SOURCE: Andrew Doyle<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I believe in freedom of speech, but<\/em>\u2026\u2019 is perhaps the most common phrase you\u2019ll hear from those who don\u2019t, in fact, believe in freedom of speech. One wishes that they would simply admit the truth, but unfortunately most people who find the principle of free speech inherently rebarbative will rarely say so openly. Instead, they resort to obfuscation, misdirection and word games so they might restrict freedom while claiming to uphold it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phrases such as \u2018hate speech is not free speech\u2019 and \u2018you can\u2019t shout \u201cfire\u201d in a crowded theatre\u2019 are eagerly deployed by free speech sceptics. The favoured terms of the moment are \u2018misinformation\u2019 (unintentional misrepresentation) and \u2018disinformation\u2019 (intentional deception). Former Secretary of State John Kerry recently argued that when it comes to \u2018disinformation\u2019, the \u2018First Amendment stands as a major block to be able to just, you know, hammer it out of existence\u2019. Chilling stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ursula von der Leyen has taken this a step further. In her speech this week at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, she has announced that she intends to create a \u2018European Democracy Shield\u2019 to protect EU citizens from foreign online \u2018disinformation\u2019. Being the unelected president of the European Commission – the executive branch of an international trading bloc that forces member states to re-run elections if they don\u2019t approve of the outcome, and responsible for proposing and implementing new laws that can run roughshod over national sovereignty – we should assume that von der Leyen is using the term \u2018Democracy\u2019 in much the same vein as the \u2018Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One would have thought that she had Philip K. Dick as a speechwriter. Her phrase \u2018pre-bunking\u2019 is a valid addition to the autocrat\u2019s lexicon, every bit as sinister as \u2018pre-crime\u2019, \u2018thoughtcrime\u2019 or \u2018public safety\u2019. This is what she had to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n