I have previously written about the European Union’s (EU) effort to use its infamous Digital Services Act (DSA) to force companies like X to censor Americans, including on postings related to our presidential election. This is a direct assault on our free speech values, and yet the Biden-Harris Administration has not raised a peep of objection. Now, the EU is threatening to set these confiscatory fines with reference to revenue from companies other than X, including Space X.
The EU has warned Musk that it is allowed to hit online platforms with fines of as much as 6% of their yearly global revenue for refusing to censor content, including “disinformation.” The inclusion of companies like Space X is ridiculous but perfectly consistent with the effort of the EU to use the DSA to regulate speech in the United States and around the world.
The EU is arguing that as a “provider” Musk’s entire business portfolio can be included in the fine calculation. It is ridiculous and chilling. Musk’s other companies have nothing to do with the platform policies of X. It is simply an unhinged coercive measure designed to break Musk.
X has objected:
“X Holdings Corp. submits that the combined market value of the Musk Group does not accurately reflect X’s monetization potential in the Union or its financial capacity, In particular, it argues that X and SpaceX provide entirely different services to entirely different users, so that there is no gateway effect, and that the undertakings controlled by Mr. Elon Musk ‘do not form one financial front, as the DMA presumes.'”
However, the abusive calculation is precisely the point. The EU censors are making an example of Musk. If they break us, no company or executive could hope to defy them. They are being cheered on in this effort by an anti-free speech movement that includes America politicians and pundits.
One of the lowest moments came after Elon Musk bought Twitter on a pledge to restore free speech protections, Clinton called upon European officials to force Elon Musk to censor American citizens under the DSA. This is a former democratic presidential nominee calling upon Europeans to force the censorship of Americans.
She was joined recently by another former democratic presidential nominee, John Kerry, who called for government crackdowns on free speech.
In my new book on free speech and various columns, I write about the DSA as one of the greatest assaults on free speech in history. As I wrote in the book:
“Under the DSA, users are ’empowered to report illegal content online and online platforms will have to act quickly.’ This includes speech that is viewed not only as ‘disinformation’ but also ‘incitement.’ European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager has been one of the most prominent voices seeking international censorship. At the passage of the DSA, Vestager was ecstatic in 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.’”
The pressure on Musk’s other companies has also been ramping up in the United States. Recently, the California Coastal Commission rejected a request from the Air Force for additional launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base. It is not because the military agency did not need the launches. It was not because the nation and the community would not benefit from them. Rather, it was reportedly because, according to one commissioner, Musk has “aggressively injected himself into the presidential race.”
It is all part of Musk mania and the need for the anti-free speech movement to break the only executive who has defied the pressure from this alliance of media, academic, corporate, and government officials.
As I have discussed previously, there is a crushing irony in all of this. The left has made “foreign interference” with elections a mantra of claiming to be defending democracy. Yet, it applauds EU censors threatening companies that carry an interview with a targeted American politician. It also supports importing such censorship and blacklisting systems to the United States. When you agree with the censorship, it is not viewed as interference, but an intervention.
Anti-free speech advocates like Clinton are now going old school. After trying to convince Americans to embrace censorship and blacklisting, they are now praising governments like Brazil and the EU for directly imposed speech regulations on American citizens.
The question is where is the Biden-Harris Administration and Congress. You have a foreign government forcing the censorship of speech of American citizens. We routinely impose reciprocal trade barriers on countries for interfering with our markets. Yet, when a government seeks to curtail political speech in the United States, our leaders are silent.
Dear Mr. Turley, thanks again for the great article. I often wonder why anyone would want to run for office here in the States? Not only is the candidate attacked but anyone else remotely associated with them is attacked as well. Mr. Musk is an extreme example of this. It is my hope that Mr. Trump along with Mr. Musk, rise above the fray and continue to serve the people as they have said they would do.
* Don’t subscribe to Twitter or the net. Any prosecution or reprimand of Musk takes freedom from people. Government is taking the freedom here. They’ll fine and scramble him. I guess those governments have no respect for the people they govern.
That our “leaders” in Washington are silent about the EU’s censorship of Americans in general, and of Elon Musk in particular, tells you everything you need to know. I’d say that hard core Communist gene runs pretty deep in Kamala Harris wouldn’t you say Jonathan ?
I wonder what would happen if Musk says “I am packing up my toys and not doing business with the European Union anymore? I wonder if they lose their minds over the lost tax revenue and the access to his technology. This is all about control and not bad information. Notice they are all about censoring Americans and their views. I wonder if we threatened them with sanctions for their views we do not like, how would they react?
The US has a high tolerance for people outright lying about the election or candidates, and we tolerate videos that are entirely fake. We are ok with candidates just making up whatever they want. The EU is not. Musk will learn that if you want to do business in the EU, you must follow EU laws.
So you are good if Europeans censor Americans? This is not about fake news, not lies, nor disinformation. This is about the right to express oneself as they see fit.
Using Musk’s other companies to punish Musk for X is like punishing you because your cousin is a thief.
I thought America already won this battle, remember radio free Europe and the Iron curtain? Same story different dictators.
This is about what is acceptable in campaigns. Lets say I don’t like Candidate A, so I hire an actor to pretend to be one of their co-workers, using the name and biography of a real person, and make a video where the actor claims to have witnessed Candidate A doing something really bad, when in fact that never happened. Is that allowed? The US says yes, the EU says no. Both are valid perspectives.
Where were you when the hoax Trump Russia Dossier was all the rage?
Sammy sez: The US has a high tolerance for people outright lying about the election or candidates
Oh yeah! Obama and Biden got reelected after Americans discovered they got Grubered by their lies that “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor; if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. American families are going to save $2,500 a year in health care costs under our Obamacare!”
And Sammy, never forgot the Obama/Biden/Clinton illegal “Trump Russia Dossier” outright lie about the 2016 election and then-candidate Trump.
You’re old enough to remember both of those, so your comment comes from personal experience.
You voted for them every time – and if Kamala Harris had been able to hide Biden’s dementia up until the election, you’d have voted for him again despite knowing all that.
And now you’ll vote for Harris despite her repeated lies that he was sharp as a tack and staffers less than half his age were exhausted trying to keep up.
The EU thinks they’re going to play hardball with Elon Musk? Or any other American after Trump is elected?
Go ahead Sammy, place a bet with part of your welfare check on that fight and see who the winner is.
The EU is not a country. It is not sustainable as much more than a trade block.
It has a relatively conservative legislature that is elected and is by design powerless – or we would not see this nonsense.
And an executive that is apointed and unanswerable that makes laws and regulations without constraint by the countries involved or a constitution, or any represenatives states constitution.
In the US state and federal courts must individuals the greater of the rights afforded by the federal of state constitution
In the EU there are no rights. ‘
No Musk need not follow EU laws – these are not legitimate laws according to any theory fo government power from the past 300+ years – aside from marxism and fascism.
Further the EU states do not even follow their own laws. Hungary has been ignoring EU immigration laws for over a decade,
Poland, Germany, and the netherlands have ceased to do so in the past year.
There is virtually nothing that the EU government in Brussels does that has the actual support of member states much less their people.
Starmer is the prime minster of a country that is not part of the EU and though he holds a supermajority in Parliment – he barely got a plurality in the last election. His tenure will end the moment that the Tories accept the inevitable, take Farrage as their leader and reintegrate with the Reform party.
Germany has an enormous problem on its right flank, and can barely hold power with a right of center leaning coalition of all partied EXCEPT the afd. This is not sustainable. the more the powers that be thwart the afd, the stronger the afd becomes.
And France is worse – it has taken a coalition of ALL non-le penn parties to keep la penn out of power. And they can not manage to actually govern. With near Certainty La Penn will win a clear majority in the next election.
This complicated by the fact that right/left in Europe are NOT the same as the US.
While Democrats are increasingly similar to European socialists.
US Conservatives are NOT the same as Briotish Tories or the German afd or France’s le penn.
It is possible that the british reform party more strongly resembles US conservatives.
Regardless afd and Le Penn are SOCIALISTS – just “right” socialists.
Regardless the EU and its constituent nations are a mess. In Europe only Russia is doing worse.
Betting on Europe being of any consequence is a fools hope.
I would further note this is not about EU laws – this is increasingly about active EU/UK efforts to influence US elections.
* State sponsored speech for disinformation, Mal and mis? Electrons are a problem.
When will Musk be fined because he’s still breathing? They just want payola from a rich man. Musk needs to find the key person for the extortion in each country but then there’d be a yearly fee.
God made people with a larynx. Talking is an endowment by the creator of the living organisms, man and birthing people.
“Musk needs to find the key person for the extortion in each country ” and hire a good assassin.
Elon Musk: One has to admire a person who goes their own way, does it all their way, harms no one, benefits everyone, and pursues it all while standing solidly against the world’s statists.
Ron A. Hoffman: Amen. Of course, there is news today of several other “billionaires” joining Democrats to try and neutralize Musk’s power. It reminds me of this:
I was too young when the movie “Doctor Zhivago” came out. But when I got older, I watched it and there was a line in it which I am heavily paraphrasing, but it was something to the effect of, “He is the type of man that others admire, envy, and in fact, despise.” Never forgot that line, even if I cannot verbatim quote it.
* Harris’ campaign contributions have hit a record at 1 BILLION dollars! Bill Gates just added another 50 million for those loose end issues. Ah yes, the common man and birthing people.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/billionaire-owner-blocks-the-la-times-from-endorsing-kamala-harris/ar-AA1sJSHO?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=c1df9b0f29f64d8ee44325cfefbc6617&ei=1
Lin, if I recall correctly the line was Komarovsky (Rod Steiger) speaking to Lara (Julie Christy) about Pasha (Tom Courtenay) when he tried to dissuade her from marrying him. You have hit upon my favorite movie from all time. I saw it twice after it first came out in 1965 and have watched it numerous times since. Usually on a blistering cold snowy day in winter.
https://www.tcm.com/video/296246/doctor-zhivago-1965-do-people-improve-with-age/
Ron A. Hoffman: I will remember our exchange here whenever that beautiful movie comes up again.
(Quickly, as an aside, the only reason I saw the movie years later was because my fiance at the time believed I looked just like Julie Christie as she looked in the movie; humbly, I admit that I did, and was even stopped a few times by strangers.) (We later divorced: a good man he was, but way too possessive for my taste.) Years later, in the 90s? a group of male law students approached for an autograph- they thought I was Diane Sawyer, ha ha! That’s what a few years will do to us!
Back on topic here, your succinct description of Musk was very letter-perfect, indeed.
I’m sorry, but I see the EU as more “fascist” than Trump is or would ever be. Indeed, I would describe Trump and MAGA as evincing more a form of “nationalism” than fascism.
-Not that I appreciate the attachment of “labels” to any of this. Among the “masses,” there are few who could articulate the difference(s) in various political ideologies. They only know what they hear and view everyday through the media, academics, and politicians.
What do I think motivates this label-woven strategy?”
Fear.
Lin,
Great comment!
Lin,
Fear is right. They are losing control. The idea of MAGA, the spirit of it scares them. They cannot control a group of people who embrace freedom. Who embrace self-determination. Who embrace freedom of speech. Who embrace self-sustainment beyond government control. Who embrace success outside of government control. That is why they are so desperate to demonize the idea of MAGA. Which is laughable as it is at its heart the same spirit that gave birth to America.
Trump is “nationalist” in the way that Washington or later Eisenhower are “nationalist”.
i.e. that the US protect its own interests, but should avoid foriegn entanglements.
Trump is “anti-nationalist” in the sense that Hitler or Obama/Biden are as in the Trump does not start words to expand US global power.
MAGA means the US leads the world by private example, not public force.
Turley is seriously confused. If EU law requires social media platforms and search engines to moderate their content against inciting violence and disinformation then the companies who wish to do business in the EU are required to follow the law. Turley seems to forget that the Constitution’s protections don’t extend outside our borders even in the digital realm.
“The question is where is the Biden-Harris Administration and Congress. You have a foreign government forcing the censorship of speech of American citizens. We routinely impose reciprocal trade barriers on countries for interfering with our markets. Yet, when a government seeks to curtail political speech in the United States, our leaders are silent.“
In the EU they define speech as conduct. When rhetoric inciting violence and calls for harming others is posted on X in the EU X is obligated to moderate the content. Americans can still post their opinions and offensive, violent, and criticism on X to their heart’s content. But it will not be seen in the EU. It’s their rules. Of course Congress will remain silent. They can’t complain that American’s 1st amendment rights are being violated by the EU because the Constitution’s protections do not extend beyond our borders. It’s really that simple.
Ironically we are doing the same thing regarding TikTok. Congress is demanding the platform be banned because it does not adhere to OUR rules. Never mind the fact that there are thousands of Americans using the platform to express their views, and opinions and exercise their free speech and Congress is perfectly willing to shut down TikTok within our borders because they are not following OUR rules., Funny how Turley left that out.
Also, Turley left out Brazil. Remember that? It was all about free speech and censorship. Brazil shut down X for months. Guess what? After months of grandstanding and complaining X finally paid a 5 million dollar fine and agreed to follow the law in Brazil.
The EU issue should be no different. If EU law allows them to fine X by fining Elon Musk’s other companies then Elon can appeal the decision to the EU Commission. Operating a social media platform outside our borders does not mean it can be run however you want.
Speech as conduct is just the fascists playing games to control free speech. Same shit as the hate speech and gender newspeak crap we see in the US.
F the EU. Musk can move out all physical presence for X and tell the EU pansies to piss off. Starlink or whatever he calls it should do just fine for any Euros who want quick access that avoids any fascist EU firewalls.
Let’s see those cucks in the EU claim they own orbital space. Seems like the modern version of Radio Free Europe.
* This is an unknown fact: there are humans living on Mars. The humans on this earth can’t see them because they’re in another dimension. Notice how the word dimension has MEN in it?
It’s real silly to say “it’s that simple”. (Who writes that stuff?) Americans of a censoring, stifling sort are both rushing to get foreigners to do their censoring and stifling for them, with huge financial implications, and clamoring to declare the First Amendment as out of step with democracy (!) and dangerous (!) to our country. (For those of you keeping score on “undermining the Constitution”, Democrats are attacking freedom of speech and religion (First Amendment), the Electoral College and equal representation in the Senate and threatening to undermine confidence in our system by packing the Court and making the District of Columbia a state. They’re No. 1! This indictment doesn’t even include the hand-in-glove arrangement they have with Federal employee unions, in which they use taxpayer money to bribe and enrich unions and fill their own campaign coffers.)
Turley is seriously confused. If EU law requires social media platforms and search engines to moderate their content against inciting violence and disinformation
Curious George is here in hopes of confusing the issue with his own confusion. Americans, whether Musk or others, being forced to submit to EU bureaucrats’ totalitarianism is one more example of why Curious George is a Cheap Fake American.
The practicality problem George’s fantasies face is that if the EU tries playing hard ball with Musk, he can easily do far more damage to them than they can possibly hope to do to Musk. Nothing from the EU gets into or out of space on his rockets. That’s for starters… Will the officials and the bureaucrats of the EU migrate to Trump’s Truth Social if he de-platforms them for disinformation and supporting Arab terrorist violence on his X platform? Who can the EU replace Musk with for their needs in the technology arenas that he rules?
The EU (like the FBI that were inside Twitter) never had a problem with genocidal hajji terrorists spewing Anti-Semitism from their social media accounts. They never whimpered that was hate speech or inciting violence. They didn’t consider their lies about Jews and Israel to be disinformation.
The EU (again like the FBI inside Twitter), considers virologists and epidemiologists who disagreed with Fauci and Biden on immunity, social distancing, etc to be spreading misinformation needing to be shut down.
And the EU certainly didn’t consider it to be inciting violence and misinformation when Twitter and Facebook were full of Black Liars & Marxists celebrating the violence of The Mostly Peaceful 2020 Campaign Season Of Rioting, Pillaging, Looting, Arson and Murder. Incited by then Senator Harris saying “They will not stop, nor should they stop” and former VP Biden saying “These are groups of courageous Americans”.
There’s a pattern of the EU simply being another form of America’s Soviet Democrats that George and his fellow apparatchiks here pimp for.
George just LOVES him totalitarian systems where one set of people get to declare what is and and isn’t inciting violence and disinformation. And then use bureaucratic power to ensure who are their victims and who are their chosen winners.
And here, yet again, Curious George has picked a losing candidate.
Particularly after Trump becomes president and decides to deal with the EU bureaucrats making war on Americans, Musk or anybody else. George: who are you going to bet on winning THAT battle?
George, the EU is not a country – it is barely an economic union, so called EU laws are for the most part regulations concocted by unelected bureaucrats without legal authority behind them – the EU elects an assembly – but it has no power to actually make (or unmake) laws.
This was a major driving force behind Brexit.
There is no constitution limitin the ability of Brussells to enact regulations. The constitutions and laws of member states are irrelevant.
This the actual defintiion of the rule of man not law.
The EU is trying to follow the example of China – yet China’s censoship did not work, and china is an economic basketcase right now.
And he EU is NOT far behind.
I would further note that this is not about actual incitement to violence – it is not even about European politics.
The EU is trying to force X to censor Trump or Trump supporters with the expectation that if they can do so in europe they will also be censored in the US.
This is election interferance – and neither the EU nor UK are being shy about it.
Regardless, it is NOT working.
No nations laws allow it to target multiple companies merely because they share overlapping shareholders.
If any nations laws did so they would immediately become an international paria.
This is just the same lawless left wing nut lawfare used in the US and Brazil now being weaponized in Europe.
You seem to beleve that just because some countries leaders SAY something is lawful, that it must be.
The Enmoron case in NYC alges Fraud. Fraud has a legal meaning. You may not like what Trump did but it is not fraud.
The exact same thing is true with respect to Merchan – Fraud has a meaning – and there is no fraud.
Trump or Musk doing something you do not like – is NOT a crime.
it is not a crime because you say it is, or leticia james or Keith Starmer.
Those of you on the left keep pretending you are not Stalin or Lenin or Mao.
Dousing totalitarianism in a bit of lavendar cologn does not little to mask the smell.
you keep looking for some way arrounf the ACTUAL rule of law – the first amendment – to thwart Trump and free speech in the US to rig an election – again.
Only it is not working.
The fight for the WhiteHouse is over, we are now fighting over the size of a Trump victory and whither democrats will control the house or the senate
How long do you think this nonsense from the EU, UK or Brazil is going to last with Trump as president ?
The left has a tenuous hold on power – in those places in the world it still holds.
You say Musk is obligated to follow the dictats of unelected bueacrats in Brussels – yet, Germany, Poland, Hungary, the Neatherlands are ignoring EU faux “Laws” without consequence.
You say it is magically OK to cease the assets of one company – group of shareholders, because one person is a common shareholder.
That is FALSE. It is also a stupid claim.
This is typical of left wing nuts – trying to expand government power infinitely.
The US govenrment can not confiscate the assets of KNOWN criminals – without establishing that those assets were actually part of the commission of a crime.
The Europeans never knew democracy (as we know it). Their political history goes from despot, to monarchy to fascism. It’s no wonder they have no model to build upon i.e., American democracy. God forbid American democracy should be their model because their stupidity and arrogance is insurmountable.
Lived in Germany a while back. Worked with a woman (ca. 30) from Denmark, she thought I was a political Neanderthal because, at that time, Ronald Reagan was president. So I teased her about how great Reagan was. Frustrated she responded: you Americans only have a president, we have a monarch.
There is an answer to the EU thinking they can extend their anti-free speech laws to American citizens, and that is to make the U.S. commitment to the common defense of NATO members provided by Article 5 of the NATO charter contingent upon a European Union NATO member’s pledge to follow the free speech provisions enshrined by First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. If the EU thinks it can extend liability for its laws to American citizens, why can not the U.S. do the same to Europe?
“…when a (foreign) government seeks to curtail political speech in the United States, our leaders are silent.” There are no leaders in US government. They ‘lead’ no one. They only consume and impose upon the taxpayers.
If the censor him it just makes what he is publishing even more sought after – that is human nature. Also, they cannot censor the entire world and truth always finds a way out but at a horrible cost in most historical incidences. The prog/left are only deluding themselves but it does give them comfort.
That comfort only lasts until their own actions are used against them.
Lets see, would fascists ramrod through $6T in legislation without a single opposition vote? They did.
Would fascists seek to gain absolute power by eliminating the filibuster and then adding 2 blue states and 4 fascist senators?
Would fascists seek to then add 4 fascist justices to the SC, because they dont like the outcomes?
Would fascists then be able to pass ANY legislation they choose and have their fascist SC rule it all Constitutional?
Would fascists defy the SC and unilaterally give $1T dollars to a segment of the populace, in direct violation of Article 1 of the Constitution?
The fascists have already printed their playbook. “Democracy” is indeed on the ballot. This is the fascist version.
Nothing screams “fascism” like the American media covering for their political godfather, which is why it pays to read foreign press on American news items
Biden says Trump should be ‘locked up’ – then quickly corrects himself
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/biden-trump-lock-up-prison-election-b2634105.html
Jon, I read your protestations about what you personally deem to be free speech violations as the efforts of a lawyer sowing the seeds of a defense against the next sure to materialize defamation charges leveled at the yellow journalism entity you work for.
Demented lefty speaking to Jon again. Sad.
a lawyer sowing the seeds of a defense against the next sure to materialize defamation charges leveled at the yellow journalism entity you work for.
Jon, I should have been more specific. I should have specified your employers at The Hill, where I read your defamatory columns before coming here to criticize you for those columns.
LOL like I said, demented. He seems to honestly think he is criticizing “Jon”.
This is the only source of news worth of reading.
This is opinion editorial. Not news.
And the events that Turley gives his opinion on ARE NEWS
When they tell you they are fascists, believe them.
They are losing control. They have lost the narrative. They are desperate. They are in a panic. Our 1stA, 2ndA, the Constitution is what is preventing them from taking total control.
How marvelous!
All the damage being done, +closer to WW3,
and this fool thinks it’s “marvelous”.
* It’s a rehash of Monty Python’s, ” The Life of Brian”.
Jehovah, Jehovah, …
If you think Trump is a fascist you’re an idiot. Trump has deregulated and is promising to downsize the federal government. If you delve into the definition of fascism in the Websters definition, you will find the historical facts. Notice how much of the history of fascist regimes are based around Socialism. The definition also provides “similarities” and offer up that the swing to these similarities is due to an authoritarian regime imposing their “enlightenment” upon a population that doesn’t agree.
Trump will win, there aren’t enough dumfuks to pull Harris out of the fire.
To Communists everyone else looks like a Fascist. It is a handy “tell” to identify them.
“To Communists everyone else looks like a Fascist.”
That’s what self-confession by accusations looks like.
John Kelly and Mark Milley both have said trump is fascist all the way through. I trust them.
🤣🤣🤡💩
First please cite ACTUAL remarks – it is tiring to have to deal with these constant claims that X said Y when X actually said something different.
Regardless, I trust american military leaders to prosecute wars successfully throughout the world at the direction of our political leaders.
I do NOT trust them to determine WHEN those wars are necescary.
I do NOT Trust their judgement of our political leaders.
That is not their job.
If Miley and Kelly want a voice in politics – they should run for office.
Traveler,
They are trotting out the “Trump is a fascist!” line again. They are throwing everything at the wall, hoping something will stick. It is not. We all see through their lies. We all see how desperate they are. They are losing. And they know it.
It’s embarrassing! I remain aghast that any American with any semblance of cognitive thought ability could cast a vote for Four more of this train wreck. GiGi thinks 8 years of Obama’s quantitative easing delivered the Trump economy?! That delivered a no sustainable national debt that along with the trillions given away for COVID is soon coming back to roost. Trump will have his work cut out for him for sure!
Well just look at Brazil for the future of fascist type governments doing as they please to businesses in their sphere of influence. If they can get to your bank account or take your freedom when step on their soil then they have their foot on your neck! A weak and feckless US Admin like the goof balls we presently have just look away and let the real dictatorships run the show! Good riddance to the Biden-Harris Pablum Administration!
California is not quite done completely driving Musk out of their state. This silly move by some headline-grabbing California bureaucrats will be quickly overturned. The Air Force made the request, not Musk. Even Newsom has disavowed this stupid bit of posturing. But the damage has been done. Have you seen the SpaceX facilities east of Brownsville? There’s enormous room for expansion out there, and no one to complain in a state that welcomes him. Clear out of California, Elon.