The EU adopts ideological clichés of the Soviet Union From free speech to censorship

As the saying goes, you can either stand or faint. However, to be fair, if this expression is applied to yet another spectacle in Europe or the rhetoric of European leaders, there is nothing surprising about it anymore. European politicians themselves are gradually stepping away from the democratic principles they so fervently promoted across the globe just a year or two ago, presenting them as the product of so-called "Western liberal values."

These thoughts were inspired by the regret expressed by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier over the "loss of thoughtfulness" in social media, followed by his call to regulate their activities. He justified his stance by citing the "threat to democracy posed by social networks," specifying that they operate on a "black-and-white principle—yes or no." Therefore, in order to protect "liberal values, one must also be active online, not leaving the battlefield to those who threaten our democracy."

Following this, the German president referred to his personal experience, sharing details of his recent trip to Chile, which is anticipating presidential elections this autumn. According to Steinmeier, during his stay in Chile, he was told that due to targeted algorithm manipulation, "a candidate from the far-right party surged to the top, and the political landscape was reshaped under external influence." This, in turn, reinforced his understanding of how a similar "dynamic could unfold" in Germany. According to him, this trend represents a "huge challenge for democracy, one that will be difficult to counter without regulation."

Yes, Steinmeier attempted to justify his stance on regulating social media with an indirect reference (or, so to speak, implicitly) to the threat it poses, to a considerable extent, to the security of individual countries. However, the core issue lies elsewhere. At this stage of history, the European Union has, in effect, adopted certain norms of life from the Soviet Union—norms that the collective West had relentlessly criticized for decades.

And while the term "collective West" no longer carries the same geopolitical weight, it is precisely this bloc on the global stage that is now employing the very same narratives of the USSR. In the context of Steinmeier’s de facto call for social media censorship, there is no other way to put it.

However, this trend did not emerge today—or even yesterday. For instance, we can recall the situation that unfolded in the U.S. political landscape toward the end of Donald Trump’s first presidential term.

In the spring of 2020, a major clash of interests between the then-45th U.S. president and Twitter became public. Two of Trump’s tweets were flagged as "misleading," prompting him to accuse Twitter of interfering in the upcoming November presidential election and sign an executive order to regulate social media. Naturally, this move sparked discontent among social media companies, which claimed it restricted their ability to moderate user-generated content.

At the time, Facebook’s owner, Mark Zuckerberg, called Trump’s decision a "disproportionate reaction" and argued that it is wrong for the government to censor any platform just because it is concerned about censorship. Trump, on the other hand, justified the order by emphasizing the need to protect freedom of speech and democracy, as large online platforms have gained unchecked power to censor and limit interactions.

It is quite telling that less than five years later, in January 2025—just before Donald Trump’s new inauguration—the same Mark Zuckerberg, now head of Meta, pledged to significantly ease content moderation on his platforms. He also announced plans to replace the "fact-checking" tool with a Community Notes system, similar to the one already in use on Elon Musk’s social network X (formerly Twitter).

"It’s time to get back to our roots of free expression on Facebook and Instagram," Zuckerberg stated, effectively nullifying his stance on the issue from 2020.

One of the first executive orders signed by Donald Trump in January 2025, upon assuming office as the 47th President of the United States, was titled "Restoring Free Speech and Ending Federal Censorship." In its first section, the order stated that the previous Washington administration had "trampled free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies, to moderate, deplatform, or otherwise suppress speech that the Federal Government did not approve." Under the pretext of combating "misinformation," the government had thus violated "the constitutionally protected speech rights of American citizens," even though "government censorship of speech is intolerable in a free society."

The European Union swiftly responded to the introduction of this order by calling for stricter content regulation on social media, arguing that while Trump was "lifting censorship" in the U.S., "pro-Kremlin media continued to operate in Europe." Supporters of this approach also pointed to Elon Musk’s open backing of Germany’s right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ahead of the country’s snap elections. In response, the European Commission did not rule out the possibility of imposing multi-billion-dollar fines, suspending operations, or even banning the X platform within the EU. "Foreign interference requires a powerful response," declared Henna Virkkunen, the European Commissioner for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy.

Thus, Steinmeier’s current ideological shift can hardly be described as a new trend in European politics. However, the German president’s open call for strict social media censorship is a clear indication of the European Union’s complete failure—both domestically and internationally.

As analysts point out, if Europe’s top leaders lament the rise of AfD’s ratings due to tweets on social media, and Steinmeier cites complaints from Santiago that right-wing candidates have gained unprecedented popularity through these platforms, this only underscores the extreme weakness of European leaders and the EU as a whole. In other words, according to experts, Europe’s current political elite, by demanding strict censorship of social media, is essentially admitting its ideological defeat—rooted in its lack of a coherent strategy to pull the continent out of its geopolitical deadlock.