Photo: @ABaerbock on X, 19 June 2023
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is following in the footsteps of other leftist-liberal politicians who wish to crack down on “disinformation,” i.e., censor free speech on social media in order to “protect democracy.”
On Monday, September 30th, Baerbock called on the European Commission to adopt new rules for dealing with disinformation on social networks. Once again, “disinformation” is being used as the official label for news or views that the European establishment doesn’t want its citizens to see or hear.
The foreign minister cited targeted attacks on democracy as her motive, saying fake news, hatred and agitation were “disintegrating our democratic reality.” As examples of the supposed threat, she cited election influence by Russia and the actions of Islamist groups on the internet. Young people in particular are influenced by fake news, while women are often victims of hate and fake news, she warned.
She said the European Commission and the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution should take responsibility for taking action against algorithms that “work against democracy.”
Baerbock’s words echo those of Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who in May announced that she would set up a whole new EU body to counter foreign influence under the name “European Democracy Shield.” The body would be tasked with detecting and removing online disinformation, as well as “inoculating” EU citizens against malign influences by teaching them how to recognise threats.
Like the German foreign minister, von der Leyen spoke of “the rise of foreign interference and manipulation in our societies, our democracies and our elections.”
The increasing popularity of populist, right-wing parties all across Europe has been partly blamed on “fake news” being spread on social media by “pro-Russian” parties—and by Russia itself. Mainstream political forces have found in anti-establishment parties an easy culprit explaining their loss of support, not willing to acknowledge that their own out-of-touch policies are to blame.
Critics of the “European Democracy Shield” rightly fear that the leftist Brussels bureaucrats of any new EU authority would be the ones to determine what is considered ‘disinformation’ and what is not—and would in effect stifle free speech and right-wing views.
Annalena Baerbock’s words come only a few weeks after the anti-immigration party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) won its first ever regional elections in the eastern state of Thuringia, and finished strongly in second place in Saxony and Brandenburg. At the same time, the Greens barely managed to pass the 5% threshold needed to enter the Saxony parliament and failed to win any seats in Thuringia (3.2%) and Brandenburg (4.1%). Despite recognising that their own failed policies—such as the radical climate agenda and tax hikes—led to their downfall, they now want to take steps to ban the AfD.