralism and... diverse and reliable information". The EU, for example, has programs in place -- such as the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (REC) - - that seek heavily to influence European mainstream news outlets and their journalists with its own agendas -- such as that of continued mass-migration into Europe from Africa and the Middle East. For this purpose, the European Commission recently funded the publication of a handbook with guidelines for journalists on how to write about migrants and migration. The handbook was launched on October 12 by the International Press Institute (IPI) -- an association of media professionals representing leading digital, print and broadcast news outlets in more than 120 countries. Specifically, with regard to Muslims, the guidelines recommend:
"... Take care not to further stigmatise terms such as 'Muslim' or 'Islam' by associating them with particular acts... Don't allow extremists' claims about acting 'in the name of Islam' to stand unchallenged. Highlight... the diversity of Muslim communities..."
The EU also financially supports a campaign, "Media Against Hate" run by the European Federation of Journalists (EJF), the largest organization of journalists in Europe, which represents over 320,000 journalists across 43 countries. That campaign aims to:
"... improve media coverage related to migration, refugees, religion and marginalised groups... counter hate speech, intolerance, racism and discrimination... improve implementation of legal frameworks regulating hate speech and freedom of speech..."
To further its nascent "fake news" policies, the European Commission recently appointed 39 "experts" to a so-called "High Level Group (HLEG) on Fake News and online disinformation":
"It comprises representatives of the civil society, social media platforms, news media organisations, journalists and academia....
"The High Level group will advise the Commission on scoping the phenomenon of fake news, defining the roles and responsibilities of relevant stakeholders, grasping the international dimension, taking stock of the positions at stake, and formulating recommendations".
The media representatives have been almost exclusively picked from the mainstream media -- giants such as ARD, RTL, Swedish state television, Sky News, AFP and News Media Europe, which renders any sort of balanced outcome that these "experts" might reach a rather illusory option. To the extent that they even view new or alternative media as a threat, it is seemingly in the interest of these media representatives to label competition from alternative or new media, "fake news". The high-level group held its inaugural meeting on January 15, 2018.
The European Commission will poll EU citizens and conduct a Eurobarometer public opinion survey to be launched early 2018 "to measure and analyse the perceptions and concerns of the European citizens around fake news". The Commission will also be organizing a "multi-stakeholder conference on Fake News" which, will "define the boundaries of the problem, assess the effectiveness of the solutions already put in place by social media platforms and... agree on key principles for further action".
The EU is not alone in threatening the shutting down of free speech under the cover of combating "fake news". In France, President Emmanuel Macron has announced that he wants to introduce new legislation aimed at regulating "fake news" during election seasons, including "emergency legal actions" that would allow the French government to remove "fake news" from a website or block sites entirely. Macron said:
"If we want to protect liberal democracies, we must be strong and have clear rules. When fake news is spread, it will be possible to go to a judge ... and if appropriate, have content taken down, user accounts deleted and ultimately websites blocked."
A law like this would mean that the French state -- or whoever is placed in a position to act as thought police on its behalf -- would become the arbiter of what constitutes "truth", much in the same way as the new German censorship lawrequires social media networks to act as the privatized thought police of the German state.
The proposed French law, however, would go even further than the German censorship, in that it would allow French authorities to block entire websites during election seasons, a draconian measure to combat political opponents, which would place France in the same category as countries such as China and Iran that block websites that do not suit the agendas of the regime.
Such a French law would also be in violation of the right to freedom of expression and information guaranteed in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which France is a party, and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Article 10 states that everyone not only has the right to freedom of expression but "to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers..." Governments are not supposed to interfere in that right -- with a few specific exceptions described in Article 10 -- because such interference constitutes government censorship.
Overall, Europe appears to be aspiring to make totalitarianism great again.

Both European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (left) and French President Emmanuel Macron (right) are proposing restrictions that would violate the right to freedom of expression and information that is guaranteed in the European Convention on Human Rights. (Image source: European Commission)

Judith Bergman is a columnist, lawyer and political analyst.
© 2018 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
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Monday, January 8, 2018

Europe No Longer Controls Its Destiny That Is The Responsibility Of An Unelected, Undemocratic Organization Of "Has Been" Political Activists

Mass Migration: The European Commission's New "Norm"

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  • The Commission, based in Brussels, is not elected but, according to EU treaties, it has a monopoly -- yes, a monopoly -- on initiating legislation at the European level. A Commissioner is an appointed bureaucrat, one for each member state -- often a former top politician, now sidelined in his country of origin, therefore with very little democratic legitimacy.
  • First of all, many of the migrants are not qualified; and second, they receive social benefits so there is little or no incentive for them to work. Articles supporting the claims of the officials -- that Europe needs more migrants in order to fund the healthcare and pensions of aging Europeans -- neglect that this plan can only succeed IF the migrants work. These assumptions, therefore, appear to be based on ideological bias rather than scientific evidence.
  • The new norms, like the size of apples or the curvature of cucumbers, should, according to the European Commission, be determined by the European Commission. Migration will not be a question open for debate. It will be a "norm" determined by the Commission.
Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, recently published a startling opinion, advocating for more immigration as an inescapable reality to which European citizens should just adapt without any further discussion.
The article illustrates much of what is wrong with European institutions, in particular the European Commission, a mixture of bureaucratic arrogance, false creed based on dogma rather than facts, and a disdain for democratic debate. The Commission, based in Brussels, is not elected but, according to EU treaties, it has a monopoly -- yes, a monopoly -- on initiating legislation at the European level. Each Commissioner is an appointed bureaucrat, one for each member state -- often a former top politician, now sidelined in his country of origin, therefore with very little democratic legitimacy.

Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship. (Image source: EU2017EE Estonian Presidency)

"It is time to face the truth.... The only way to make our asylum and migration policies future-proof is collectively to change our way of thinking first," wrote Avramopoulos. Does he think that grass-roots citizens do not think? Like Zeus -- another Greek -- on Mount Olympus, the truth comes from the upper floor of the Berlaymont building, the official headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, as a top-down process. Hey, stupid dudes who want to control immigration, just listen the new self-proclaimed God-bureaucrat and shut up because: "we cannot and will never be able to stop migration". Period.
It is very clear, from survey after survey, Eurobarometer after Eurobarometer, election after election, that a huge majority of European citizens are not only worried about immigration but want -- if not to stop it -- to reduce it drastically, and regain the lost control over borders and over who is allowed to get inside Europe and who is not. Brexit and the recent election campaigns in the UK, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic had immigration as a core issue. This trend is extremely clear and these "signals" cannot just be dismissed by Avramopoulos writing that "Migration is an emotional, sensitive issue... influenced by rising nationalism, populism and xenophobia." So, any reluctance to slow down immigration is categorized as "racist" and disqualifies whoever intends to raise an objection to the future Brave New World dreamed up by the European Commission?
According to our Commissioner, this populism and racism has, "limited our opportunities to put in place smart, forward-looking migration policies", policies that will be thought and implemented by, guess who? The enlightened European institutions, of course.
In a normal democratic process, every country should, ideally, be able to decide, through national parliaments, its migration policies. At a European level, the willingness of the majority of citizens should be taken into account. But Avramopoulos could not care less. According to this unelected Greek Commissioner, this is because "at the end of the day, we all need to be ready to accept migration, mobility and diversity as the new norm". The new norms, like the size of apples or the curvature of cucumbers, should, according to the European Commission, be determined by the European Commission. Migration will not be a question open for debate. It will be a "norm" determined by the Commission.
So, do we really have to accept migrants and refugees? According to the Commission, "It is not only a moral imperative but also an economic and social imperative for our aging continent". This is another false cliché. In his book Exodus: How Migration is Changing Our World, Oxford Professor Paul Collier explains that he has reviewed all the major scientific articles supporting the claims that migrants will be able to pay for the social benefits of aging Europeans, only to conclude that he was absolutely not convinced at all. First of all, many of the migrants are not qualified; and second, they receive social benefits, so there is little or no incentive for them to work.
Articles supporting the claims of the officials -- that Europe needs more migrants in order to fund the healthcare and pensions of aging Europeans -- neglect that this plan can only succeed if the migrants work. These assumptions, therefore, appear to be based on ideological bias rather than scientific evidence.

But what about the almost four million young unemployed citizens already inside the European Union? The unemployment rate for them has actually been between 15-20% in recent years. Don't politicians have "a moral imperative" (to speak like Avramopoulos) first to give them a job and a future before welcoming more new migrants? In Greece, Avramopoulos's country, the unemployment rate for youthsis not 17% -- the current European average -- but more than 40%. In Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy -- countries with extremely high rates of unemployment -- there is also a generation of young and educated people, but they are unemployed and face an uncertain future. Many young Greek people do not see any reason to stay in Greece and would like to leave the country. Does Commissioner Avramopoulos plan to replace them with migrants or does he accept this internal, almost forced, migration within Europe as their fate? Another "norm"?
Perhaps the saddest aspect of his article is that Avramopoulos is not a leftist or a green or even a social-democrat politician. He is from New Democracy, a right-wing party. He is the living proof how far the Left has come to dominate the intellectual landscape in European institutions and imposed its way of thinking. With "right-wing" politicians such as Angela Merkel or Avramopoulos betraying their own constituents, one should not be surprised by the rise of "populism" that they themselves so often denounce.
Alain Destexhe is a Senator in Belgium, Former Secretary General of Médecins Sans Frontières and Former President of the International Crisis Group.
© 2018 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
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