17
Sep
2024
Watch
Global measures towards social media platforms - Strengthening the role of DSA and protecting democracy and freedom in the online sphere (debate)
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Yesterday, Meta finally banned Putin's propaganda channel RT, which has long been sanctioned in Europe due to war propaganda. So it took a long time before Meta was ready to finally renounce a small part of its profit, which it earns with this state-organized Russian propaganda and disinformation machine. This, by the way, is what the right-wing side of this House calls freedom of expression. Yes, we found out this week: The Russian agency SDA wanted the AfD to get over 20% in Germany, which is why it intervenes with us in our democracy. That's what you call freedom of expression? Ask the Russian opposition what they think of Putin's freedom of speech. Why is this disinformation so powerful? This was already the case in the Soviet Union, and it is not a new concept at all. But it is so powerful now because the platforms are playing in the same team – be it TikTok, be it Google with YouTube, be it Meta: With their algorithms, they ensure that extremist messages, that everything that relies on fear and anger, gets much more reach than everything that democratic politicians can achieve with factual content, with positive emotions. This is now our task in Europe with the Digital Services Act. It is good that we hold platforms to account that endanger our children, that lead girls into anorexia. It's good that we have a look at e-commerce and these platforms. But for true freedom of speech, we need more. Today's functioning of social media endangers democracy itself in its essence. If platforms systematically give wings to extremist messages, if they play out lies to many more people than facts, then democracy becomes impossible. For a true democracy, we need algorithms that give all opinions the same space, because citizens should decide for themselves what to see in their timeline. We don't want to leave that to unscrupulous billionaires with questionable, opaque business models. This is freedom of speech, and that is what we are fighting for.