Socialist politicians call for “an EU-run public service Twitter”
Socialism has a very clear goal: to place all spheres of society in the hands of the state (i.e. a handful of politicians).
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Socialist politicians call for “an EU-run public service Twitter”
Socialism does not love freedom. It likes to control everything to make it obey its interests. History has repeatedly shown its disastrous results. Into this ideological framework, it is necessary to place a message like that published today by socialist Odón Elorza: “We need a public service Twitter managed by the EU.” In that message, he links to an article he published on his blog, in which he states:
“As a democrat, I urge you to work on a proposal that defines a European Twitter model, structured as a public service, regulated by democratic ethics standards and managed by an independent institution. A model born out of an alliance of entities and sectors with a public mission and serving the general interest of citizens. This is the only way to preserve information, technical and political sovereignty within the EU framework and prevent the advance of techno-fascism.”
Twitter is currently the most effective tool for fighting fake news
In his article, Elorza also states that “democracies should act and punish the practice of fake news and viral disinformation strategies by those who act from cyberpopulism.” He also calls for “mechanisms for verifying news in real time.” This is a total fantasy. Real-time verification is impossible. However, today, Twitter, as it stands, is the most effective means of uncovering fake news, much of which is spread by traditional media (many of which are left-wing) and socialist politicians. Is that one thing that bothers you about this social network?
In comparison with other similar networks, Twitter has disrupted communication schemes where fake news published by traditional media could spread for days without being removed, or where lies by politicians could spread without being removed by anyone other than other politicians and traditional media (many of which are subsidized). Twitter has given citizens the opportunity to realize a two-way communication flow from media to audience, and this was done by private companies, not public authorities.
A state-sponsored social network with censorship as its main feature
Essentially, Elorza’s idea, if enacted, would create a national Twitter where bureaucrats could censor anything that is offensive to the left. It started with the right to disagree with ideological dogmas that the left deems untouchable, and has progressed to demonizing opposing views by labeling them with words like “hatred,” “xenophobia,” “racism,” “fascism,” and now “technofascism.” The left does not accept opposition.
A national social network like Twitter will therefore have censorship as its first characteristic, outside the judiciary, which in democracies is responsible for sanctioning excesses in the exercise of fundamental rights. Elorza claims that the social network will be managed by “independent institutions”, but this sounds like a joke, given that the Socialists have colonized many public institutions in Spain, even those that should be independent, such as the Constitutional Court, the Court of Auditors, and the Attorney General’s Office. To seriously believe that the Socialists will ensure this independence in a national social network is to ignorant of them.
Lying politicians will be punished through the creation of a “Ministry of Truth”: what’s the problem?
On the other hand, the idea of politicians “sanctioning” fake news is far more dangerous than its existence, because it would mean creating something like an Orwellian “Ministry of Truth” – a state body that would decide what is true and what is false, and punish anyone who disagrees. What could go wrong?
The answer is not far off. Spain has a socialist government that continues to lie in a shameless and systematic way, even telling very obvious lies in both houses of the Spanish parliament. In this field, if the ruler lies, he should immediately resign. What would happen if the Ministry of Truth were in the hands of such lying and unscrupulous politicians? It is not difficult to imagine.
The disaster of socialist-controlled Spanish public enterprises
Moreover, taking into account the wasteful spending that comes with listed companies, we can speculate how much a state-run social network like Twitter might ultimately cost, and how some people might use it to make a lot of money at the expense of taxpayers, as has happened many times with Spanish listed companies, some of which have actually gone bankrupt.
To give a few examples, Correos increased its debt 18-fold under the Socialist government of Pedro Sánchez, leaving a huge €600 million hole that the Spanish people must fill with money. During the same period, EFE was twice on the brink of bankruptcy and the government recently had to inject €40 million to cover huge losses. Spain’s public enterprises have a total debt of €41,408 million, an astronomical figure that shows their inefficiency. But the Socialists still want to go further in debt.
What the state tolerates on the streets, the largest social network
Elorza also stated that this national social network will be one where “there will be no room for insults, hate speech or incitement to violence.”Let’s look at what is happening in the largest social network under state control: our city.Let’s look at some examples of public events sanctioned by Sánchez’s socialist government.
Are these socialists who claim to create a social network free of “hatred” and incitement to violence? Rather, under these excuses, they intend to carry out censorship of social networks in an undemocratic way, outside of the courts, while at the same time condoning all these barbarisms on the streets. To be honest, I prefer Twitter 1000 times more, with both its great advantages and disadvantages, than social networks run by bureaucrats who love censorship.
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Photo: Camilo Jimenez.