On October 3, Glenn Greenwald posted a tweet thread lambasting the European Union (EU) for its proposed Digital Services Act. The planned law, like the UK's Online Safety Law, is little more than thinly veiled state censorship of online speech.
The EU has enacted one of the world's most repressive online censorship laws. They're already citing their loss in the Slovak elections as proof they need more censorship.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 3, 2023
Note that the NYT says their plan is to force social media sites to censor more - including for the US:👇 https://t.co/rygsBqhxzG pic.twitter.com/uC7pnkU3Le
Greenwald cites The New York Times in his discussion of this law. This is not out of convenience or by coincidence. It is deliberate in service of his larger point. He continues:
What the EU is doing is exactly what neoliberals did in the US and UK after 2016: looked at the 2 election losses they suffered (Brexit and Trump) and concluded they can't allow a free internet any more: too dangerous.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 3, 2023
Read about the EU censorship law:https://t.co/RCVQfPDQM1
A free internet is 'too dangerous.' This is what the people in power are saying with these laws. Greenwald then returns to The New York Times and other legacy corporate media outlets in his next few explosive tweets.
Every single problem the US has; every single loss suffered by US neoliberals; every power grab that Washington craves, they will immediately blame everything on Russia to keep the population in fear.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 3, 2023
The NYT will always be their key partner in this:https://t.co/fMUy9UH1Jv
Just remember what they did in 2020. It shows perfectly how they work.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 3, 2023
Soon as incriminating reporting emerged about Biden, the CIA and media united to lie and claim it was "Russian disinformation," and got it censored.
This is the all-purpose model they use for everything. pic.twitter.com/Bz3M6wWl4s
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Also, please look at how easy it is to be a NYT reporter. Look how many of them do "journalism."
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 3, 2023
So much is based on the "US officials said" formulation.
It's state media. It's what they apologized for doing in 2004 on Iraq. It's still the center of what they do.👇 pic.twitter.com/pN3mRMia0y
'US officials said.' Make no mistake. The charge Greenwald is leveling against the media could not be more damning. They do not serve as a check on state power but as a partner in it. Apparatchiks, in the full Soviet sense of the word.
And with all of the examples he cites, in this thread and others, it is difficult to dispute his assertion.
This is what you call “weasel words”. It’s a way to give ambiguous, misleading, or outright false information without attributing it to someone specific or being able to hold them responsible for giving it.
— Black Astronaut (@Skull_Vet) October 4, 2023
— Proper Memes = = (@ItsPropaPanda) October 3, 2023
What is the functional difference between a state media outlet that reports what the government orders them to and a "free press" which uncritically reports any claim fed to them by government officials? https://t.co/qI4zuzb3Vp
— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) October 3, 2023
The answer is that there is no difference.
Fellow 'right-wing extremist' (which is left-speak for 'actual investigative journalist') Matt Taibbi also weighed in:
The definition of "disinformation" is being expanded continually, to include any media that is seen to result in incorrect political choices. https://t.co/l8I1wbQV1F
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) October 4, 2023
But Greenwald saved the real kicker for the last tweet in his thread.
Just watch for how often the most influential articles in the NYT and the WPost are 100% built on what "US officials said."
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 3, 2023
In the headline, in the text: "according to US officials... US officials warned," etc.
Once you look for it, it'll shock you how much is based on this.
This advice is like one of those 3D art pictures: once you see it, you can't unsee it.
Go ahead. Pick any recent prominent news story where the government has a narrative to push. You will find 'US officials say...' throughout the corporate media, particularly The Washington Post and The New York Times, regarding that story.
Well, when you're (one of) the de facto State Media outlets like @nytimes, you get sloppy when transcribing your beliefs and talking points directly from the morning's ActBlue email.
— xťřåbíğģğ *Not Valid In Some States (@xtrabiggg) October 3, 2023
Editors of PRAVDA are rolling in their shallow graves outside Moscow. pic.twitter.com/4lolhyyp1M
Also, “experts say…”. It’s pervasive.
— Jim Waddell (@jlwaddell68) October 3, 2023
If there is one thing for certain after events like COVID-19 in recent years, it is that the 'expert' class has completely destroyed itself.
Don't take our word or even Greenwald's word for it. Do his exercise for yourself. The next time you see a news story regarding Covid, Ukraine, China, US elections, or any other prominent national or international event, look at the legacy media and count up the number of times 'anonymous officials,' 'US officials,' or 'experts' are cited.
And then lament the fact that we no longer have a free press in the United States.
But we still have independent media. So, at least we have places where journalism still exists and thrives. Until they shut that down too (they're already trying to with the laws like the ones in the UK and EU).
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