Merkel is already adopting the Obama strategy by blaming Putin for any potential loss in the election. She is going much further, perhaps because she grew up in Eastern Germany and sees no problem grabbing more power. Her party, the CDU , claims that the ambitions of Vladimir Putin are to defeat her in the elections this fall in the Bundestag, ignoring that the CDU has been coming in third place. Angela Merkel now says that disinformation is being sent over the internet to dethrone her. Therefore, the CDU wants full censorship in Germany and is planning to impose incredibly strict rules for all communication on the internet. She is claiming any negative news is really instigated by agents of Russia. That will probably include this site, despite the fact our model is not influenced by any human intervention, no less Putin.
The way sources are saying she is drafting this Draconian measure can even capture people who do not work for Merkel. It seems that everyone prefers to blame Putin for losing an election rather than simply looking at their own actions. Therefore, the CDU wants to control all communications on the internet. In the United States, the CIA has classified some 200 websites as supporting Russia and have created a watch-list. These websites were then divided into two main categories: official Russian state media and “useful idiots.” This was done AFTER the election.
In Germany, Michael Grosse-Brömer has accused Russia of planning to influence the election: “A departure from Merkel would be a success for Putin.” Exactly how that would benefit Putin is not clear. All governments are turning against their governments because they have grossly mismanaged the economy and the refugee crisis. Merely proclaiming that Putin is behind manipulations and disinformation in social networks is very easy to make and the press will support whatever the government tells them.
Proposals are already circulating to impose financial penalties if a company does not immediately delete criminal content and hate speech. The SPD faction leader Thomas Oppermann has called for a serious action against Facebook, “I believe that Facebook has to be obligated to delete these, or to provide them with the same range as the fake representation, in the case of proven false declarations, invented messages.” Of course, hate-speech is very broad and can be applied to anyone who disagrees with the refugee policies. How can such censorship be applied on a global basis? Will all analysis of political and economic trends be deemed subversive?
The CDU is also targeting Google, which also operates the video platform Youtube. After all, it was the BREXIT movie that was on YouTube. The CDU says it is unacceptable and that YouTube cannot control in advance what people see. There are those in European politics that are now advocating full-blown censorship fearing the collapse of the EU as well. There seems to be a movement to deny the right to the truth or free speech brewing under the pretense that they claim it is Putin.
What happens if the BBC operated by the British government does a negative piece of Merkel? In Germany, the Deutsche Welle is directly subordinated to the Chancellor’s Office. State propaganda is acceptable, but anyone who disagrees is somehow now an agent of Putin. This is one of the last rungs a government breaks before it becomes the enemy of the people.
