Thursday, October 23, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

X refuses to impose censorship – now the EU wants to punish the platform

Published 15 July 2024
– By Editorial Staff
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Elon Musk, owner of X.
5 minute read

The European Commission claims that X (formerly Twitter) is “in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA)” – and therefore the platform is at risk of millions of euros in fines and other retaliatory measures.

However, owner Elon Musk and other commentators argue that the powers that be are out to punish X because, unlike many other social media platforms, it has refused to secretly impose extensive censorship on the platform.

The Commission’s “preliminary view” is that X is in breach of the DSA because, among other things, the blue checkmarks indicating who has a verified account “does not correspond to industry practice and deceives users”.

“Since anyone can subscribe to obtain such a “verified” status, it negatively affects users’ ability to make free and informed decisions about the authenticity of the accounts and the content they interact with”, it claims.

The Brussels powers-that-be also claim that X “does not comply with the required transparency on advertising, as it does not provide a searchable and reliable advertisement repository”, and are also appalled that X “fails to provide access to its public data to researchers”.

“In particular, X prohibits eligible researchers from independently accessing its public data, such as by scraping, as stated in its terms of service. In addition, X’s process to grant eligible researchers access to its application programming interface (API) appears to dissuade researchers from carrying out their research projects or leave them with no other choice than to pay disproportionally high fees”, it continues.

 

A retaliatory measure?

“If the Commission’s preliminary views are ultimately confirmed, the Commission would adopt a non-compliance decision finding that X is in breach of Articles 25, 39 and 40(12) of the Digital Services Directive. Such a decision could impose fines of up to 6% of the service provider’s total annual worldwide turnover and require the service provider to take measures to remedy the infringement”, it threatens, promising to “force” X to comply in such a scenario.

X owner Elon Musk, however, believes that this is an act of pure vengeance by the powers that be in Brussels, and says that the European Commission recently “offered X an illegal secret deal” to avoid heavy fines – in exchange for introducing extensive censorship.

“The other platforms took the deal. X did not”, he continues.

“Don’t be fooled”

Investigative journalist and author Michael Shellenberger agrees, saying that “the totalitarianism we warned about is now happening”.

“The European Union is at this moment forcing big tech companies to secretly engage in mass censorship. Google and Facebook are, apparently, going along with it. Only Elon Musk’s X, among the major platforms, is resisting”, he writes.

“the EU is preparing to punish X with massive fines — up to 6% of total global revenue. I can’t imagine a more egregious form of foreign interference in our domestic affairs than foreign governments demanding mass secret censorship for ideological and political purposes”, he continues.

Shellenberger says that the “most terrifying” thing is how government intelligence and security services appear to be directly involved in demanding censorship – while those same governments warn daily of Russian censorship.

“Don’t be fooled by what is happening. Governments and former intelligence officials in Europe, Australia, Israel, Brazil, and Ukraine and other nations are not only demanding censorship but also often spreading their own disinformation”, he explains.

“We have to fight back”

He argues that the EU’s claims that there is more false information on X than on other, more heavily censored platforms are simply false. Rather, X has greater and broader freedom of expression, where discussion and dialogue are used “to give context to controversial content” – rather than bans and blocks.

“What the EU wants is for its committees of experts, not Community Notes, to secretly decide what we can read and say online. This is unethical and unconstitutional. Another key part of the EU’s disinformation is that “researchers” should have access to X’s internal data, which Musk cut off when he bought Twitter. But those people who want the data aren’t researchers. They’re censorship activists, many of whom have deep relationships with governments in general and intelligence agencies in particular”, he continues.

Schellenberger warns that if the EU succeeds in censoring X and the other major Internet platforms, there will be no freedom of expression – only government-controlled speech.

“Many people rightly worry about the implications of a single man, Elon Musk, being all that stands between us and foreign governments’ totalitarian censorship plans. I worry about that, too. Our speech is inalienable. It is not something governments give to us”.

“We need to fight back. While we should be grateful to Musk for standing up to the totalitarians in Europe, Brazil, and Australia, we must build a citizen’s movement to fight back”, the journalist urges.

TikTok can also be punished

It should also be noted that X is not the only platform that EU leaders want to punish and “bring into line”. China’s TikTok has long been accused of being a platform for spreading “disinformation” and “hate” and is being investigated to see if it too is in violation of the DSA – if so, it too risks being fined 6% of its global revenue.

In the past, governments in the US and EU have mainly relied on the major platforms to censor controversial and politically incorrect content – such as criticism of mass immigration, feminism, or the LGBTQ movement – on their own initiative, which has happened on a large scale on YouTube and Facebook, among others.

Recently, however, there seems to have been a partial shift in focus, with platforms being more explicitly forced to implement various forms of censorship – and threatened with penalties and fines if they refuse.

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Russia conducts nuclear drills – Sweden offers Gripen jets to Ukraine

The war in Ukraine

Published yesterday 18:02
– By Editorial Staff
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy together with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson during a visit to Saab in Linköping, Sweden, where a letter of intent regarding the export of around a hundred Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine was promised. Simultaneously, Russia conducted a large-scale nuclear weapons exercise, including the launch of a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region.
2 minute read

Russia carried out a large-scale nuclear missile exercise on Wednesday, while Sweden signed a letter of intent to export Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine. The announcement comes one day after the United States announced that a planned summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has been postponed.

The Kremlin released video footage showing Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov reporting to President Putin about the exercises. Russia launched missiles from ground-based platforms, submarines and aircraft, including intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States. However, the missiles did not contain live nuclear warheads.

During critical phases of the Ukraine war, Putin has repeatedly reminded the world of Russia’s nuclear capabilities as a warning to Kyiv and its Western allies. NATO also conducted nuclear deterrence exercises in October.

Sweden offers fighter jets

Sweden announced that the country has signed a letter of intent to export Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine. The announcement comes as European governments intensify their efforts in the Ukraine war, which has now lasted three years and eight months.

Ukrainian pilots have been in Sweden to test the Gripen, a robust and cost-effective alternative to the American F-35.

— We have begun work to acquire Gripen and expect that the future contract will provide us with at least 100 such aircraft, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a visit to Swedish defense company Saab.

Kyiv aims to receive and begin using the aircraft as early as next year.

Summit postponed

After months of stalled diplomacy, Putin and Trump spoke last week and unexpectedly announced that they would hold a summit in Hungary within a couple of weeks. But after a phone call between the countries’ foreign ministers, the White House announced that Trump has no plans to meet Putin “in the foreseeable future”.

Trump explained that he did not want a “wasted meeting” – something the Kremlin said Putin also wants to avoid.

— The dates have not been set yet, but thorough preparation is needed, and that takes time, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

The delay came after Russia reiterated to the United States its conditions for peace, including that Ukraine should hand over control of the entire Donbas region, according to three sources to Reuters. This represented a rejection of Trump’s statement that both sides should stop at the current front lines.

Shares in European defense companies rose on news of the postponed summit. Most European governments strongly support Kyiv and have pledged to increase their military spending for the war.

Swedish defense minister calls on Europe to enter “war mode”

The new cold war

Published 21 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson wants Europe to tighten sanctions against Russia and accelerate military preparations.
2 minute read

Europe must enter “war mode” and mentally prepare for armed conflict with Russia. This is the demand from Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson in an interview with the German media network RND, where he also calls for tightened sanctions.

The statements come as the EU accelerates its military investments, and the defense minister’s words have attracted international attention, not least from Russian media.

— A change in mentality is needed – we must enter ‘war mode’ to resolutely deter the threat, defend and preserve peace. Russia constantly tests our unity and determination, Jonson declares.

He emphasizes that Europe must prepare “both mentally and militarily for the possibility of war”.

The Swedish defense minister also calls for tightened sanctions against Russia and believes that frozen Russian assets should be used to support Ukraine’s military.

— Only then will Putin understand that this war threatens his own power and cannot be won, he asserts.

The defense minister refers to Russia’s alleged military losses in Ukraine. Over the past year, according to Jonson, “more than 300,000 of the country’s soldiers have been killed or wounded” to capture “less than 0.5 percent of Ukraine’s territory”.

Arms deliveries from the US

Jonson also defends European arms purchases from the United States and argues that Europe “simply does not have or cannot yet produce” certain weapons systems.

— Ukraine needs these assets quickly. If Europe lacks them, it is logical to procure them from the US, he says.

The statements coincide with the European Commission presenting a plan last week to expand joint arms procurement to at least 40 percent by 2027.

Moscow has previously rejected European claims that Russia poses a threat to the EU and described the narrative as a political distraction from Europe’s domestic crises.

French banking giant found complicit in atrocities in Sudan

Published 21 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
The al-Bashir regime was able to continue its export of oil and cotton thanks to credit guarantees from French bank BNP Paribas.
2 minute read

A jury in New York has found that French banking giant BNP Paribas, through its operations in Sudan, helped support Omar al-Bashir’s regime and is therefore liable for the abuses that took place under his rule.

Three Sudanese victims have been awarded a total of 20.75 million dollars in damages.

The eight-member jury sided on Friday with the three plaintiffs – two men and one woman, all originally from Sudan but now American citizens. They had testified about horrific events under al-Bashir’s rule, where they were subjected to torture, burns, stabbings and sexual abuse by Sudanese soldiers and pro-government militias.

— I have no relatives left, Entesar Osman Kasher told the court in Manhattan.

The trial focused on whether BNP Paribas’ financial services constituted a “natural and adequate cause” of the harm suffered by victims of ethnic cleansing and mass violence.

Provided credit guarantees to the regime

The French bank, which operated in Sudan from the late 1990s until 2009, provided credit guarantees that enabled Sudan to fulfill import and export commitments.

The plaintiffs argued that these guarantees allowed the regime to continue exporting cotton, oil and other commodities, which gave the country billions of dollars that helped finance the atrocities.

Bobby DiCello, who represented the plaintiffs, called the verdict “a victory for justice and accountability”.

— The jury recognized that financial institutions cannot turn a blind eye to the consequences of their actions, he said.

A spokesperson for BNP Paribas told news agency AFP that the verdict is “clearly wrong and there are very strong grounds to appeal the verdict”. The defense argued that the bank’s operations were legal in Europe and that there was no connection between the bank’s actions and what happened to the plaintiffs.

Previous penalty

BNP Paribas had in 2014 agreed to plead guilty and pay a penalty of 8.97 billion dollars for transferring billions of dollars for Sudanese, Iranian and Cuban entities that were subject to economic sanctions.

The US government recognized the Sudan conflict as genocide in 2004. The war claimed approximately 300,000 lives between 2002 and 2008 and displaced 2.5 million people, according to the UN.

Al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan for three decades, was deposed in 2019 and is wanted by the International Criminal Court on genocide charges.

Trump pressures Zelensky to accept Russia’s peace terms

The war in Ukraine

Published 20 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
3 minute read

Donald Trump has, according to multiple sources, urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to Russia’s demands to end the war in Ukraine. A stormy meeting at the White House on Friday was reportedly marked by raised voices, heated arguments, and Trump’s repeated echoing of Putin’s positions.

During the meeting, Trump allegedly warned Zelensky that Putin had threatened to “destroy Ukraine” if the country does not accept the terms, reports Financial Times.

Sources with insight say the meeting between the parties devolved several times into “shouting matches”, where Donald Trump used profanities and threw frontline maps across the room.

Trump reportedly insisted that Zelensky must hand over the entire Donbass region to Moscow, and repeated arguments that Putin had made in a phone call the day before. At the same time, he later supported freezing the current frontlines, reflecting his shifting stance on the issue.

Zelensky and his delegation had hoped to convince Trump to deliver Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, but the US president refused.

If the reports are accurate, the meeting can be compared to the contentious meeting in February, where Trump and Vice President JD Vance criticized Zelensky for lack of gratitude toward the United States.

Donald Trump Volodymyr Zelenskyj
The meeting between Zelensky and Trump in February earlier this year ended in open quarreling. Facsimile: Fox4

Zelensky’s position unchanged

European officials report that Trump repeatedly echoed Putin’s arguments word for word on several occasions, even when they contradicted his own previous statements about Russia’s weaknesses.

One official said Trump called the conflict a “special operation, not even a war” and warned Zelenskyy that Ukraine risked destruction.

Trump also expressed that Russia’s economy “is doing well”, which contrasts with his previous public statements that Putin’s economy is near collapse.

Zelensky commented to journalists:  Trump wants a quick victory – an end to the war – and that would be a victory for all reasonable people. Putin, however, wants the total occupation of Ukraine.

After the meeting, Zelensky stated that he had made clear to Trump that Ukraine’s position remains unchanged. Trump told Fox News on Sunday that he was convinced the conflict could be ended, adding that Putin “going to take something, he’s won certain property”.

Ukraina - ryska drönarattacker - juni 2025
While peace negotiations between the parties are marked by disagreement and stubbornness, fighting continues with undiminished intensity (archive image June 2025). Photo: screenshot/Youtube/@CNN

Donbass in exchange for other regions

Putin has proposed in talks with Trump that Ukraine hand over all of Donbass in exchange for smaller areas in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. However, Zelenskyy stated that there is still no clarity about exactly what Russia is willing to give up in these regions.

Ukrainian officials warn that giving up the remaining Donbass would give Moscow territory that it only partially controls, since the war began over three years ago.

Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of Ukraine’s foreign affairs committee, says: – To give the Donbas to Russia without a fight is unacceptable for Ukrainian society, and Putin knows that. It’s not about getting more territory for Russia; it’s about how to destroy us from within.

Trump’s repetition of Putin’s rhetoric dampened hopes among many European allies for increased support to Kiev, despite him previously expressing frustration over Putin’s unwillingness to negotiate directly with Zelensky.

Zelensky commented after returning home: – We have moved closer to a possible end to the war. That doesn’t mean it will definitely end, but President Trump has achieved a lot in the Middle East, and riding that wave he wants to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.

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