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by LaurensBER 84 days ago
I agree but you have to understand that a lot of European (leaders) still have WW2 in the back of their head.

For them there're far worse things than giving up some freedoms.

One can agree or disagree with this but Europe's actions are far more understandable if you see where they're coming from.

From what it's worth, the younger generation doesn't seem to see this the same way so whatever censure Europe introduces today will most likely be temporary.

4 comments

I agree but you have to understand that a lot of European (leaders) still have WW2 in the back of their head.

Then they do not understand how or why WWII started. Few people are really interested or care about this - it's treated more as a kind of Aesopian Fable than a historical event.

I am more cynical than you however, I suspect the Eurocrats who use WWII as a censorship justification know full well it has nothing to do with WWII.

> One can agree or disagree with this but Europe's actions are far more understandable if you see where they're coming from.

I think you're falsely attributing this to WW2. Free speech is simply just not part of European culture in the way that it is a part of american culture. The ideal of "free speech" regardless of how well that ideal is implemented in practice is something that is much more instilled in US culture than European culture.

They simply do not give a shit the same way that the US claims it gives a shit about free speech. To them its an afterthought. Nothing to do with WW2 and the trauma of it.

Worth pointing out the modern American conception of freedom of speech is super recent. It only really became a thing in the 1970s. Before then, restrictions on porn, film, even written materials on controversial subjects like abortion could and were regulated.
The 1st Amendment was over 200 years ago, basically a few decades after the US was founded. There was always a rather large libertarian faction.
The 1st Amendment is old, but the way it's applied today is quite radical compared to how it was applied for most of American history. The US being so free speech isn't much older than the median American is.
Totally. We don’t believe in free speech in the way the us does.

We believe in the freedom of genuine political discussion.

Nobody believes in free speech.

It's very weird, all these online laws and regulations seems like its an attempt to reduce the cost of policing by making the platforms a police force and I don't like that. If nazis gather on a platform, go get them or keep eye on them. It's even better than pretending that there are no nazis because you were able to silence them. Known cunts are much easier to deal with than cunts undercover, seriously why push people undercover? Let them speak, if that speech increases their numbers then you must work on your speech.