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<\/p>\nThe European Union has allocated $736 million for online censorship programs while simultaneously expanding its power to punish journalists and citizens for speech deemed objectionable \u2013 often without judicial oversight, court hearings or the right to face accusers.<\/p>\n
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At the centre of the controversy is German journalist Huseyin Dogru, who became the first European citizen on European soil to be sanctioned under the EU’s sanctions regime. The 21 people blacklisted last year for allegedly spreading Russian propaganda have been banned from doing business in Europe, holding jobs or maintaining bank accounts. Dogru, a Berlin-based journalist, was falsely listed as a Turkish citizen living in Istanbul.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not just about one journalist<\/em>,\u201d said Dogru in an interview with American journalist Chris Hedges. \u201cPeople need to understand sanctions are an extrajudicial measure. They’re extrajudicial. There’s no court. There is no hearing, no evidence, there is no sentence by the court, nothing<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n The sanctions have effectively restricted Dogru to a \u20ac506 ($567) monthly allowance from his own money, a situation he described as \u201ccivil death<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n EU claims \u201cextrajudicial\u201d powers over speech<\/strong><\/p>\n The Council of the European Union, in a legal letter shared by Dogru, defended its authority to punish people for their speech without criminal proceedings. The council argued that sanctions \u201care temporary and are not criminal in nature<\/em>,\u201d meaning targets have fewer rights than criminal suspects.<\/p>\n \u201cAny complaint about a \u2018violation of the presumption of innocence is therefore unfounded\u2019<\/em>,\u201d the council wrote in response to Dogru’s lawyers, who had insisted he should be treated as innocent until proven guilty.<\/p>\n The council further cited a 2022 court case involving Russian news outlet RT<\/em> to argue that freedom of expression protections apply only to journalists \u201cacting in good faith<\/em>\u201d and providing \u201creliable and precise<\/em>\u201d information.<\/p>\n Dogru, who previously worked at the Russian-funded publication Redfish<\/em>, split off in 2022 to create red.media<\/em>, insisting the new outlet had no Russian funding. Despite his denials and his characterization of Russia as an \u201cimperialist<\/em>\u201d regime, the EU blacklisted him in June 2025, weeks after he shut down the website.<\/p>\n \u201cThe day when I was sanctioned, me and my wife \u2013 my wife was pregnant back then \u2013 we went to the pharmacy to buy medicine for her, and her cards did not work<\/em>,\u201d Dogru told Hedges.<\/p>\n Broader crackdown on online speech emerges<\/strong><\/p>\n The sanctioning of Dogru comes amid a broader expansion of European hate speech laws that critics say are being used to silence political dissent rather than protect minorities.<\/p>\n In Germany, authorities have raided the home of an activist who posted critical comments on a politician’s Facebook page. An anonymous Twitter user who called a journalist \u201cstupid<\/em>\u201d was unmasked and fined \u20ac1,000. Another person was fined \u20ac10,000 for insulting Turkish immigrants.<\/p>\n The German Green Party has proposed establishing reporting centres where neighbours can report each other for offensive speech. A task force in G\u00f6ttingen already maintains files containing printouts of German citizens’ virtual communication networks posts.<\/p>\n Despite the fall of the Stasi secret police three decades ago, surveillance and harassment based on speech continue under the guise of political correctness, free speech advocates argue.<\/p>\n Historical context and constitutional differences<\/strong><\/p>\n The European approach stands in stark contrast to U.S. constitutional protections. In the US, the First Amendment<\/em> broadly protects offensive, controversial and even false speech \u2013 a standard European courts have rejected.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the Curia of the European Union ruled that simply reposting clips from Russian media could violate EU sanctions, even when no money changes hands. Such activity is explicitly exempted from U.S. sanctions under the Berman Amendment<\/em>.<\/p>\n U.S. authorities have nonetheless attempted similar measures. The Biden administration told one American nonprofit that providing a platform for sanctioned people to speak was illegal, though it backed down after the nonprofit sued.<\/p>\n The Trump administration sanctioned Italian academic Francesca Albanese for calling for prosecution of Israeli leaders and boycotts of Israeli industries. The sanctions forced Columbia University researchers to sever their relationship with Albanese and Georgetown University to close her email account.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a transformation in behaviour<\/em>,\u201d the Biden administration insisted in a statement announcing sanctions on Russian news agencies.<\/p>\n Free speech advocates call for awareness<\/strong><\/p>\n Civil libertarians warn that the public remains largely unaware of the scope of these measures. The Wau Holland Foundation has hired lawyers to contest the sanctions against Dogru, arguing they violate fundamental European rights.<\/p>\n \u201cAs academic professionals and advocates for free speech, it is our responsibility to raise awareness about these issues and to push for a more balanced and just approach to online speech regulation<\/em>,\u201d said one free speech advocate who requested anonymity due to fear of reprisal.<\/p>\n The EU’s $736 million allocation for online censorship programs suggests these measures will continue to expand, with authorities framing them as necessary tools against disinformation and hate speech even as critics say they are used to protect those in power from criticism.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n yogaesoteric <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The European Union has allocated $736 million for online censorship programs while simultaneously expanding its power to punish journalists and citizens for speech deemed objectionable \u2013 often without judicial oversight, court hearings or the right to face accusers. At the centre of the controversy is German journalist Huseyin Dogru, who became the first European citizen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1093],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-247733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-censored-news-social-5127-en-censored-sensational-news-3480-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247733"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247734,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247733\/revisions\/247734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nOctober 24, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n