Courtesy of Mish.
“Big Brother” in Action
In case you have not already realized it, 1984 has come and gone politically. All that remains is how fast we march down the path of “thought suppression”. Here are a couple of articles that will make my point.
The Telegraph reports EU wants power to sack journalists
A European Union report has urged tight press regulation and demanded that Brussels officials are given control of national media supervisors with new powers to enforce fines or the sacking of journalists.
The “high level” recommendations that will be used to draft future EU legislation also attack David Cameron for failing to automatically implement proposals by the Lord Justice Leveson inquiry for a state regulation of British press.
A “high level” EU panel, that includes Latvia’s former president and a former German justice minister, was ordered by Neelie Kroes, European Commission vice-president, last year to report on “media freedom and pluralism”. It has concluded that it is time to introduce new rules to rein in the press.
“All EU countries should have independent media councils,” the report concluded.
“Media councils should have real enforcement powers, such as the imposition of fines, orders for printed or broadcast apologies, or removal of journalistic status.”
“The national media councils should follow a set of European-wide standards and be monitored by the Commission to ensure that they comply with European values,” the report said.
Nigel Farage, the leader of Ukip, compared the proposals to “Orwell’s 1984”. “This is a flagrant attack on press freedom. To hear that unelected bureaucrats in Brussels want the power to fine and suspend journalists is just outrageous,” he said.
Reflections on “European Values” and a UK Referendum
Financial transactions taxes and agricultural crop subsidies are bad enough. This proposal for “thought police” should scare everyone.
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