Below is my column in The Hill on the move of the European Union to force Elon Musk to censor X users, including political speech leading up to the 2024 election. The column discusses this Rockwell painting, which we often use in discussing free speech controversies.
Here is the column:
Eighty years ago, the U.S. government launched a war bond campaign featuring a painting by artist Norman Rockwell in the struggle against the authoritarian threat from Europe. The picture they chose was Rockwell’s Freedom of Speech depicting a man rising to speak his mind at a local council meeting in Vermont. The image rallied the nation around what Louis Brandeis called our “indispensable right.”
Now, that very right is again under attack from another European government, which is claiming the right to censor what Americans are allowed to say about politics, science and other subjects. Indeed, the threat from the European Union may succeed in curtailing American freedom to an extent that the Axis powers could not have imagined. They may win, and our leaders have not said a thing yet about it.
In my book “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I discuss the inspiration for Rockwell’s painting: a young selectman in Vermont named James “Buddy” Edgerton. The descendent of a Revolutionary War hero, Edgerton stood up as the lone dissenter to a plan to build a new schoolhouse over the lack of funding for such construction.
For Rockwell, the scene was a riveting example of how one man in this country can stand alone and be heard despite overwhelming opposition to his views. It was, for Rockwell (and for many of us), the quintessential American moment.
In the 1940s, people like Edgerton had to travel to small board meetings or public spaces to speak their mind. Today, the vast majority of political speech occurs over the Internet and specifically social media. That is why the internet is the single greatest advancement for free speech since the printing press.
It is also the reason governments have spent decades seeking to control speech over the internet, to regulate what people can say or read.
One of the greatest threats to free speech today is the European Digital Services Act. The act bars speech that is viewed as “disinformation” or “incitement.” European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager celebrated its passage by declaring that it is “not a slogan anymore, that what is illegal offline should also be seen and dealt with as illegal online. Now it is a real thing. Democracy’s back.”
In Europe, free speech is in free fall. Germany, France, the United Kingdom and other countries have eviscerated free speech by criminalizing speech deemed inciteful or degrading to individuals or groups. The result had made little difference to the neo-Nazi movement in countries like Germany, which is reaching record numbers. It has, however, silenced the rest of society.
According to polling, only 18 percent of Germans feel free to express their opinions in public. Fifty-nine percent of Germans do not even feel free expressing themselves in private among friends. Only 17 percent feel free to express themselves on the internet.
They have silenced the wrong people, but there is now a massive censorship bureaucracy in Europe and the desire to silence opposing voices has become insatiable.
Some in this country have the same taste for speech-regulation. After Elon Musk bought Twitter and dismantled most of the company’s censorship program, many on the left went bonkers. That fury only increased when Musk released the “Twitter files,” confirming the long-denied coordination and support by the government in targeting and suppressing speech.
In response, Hillary Clinton and other Democratic figures turned to Europe and called upon them to use their Digital Services Act to force censorship against Americans.
The EU immediately responded by threatening Musk with confiscatory penalties against not just his company but himself. He would have to resume massive censorship or else face ruin.
It was a case of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object. The anti-free speech movement had finally found the one man who could not be bullied, coerced or threatened into submission.
Musk’s defiance has only magnified the unrelenting attacks against him in the media, academia and government. If Musk can be broken, these figures will once again exercise effective control over a large swath of speech globally.
This campaign recently came to a head when Musk had the audacity to interview former president Donald Trump. In anticipation of the interview, one of the most notorious anti-free speech figures in the world went ballistic.
European Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services Thierry Breton issued a threatening message to Musk, “We are monitoring the potential risks in the EU associated with the dissemination of content that may incite violence, hate and racism in conjunction with major political — or societal — events around the world, including debates and interviews in the context of elections.”
While offering a passing nod to the freedom of speech, he warned Musk that “all proportionate and effective mitigation measures are put in place regarding the amplification of harmful content in connection with relevant events.” In other words, be afraid, be very afraid.
Musk responded with “Bonjour!” and then suggested that Breton perform a physically challenging sexual act.
To recap, the EU is now moving to force censorship upon American citizens to meet its own demands of what is false, demeaning or inciting. And that includes censorship even of our leading political candidates for the presidency.
The response from the Biden administration was not a presidential statement warning any foreign government from seeking to limit our rights or even Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling the EU ambassador to his office for an expression of displeasure.
That’s because Biden and Harris are not displeased with but supportive of letting the EU do what they are barred from doing under our Constitution. This administration is arguably the most anti-free speech government since John Adams signed the Sedition Act. They have supported a massive system of censorship, blacklisting and targeting of opposing voices. Democratic members have given full-throated support for censorship, including pushing social media companies to expand in areas ranging from climate control to gender identity.
So, after only 80 years, our leaders are silent as a European government threatens to reduce our political speech to the lowest common denominator, which they will set according to their own values. Not a shot will be fired as Biden and Harris simply yield our rights to a global governing system.
But we do not have to go quietly into this night. Free speech remains a human right that is part of our DNA as Americans. We can fight back and protect millions of Edgertons who want to express their views regardless of the judgment of the majority.
I previously called for legislation to get the U.S. government out of the censorship business domestically. We also need new legislation to keep other countries from regulating the speech of our own citizens and companies. While this country has long threatened retaliation in combatting market barriers in other countries, we need to do the same thing for free speech. We need a federal law that opposes the intrusion of the Digital Services Act into the U.S.
If free speech is truly the “indispensable right” of all Americans, we need to treat this threat as an attack on our very existence. It is not only the rawest form of foreign intervention into an election, but a foreign attack on our very freedoms. This is why we must pass a Digital Freedom Act.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” (Simon & Schuster).
Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas.
–Joseph Stalin–
It is important to learn from history.
Jonathan: Wasn’t that a great first night at the DNC in your home town of Chicago? I have never seen Biden’s daughter. Her speech was a powerful and soulful description of her father. But in looking at some of the comments on this blog I would swear I was looking at a different broadcast. Some here have tried to rain on the parade.
One poster said just look at the “THOUSANDS of empty seats in the Convention”. He/she apparently fell asleep in front of his TV early on. After the convention got going after some introductory speeches the venue was filled to capacity–about 23,500! Of course, neither the RNC nor the DNC are “rallies”. The Conventions are composed of delegates. So crowd size is irrelevant.
Then, John Say didn’t miss the opportunity to distract with claims pro-Palestinian protestors were not allowed inside the Convention. NBC showed a number of protestors silently protesting inside United Center. John also claims “neither the organizers nor the participants seem to be able to figure out who their candidate is or what their platform is”. Relax, John, the delegates will select Kamala Harris. You can take that to the bank! DJT is beside himself that Joe Biden dropped out and secretly hopes Biden will make a comeback. Not going to happen!
As to the DNC platform that will be decided this week and that is the platform Harris will be running on. Unlike the DJT/MAGA “coronation” where he dictates everything, the DNC platform will be determined through a democratic process. By the way, John, can you explain the RNC platform? I haven’t a clue except for “Project 2025” which DJT is now trying to disavow. For good reason. It’s a prescription for a dictatorship!
TLTR/DC
Message for Dennis. Do you understand that Orwell is talking to YOU? Orwell is describing YOU. We observers can see it clearly. Yet you cannot. Your lack of self awareness is frightening. You are a True Believer, lost to the Mind Control from the Dark Side. You’ll need an Exorcism to save you.
‘The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.’ ~George Orwell
You cannot despise the corrupt, freeloading, lazy, entitled Biden crime family of grifters enough.
Ethics be damned when you are a Democrat.
“Nobody f*cks with a Biden.”
Gross hypocrisy and mendacity is the Biden way. It is the Democrat way.
Biden deserves every bit of humiliation being served to him by his own party — and then some.
Trump’s DOJ must aggressively pursue prosecution of Biden’s treasonous crimes –even if the GOP does not impeach him.
Joe Biden is an utterly despicable, contemptible man. Justice must be served for the country to heal.
That means prosecuting Joe Biden and every member of the Biden Crime Family to the fullest extent possible by law.
There is more than enough evidence to lock Hunter Biden up for the rest of his life. Do it.
Trump’s DOJ must not give the Biden Crime Family a pass the way Trump did for Hillary.
It was a colossal mistake to let Hillary go unpunished for her crimes. She needs to pay for her crimes.
No one is Above the law, right Denny?
____________________________
https://nypost.com/2024/08/20/us-news/biden-staying-at-37m-ranch-of-donor-friend-whose-links-to-prez-drew-ethics-concerns/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_source=twitter
“Biden throughout his presidency has stayed for free at the homes of wealthy Democrats — drawing concerns about the appearance of conflicts of interest and over the fact that he has neglected to list the vacations as gifts on annual disclosure forms, drawing parallels to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ trips with billionaire Harlan Crow, who had no known business before the court.
“It’s the ethics double standard on display in all its glory as the last remaining days of Joe Biden’s grifting in public office come to a close,” said Mark Paoletta, the top lawyer at the White House budget office under former President Donald Trump.
“This donor ‘friend’ has been awarded millions in contracts by the Biden administration and is a Biden appointee. It’s open corruption in plain sight. And yet, Biden and his Democrat allies have the audacity to call for ethics reform at the Supreme Court. What a joke,” he added.”
Et tu, Nancy?
Would Nancy be so ruthless to an old friend? Of course she would.
It runs in the family.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree when you grow up as a “Mob princess” like Nancy Pelosi.
https://charlesjohnson.substack.com/p/nancy-pelosi-the-italian-mob-crime
“The queen of San Francisco is, of course Nancy Pelosi. But Pelosi “isn’t really from San Francisco, she’s from Baltimore,” once said Jack Murtha, the disgraced congressman who mentored her. Murtha was speaking in code.
He knew that whenever you’re dealing with the Pelosis you’re dealing with the Mob.
You can read the 284 page FBI file of Nancy Pelosi’s father, Thomas D’Alesandro Jr. and learn about his mob connections while he served as a member of Congress and mayor of Baltimore. He was so corrupt that it was commonly written about and discussed in the local Baltimore press.
Given that Pelosi is a mob princess — D’Alesandro’s only daughter! — there’s of course the larger question of whether Nancy Pelosi belonged to the mob herself. It seems as if she did. Young Nancy Pelosi kept the favor book that her father had.
Her biographer Molly Ball discusses Pelosi’s role. Ball takes great pains to avoid the m-word so as to preserve her access but it still manages to spill out as this NPR interview shows:
Nancy D’Alesandro was in charge of being in that living room and maintaining that favor file, telling people – answering the phone and telling them where they could go if they needed to get into city hospital or needed help getting housing or any of the sort of government services. So she was a very active part of that operation from a pretty early age.
And I think the point you make about how hard that work is is important because it’s also very individual, right? This is politics at a very individual level where you know every single voter, and you know what they care about, and you know where they live, and you’re turning them out precinct by precinct, block by block. So I think that that’s really important to her sense of politics as well.
To this very day, much of Pelosi’s father’s FBI record is blocked out — why? he died 35 years ago! — but still you’ll find details about Pelosi’s brother, Franklin Delano Roosevelt D’Alesandro, and his involvement in the gang rape of an 11-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl with 14 other men. Interestingly Franklin D’Alesandro was the only one acquitted in an extremely controversial and deeply corrupt trial. (The younger D’Alesandro was later implicated in a multimillion dollar gambling operation in Baltimore and charged with one count of bookmaking.)
“How do mobsters make money? Well, really, any way they can. The stock market is a big part of it and so is insider trading which is how the mob parlays information it has obtained into money and power.
That’s who does insider trading — mobsters — and Nancy Pelosi is an insider trader. She even defended the practice, citing the “free market” — presumably the only time she’s ever backed the markets.”
“the DNC platform will be determined through a democratic process.”
That’s an absurd thing to say, considering that their Presidential candidate was chosen by anything but the democratic process.
(OT)
The Party of “Firsts”
D’s present themselves as the party of “firsts” — first black this, first woman that, first trans something. Those “firsts” are not based on effort, talent, achievement. They are never *earned*.
Here’s another unearned “first:” The first presidential candidate to not face a voter, to not face the media, to not articulate policy positions. The first “campaign” that mimics a high school schoolyard: We’re cool; they’re weird. And, oh, we eat tacos and Doritos.
It’s the first nomination that’s not a nomination — but a Royalist coronation. The first utterly mindless “campaign” that’s not a campaign. Like everything KH, it’s a massive pretense. She doesn’t want to be the border czar — she wishes to be seen as the border czar. Like all phonies, she doesn’t want to run an actual campaign and earn votes — she wants others to believe that she’s running a campaign.
The tragic fact is that given the dismal state of modern education, her pretense might actually work.
Gee The MAGA barbarians seem really annoyed tonight. Well… their unwashed, alienated selves can vent on this comment section.
Big words there anon. Funny how someone who insult others from behind an anon moniker. You know my name. But you, a dem spews hate and hides. Coward.
“Biden leaning fully into the Charlottesville Hoax at the convention — the most debunked, disproven and discredited hoax in existence — deliberately stirring up hatred weeks after the attempted assassination, is beyond vile. It’s psychotic. It’s their pretext for authoritarianism.”
The Democrat party of today is pure EVIL.
I think the DNC convention is great – an army of police – proving that when Democrats do not want things to blow up – they know who to call – THE POLICE. At one protest police outnumber protestors 3:1
They have pro hamas groups and Jews facing off.
They have a free vasectomy van. They are handing out free abortion pills.
they have protesotrs walking arround dressed as abortion pills.
The claim that the democratic convention is joyful – has some merit – joyful like Kamala’s laugh.
Joyful like “one flew over the Cuckoo’s nest”
Joe and Hillary got the $hit spots at the start of the convention.
You could see Hillary gritting her teeth throughout her speech going “Why not me ?”
Joe wasn’t up to even that.
Aparently the organizers had some problems with Global Search and replace – missing myriads of references to Biden and Biden’s 2nd term.
There having platform problems because:
In a reality immitates art kind of way aparently after the disasterous first policy speech of Harris The puppetmaster – Obama called her up and told Kamala – “You too can be replaced” – no more policy speeches.
Your only policy is to get elected.
Within the conventions itself aparently there is lots of seething and emnity.
There was almost a fist fight between a Biden supporter and a Harris supporter over some offhand remarks.
Regardless, aparently everybody and their brother in the democratic party is trying to figure out what their platform actually will be – aside from “we hate Trump”
Anyway, I think it is all great fun.
John Say, you sound jealous and it’s only the first day. There’s plenty of time for policy speeches. At least we can expect them to stay on messege unlike Trump who can’t seem to listen to his advisors and allies. Trump is hooked on griping about looks. Harris is already talking policy. Why isn’t Trump?
MR. Say’s comments are sophmoric and rather stupid.
“The way the #Democrats are framing the election as a prosecutor versus a convicted felon confirms the political nature of #Trump’s prosecution. He was not prosecuted because he was guilty, but to use politically orchestrated convictions in kangaroo courts as a campaign issue.”
REPEAT that statement of Truth again:
“The way the #Democrats are framing the election as a prosecutor versus a convicted felon confirms the political nature of #Trump’s prosecution. He was not prosecuted because he was guilty, but to use politically orchestrated convictions in kangaroo courts as a campaign issue.”
And. again:
“The way the #Democrats are framing the election as a prosecutor versus a convicted felon confirms the political nature of #Trump’s prosecution. He was not prosecuted because he was guilty, but to use politically orchestrated convictions in kangaroo courts as a campaign issue.”
NOW GO AFTER THE REAL CRIMINALS! Merchan. Engoron. James. Bratt. Bragg. Colangelo. Fani Willis. Her lover. And the rest of the CRIMINAL CABAL of DEMOCRAT SCUMBAGS.
Aparently the sentencing is going to h311. While parroting false claims regarding Trump’s immunity challenge, Bragg admitted to Merchan that Trump is NOT going to be sentenced on the 18th.
Merchan must deal with all the Trump motions prior to sentencing, and Bragg conceded that if Merchan does not throw the case out in immunity grounds – there will be an immediate interlocutory appeal – probably straight to federal courts and that sentencing MSUT be stayed will that appeal goes forward.
Democrats can keep Trump in limbo through the election in the Faux Fraud case. But they can not actually get to that “Convicted Felon” state they are so desparately after.
The 2nd to last decision that MErchan gets to make in this case is whether to follow the supreme courts direction on immunity and make Bragg start over. The last will be dismissing the case when the federal courts order him to vacate the case.
“Bragg admitted to Merchan that Trump is NOT going to be sentenced on the 18th.”
No, He did no such thing. Bragg’s motion let the court decide on sentencing. They have no issue with the request to delay because Merchan will not likely delay the sentencing. This case was about non-official conduct. The immunity question is irrelevant to the case. Falsifying documents is not covered under official acts.
Idiot. Its about the testimony and evidence. Get a clue
“Night one of the DNC was a complete dumpster fire
No one spoke of any direction or future policy for Democrats
No one accurately described the real state of our nation
It was hate filled screaming, lying repeatedly to Americans, and pandering to women as if they are stupid”
DNC = unwatchable, unlistenable FILTH.
“The Charlottesville lie, the suckers and losers lie, the bloodbath lie, the dictator lie. This may be the most dishonest speech Joe Biden has given in his presidency. Which is, sadly, really saying something.”
Ya, real rodeo
BIG LIE = Joe Biden is a Good Person, a Decent Man.
JOE BIDEN IS AN UTTERLY DESPICABLE HUMAN BEING.
CORRUPT LYING SCUMBAG POLITICIAN.
LOCK HIM UP FOR HIS CRIMES AGAINST THE COUNTRY.
LOCK THE F*CKER UP. STRIP HIM OF EVERY DIGNITY AND SHOW HIM THE PRISON CELL.
SCUMBAG.
DNC summary:
“Joe Biden just doubled down on the “suckers and losers” hoax moments after repeating the “very fine people” hoax.
The Democrats’ entire strategy can be summed up with this: A lie told often enough becomes the truth.”
*And with the aid and assistance of the corrupt lying fake propaganda news, they can keep telling their lies
Also, somone should tell Joe Biden that 81 Million people did NOT vote for him.
That is the biggest Democrat lie of all.
All Democrats do is lie.
Do they do anything else?
Besides corruption?
Theft? Murder? A guess…
“If you’re ever feeling down and need a pick-me-up, just remember that Hillary has to wake up every day for the rest of her life knowing that she’ll never be president because Donald Trump beat her. It’ll make you smile just thinking about it.”
Thanks for the smile!
Doubled by thinking of Dennis crying the next morning.
“You are witnessing a palace COUP
The elected nominee was just dog-walked out by his own party
This is insane”
“They are calling Trump a dictator at the DNC convention, but Kamala Harris orchestrated a coup to remove Joe Biden as the Democrat presidential nominee and stole EVERY VOTE from the democrat primaries to install HERSELF.
That’s a bloody dictator.”
“Democrats are saving democracy by:
—Censoring political dissent
—Weaponizing DOJ against their enemies
—Jailing their opponents
—Orchestrating a border invasion to supplant the American electorate”
“Biden smearing President Trump with the “fine people” hoax yet again.
He is such a disgusting liar.”
(So are the FAKE PROPAGANDA PRESSTITUTES who let Biden repeat the same lies over and over, for 7 years now)
Kamala Harris will NOT do the Fox News debate on September 4.
Why not, Kamala?
Are you afraid?
Trump should show up and debate an empty chair.
The only thing Trump should do is town halls with independents and persuadable democrats. Thats IT
“Biden’s speech is a testament to the lies a president can get away with when the media parrots those lies, too.”
They are the FAKE NEWS. IT’s ALL FAKE STATE TV NEWS MEDIA PROPAGANDA
They are the ENEMY of the PEOPLE. (including you, Fox News, you Never Trump scum liars)