Berin Szóka
@berinszoka.bsky.social
President @TechFreedom.org | 🇺🇸🇩🇪🇪🇺🗽 | Lawyer: tech, free speech, FTC, FCC, admin | “Resident Antagonist”—Politico | “The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right” | 🇫🇷🏳️🌈📚⛰️🥾🚣🎼 | doing PhD in 🇪🇺/🇺🇸 platform law @ Dublin City U
this should have been obvious at least a year ago, if not like eight
The headline, the main takeaway from a European viewpoint is this:
The transatlantic relationship as we know it is over. Yes, we kinda knew this. But this is now official US White House policy. Not a sppech, not a statement. The West as it used to be no longer exists.
The transatlantic relationship as we know it is over. Yes, we kinda knew this. But this is now official US White House policy. Not a sppech, not a statement. The West as it used to be no longer exists.
December 5, 2025 at 3:04 PM
this should have been obvious at least a year ago, if not like eight
Two of my favorite people. Don't miss it!
Crossover time!
On a new Tech Policy Podcast, @corbinkbarthold.bsky.social heads over to the @techdirt.com Podcast, hosted by the one and only @mmasnick.bsky.social, for a wide-ranging discussion about the state of social media.
podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/425...
On a new Tech Policy Podcast, @corbinkbarthold.bsky.social heads over to the @techdirt.com Podcast, hosted by the one and only @mmasnick.bsky.social, for a wide-ranging discussion about the state of social media.
podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/425...
December 5, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Two of my favorite people. Don't miss it!
The 🇺🇸/🇪🇺 conflict over "free speech" isn't really about 🇪🇺's sometimes illiberal limits on speech. It's about preserving "European" identity—literally, whiteness—
and exporting the MAGA revolution, as the new 🇺🇸 National Security Strategy makes clear. "Free speech" just makes it sound a tad less racist
and exporting the MAGA revolution, as the new 🇺🇸 National Security Strategy makes clear. "Free speech" just makes it sound a tad less racist
December 5, 2025 at 1:05 PM
The 🇺🇸/🇪🇺 conflict over "free speech" isn't really about 🇪🇺's sometimes illiberal limits on speech. It's about preserving "European" identity—literally, whiteness—
and exporting the MAGA revolution, as the new 🇺🇸 National Security Strategy makes clear. "Free speech" just makes it sound a tad less racist
and exporting the MAGA revolution, as the new 🇺🇸 National Security Strategy makes clear. "Free speech" just makes it sound a tad less racist
"Universities must reject [Trump's] compact ... [to] preserve the innovation, research excellence and fearless pursuit of truth that have made 🇺🇸 higher education … the envy of the world [and to] protect the liberties and structural constraints on government power that are vital to our democracy."
Commentary: Colleges Must Reject Trump’s ‘Compact’ To Protect Our Democracy https://bit.ly/48aMdyU
December 5, 2025 at 10:07 AM
"Universities must reject [Trump's] compact ... [to] preserve the innovation, research excellence and fearless pursuit of truth that have made 🇺🇸 higher education … the envy of the world [and to] protect the liberties and structural constraints on government power that are vital to our democracy."
Reposted by Berin Szóka
We have spent more than 1,000 years trying to separate the awesome prosecutorial powers of the state from the personal whims and vendettas of the head of state.
Trump’s actions and ideology seek to reverse those gains.
Here’s the history he’d like to reverse www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/the-oldest...
Trump’s actions and ideology seek to reverse those gains.
Here’s the history he’d like to reverse www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/the-oldest...
The oldest abuse in human government
Donald Trump and the ‘king’s justice’
www.ifyoucankeepit.org
November 26, 2025 at 1:33 AM
We have spent more than 1,000 years trying to separate the awesome prosecutorial powers of the state from the personal whims and vendettas of the head of state.
Trump’s actions and ideology seek to reverse those gains.
Here’s the history he’d like to reverse www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/the-oldest...
Trump’s actions and ideology seek to reverse those gains.
Here’s the history he’d like to reverse www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/the-oldest...
Never listen to Josh Hawley about anything
December 5, 2025 at 4:11 AM
Never listen to Josh Hawley about anything
Reposted by Berin Szóka
“Censorship” is a thought-terminating cliché. These people want you to believe that:
- labeling is censorship
- fact-checking is censorship
- transparency is censorship
- research is censorship
What they’re doing is redefining anything that might inconvenience a hard-right populist as censorship.
- labeling is censorship
- fact-checking is censorship
- transparency is censorship
- research is censorship
What they’re doing is redefining anything that might inconvenience a hard-right populist as censorship.
american reporters, you've got to call bullshit on this. vance, purveyor of hate/propaganda, wants the public to believe rules on, for instance, transparency in advertising and forms of deception on X are censorship.
don't fall for it.
don't fall for it.
December 5, 2025 at 12:31 AM
“Censorship” is a thought-terminating cliché. These people want you to believe that:
- labeling is censorship
- fact-checking is censorship
- transparency is censorship
- research is censorship
What they’re doing is redefining anything that might inconvenience a hard-right populist as censorship.
- labeling is censorship
- fact-checking is censorship
- transparency is censorship
- research is censorship
What they’re doing is redefining anything that might inconvenience a hard-right populist as censorship.
The Trump admin has waged war on content moderation in the name of "free speech" to bully tech companies into not moderating content like this comment
December 5, 2025 at 3:26 AM
The Trump admin has waged war on content moderation in the name of "free speech" to bully tech companies into not moderating content like this comment
Good news! Only 37% of Republicans (are willing to admit to pollsters that they) believe the Holocaust was fake news, only 51% believe the 2020 election was stolen with fake ballots and voting machines (hacked by the deceased Hugo Chavez), and only 33% think vaccines cause autism. This is fine! 🙃
December 5, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Good news! Only 37% of Republicans (are willing to admit to pollsters that they) believe the Holocaust was fake news, only 51% believe the 2020 election was stolen with fake ballots and voting machines (hacked by the deceased Hugo Chavez), and only 33% think vaccines cause autism. This is fine! 🙃
More nonsense. X faces liability under the 🇪🇺 Digital Services Act for (1) deceiving users by selling blue ✔️ for "verified" users (2) inadequate ad transparency, and (3) researcher access to data. The Commission has not moved past investigating how X handles unlawful content or Community Notes... 🧵
December 5, 2025 at 2:24 AM
More nonsense. X faces liability under the 🇪🇺 Digital Services Act for (1) deceiving users by selling blue ✔️ for "verified" users (2) inadequate ad transparency, and (3) researcher access to data. The Commission has not moved past investigating how X handles unlawful content or Community Notes... 🧵
THIS is what real "news distortion" looks like: The president of the United States bullied CBS into selectively editing an interview with him. The FCC should repeal its news distortion policy as a dangerous weapon against the free press, but if it won't, it must open a docket here
@raskin.house.gov: "President Trump directed CBS to edit his own interview after suing the network for editing his opponent’s interview, and CBS complied with his requests and omitted its anchor’s questions about President Trump’s pardons." @poynterinstitute.bsky.social mailchi.mp/poynter/top-...
Top Democrat files complaint over '60 Minutes' interview with President Trump
Jamie Raskin wrote to CBS's ombudsman, a role created in an agreement with FCC during Paramount merger to address 'media bias'.
mailchi.mp
December 4, 2025 at 1:17 PM
THIS is what real "news distortion" looks like: The president of the United States bullied CBS into selectively editing an interview with him. The FCC should repeal its news distortion policy as a dangerous weapon against the free press, but if it won't, it must open a docket here
Reposted by Berin Szóka
This is why I support freedom of expression.
Appropriately, it is the chaos of a system that supports free speech that gives rise to the grand process of democratic self-governance and the ideally upward arc of human progress and flourishing.
Yesterday a Stoppard play, today a tweet.
Appropriately, it is the chaos of a system that supports free speech that gives rise to the grand process of democratic self-governance and the ideally upward arc of human progress and flourishing.
Yesterday a Stoppard play, today a tweet.
December 2, 2025 at 12:48 PM
This is why I support freedom of expression.
Appropriately, it is the chaos of a system that supports free speech that gives rise to the grand process of democratic self-governance and the ideally upward arc of human progress and flourishing.
Yesterday a Stoppard play, today a tweet.
Appropriately, it is the chaos of a system that supports free speech that gives rise to the grand process of democratic self-governance and the ideally upward arc of human progress and flourishing.
Yesterday a Stoppard play, today a tweet.
I'm not saying that libertarianism has become a grotesque Donald Trump-adjacent parody of its former self...
I'm saying that it's become a grotesque Mike-Benz-adjacent parody...
I'm saying that it's become a grotesque Mike-Benz-adjacent parody...
November 30, 2025 at 2:04 PM
I'm not saying that libertarianism has become a grotesque Donald Trump-adjacent parody of its former self...
I'm saying that it's become a grotesque Mike-Benz-adjacent parody...
I'm saying that it's become a grotesque Mike-Benz-adjacent parody...
Reposted by Berin Szóka
Imagine being so far gone into Trumpism/Republicanism that you would say this to someone who was shot in the head in an act of political violence.
MAGA legal world, man…
Gorsuch and Grassley should be so proud.
Gorsuch and Grassley should be so proud.
November 30, 2025 at 5:57 AM
Imagine being so far gone into Trumpism/Republicanism that you would say this to someone who was shot in the head in an act of political violence.
But calling everyone MAGA hates a "communist" is totally cool
Of course, under Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), both are protected by the First Amendment because neither ”is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action"
Of course, under Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), both are protected by the First Amendment because neither ”is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action"
Elon Musk, the guy who did two Nazi salutes in public and has previously described himself as a “free speech absolutist,” thinks it should be a crime to “falsely” call someone a Nazi or a fascist.
November 27, 2025 at 11:51 AM
But calling everyone MAGA hates a "communist" is totally cool
Of course, under Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), both are protected by the First Amendment because neither ”is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action"
Of course, under Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), both are protected by the First Amendment because neither ”is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action"
Reposted by Berin Szóka
This is how you do it.
BREAKING Jair Bolsonaro, convicted of attempting a military coup and the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, is ordered today to begin his 27-year sentence
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
Bolsonaro out of appeals; will start 27-year sentence for coup attempt
The former Brazilian president will begin his sentence in a specially prepared cell at federal police headquarters in Brasília.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:18 AM
This is how you do it.
Extortion requires, more than anything, utter shamelessness—like not caring at all what the Supreme Court has said about the First Amendment or whether your filings are accurate or whether you obey basic FCC rules ajout disclosing your meetings with the FCC Chair
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
Meet the conservative lawyer causing headaches for major news networks
Critics are concerned that Daniel Suhr, the head of a conservative legal group, may be pulling the strings behind many of the Trump FCC’s moves
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Extortion requires, more than anything, utter shamelessness—like not caring at all what the Supreme Court has said about the First Amendment or whether your filings are accurate or whether you obey basic FCC rules ajout disclosing your meetings with the FCC Chair
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
Reposted by Berin Szóka
"I’m not sure people have fully integrated the transformation America has undergone: One of America’s political parties is now on the side of various autocrats; and more or less half of America’s voters either agree with this position, or do not object to it."
www.thebulwark.com/p/america-he...
www.thebulwark.com/p/america-he...
America’s Heel Turn
Whose side are we on?
www.thebulwark.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:04 PM
"I’m not sure people have fully integrated the transformation America has undergone: One of America’s political parties is now on the side of various autocrats; and more or less half of America’s voters either agree with this position, or do not object to it."
www.thebulwark.com/p/america-he...
www.thebulwark.com/p/america-he...
The FTC has claimed "that certain DSA rules might conflict with American laws, particularly regarding freedom of expression and the security of United States citizens."
Obeying the DSA isn't unfair or deceptive: techfreedom.org/wp-content/u...
And the DSA ≠ censorship husovec.eu/wp-content/u...
Obeying the DSA isn't unfair or deceptive: techfreedom.org/wp-content/u...
And the DSA ≠ censorship husovec.eu/wp-content/u...
November 24, 2025 at 11:04 AM
The FTC has claimed "that certain DSA rules might conflict with American laws, particularly regarding freedom of expression and the security of United States citizens."
Obeying the DSA isn't unfair or deceptive: techfreedom.org/wp-content/u...
And the DSA ≠ censorship husovec.eu/wp-content/u...
Obeying the DSA isn't unfair or deceptive: techfreedom.org/wp-content/u...
And the DSA ≠ censorship husovec.eu/wp-content/u...
In August 2024, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton threatened Musk & X with penalties under the Digital Services Act merely for hosting an interview with Trump--a gross abuse of the DSA. Now MAGA conspiracy theorist Mike Benz is attacking the very people who have condemned Breton and opposed censorship.
November 23, 2025 at 8:06 PM
In August 2024, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton threatened Musk & X with penalties under the Digital Services Act merely for hosting an interview with Trump--a gross abuse of the DSA. Now MAGA conspiracy theorist Mike Benz is attacking the very people who have condemned Breton and opposed censorship.
Reposted by Berin Szóka
"Enlisted personnel obey lawful orders; officers ensure the orders that reach them are lawful. The real constitutional failsafe...is the officer corps, obligated to the Constitution alone."
@markhertling.bsky.social on the military and illegal orders: www.thebulwark.com/p/what-ameri...
@markhertling.bsky.social on the military and illegal orders: www.thebulwark.com/p/what-ameri...
November 21, 2025 at 3:05 PM
"Enlisted personnel obey lawful orders; officers ensure the orders that reach them are lawful. The real constitutional failsafe...is the officer corps, obligated to the Constitution alone."
@markhertling.bsky.social on the military and illegal orders: www.thebulwark.com/p/what-ameri...
@markhertling.bsky.social on the military and illegal orders: www.thebulwark.com/p/what-ameri...
He's been inciting violence against journalists for years
Chabria: 'Quiet, piggy' wasn't a joke. It's a dangerous invitation to violence
Commentary: 'Quiet, piggy' wasn't a joke. It's a dangerous invitation to violence
'Hostile sexism' has long been linked to political violence, and no president has been more willing to publicly wield it than Donald Trump.
www.latimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:09 PM
He's been inciting violence against journalists for years
Any news distortion claim against an NPR/PBS station would require the FCC to prove that the station's management was directly involved in knowingly distorting the news. Here, if there was any distortion, it was done by the BBC, not US stations. Carrying, or quoting from, a BBC program isn't enough
November 19, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Any news distortion claim against an NPR/PBS station would require the FCC to prove that the station's management was directly involved in knowingly distorting the news. Here, if there was any distortion, it was done by the BBC, not US stations. Carrying, or quoting from, a BBC program isn't enough
This is how authoritarianism works: getting the media to obey in advance, without having to be told exactly what to do. It's working: broadcasters are changing their editorial line. Bari Weiss is running CBS News. Tech companies are rolling back content moderation. Advertisers are rolling over...
November 18, 2025 at 10:47 PM
This is how authoritarianism works: getting the media to obey in advance, without having to be told exactly what to do. It's working: broadcasters are changing their editorial line. Bari Weiss is running CBS News. Tech companies are rolling back content moderation. Advertisers are rolling over...