Last week, following Prime Minister Orbán’s joint press conference with Deputy Prime Minister Salvini, I tweeted a photo of the PM with one of his statements from the press conference. Here’s the photo and the quote:
“We have to protect Europe’s borders against the migration invasion.”
Yesterday, I received an email message from the Twitter overlords that began:
“We have received a complaint regarding your account, @zoltanspox, for the following content.”
Then it showed me my tweet quoting PM Orbán saying that – God forbid! – “we have to protect Europe’s borders against the migration invasion.”
Evidently, a pro-immigration Twitter vigilante reported me. Was it because my Tweet said that we have to “protect Europe’s borders”? Was it because it included the words “migration invasion”? Or was it simply because it quoted one of Europe’s most popular prime ministers, Viktor Orbán, a political leader that hard-core liberals cannot abide?
Whatever.
The happy news – at least this time – is that Twitter “investigated the reported content” and “could not identify any violations of the Twitter Rules or applicable law. Accordingly, we have not taken any action at this time.”
We have reached a point where we cannot have a frank and honest, public conversation about the challenges we face today. Yes, Prime Minister Orbán has used the word “invasion” on a number of occasions in talking about the migration crisis. Hungary, as a country on the external border of the EU, has been on the front lines. When hundreds of thousands of migrants arrive at your border with the explicit intent of crossing your border – criminally or violently, if necessary – to enter the EU illegally, call it what you want. We call it an invasion.
We’re not going to let unaccountable liberals dictate what we think or how we form judgments. “Today, liberal democrats have become the enemies of freedom,” stated the PM just a few days ago, in an interview with La Stampa.
They have created a system of thought – political correctness – that demands that everyone respect it. Anyone who challenges the thesis of political correctness cannot be a democrat, must be intolerant; but this position is in itself a violation of freedom of speech and freedom of thought.
This time, Twitter let it go. Next time?