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Against terrorism, we call on the European Union to open its eyes

 

Do we have attention deficit disorder? Are we able to focus on several topics at the same time? In Europe, the question deserves to be asked: at the time of writing, the health crisis and its economic consequences are occupying European minds, which is legitimate. A majority of us believe that the climate crisis and the epidemic of authoritarianism should not be overlooked. A majority of Member States and European parliamentarians is good, but it is not quite a consensus.

But the absolute priority is to act for the fight against terrorism which has just come to our face with the barbaric assassination of Samuel Paty. In this area, strong European action is expected, quickly.

Think about it:

Until last year there was a remarkable commissioner for the fight against terrorism, the Englishman Julian King. That he left the Commission because of Brexit, everyone understands. What we understand less is the person who has taken over his attributions, in the baroque organization chart of the current Commission.

It does not matter, it will be said, if the acts are there. And precisely, these acts, we expect them. It has been two years since the Commission proposed a regulation on the prevention of the dissemination of terrorist content online. Two years ! And negotiations are still ongoing between the Council and the European Parliament. Our predecessors took a long time, a long time, to adopt a position. Many did so with the noble and shared concern of preserving freedom of expression. Others, like the National Rally, out of systematic detestation of everything the European Union offers.

To all of us we want to say: open our eyes. We all want to protect freedom of expression. It is precisely this that terrorism attacks. Samuel Paty’s beheading did not happen by chance: it was because he taught freedom of expression that a terrorist assassinated him.

It is urgent that the regulation on the removal of terrorist content online be adopted. Negotiations between Parliament, Commission and Council are finally starting. Let it succeed, quickly!

But we must go further. The tragedy of Conflans teaches us this: the assassin fed his hatred on the Internet and spread it there before taking action. The victim was named and the opprobrium cast on her by social networks. All through content which, without being illegal, carries hate. They are called “harmful content” and some still want nothing to be done about them. In Conflans, these messages led to the death of a man. We are not allowed to sit idly by. At a time when the Commission must present a new digital regulation, it is urgent to go further in the accountability of platforms and the establishment of clear rules at European level for the management of hate content.

It is up to us, to the public authorities, preferably at European level because at 27 we have more weight, to know how to tell the Internet giants what we want and what we do not want. We cannot let platforms decide on their own what to broadcast and what to get. We Europeans are able to show the right balance between the law of the jungle and the lack of American regulation on the one hand and Chinese state censorship on the other.

Finally, the fight against terrorism, we must also know how to take it outside the borders of the European Union. In the Sahel, in the Levant, European troops are present. Within a few months, French special forces will be joined in Mali by soldiers from Sweden, Estonia, the Czech Republic and others. Let us know how to recognize it and let us know how to be grateful. Those who say that we are alone in the struggle insult those who risk their lives by our side.

But the struggle can and must take other forms as well. Since the assassination of Samuel Paty, there have been “personalities” outside Europe to dare to justify barbarism or to excuse the murderer. Let us name a few: Rachid Khiari, Tunisian deputy; Zelim Imadaev and Albert Duraev, Chechen wrestlers; Roshan M Salih, British journalist; Ali Muhiddin Al-Qaradaghi, Iraqi-Qatari preacher. And let’s name their behavior: that’s what the accomplices of an assassin look like. We solemnly ask that those who have justified or trivialized terrorist violence be banned from entering the entire Schengen area. That all the interior ministers agree to block their access to the European Union. They are not welcome there.

Islamist terrorists have a very specific goal: to frighten us, to divide us and to submit us. The richness of the European Union consists in dealing with a thousand subjects, in a thousand ways and in engaging in an open debate. The tragic Conflans attack should not make us change who we are, but it reminds us that faced with an ever-present threat, we must focus our attention, assume our determination and step up our action. We, MEPs of the Renaissance delegation, are determined to convince and to act.

* Nathalie Loiseau, President of the Security and Defense Sub-Committee, and Fabienne Keller, Member of the Civil Liberties Committee at the European Parliament

Co-signatories: Stéphane Bijoux, Gilles Boyer, Sylvie Brunet, Ilana Cicurel, Jérémy Decerle Laurence Farreng, Sandro Gozi, Christophe Grudler, Bernard Guetta, (Vice-president of the European Parliament’s Commission on Human Rights) Valérie Hayer, Pierre Karleskind , Dominique Riquet, Stéphane Séjourné, Irène Tolleret, Véronique trillet- Lenoir, Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, Stéphanie Yon-Courtin

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