19.01.2024, Berlin.
The new Digital Services Act (DSA) could allow the deletion of unpopular opinions in the EU even if they have a scientific basis, according to the article of retired German judge Manfred Kölsch published in the Berliner Zeitung newspaper on January 18.
“Article 1 of the Digital Services Act explicitly states, ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of expression.’ However, this benign formulation hides the exact opposite: there is an attack on the constitutional order that goes virtually unnoticed,” the expert warns.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) comes into force in Germany on February 17, 2024. According to it, operators of online platforms with a large number of users will be obliged to identify and remove misleading content and misinformation.
According to Manfred Kölsch, the problem is that the law does not define the term “disinformation” in any way. According to him, the European Commission in its statements in 2018 interpreted the term “disinformation” as information that could cause “public harm” and defined “public harm” as “a threat to democratic political processes as well as public goods such as the protection of health, the environment and security.”
“The standard on which the assessment of the degree of disinformation is based is set by the European Commission, which means that politically unpalatable opinions, even science-based positions, can be removed. And that can have certain social consequences,” the retired judge wrote.
According to the expert, this law will force citizens to censor themselves internally by aligning their posts with the current corridor of opinions allowed for online platforms. Manfred Kölsch predicts that because of this, the most important element of a free society – the constant intellectual and democratic debate in which opposing opinions are expressed – will disappear. He believes that through this law “controlled thinking is being imposed.”
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
