upvote
> the Digital Services Act […] The UK in particular

You do realize that the UK is not part of the EU? So I'm not sure how UK's supposed "weaponization" of Ofcom has anything to do with Macron's statement.

> which is repeatedly and routinely used by European nations to crack down on protected political speech.

I'm really looking forward to your sources here. The DSA does not contain any provisions that change anything about the legality of speech. It's mostly meant to harmonize procedural aspects across the member states.

https://www.csis.org/blogs/europe-corner/does-eus-digital-se...

https://bhr.stern.nyu.edu/quick-take/a-clear-eyed-look-at-th...

reply
> Huh? You're saying the German Chancellor does not represent the German government?

I'm saying, there is a huge difference between a random utterance of the chancellor, which by next week he'll likely already have forgotten about, and "Germany actively campaigning" e.g. at the EU or federal level, both of which would require both ruling parties to get behind the chancellor's demands, which – based on how similar discourses have turned out in the past – is completely unlikely.

I'm not defending Merz's position, not by a long shot. I'm just saying that, based on previous experience, we're still quite far away from the "actively campaigning" stage and very, very, very far away from Merz's ideas being turned into law. I'm concerned about many things but this is not one of them. Civil rights organizations are already rallying and telling him how stupid he is¹ for suggesting that real name enforcement would be a good idea. :-) It's the usual political discourse.

¹) See how I am exercising my right to free speech and am not at all concerned about being charged for "insulting a politician"?

reply