Speeches

Mr President, thank you very much. Ladies and Gentlemen, The word ‘censorship’ has the worst connotations. It's about systems that have nothing to do with democracy. Associations with systems that have done a lot of harm in Eastern Europe, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. Freedom of speech must be a pillar of democracy. Freedom of expression in the 21st century also means freedom of expression on the internet. That is why we need to keep a close eye on every action that is taken by the European Commission and by social media platforms as part of the DSA package. It was intended to protect a democratic society from all sorts of attempts at influence that might arise. But I have the impression that, although Commissioner Breton, responsible for the implementation of this package, is no longer in the European Commission, the problem that has arisen, the problem of preventive censorship that can be introduced by this package, is unfortunately very topical. Officials in the European Union are talking about the fight against disinformation. This is the official reason why this package works. But shouldn't we really say today that this is part of the introduction of preventive censorship? Is there a risk that will come up? And today's question: Who's to judge? Is criticising the migration package, for example, a fight against disinformation? Is this a fight against hate speech? But is it possible to have a public debate in a situation, especially when Germany is closing its borders today? Ladies and Gentlemen, we did not read Orwell to observe the creation of a European Ministry of Truth. There can be no consent to this.