Ulrik (@the_teslarist)
Ulrik (@the_teslarist)
RT @Statsstyret (Statsstyret): BREAKING: Documents from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs reveal that the ministry has held so-called "closed-door" meetings with Twitter and Facebook to discuss how the platforms should censor so-called "misinformation and disinformation." The two invitations are dated back to May and November 2021, during the time when Denmark was under lockdown. The invitations describe a censorship collaboration among 12-13 countries, focused on combating what the ministry refers to as "foreign influence operations" and "misinformation and disinformation" on social media platforms. The invitations also show that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through Denmark's tech ambassador Anne Marie Engtoft Larsen, pressured Twitter and Facebook to combat this type of information on their platforms. At the same time, Twitter and Facebook were praised for the efforts they had already made to remove so-called "misinformation and disinformation," including measures taken in recent years that allowed state actors to control information during the lockdowns. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs inquired about the tools and practices Facebook and Twitter use for censorship, the latest trends in this area, and what the two platforms could do to support the 12-13 countries involved in the censorship collaboration. It is worth noting that "misinformation and disinformation" are often terms used to describe information that is not necessarily false but that the state disapproves of. Moreover, it is not illegal to write something incorrect or false, as long as it is not defamatory. This could potentially represent a serious violation of citizens' freedom of speech under the Danish Constitution, §77, as it likely involves entirely lawful expressions that the Danish state has classified as "misinformation and disinformation" and encouraged Facebook and Twitter to remove—without legal basis or court involvement. From the #TwitterFiles, we know this strongly resembles state censorship by proxy, where tech platforms act as an extended censorship arm of the state without governments acknowledging responsibility. It would be interesting to see who participated in these meetings and which 12-13 countries were involved. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has chosen to obscure the identities of the "experts" who attended the closed meetings with Facebook and Twitter. The ministry has also obscured the organizations they represent. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that this lack of transparency is due to concerns about Denmark’s foreign policy interests. #breaking #censorgate #censorship #freedomofspeech #censorshipcollaboration #twitter #x #facebook #meta
