EU Parasite Criticized Twitter for Spreading “Disinformation”
Jose Nino
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Josep Borrell, the European Union’s Higher Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, took Twitter owner Elon Musk to task for his move to end free access to APIs. Borell argued it would negatively impact researchers’ attempts to study “disinformation.”
Borrell made the remarks as he gave a speech on how the EU has responded to Russia’s online disinformation campaigns since the launch of Russia’s military incursion in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
“We have to do more research on the social media platforms. Study how flow [sic], where does it come from, and which are the results,” he said during a speech to the European Union’s diplomatic service (EEAS).
He also stated that Twitter’s move to take away free access to APIs is “a serious step back from early commitments.”
Borrell’s speech stressed the importance of combating foreign disinformation operations by analyzing information threats. Additionally, he called attention to a recent report on the EU’s foreign information manipulation and threats, which discovered “clear trends in the threats against our information space.”
“Diplomatic accounts and state-controlled channels manipulate perceptions about the European Union; blaming the West for all the consequences of the war in Ukraine and they amplify lies about military-led Western biolabs in Ukraine targeting its neighbors,” declared Borrell, continuing: “It is something that needs a response.
“We need to anticipate and deter such activities with concrete actions and measures. We need to continue supporting Ukraine… and finally we have to be more ambitious in building resilience to authoritarian regimes that try to create this disinformation and manipulate information.”
“We need more transparency and accountability – not less,” Borrell continued in his speech. “I call on Twitter, and on its owner, to ensure that all obligations that they have taken will be honored.”
Eurocrats are clearly butthurt that Twitter is in the hands of Elon Musk, a general skeptic of the West’s efforts to prolong the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. Musk also nominally supports free speech online which angers Eurocrats who want their state-sponsored hate speech laws to be the international standard.
Borrell and his ilk can cry until the cows come home, but as long as the First Amendment exists, Twitter will continue to be a relatively free platform that supranational bodies like the EU can no longer manipulate.
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