This is part of the E.U.’s Digital Services Act (DSA) that was passed last year, which mandates heavy-handed measures on international big tech corporations and sites, which effectually allows for the E.U. to force these platforms and services to scrub any content the E.U. does not like or does not want.
The WinePress detailed the specifics of this law in September, 2023. However, the bill was fast tracked with tightened regulations in the wake of the October 7th attack in Israel.
Built into the law enforces a 6% fine on all global revenue earned by these noncompliant tech companies, and this law is set to come into force starting this week.
Reuters reported last week, ‘Facebook parent Meta Platforms, YouTube parent Google and TikTok have in recent weeks announced various measures, including setting up teams to counter disinformation, AI abuse and covert influence relating to the European Parliament elections.’
The Commission will use these guidelines as a kind of check list. They are not legally binding on the platforms. The companies are free to choose how to mitigate risks.
If the platforms do not address the risks, they can be fined under the DSA.
a Commission official said
President Ursula von der Leyen said in a speech last week:
Our elections face some rising and daunting threats. I am thinking first and foremost about the interference of foreign actors. But also about the impact of new technologies like artificial intelligence, which could be used to destabilize electoral campaigns.
In this global year of elections, it is more important than ever that we address these challenges. Let me focus on what Europe is doing: first, to fight disinformation, and second, to increase transparency.
The ultimate goal of disinformation is to influence our elections, and to erode trust in our institutions. So how are we addressing this? With the Digital Services Act, Europe was first to define clear responsibilities for online platforms, to tackle the spread of harmful content and protect civic discourse.
For more on the specifics on what this bill entails and means for content creators around the world, not just the E.U., you can learn more about it by reading an excerpt from my initial article on the DSA by the tapping the dropdown window below:
The Salient Points Of The Digital Services Act
According to the bill’s dedicated website, “17 Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and 2 Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs) that reach at least 45 million monthly active users” are the first that are legally forced to comply. They are:
Very Large Online Platforms:
- Alibaba AliExpress
- Amazon Store
- Apple AppStore
- Booking.com
- Google Play
- Google Maps
- Google Shopping
- Snapchat
- TikTok
- Wikipedia
- YouTube
- Zalando
Very Large Online Search Engines:
- Bing
- Google Search
Since taking effect a slew of specific criteria has been enforced and put on “offer” for users of these platforms, some of which includes:
- Users will get clear information on why they are recommended certain information and will have the right to opt-out from recommendation systems based on profiling;
- Platforms and search engines need to take measures to address risks linked to the dissemination of illegal content online and to negative effects on freedom of expression and information;
- Platforms need to have clear terms and conditions and enforce them diligently and non-arbitrarily;
- Platforms need to have a mechanism for users to flag illegal content and act upon notifications expeditiously;
- Platforms need to analyse their specific risks, and put in place mitigation measures – for instance, to address the spread of disinformation and inauthentic use of their service.
The EU defines what they mean by “disinformation:” it includes “false or misleading content that is spread with an intention to deceive or secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm;” and such code has proven effective “during electoral periods and to quickly respond to crises, such as the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.”
In order to determine if something is disinformation, “trusted flaggers” will be contracted to aid in the fact-checking and censorship. The EU says these flaggers are “entities which have demonstrated particular expertise and competence – to report illegal content to which platforms will have to react with priority.”
Euractiv further notes who these flaggers will be: ‘Yet, these entities, many of which are likely to be NGOs, will have to acquire digital skills on top of their fundamental rights expertise in order to effectively flag illicit content to platforms – and will need financial backing to deliver their services.’
But this bill, starting February 24th, 2024, will then cover the whole spectrum of the internet by targeting platforms with 45 million monthly views or less.
EU Member States will have to appoint Digital Services Coordinators by 17 February 2024, when also platforms with less than 45 million active users have to comply with all the DSA rules.
The EU Commission added
Moreover, the new law enforces sharp penalties and fines for not abiding by it, resulting possible suspension “fines of up to 6 percent of their global turnover.”
The new enforcement mechanism, consisting of national and EU-level cooperation, will supervise how online intermediaries adapt their systems to the new requirements. Each Member State will need to appoint a Digital Services Coordinator, an independent authority which will be responsible for supervising the intermediary services established in their Member State and/or for coordinating with specialist sectoral authorities. To do so, it will impose penalties, including financial fines. Each Member State will clearly specify the penalties in their national laws in line with the requirements set out in the Regulation, ensuring they are proportionate to the nature and gravity of the infringement, yet dissuasive to ensure compliance.
For the case of very large online platforms and very large online search engines, the Commission will have direct supervision and enforcement powers and can, in the most serious cases, impose fines of up to 6% of the global turnover of a service provider.
The enforcement mechanism is not only limited to fines: the Digital Services Coordinator and the Commission will have the power to require immediate actions where necessary to address very serious harms, and platforms may offer commitments on how they will remedy them.
For rogue platforms refusing to comply with important obligations and thereby endangering people’s life and safety, it will be possible as a last resort to ask a court for a temporary suspension of their service, after involving all relevant parties.
The EU threatens
But lest anyone think that this law is only contained in the EU, the United States government has quietly given their approval to enforce the law in the states.
According to a letter by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation that affirms this effects on U.S. soil.
U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today sent letters to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Lina Khan and the head of the European Union’s San Francisco office, demanding answers regarding the degree of coordination between the FTC and the EU to enforce the EU’s Digital Services Act (“DSA”) and Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) on U.S. soil. Both foreign laws were written to weaken American tech companies, particularly in Europe. There are no corollary federal laws to the DSA and DMA, making the FTC’s efforts to conspire with foreign regulators against U.S. businesses unprecedented.
The FTC announced in March that it was sending agency officials to Brussels to assist the EU in implementing these laws, while the EU opened a San Francisco office to pressure U.S tech companies to comply with them.
Part of the letter wrote
Michael Snyder of The End of the American Dream warned about the severity of this new law that fundamentally changes the internet forever, warning, “So you need to brace yourself for a level of Internet censorship that none of us have ever seen before.” He added:
“From this point forward, it is going to become much more difficult to share alternative views on the Internet.
“I am going to need to be more careful about what I share from now on, because if I say something publicly on the Internet that offends the bureaucrats in Europe, I could get into really big trouble. And that is going to apply to every other independent journalist as well.
“For a long time, the Internet allowed ordinary people like you and ordinary people like me to share truth with a world that was desperate for it. But now the gatekeepers are exerting a draconian level of control, and the Internet will never, ever be the same again.”
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
[12] When righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory: but when the wicked rise, a man is hidden. [28] When the wicked rise, men hide themselves: but when they perish, the righteous increase. Proverbs 28:12, 28
We knew going into this year censorship would be at an all-time high and would only get worse, as this latest power grab, among others, is in preparation for much worse events to come. Though a lot of things are still yet to occur in 2024, I still see this year as the calm before the storm. I think 2024 is the final year of getting all the necessary components in place for the true catastrophes to occur in the years to come…
In the meantime, I continue to humbly ask that you please at the very least share The WinePress and pray for this ministry, that the Lord continue to grant us the opportunity to spread some truth to the saved and to the secular, and keep us online for as long as he wills, as we know the opportunity for such is dwindling.
[2] Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; [3] Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: [4] That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Colossians 4:2-4
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
The WinePress needs your support! If God has laid it on your heart to want to contribute, please prayerfully consider donating to this ministry. If you cannot gift a monetary donation, then please donate your fervent prayers to keep this ministry going! Thank you and may God bless you.
Lord Jesus,
I pray that you protect and bless my brother Jacob M. Thompson. His ministry and news outlet of Winepress News is one of the greatest blessings You have provided us along with brother Bryan Denlinger. I pray Lord that Winepress will be protected from the powers that be (global elitists working for Satan) protect him from these servants of hell that want to censor him and that he will flourish like a branch, and you will also bless and protect brother Bryan, Katherine, Oliver, Luther their dog, and his ministry as well.
Brother Bryan has been a major blessing to me and although it took a long time for me to get saved, the seeds were planted in my heart by Bryan and I thank you infinity for him as well as Jacob.
Please protect and bless them as well as the rest of Your body including me as I am newly saved in my process of sanctification and I need You more than ever before, Lord.
Amen.
Thank you!
Misinformation, disinformation, is nothing more than the speech and thoughts of another that someone else doesn’t like. Information that is usually factual. Those in the position of censoring are attempting to silence those who would destroy (rightfully so) the carefully crafted narrative they’ve created.
This is also a problem on some sites that purport Christianity that will zap your posts, and ban you if you continue. That’s a HUGE red flag that you are on a site run by a phony.
Is any informed Bible believer really unaware that the EU & big tech are appendages on the same Harlot body? Practically indistinguishable from one another?
We have our areas of disagreement with men like Jason Cooley of Old Paths Baptist, but his recent interview with Pastor Jeffrey Sapocinik of Canada is very helpful for understanding the remaining vestiges of our Baptist Bill of Rights & protections that we still have here, and which are yet different from those of the Crown & the E.U. both, giving us a bit of breathing room yet to fight & resist in this nation. Rumble. opbconline. Muzzling the Ox…
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Their advice on how to respond & to best resist against this creeping tyranny is needful & true for a generation that has no clue how victory’s like King’s Mountain were won in the American War for Independence from the old Romish European socialist-by-another-name order….by the grace & power of Almighty God coupled with the courage of men & women willing to stand on their convictions & to preach.
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When the British & Colonel Ferguson tried to entice the Native Americans of South Carolina & Tennessee to side with them & wipe out the little, faithful settlements of Tennessee, they instead acted to warn their brethren in Christ who had shared the saving Gospel with them. Think of that!
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The men then looked to the word of God & prayed before deciding on taking the battle back to face the stone defenses of the British entrenched atop King’s Mountain, rather than wait & face it at home, endangering their wives & children.
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Arrogant Colonel Ferguson sealed his & his men’s chance of deliverance or victory by boasting that ‘God himself’ could not take such a defensed position. The Tennesseans prayed, Lord, please show Colonel Ferguson who’s the real king of King’s Mountain, & charged in what should have been a suicidal charge.
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To this day, military strategists look at that one & scratch their heads: there was no way they should have won the battle.
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Now, we know what the Bible says prophetically, & that our hope is not to change that final outcome, but to hinder the spirit of antichrist’s intents & purposes wherever, & however we can: remembering 2 Corinthians 10 KJB.
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There were at least 40 persecuted preachers preaching from behind the bars of their jail cells where they were jailed for preaching the word of God without a State license or certification, & to the faithful men & women who came to hear them there…..even waving a hanky on a long stick to signal the preacher they were there & assembled to hear it when the Establishment had tall fences erected so that they could not see one another…..in colonial, Anglican-dominated Virginia.
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Not just one or two scattered voices. That boldness & number of faithful men with more believers in the same word they preached was what God used in that part of the country to cause the world powers to step more carefully…..and was the reason we got the Baptist Bill of Rights that every proud elitist so hates, in the first place. One or two voices here & there which they could easily ‘disappear’ without awakening sleepy Christians wouldn’t have cut it….but not 40 or more in the same city or county/province….representative of many, many more believing that same word they preached.
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Let’s use that liberty while we still have it to the maximum glory of God. We need some Joshua’s & Caleb’s to step up: not to slaughter, but to take the New Testament Gospel & news of both the first coming fulfillment of those things to as many as will hear it……..men to the streets, women faithfully being helps meet to the men, keepers at home, nurturing children in the admonition of the word. Taking that out, along with the prophetic warnings of that counterfeit coming first, & the hard things & judgment facing those left behind & buying that antichrist stuff & hope even now which that BAD deal yoking with the mixed bag Fundamentalists & Augustinians with their false & limited doctrine.
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Let’s challenge those jaded & comfortable, but cowardly & apathetic in what remain of places where God’s faithful chose to meet to come out of her. And, have the guts to come out ourselves.
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We need to come out of her. We need to be acting wisely, with repentance & prayer as the Lord makes us aware through the word & its faithful preaching, & as men like Bryan & Jacob faithfully bring it to us.
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Not taking it out hypocritically or under false, self-serving pretenses as the many infiltrators & pretenders of the ongoing counter-Reformation & arrogant Alexandrian- corrupted & inquisitional spirit of Rome….but humble & real, yet brave & courageous: prepared & able to handle the confrontation, attacks, slanders, temptations to react illegitimately & outside the bounds set by God in his word (and I ain’t talking John MacArthur’s & Rome’s ‘respect for authority’).
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We need to be hear more of what the real Peter was doing & preaching in Acts: we ought to obey God rather than men; & remembering Jesus’ words to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, & to God the things of God. Look up through the lens of scripture. There’s nothing but darkness, waves & storms …& that worsening….all around us otherwise.
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We need to resolve that if we must die in these last battles of a dying world, that we will die with our boots on, fighting, facing the enemy & fighting…..not taking it in the back.
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We need to fight soberly, not as those beating the air or speaking great swelling, but empty words.
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Not whimpering in the closet, or trampled in the press for food in the rush to the God-destroyed Assyrian camp filled with food like those faithless, faith-discouraging guys who hindered in the Old Testament days when the Lord’s judgment threatened through pagan rods & tools judged in their turn. Remember who was faithful enough to let Jerusalem know of the slaughter & spoil: it was the lepers, the despised of the world & those seen as afflicted & forsaken of God.
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Quit you like men. Faithful men. And women worthy of being the helps meet for such men, & such a Savior as he wraps us in his strength & righteousness, even we undeserving, wretched worms such as we were before he came & we received his undeserved mercy.