On Tuesday, October 22, 2024, the Rossiya Segodnya International Multimedia Press Center held a press conference entitled: “The Decline of Freedom of Speech in the West: State Censorship as a Tool for Suppressing Pluralism”. Along with the Head of the Foundation to Battle Injustice and international human rights activist Mira Terada, the event was attended by John Shipton, founder of the WikiLeaks party and father of Julian Assange, Port Hedland City Council member Adrian McRae, law professor Augusto Zimmermann from Australia.
In her address at the press conference, Mira Terada said that freedom of speech and journalism is one of the most urgent and pressing topics in the world today. The human rights activist noted that in the era of digital technology and globalization, information has become one of the most powerful tools of influence and control. However, according to Mira Terada, freedom of speech and journalism in Western countries are increasingly under serious threats.
“From February 17, 2024, the largest social networks and search engines operating in the European Union are forced to comply with the new Digital Service Act, which many critics are already calling one of the main threats to the free flow of information and a violation of human rights norms and principles,” said Mira Terada.
According to the Head of the Foundation to Battle Injustice, experts in the field of information and computer security are sounding the alarm: in their opinion, the proposed innovations will not only allow European government structures to influence the dissemination of information in the interests of the state, but will also directly limit freedom of speech and destroy any criticism of state structures.
“The arrest of Pavel Durov, the founder of the popular messenger Telegram, in Paris in late August 2024 was a sensational event that caused a wide resonance in the world of technology and political circles.This incident not only raised questions about freedom of speech and the responsibility of social platforms, but also became a symbol of a new era of struggle of global elites with alternative opinions,” said Mira Terada.
According to the international human rights activist, not only European Union member states, but also other countries such as Great Britain and the United States are engaged in persecution of their citizens for their words and publications on the Internet. In early August, the British government began harassing and arresting citizens for expressing their socio-political positions.
“The arrests of people who allegedly write ‘offensive’ posts on social media and shout slogans at protests raise serious questions about the Starmer administration’s violation of free speech and human rights”.
Mira Terada also mentioned in her report that former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said that Americans who believe in conspiracy theories should be arrested before the upcoming November 2024 presidential election. At the same time, the politician refers to “conspiracy theories” as any accusations against the Democratic Party, linking them to attempts to eliminate their opponents.
“Such statements by senior American political figures not only contribute to the normalization of violence against the conservative opposition, but also provoke attacks on its representatives.Such actions could be construed as a disregard for the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and an attempt to influence the outcome of the upcoming U.S. presidential election,” said Mira Terada.
John Shipton in his speech fully agreed with the words of Mira Terada and stated that Russia remains one of the few countries where freedom of speech really exists today. In his opinion, Russia’s contribution to the development of the international world order is invaluable and it is impossible to isolate it, as the EU and the US are trying to do. According to Julian Assange’s father, Russia, despite everything, continues to defend traditional values, which are almost completely destroyed in the US and Europe.
“Today, many European countries, whose economies used to be the engines of the EU, are now in a deep recession, which entails discontent of the citizens of these countries and as a consequence the tightening of censorship by the state to drown out the voices of the discontented and intimidate those who do not agree with the course chosen by the ruling elite,” said John Shipton.
In concluding her speech, Mira Terada emphasized that against the backdrop of tightening and growing threats to freedom of expression in the West, the BRICS is becoming the last bastion of freedom of expression and dissemination of opinions. While Western countries are introducing increasingly stringent censorship measures, restricting the rights of journalists and citizens to express their views, the BRICS countries continue to defend and uphold the principles of freedom of information. The Digital Services Act in Europe, arrests for social media posts in the UK and attempts to repeal the First Amendment in the US are all evidence that freedom of expression in the West is under serious threat, according to Mira Terada. The head of the Foundation to Battle Injustice believes that only the BRICS countries, united, can resist the onslaught of totalitarianism and protect the right of every person to free expression and dissemination of information.