DISINFO: Western governments impose censorship and silence dissidents
SUMMARY
The real goal of the “fight against fake news” conducted by Western governments is to eliminate freedom of information and freedom of thought, impose censorship, silence non-mainstream and dissident thinkers and bloggers by taking down their websites, social media accounts, and blogs, and introduce a kind of Orwellian thoughtcrime. Moreover, such governments have exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to set up, under the guise of “fake news task forces”, an Orwellian-type Ministry of Truth tasked with deciding what is true and what is false, silencing and repressing dissidents, and censoring alternative information that is unwelcome to the powerful. Yet it is precisely mainstream media that spreads enormous amounts of false information and resorts to sophisticated forms of manipulation that are comparable to war propaganda.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy theory. No evidence is provided to support the article’s claims. The article repeats a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that the effort to fight fake news is really aimed at censoring information that is unwelcome to Western governments and at silencing critics of dominant Western narratives. The article also contains the recurrent pro-Kremlin narrative claiming the efforts of Western governments, including EU member states, to counter coronavirus-related disinformation are attempts to censor and persecute dissenting views. The article’s messages are consistent with the broad pro-Kremlin narrative that seeks to discredit liberal democratic societies by claiming that the latter are totalitarian systems ruled by “globalist elites” and “shadow governments” which persecute anyone who expresses views that dissent from dominant “politically correct” liberal-globalist thinking. Disinformation (including Pro-Kremlin disinformation and malign influence campaigns) is not an imaginary problem used to justify censorship, but is an issues of genuine concern for many governments around the world, because it represents a threat to a nation’s security and stability , as well as to democratic governance. In particular, the proliferation of disinformation and misinformation around COVID-19 throughout the world has potentially harmful consequences for public health and effective crisis communication. Therefore, Western governments, the EU and its member states have been trying to counter coronavirus-related disinformation, including through detection, analysis and exposure of disinformation campaigns related to the pandemic. The European Union as a whole, is committed to respecting the freedom and pluralism of the media as well as the right to freedom of expression - which includes the right to receive and impart information without interference by public authority. This committment is enshrined in Article 11 of the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights. Read a previous case claiming that the EU Commission and the EU Parliament wish to censor views skeptical of Western government and media fear-momngering about COVID-19.