https://www.zerohedge.com/political/eu-democracy-shield-end-freedom-europe
The year 2026 will go down in the history of European integration as a special moment. The European Union, under the banner of protecting democracy, has begun systematically restricting freedom of speech and real political pluralism. Thus, it embarks on the well-trodden historical paths of every authoritarian regime, resorting to violence and censorship as public support wanes.
A report recently published by the Ordo Iuris Institute leaves no doubt: we are dealing with a project for a profound overhaul of the public sphere that will primarily target conservative communities, including Catholics.
The new EU mechanisms, ironically referred to as the “Democracy Shield,” are not a single piece of legislation. This is a coordinated regulatory system—from the Digital Services Act (DSA), through codes of conduct on “hate speech” and “disinformation,” to the regulation on political advertising. Their common denominator is the now-official departure from the European values: defending democray by abolishing free speech and its replacement with a system of preventive restrictions, in the name of… true freedom and democracy.
The EU is itself no slouch when it comes to meddling in the democratic processes of member states. Brussels has recently conducted enormous media campaigns against national parties that did not concur with its 'values' in Hungary, Romania, Netherlands, Spain and Poland, imposed unrepresentitave but Eurocentric regimes against the result of the popular vote in Greece, Spain, Germany, Netherlands andBelgium and supported the efforts of the ruling duopoly in Germany to have the nation's most popular Party, Alternatif fur Deutschand (AfD) banned as a 'threat to democracy' because it is the only truly democratic party in the main three/
The European Commission claims that its aim is to create a “safe” information space in which “reliable” messages are meant to dominate, that is, in practice, narratives aligned with the liberal consensus . The problem is that the criteria for the EU’s “credibility,” for what is considered prohibited “disinformation,” and—what is particularly harmful—”divisive speech” are extremely vague and prone to ideological interpretation. As a result, it will not even be independent courts, but online platforms cooperating with non-governmental organizations selected by Brussels that will decide what content may reach citizens of the European Union. Including Polish citizens.
This system is multi-stage. First—mechanisms for reporting and removing content that, in practice, incentivize rapid takedowns, even at the expense of freedom of expression. Secondly—a labeling system under which statements labeled as “unverified,” “misleading,” or “political” are subject to mandatory restrictions on platforms such as Facebook or X. Thirdly—there is to be algorithmic intervention that limits the reach of content deemed problematic.
It is worth emphasizing the role of so-called trusted flaggers and fact-checker networks. It is precisely these entities, often financed with public funds from the European Union or the Member States and ideologically uniform, that gain a privileged position in the content moderation process. In practice, this means cleverly delegating censorship to entities that are not subject to any democratic oversight.
Even more troubling are the regulations concerning political advertising. The definition of “political speech” has been framed so broadly that it encompasses not only the activities of political parties but also public awareness campaigns concerning the protection of life, the family, or national identity. This means that Catholic pro-life organizations or movements defending marriage as the union between a woman and a man may be subjected to restrictive requirements and even sanctions. Even now, our own Ordo Iuris Institute and Center for Life and Family, as well as our friends from Polonia Christiana’s PCH24 news portal and their editorial team should start preparing to implement a “replacement language.” The censorship game, well known here in Poland from the communist era, is making a comeback.
At the same time, restrictions on the targeting and funding of political messages make it much more difficult to reach voters. In practice, the largest platforms, such as Facebook, have already stopped running “political” ads to avoid legal risk. It is no longer possible to freely promote petitions opposing abortion or same-sex unions there.
Zero Hedge comments: This situation is inevitable. When people feel strongly about something or have ambitions to rule they will do the necessary to destroy their opponents and crush oposition and dissent. This is the way it has always been. One man's justice in another's unspeakable evil. Theoretical social orders are about keeping them all from killing one another; usually by adherence to some ideal. Real social orders rarely work out well for all for long as one faction or another achieves ascendancy and moves to subordinate its opponents. For example even as the bureaucrats in Brussels are facing a massive pushback from European voters they are still planning to create a Euro-empire stretching from Kabul to the Rhinns of Kerry. Real social orders are fundamentally unstable.
This is true and until a way is found to deal with the dilemma we shall have endless cycles of tyranny in the name of the good, the true and the beautiful. The best we can hope for is to see the faction that most aligns with our own best interess dominate in our lifetime.
Democracy is often seen as a solution, but democracies become divided into parties which are factions struggling for dominance. Withing these parties certain cliques form and eventually the clique which is prepared to be most ruthless and single minded in its pursuit of power will come to dominate. When any one of them achieves that goal democracy comes to an end. Glorious victory is damnation for the rest.
If Catholic conservatism wins liberal theology goes down to destruction or the reverse. The great joke on humanity is that no one will ever admit the futility of this approach to human affairs. Persecution is simply that your opponents are not persecuted. The endless struggle generates destructive chaos for which everyone must pay continuously.
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