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zenux
Posts: 2418
Location: lɘɒɿƨI
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 Posted: Wed, 7th Jan 2026 23:37 Post subject: 'Hate speech’ censorship in Europe |
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Where ‘hate speech’ censorship is even worse than on U.S. campuses
Speech restrictions backed by government power in the E.U. and Britain are reaching ludicrous levels.
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By Greg Lukianoff
Greg Lukianoff is the president and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and the co-author, with Nadine Strossen, of “The War On Words: 10 Arguments Against Free Speech — And Why They Fail.”
Free-speech advocates have long warned Americans about the dangers of adopting “hate speech” codes. If they became widely enforced, the result wouldn’t be the kinder society intended by such censorship; it would be an intimidated, even frightened one. Either you engage in mass arrests, or you enforce the rules selectively — which means targeting some viewpoints above others.
For an indication of where this censorious impulse can lead even in a democratic society, look no further than European Union nations and Britain, where the experiment in speech control is running not on university campuses but on national scales, backed by the state’s monopoly on force. The results are so extreme that American readers might assume they’re exaggerated. They aren’t.
Start with Britain, where “grossly offensive” communications can be a police matter. In 2023, British police made more than 12,000 arrests under two communications statutes. For comparison, during America’s first Red Scare, from 1919 to 1920, one of the worst crackdowns on speech in the nation’s history, the United States averaged about 2,000 arrests per year, when the U.S. population was more than 50 percent bigger than Britain’s today.
Behind the numbers are stories like that of Elizabeth Kinney, a mother of four who was arrested for having called a man who assaulted her a homophobic slur — not to his face, but in a private message to a friend. After the two fell out, the now former friend sent the messages to law enforcement. Kinney’s attacker wasn’t punished, but she was, under the Malicious Communications Act. Told she potentially faced 10 years in prison, Kinney pleaded guilty. She was sentenced to the British equivalent of probation and community service, and fined the equivalent of nearly $500.
That case parallels one in Germany involving messages sent to a convicted rapist. A woman, furious at the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl in a Hamburg park, called one of the perpetrators a “disgraceful rapist pig” in a WhatsApp message. She was prosecuted for insult and defamation, and ordered to spend the weekend in jail — while the rapist, because of youth sentencing rules, served no time.
In February, an episode of CBS News’s “60 Minutes” interviewed German prosecutors who defended their speech prosecutions, which usually begin with raiding suspects’ homes and seizing their devices. That would ring true for American novelist and political satirist C.J. Hopkins, who lives in Berlin and for the past three years has been entangled in a legal nightmare, accused of disseminating alleged pro-Nazi material.
Twice he has been investigated, he says, with officers once searching his home, interrogating him and confiscating his computer.
What Hopkins actually did was this: He wrote a book critical of Germany’s draconian pandemic policies. The book’s cover had a faint swastika image superimposed on a face mask — not the most tasteful choice, but it didn’t glorify Nazis, it accused others of acting like them — which he displayed on social media. He was acquitted once in court, but the decision is being appealed.
Meanwhile in Finland, Päivi Räsänen, a member of Parliament, faced criminal charges after she criticized her church’s support for gay pride events and posted online quoting Romans 1:24-27, a passage frequently cited as evidence that the Bible considers homosexuality sinful. She was acquitted twice. And yet prosecutors have made the process the punishment, appealing each loss. Finland’s Supreme Court heard her case in October. Even if Räsänen wins a third time, it will be after more than six years of fighting.
Last month in Switzerland, Emanuel Brünisholz began serving 10 days in prison after refusing to pay a fine for a 2022 online post noting that human skeletons are either male or female — a biological fact — and asserting that transgender claims are a form of mental illness.
If all of this feels distant, here’s the part Americans should take personally: Europe doesn’t always keep its speech norms inside Europe. By regulating websites and apps that are used globally, the E.U.’s 2022 Digital Services Act speech restrictions could end up limiting Americans’ speech.
The Trump administration recently made a show of blocking five Europeans from entering the U.S. over concerns about the E.U.’s digital censorship, but the administration itself lately has shown an interest in censoring “hate speech.”
After the murder of conservative advocate Charlie Kirk, Attorney General Pam Bondi drew fierce criticism for remarks suggesting the Justice Department would “absolutely target” people for “hate speech.” She later walked back the comments, toward the constitutional category of true threats and incitement. President Donald Trump, when asked about the controversy by an ABC News reporter, mocked her, suggesting Bondi might “go after you” because “you have a lot of hate in your heart.”
As for the public at large, a 2023 RealClear Opinion Research survey found that three out of four Democrats — and half of Republicans — believe the government has a responsibility to limit “hateful” social media posts.
It would be far better if Americans recognized the wisdom of the nation’s free speech culture and the First Amendment used to delineate it. For too long, too many in the U.S. have flirted with “censorship envy,” looking longingly at European speech regulations and the hypothetical tranquility they might bring.
There is no such tranquility. Europe is a free speech disaster, not to be emulated. Congress should pass new laws that protect Americans from foreign censorship, so international speech penalties and censorship demands don’t become backdoor restraints on Americans’ freedom of speech.
Rejecting European speech codes doesn’t leave Americans defenseless against the worst harms. Laws already exist against threats, stalking, harassment, discrimination and violence. A new category that turns moral disgust into police action is not needed. Disgust is a tribal instinct, and tribalism fuels the fire that reason is meant to extinguish.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/01/06/hate-speech-censorship-campus-european-union-britain/
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couleur
[Moderator] Janitor
Posts: 14578
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| Posted: Thu, 8th Jan 2026 07:15 Post subject: |
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Since when is Switzerland in the EU?
Also using a swastika in Germany of all places? Then wondering why its controversial? He even got acquitted. Everyone knows Germans don't fuck around with Nazis symbolism. But I guess the provocation and free promotion worked and he can claim to be a victim.
Garbage, if they can’t even get that right. But whatever gets you triggered.
I guess the wapo needs to suck up to the current Anti-EU stance of the US and victims are riding with it as usual. With the metric tons of hate and racism and crap that still gets transported over social media every day unchecked they really managed to pick out pretty bad examples to convey their point overall. A clear nothingburger. But I guess, TRIGGERED.
"Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one's own mind without another's guidance. Dare to know! (Sapere aude.) "Have the courage to use your own understanding," is therefore the motto of the enlightenment."
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Il_Padrino
Posts: 7678
Location: Greece by the North Sea
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| Posted: Thu, 8th Jan 2026 09:05 Post subject: |
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So much hate against the EU, makes you wonder why they are so afraid of it. Perhaps because it's actually much stronger than they make it appear.
There must have been a door there in the wall, when I came in.
Truly gone fishing.
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| Posted: Thu, 8th Jan 2026 09:27 Post subject: |
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Come back to this thread in January 2027
X will be blocked in the EU
Grok banned
Real ID verification for using the internet starts to be rolled out
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couleur
[Moderator] Janitor
Posts: 14578
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| Posted: Thu, 8th Jan 2026 09:44 Post subject: |
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I also hope they will block Tik Tok aswell. We don't need foreign bot networks interfering with our democratic processes.
"Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one's own mind without another's guidance. Dare to know! (Sapere aude.) "Have the courage to use your own understanding," is therefore the motto of the enlightenment."
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Il_Padrino
Posts: 7678
Location: Greece by the North Sea
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| Posted: Thu, 8th Jan 2026 16:12 Post subject: |
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Well the blistering pathetic wart that is EU can not burst soon enough. What a freak show.
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zenux
Posts: 2418
Location: lɘɒɿƨI
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| Posted: Thu, 8th Jan 2026 16:41 Post subject: |
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| couleur wrote: | Since when is Switzerland in the EU?
TRIGGERED. |
Well, neither is UK in the EU.
Are we so Triggered to type TRIGGERED, having missed that, or could we just use EU as a placeholder for Europe, like I did in the title of this thread?
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couleur
[Moderator] Janitor
Posts: 14578
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| Posted: Thu, 8th Jan 2026 16:50 Post subject: |
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I read the article, where he says UK and EU. Your title is of no importance.
And no, you don't just use EU as a placeholder for Europe if you're not some 16y old student trying to write an essai.
"Speech restrictions backed by government power in the E.U. and Britain are reaching ludicrous levels."
"For an indication of where this censorious impulse can lead even in a democratic society, look no further than European Union nations and Britain"
"Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one's own mind without another's guidance. Dare to know! (Sapere aude.) "Have the courage to use your own understanding," is therefore the motto of the enlightenment."
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| Posted: Fri, 9th Jan 2026 12:30 Post subject: |
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We are all being indoctrinated and slowly boiled like the frogs so here is the full roadmap so you can come back in the future and I can tell you right now: told you so!
- Social Media ban for under 15/16-year olds (already being implemented)
- First Age verification systems being put in place with the goal of ending anonymity on the Internet (already underway)
- Ban wave #1: X, Grok, Truth Social
- AI getting restricted phase 1
- More people getting arrested for "hate speech"
- Ban wave #2 (probably right wing coded stuff and more foreign websites)
- AI getting restricted phase 2
- Some more arrests for "disinformation"
- Ban wave #3 (now it will spread to various domestic websites and services)
- VPN bans in preparation of end of anonymity
- Finally everyone needs to verify their ID to use Internet and Services
- Big arrest waves right after to scare off people
- AI restrictions phase 3
- Ban wave #4 (it will increasingly hit harmless websites but by now it is too late)
- AI restrictions phase 4
- Ban wave #5 #6....#11 #12..
- You wake up in a totalitarian hellhole and remember there was a guy on a banned website called NFOHump who told you so
Date: January 9, 2026
Bookmark set, yearly reminder
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| Posted: Fri, 9th Jan 2026 13:03 Post subject: |
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Yes, total censorship is the plan.
In the end you're gonna need a VPN and things will be fine.
But the masses will just be fine with the restrictions and will be easily influenced media parroting the EU narrative. Mainstream media has allready been taken over. At least in the Netherlands. Former centrist or conservative broadcasters ( dutch RTL for instance was taken over by EU funded DPG groep recently. They were political neutral, leaning a bit to the right untill couple of years ago ) are now full pro EU eco socialist. And people buy it.
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| Posted: Fri, 9th Jan 2026 14:10 Post subject: |
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| friketje wrote: |
In the end you're gonna need a VPN and things will be fine.
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Not so easy, UK is already calling for VPN bans:
https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/uk-lords-propose-ban-on-vpns-for-children
My ideology is anti-authoritarianism.
And everyone is becoming authoritarian: left-wing, neoliberal centrists, right-wing - does not matter.
If a right wing government ever comes into power or takes over the EU they will gladly use the censorship mechanisms put in place by the previous administrations. They will say thank you for laying the groundwork and use their own weapons against them. Police will instead arrest people for leftist wrongthink and they will ban all kinds of websites talking about social justice, globalism and climate change. The irony is palpable but its going to be bad as well. The masses will be stupid either way and show little resistance.
Only the side that is in the defense is for free speech. Free speech has been a left issue, now its a right issue and if the right suceeds it will be a left issue again.
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ixigia
[Moderator] Consigliere
Posts: 65165
Location: Italy
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| Posted: Fri, 9th Jan 2026 18:10 Post subject: |
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On a related note, Italy's current (far-right) government just declared war on Cloudflare: https://x.com/eastdakota/status/2009654937303896492
In short: inept politicians who don't even know how the internet works are desperately trying to enforce an utterly absurd and idiotic censorship system that defies logic (..called 'Piracy Shield', of course  )
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| Posted: Sat, 10th Jan 2026 14:19 Post subject: |
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That's nog gonna happen, it will backfire.
And still, what's stopping you from using a VPN anyway? You can only enforce that in a true police state.
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Frant
King's Bounty
Posts: 24802
Location: Your Mom
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zenux
Posts: 2418
Location: lɘɒɿƨI
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Nalo
nothing
Posts: 13571
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| Posted: Tue, 13th Jan 2026 11:25 Post subject: |
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Concerning internet censorship the eu is acting like a country.
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harry_theone
Posts: 11320
Location: The Land of Thread Reports
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| Posted: Tue, 13th Jan 2026 12:38 Post subject: |
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This thread literally dropped my IQ by 50 and I can't even see half the posts
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LeoNatan
☢ NFOHump Despot ☢
Posts: 73765
Location: Israel
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| Posted: Tue, 13th Jan 2026 12:56 Post subject: |
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yeah, X, Grok, Tiktok, ban it all. Perhaps US based advertising as well.
