The ‘Twitter Files’ have exposed numerous contacts between US government officials and Twitter and requests for suppression of accounts or content: notably, in the context of alleged COVID-19 ‘disinformation’. But what they have not revealed is that there was in fact a formal government programme explicitly dedicated to “Fighting COVID-19 Disinformation” in which Twitter, as well as all other major social media platforms, were enrolled.
As part of this program, the platforms were submitting monthly (later bi-monthly) reports to the government on their censorship efforts. Below is a picture of an archive of the “Fighting COVID-19 Disinformation” reports.
I did not have to hack into the intranet of the U.S. government to find them. All I had to do was look on the public website of the European Commission. For the government in question is not, after all, the U.S. government, but the European Commission.
The reports are available here. Lest there be any doubt that what is at issue in “Fighting COVID-19 Disinformation” is censorship – but how could there be any doubt? – the Commission website specifies that the reports include information on “demoted and removed content containing false and/or misleading information likely to cause physical harm or impair public health policies” (author’s emphasis).
Indeed, the Twitter reports, in particular, include data not only on removed content, but also on outright account suspensions. It is thanks precisely to the data that Twitter was gathering to satisfy the EU’s expectations that we know that 11,230 accounts were suspended under Twitter’s recently discontinued COVID-19 Misleading Information Policy. The below chart, for instance, is taken from Twitter’s last (March-April 2022) report to the EU. Note that the data is ‘global’, i.e., Twitter was reporting back to the European Commission on its censorship of content and accounts all over the world, not just in the EU.
To be clear then: It is strictly impossible that Twitter has not had contact with EU officials about censoring COVID-19 dissent, because the EU had a program specifically dedicated to the latter and Twitter was part of it. Furthermore, it is strictly impossible that Twitter is not continuing to have contact with EU officials about censoring online content and speech more generally.
This is because the EU’s “Fighting COVID19 Disinformation” program was launched within the framework of its more general so-called Code of Practice on Disinformation. Under the Code, Twitter and other online platforms and search engines have assumed commitments to combat – i.e., suppress – what the European Commission deems to be ‘misinformation’ or ‘disinformation’.
In June of last year, a ‘strengthened’ Code of Practice on Disinformation was adopted, which created formalised reporting requirements for Code signatories like Twitter. Other major signatories of the Code include Google/YouTube, Meta/Facebook, Microsoft – which is notably the owner of LinkedIn – and TikTok.
Furthermore, the strengthened Code also created a “permanent task force” on disinformation, in which all code signatories are required to participate and which is chaired by none other than the European Commission itself. The ‘task force’ also includes representatives of the EU’s foreign service. (For more details, see Section IX of the Code, titled “Permanent Task-Force.”)
And if this were not enough, in September of last year, the EU opened a ‘digital embassy’ in San Francisco, in order precisely to be close to Twitter and other leading American tech companies. For the moment, the embassy reportedly shares office space with the Irish consulate: meaning, per Google maps, that it is around a 10-minute drive from Twitter headquarters.
So, it is strictly impossible that Twitter has not had and is not continuing to have contact – indeed extensive and regular contact – with EU officials about censoring content and accounts that the European Commission deems ‘mis-’ or ‘disinformation’. But we have heard absolutely nothing about this in the ‘Twitter Files’.
Why? The answer is: because EU censorship really is government censorship, i.e., censorship that Twitter is required to carry out on pain of sanction. This is the difference between the EU censorship and what Elon Musk himself has denounced as “U.S. government censorship”. The latter has amounted to nudges and requests, but was never obligatory and could never be obligatory, thanks to the First Amendment and the fact that there has never been any enforcement mechanism. Any law creating such an enforcement mechanism would be obviously unconstitutional. Hence, Twitter could always simply say no.
But so long as it wants to remain on the EU market, Twitter cannot say no to the demands of the European Commission. As discussed in my previous article here, the enforcement mechanism that renders the Code of Practice obligatory is the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA gives the European Commission power to impose fines of up to 6% of global turnover on platforms that it finds to be in violation of the Code: n.b. global turnover, not just turnover on the EU market!
The Commission has not been shy about reminding Twitter and the other tech companies of this threat, thus posting the below tweet last June on the very day that the ‘strengthened’ Code of Practice was announced.
This was before the DSA had even been adopted by the European Parliament! But the DSA has been the sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of Twitter and the other online platforms for the last two years, and it is now law. Once designated a “very large online platform” by the Commission – which is inevitable in its case – Twitter will have four months to demonstrate compliance, as the below “DSA Timeline” makes clear.
Moreover, the power to apply financial sanction is not the only extraordinary enforcement power that the DSA gives the Commission. The Commission is also given the power to conduct warrantless inspections of company premises, sealing the premises for the duration of the inspection, and gaining access to whatever ‘books or records’ it pleases. (See Article 69 of the DSA here.) Such inspections, which have been previously used in the context of EU competition law, are quaintly known in the literature as ‘dawn raids’. (See here, for example.)
This is why Elon Musk and the “Twitter Files” are so verbose about alleged “US government censorship” and so willing to “out” the private communications of US government officials, but have remained suitably mum about EU censorship demands and have not outed the private communications of any EU officials or representatives. Elon Musk is being held hostage by the European Union, and no hostage in his or her right mind is going to do anything to irritate the hostage-takers.
Far from any sign of defiance of the Code and the DSA, what we get from Elon Musk is repeated pledges of fealty: like the below tweet that he posted after meeting with EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton in January. (For an earlier such pledge in the form of a joint video message with Breton, see here.)
And if Musk should ever have any doubts about what he needs to do to satisfy the EU’s requirements, help is always close at hand – indeed a mere 10 minutes away. For the EU’s ‘digital ambassador’ to Silicon Valley, Gerard de Graaf, is one of the authors of the DSA.
But if Elon Musk is so fearful about crossing the EU, then why has he restored so many COVID-19 dissident accounts? Wasn’t that an act of defiance of the EU and notably of its “Fighting Covid-19 Disinformation” program?
Well, no, it was not.
Firstly, it should be recalled that Musk had originally promised a “general amnesty” of all suspended accounts. As discussed in my earlier article here, this quickly drew a stern and public rebuke from none other than Thierry Breton, and Musk failed to follow through. Instead, in accordance with Breton’s demands, there has been a case-by-case restoration of selected accounts, which has recently slowed down to a trickle.
@OpenVaet, whose own Twitter account remains suspended, has been maintaining a partial inventory of suspended Twitter accounts. As of this writing, only 99 of the 215 accounts in the sample, or roughly 46%, have been restored. (See @OpenVaet’s spreadsheet of still banned and restored accounts here.) Assuming the sample is representative, this would mean that over 6,000 accounts in all are still suspended.
And this is to say nothing of the more insidious form of censorship that is ‘visibility filtering’ or ‘shadow-banning’. Per the motto “Freedom of speech is not freedom of reach”, Elon Musk has never denied that Twitter would continue to engage in the latter. Many of the returning COVID-19 dissidents have noticed a curious lack of engagement, leading them to wonder if their accounts are not in fact still subjected to unannounced special measures.
But, secondly, and more to the point, have another look at the archive of the “Fighting Covid-19 Disinformation” reports shown above. That is the complete archive. The March-April 2022 reports are the final set of reports. Last June, as noted here, the European Commission discontinued the program, folding the reporting on COVID-19 ‘disinformation’ into the more general reporting requirements established under the ‘strengthened’ Code of Practice on Disinformation.
By this time, most of the most onerous COVID-19 measures in the EU, including ‘vaccine passports’, had already been ended, and most of the remainder have been gradually rolled back since. Elon Musk thus allowed (some) COVID-19 dissent back onto Twitter when, at least in the EU, there was hardly any public policy to dissent from anymore.
But the EU’s censorship regime as such is still very much in place, and censorship has by no means come to an end on Twitter. Thus, on the very night of the Brazilian elections on October 30th, Twitter was already censoring local reports of electoral fraud. The famous ‘misleading’ warning labels that had once been used to quarantine reports of COVID-19 vaccine harm now made a reappearance, insisting that according to unnamed ‘experts’, Brazil’s elections were ‘safe and secure’. (For examples, see my thread here.)
Whether electoral integrity/fraud in countries of interest, the war in Ukraine or the ‘next pandemic’ for which the EU is already reserving mRNA ‘vaccine’ capacity, you may rest assured that the EU will not lack new subjects of ‘disinformation’ requiring censorship and that Elon Musk and Twitter will oblige.
Whether this censorship takes the form of outright suspensions and content removals or content ‘demotion’ and account ‘visibility filtering’ is a secondary matter. The European Commission will be able to work out such details with Twitter and the other platforms.
Indeed, the DSA further requires the platforms to grant the Commission access to their back offices, including, as Thierry Breton triumphantly notes in a blog post here, “the ‘black box’ of algorithms that are at the heart of platforms’ systems”. As noted on the Commission website, the Commission is even setting up a European Centre for Algorithmic Transparency, in order to be able to better fulfill its ‘supervisory’ role in this regard.
Needless to say, such ‘transparency’ does not extend to mere users such as you or me. For us, the algorithmic functioning of the platforms will remain a ‘black box’. But the Commission will be able to know everything about it and to demand modifications to ensure compliance with the EU’s requirements.
Robert Kogon is a pen name for a widely-published financial journalist, a translator, and researcher working in Europe. Follow him at Twitter here. He writes at edv1694.substack.com. This article first appeared on the website of the Brownstone Institute.
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Apparently Bill Gates is funding research into using mosquitoes to deliver mRNA jabs (without consent, or knowledge, obviously).
Obviously I would never wish Bill any sudden harm. That would be a terrible thing to wish for.
And it’s probably a con speerasee thee oh ree, silly me.
I realise it’s infeasible to train swarms of mossies to visit BG and deliver a payload of our own choosing, but I do ponder the ramifications…
“Majority of public believe King should not apologise for slavery, new poll shows,”
The real story is not the 55% who think he shouldn’t, but who the hell are the 45% who think he should..?
I think you’ll find the majority of that 45%
are , don’t knows/ not bothered/ don’t care/ don’t have an opinion either way!
Totally disinterested in the royal family!
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/why-i-am-standing-for-the-heritage-party-tomorrow/
I wrote this for Conservative Woman and it has been published this morning.
Well done. Wish there was a candidate I could vote for where I am.
Good man. I wish you all the best.
(Although I subscribe to TCW I cannot be bothered with ‘disqus’ so I never comment over there.)
Best of luck!
Adding my best wishes….….
People, like your good self, who have made the effort on a personal level throughout the scam are my real heroes…very admirable….
“EU backs Dutch Government’s farm buyout plan to cut nitrogen pollution”
The Dutch people are showing the ptb by actions and votes that they do not want this! Ignore them at your peril! Lesser things have led to civil wars!
Yes it was reported yesterday. More here. Farmers organizations are generally positive about the schemes apparently, though I find that hard to believe.
”The schemes, which can run up to 27 February 2028, are open to small and medium-sized livestock farmers who close their operations, provided that their current nitrogen deposits exceed minimum levels. The compensation of up to 120% of the value of the business will only be open to farmers who close down definitively and guarantee they will not start the same activity elsewhere in the Netherlands or within the EU. In total, some 3,000 highly polluting farms located close to Natura 2000 areas could be shut down.”
https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2023/05/brussels-says-yes-to-dutch-farm-buyout-scheme-in-conservation-areas/
The EU has said that people who ‘benefit’ from this plan cannot restart their farming activity in the Netherlands and they cannot move and start up anywhere else in the EU. So much for Free Trade and Free Movement of People.
At the same time the EU Parliament votes in favour of yet another ‘Pact for Migration’ which involves quotas of migrants being distributed to ALL EU countries. More mouths to feed; less food available; up go the prices.
Right so before I get all ”OMG :-o!!!” I’d appreciate somebody watching this 5min video and confirming if it’s fake news/a spoof or not, because it sounds way too far-out for my 20th century brain to take in. 6G?!! Neural networks?? LED lights as antennas?? By 2030? There’s that infamous date again…
”While the availability of the new mobile communications standard 5G is still almost insignificant in Germany, work is already underway on 6G, the sixth generation of mobile communications. The 6G network is scheduled to go into operation around 2030 and will enable extremely high data transmission. To this end, the European Union has launched the Hexa-X project to research and develop 6G. 22 companies are working under the leadership of Nokia with the aim of making 6G an indispensable part of our society.
The Hexa-X homepage explains, among other things, the goals of 6G. It says: “Climate change, pandemics, […] as well as distrust and threats to democracy are some of the unprecedented societal challenges of our time. Wireless networks as a central component of a digitized society must reflect such complex needs […] and proactively provide sustainable digital solutions […]”.
https://www.kla.tv/25644
Holy crapsicles, this appears to be real! How did I not know about this?? This from their home page;
”2030 and beyond, Europe and the world will face opportunities and challenges of growth and sustainability of tremendous magnitude; proactively tackling the issues of green deal efficiency, digital inclusion and assurance of health and safety in a post-pandemic world will be key. A powerful vision is needed to connect the physical, digital, and human worlds, firmly anchored in future wireless technology and architectural research. The Hexa-X vision calls for an x-enabler fabric of connected intelligence, networks of networks, sustainability, global service coverage, extreme experience, and trustworthiness.
Wireless technologies are of critical relevance for our society and economy today; their importance for growth will continue to steadily increase with 5G and its evolution, enabling new ecosystems and services motivated by strongly growing traffic and trillions of devices. The ambition of the Hexa-X project includes developing key technology enablers in the areas of:
https://hexa-x.eu/
And so the Nordstream stuff keeps rolling in……
‘The ships are believed to include the Russian naval research vessel Sibiryakov, the tugboat SB-123, and a third ship from the Russian naval fleet that the media outlets have not been able to identify by name.
These were so-called “ghost-ships”, which had their transmitters turned off. The broadcasters, however, say they were able to track their movements, using intercepted radio communications the vessels sent to Russian naval bases between June and September 2022.
These movements were tracked by a former British naval intelligence officer, who worked on interception of the Russian Baltic Fleet until he retired in 2018. That person – who remains anonymous in the documentary – says he used open-source information and radio communications to carry out his research.
These ships are said to have been in the vicinity of an explosion site for several hours and, in one case, for almost a full day.
One of the vessels, the Sibiryakov, is believed to be capable of underwater surveillance and mapping as well as launching a small underwater vehicle.
The former Royal Naval intelligence officer says it took an unusual navigational track in June, around the place where the pipeline would later blow up, and changed its communications pattern to a secret receiver.
Another unnamed vessel was also present in that area the previous week in June.
And a third vessel, the naval tugboat the SB-123, is said to have arrived just five days before the September explosions.
The radio communication suggests that it stayed there for the entire evening and night before sailing back towards Russia.
Satellite imagery examined by the broadcasters is said to support the claims about the unusual routes, and other reports in Germany had claimed it was in the area on 21-22 September.
This vessel can be used to support and rescue submarines and has the ability to carry out operations on the seabed, according to experts interviewed by the broadcasters.’
BBC 03 May 2023
“You can fool all of the people some of time; you can fool some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.”
President Abraham Lincoln, New York Times, August 27, 1887.
Yes, it is murky business indeed, however I’m not sure trusting a BBC documentary is particularly wise considering their high standards of independent journalism.
While I think that one should never rush to hasty conclusions on issues such as these, Seymour Hersh offers a pretty convincing argument that the USA sabotaged the Nord Stream pipeline.
Russia has every reason not to blow up the pipeline, one of the key points of leverage it holds over Europe. On the contrary, it’s an excellent strategic move for the US in this proxy war.
Hersh has a very strong track record on these affairs, famously exposing the Mai Lai massacre. He also covered the secret U.S. bombing of Cambodia and the CIA’s program of domestic spying. In 2004, he detailed the U.S. military’s torture and abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq.
Hersh’s essay:
https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream
Biden exposing his strategy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSPfXLPUJHM
It be more like…How do you differentiate whether it is fake or true?’ Indeed it is very difficult in such an informational flow,” said Vitiuk. “I say, ‘Everything that is against our country, consider it a fake, even if it’s not.’ Right now, for our victory, it is important to have that kind of understanding, ……”
(Illia Vitiuk Head of the Department of Cyber and Information Security, Security Service of Ukraine.) LOL!
The evidence is not conclusive.
The BBC are at great pains to say that the evidence is not conclusive.
‘The Nordic broadcasters do not say there is conclusive proof of what the vessels were up to or that Russia was behind the blast. But the documentary raises questions about the unusual nature of the activity.’
Nevertheless ‘The first vessel departed from a Russian naval base in Kaliningrad before arriving near the pipeline on 7 June.
One radio message places it directly above Nord Stream 2 before moving further north, close to the Nord Stream 1 pipelines, spending hours in the area where the pipeline runs about 80m (260ft) below the surface and where some of the leaks would later occur.
The Sibiryakov arrived on 14 June and went to the same position as the first vessel, close to Nord Stream, and remained there until the next day.
…..a former British naval intelligence officer…….says the pattern of radio communications in June indicated they were in an “operational phase” at some points.’
And
‘One week before the explosions, extensive manoeuvres of the Russian Baltic Fleet began on September 19, which could conceivably be used as cover for a real mission. Frogmen of the 313th Spetsnaz Special Forces Unit from the Baltiysk base in Kaliningrad also officially moved out to join the maneuvers. They are elite soldiers trained for underwater explosive and sabotage operations. In the following days, these suspicious ships were detected in the area of the crime scenes above the Nord Stream pipelines.’
‘….the most important ship in the formation for the operation would have been the submarine support ship “SS-750” . It regularly participates in training simulating accidents on the seabed. Its special feature: On board there is a so-called “Project 1855”, including a deep-submergence rescue vehicle named “AS-26”, which is supposed to evacuate the crew of crashed submarines in an emergency. It has gripper arms that can move cargo weighing up to 50 kilograms underwater.’
‘Usually, “SS-750” is stationed at the Baltiysk base in Kaliningrad as part of the Baltic Fleet. However, satellite imagery shows that it left the port on the night of September 21. At a speed of nine knots, it would have been able to reach the scene by 7:50 pm The so-called “Automatic Identification System” (AIS) , which transmits location data, had been switched off. However, its length of 95 meters would match the dimensions of a dark ship discovered by the US company SpaceKnow without a position signal near the crime scene.’ (T-online 250323)
Hmmm……
You are all entitled, of course, to your own opinions, but, for me, if it quacks like a duck etc etc
Why would the Russians blow up Nordstream? To demonstrate the threat they pose to EU underwater vital infrastructure. In their view, they are at war with the EU, a cold war so far…….and aggression works for them, as Crimea 2014 clearly demonstrated.
https://www.naturalnews.com/2023-05-02-irish-lawmakers-pass-hate-speech-law-fines-jails-people-hateful-content.html
More on the Irish hate speech law.
New info from a FOI request obtained by Judicial Watch about FDA and MHRA colluding to keep a side effect under wrap and more.
Seems the cardiologist cited by Andrew Bridgen will be proven right. Certainly, the criminal energy is there.
And so is Perseus with its assessment that the MHRA is unfit for (regulator) purpose.
They are doing very well as enabler. https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2023/05/02/us-uk-hidden-pacts-to-hide-vaccine-reactions.aspx?cid_source=telegram&cid_medium=social&cid_content=mercola&cid=nonlead1_20230502
The EU backing the Dutch Governments Farm Grab is surely the story of the Day / Week / month or even the Year etc ! Proof if any is needed that TPTB are on a mission to destroy all that we hold dear
Dr Malhotra appearing on Joe Rogan podcast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWPziQGg1vU
Is this another way to stop the plebs flying? I bet the billionaires’ private jets have long fixed this problem.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65465512
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (health regulatory agency) in Australia has just announced the removal of prescribing restrictions on Ivermectin. The announcement makes it clear that the reasons for imposing restrictions were somewhat underhand (shall we say).
“the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has removed the restriction through its scheduling in the Poisons Standard because there is sufficient evidence that the safety risks to individuals and public health is low when prescribed by a general practitioner in the current health climate”
“given the high rates of vaccination and hybrid immunity against COVID-19 in Australia, use of ivermectin by some individuals is unlikely to now compromise public health”
“The restriction on ivermectin was introduced in Sept 2021 because of concerns about the safety of consumers using ivermectin without health advice to treat COVID-19, widespread use of ivermectin instead of approved vaccines and treatments for COVID-19, and potential shortages of the medicine for approved uses”
Removal of prescribing restrictions on ivermectin | Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
Ah yes, it will be available on prescription but doctors won’t be allowed to prescribe. Either that or it will be permanently out of stock.
Hopefully Dr G can provide an update.
Morning all….sorry if this is a repeat…
I know that John Campbell’s video with Andrew Brigden has been deleted from YouTube..if you missed it….
https://rumble.com/v2l3cfk-mr-andrew-bridgen-mp.html
https://twitter.com/ijclausen/status/1653693348283047936
The first memorial for the victims of the #Corona -vaccination experiment and the accompanying coercive measures stands in Zinnwald-Georgenfeld (Saxony-Germany)
(Flagged on Andrew Bridgend Twitter….and stating that no one in any country seems to want answers to these questions..)
https://www.portugalresident.com/health-professionals-query-73-increase-in-heart-attack-patients-transported-by-inem/
Health professionals query 73% increase in heart attack patients transported by INEMThe signatories include 62 doctors from various specialties, who point out that 2022 saw the highest number of emergency calls ever recorded by INEM – more than 1.5 million – as well as excess mortality, for which acute coronary accidents may have made a “particular contribution, a situation that must be characterised, understood and overcome”.
Buckle Up!! Things might just have taken a turn for the worse!
https://twitter.com/disclosetv
JUST IN – Russia says Ukraine tried to hit Kremlin with drones overnight in an assassination attempt on Putin.
Of course ‘If it’s legit’ caveats apply!
At about 15 minutes the Head of the IMF talks a bit about CBDCs. They were once the future and then the scamdemic came along and the future has arrived. That was convenient.
https://milkeninstitute.org/panel/14584/part-1-conversation-imf-managing-director-kristalina-georgieva
What do lowlifes or cornered rats do when they’re up against it. I wouldn’t spend time attempting to assess their mental state because it is simply low and venal and is often fuelled by the spirit of the addict or compulsive gambler. They don’t value any life on the deeper levels and so that inevitably includes their own. You have families that have maintained their wealth for centuries. These have also succumbed in our time there is no mechanism for them to survive. It is a fair question -what do you do at the end of an epoch? It is just a dance it is already over. Any redemptive change has to come out of this understanding.