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profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦
@profpech.bsky.social
5.9K followers 1.3K following 1.2K posts

Professor of Law, Dean of @ucdschooloflaw.bsky.social, Senior Research Fellow at the CEU Democracy Institute in Budapest, and co-director of @goodlobbyprofs.bsky.social. Usual disclaimers.

Videos
Political science 77%
Law 13%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Laurent Pech

donmoyn.bsky.social
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 10h
In 2020, the Trump administration invited Ahmed to talk about the rise of anti-semitism online.
His mission has not changed, but they have.
After Musk took over Twitter he unsuccessfully sued Ahmed for documenting the increase in online hate. Now the Trump admin is enabling Musk's censorship.
Ancient Hatred, Modern Medium: Conference on Internet Anti-Semitism Ancient Hatred, Modern Medium: Challenges and Solutions in Real Life: Activists’ Statements Imran Ahmed, CEO and Founder of the Center for Countering Digital Hate Nitzan Tamari, CMO & Chief Strategy Officer of ActiveFence Milica Pesic, Executive Director of the Media Diversity Institute of the UK and Belgium October 22, 2020

Reposted by Tom Clark, John Horgan, Steve Peers , and 8 more

donmoyn.bsky.social
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 11h
I did not understand this: one of the five Europeans the US has barred from traveling to the United States...is a permanent resident who lives with his family in the US.

Now he is worried about being arrested and deported for the crime of monitoring online hate.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...
Judge Blocks Detention of British Researcher Who Scrutinizes Online Hate
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Laurent Pech

jwmueller-pu.bsky.social
Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 1d
The road to autocracy is paved with false equivalences.
larryglickman.bsky.social Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 1d
This is not a “duel,” which suggests both sides are equally culpable, but the latest salvo in the Trump administration’s ideological war on Harvard and higher education.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/u...
In Private Letters, Harvard and Trump Administration Escalate Duel
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Anna O. Law, Lisa W. Fazio , and 4 more

larryglickman.bsky.social
Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 1d
This is not a “duel,” which suggests both sides are equally culpable, but the latest salvo in the Trump administration’s ideological war on Harvard and higher education.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/u...
In Private Letters, Harvard and Trump Administration Escalate Duel
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Steven Heydemann, Joe R. Feagin , and 15 more

adamrothman.bsky.social
Adam Rothman enjoys a good sandwich @adamrothman.bsky.social · 1d
“Like Prime, but with human beings.”
“We need to get better at treating this like a business,” ICE acting director Todd M. Lyons said at a border security conference in April, according to the Arizona Mirror. The administration’s goal, he said, was to deport immigrants as efficiently as Amazon moves packages: “Like Prime, but with human beings.”

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers, Iikka Korhonen , and 2 more

jameeljaffer.bsky.social
Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 1d
The government has broad authority to control admission but courts have held *repeatedly*, over more than half a century, that the First Amendment bars the government from denying visas to foreign citizens simply because it dislikes what they have to say. 1/
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/b...
They Seek to Curb Online Hate. The U.S. Accuses Them of Censorship.
www.nytimes.com

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 2d
Comm could start by leaving X and promptly enforcing EU law. Agreed re FoE/DSA but my point was about this specific instance where anti-free speech regime hiding behind "free speech" to coerce, intimidate & prevent enforcement of EU law. Macron's framing better imo.
bsky.app/profile/mijr...
mijrahman.bsky.social Mujtaba Rahman @mijrahman.bsky.social · 2d
This is the first time Macron has retaliated so angrily against the provocations of his alleged "friend" Donald Trump. The policy of appeasement and flattery is breaking down.

Reposted by Thomas Backhaus, Steve Peers, Mary Corcoran , and 2 more

mijrahman.bsky.social
Mujtaba Rahman @mijrahman.bsky.social · 2d
This is the first time Macron has retaliated so angrily against the provocations of his alleged "friend" Donald Trump. The policy of appeasement and flattery is breaking down.

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Jan W. Mueller, Steve Peers , and 1 more

jeremycliffe.bsky.social
Jeremy Cliffe @jeremycliffe.bsky.social · 2d
A transatlantic showdown over tech policy (as opposed to, say, net zero) could actually have a unifying & galvanising political effect within the EU. The union’s digital regulations are broadly popular and many voters actually want more, not fewer, controls on Big Tech.

yougov.co.uk/technology/a...

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 2d
They could start by not using the Trump regime's fallacious "free speech" framing. Also, "across trade, technology, infrastructure, finance and people-to-people relations, the EU and its European partners hold “cards” they can play"
ecfr.eu/publication/...
Brussels hold’em: European cards against Trumpian coercion – European Council on Foreign Relations
Faced with an aggressive United States, Europe has more leverage than it realises. Across trade, technology, infrastructure, finance and people-to-people relati
ecfr.eu

Reposted by John L. Cotter

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 2d
"If needed, we will respond..."

Just weak... and this has never been about freedom of expression as alleged by the Trump regime..

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 2d
MEDEL: [Trump/Putin] attacks "on the ICC, the international legal order and the Rule of law has not yet received an adequate response ... calls on the international community, the [EU] and its Member States to take all necessary measures to protect the role of the ICC"

medelnet.eu/medel-stands...

Reposted by Leigh Sparks, Laurent Pech, Holger Hestermeyer

stevepeers.bsky.social
Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 2d
free speech news
thetnholler.bsky.social The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 2d
Stephen Miller wants everyone at 60 Minutes who “engaged in this revolt” (aka told the truth) fired

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 2d
✊

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 2d
No need to punish yourself if you're struggling finding inspiration 🥹

Reposted by Laurent Pech

nhervieu.bsky.social
Nicolas Hervieu @nhervieu.bsky.social · 2d
Le régime de Trump frappe de sanctions personnelles :

- Les juges qui agissent contre les crimes internationaux

- Les responsables d'ONG luttant contre la haine (!)

- Un ex-commissaire européen en raison d'un choix démocratique souverain.

Ce régime est ennemi mortel de la démocratie libérale.
« Pour rappel : 90 % du Parlement européen – démocratiquement élu – et les 27 Etats membres à l’unanimité ont voté le DSA [Digital Services Act] », la directive européenne sur les services numériques, a-t-il souligné. « A nos amis américains : “La censure n’est pas là où vous le pensez” », a-t-il conclu. Des représentants d’ONG sanctionnés C’est la sous-secrétaire d’Etat pour la diplomatie publique, Sarah Rogers, qui a révélé, sur X, les noms des personnes sanctionnées. A commencer par Thierry Breton, ancien ministre français et artisan du DSA, qui a été commissaire au marché intérieur de 2019 à 2024, avec de larges compétences en particulier sur les dossiers numériques et industriels. Les quatre autres personnes sanctionnées sont des représentants d’organisations non gouvernementales (ONG) luttant contre la désinformation et la haine en ligne au Royaume-Uni et en Allemagne : Imran Ahmed, qui dirige le Center for Countering Digital Hate, Clare Melford, à la tête d’un index de la désinformation (GDI) établi au Royaume-Uni, ainsi qu’Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, fondatrice de HateAid, une ONG allemande, et Josephine Ballon, de la même association.

Reposted by Ben Tonra

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 2d
After sanctioning ICC judges, the lawless Trump regime is targeting individuals for upholding EU law. Time for EU and its MS to grow a spine and respond to this non-stop authoritarian bullying - and perhaps I don’t know, start with easy step of leaving X before forcefully applying the law to it…
claesdevreese.bsky.social Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · 2d
The US ‘sanctions’ 5 individuals for involvement in #DSA, platform regulation and content moderation, including fmr Commissioner Breton and NGO leaders.

Oppressive state behavior by the US, disguised as free speech fighting. Appalling.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Former EU commissioner and activists barred from US in attack on European tech regulators
State department accuses group of pressuring tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints through regulation of disinformation
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Arthur Geßler, Laurent Pech

claesdevreese.bsky.social
Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · 2d
The US ‘sanctions’ 5 individuals for involvement in #DSA, platform regulation and content moderation, including fmr Commissioner Breton and NGO leaders.

Oppressive state behavior by the US, disguised as free speech fighting. Appalling.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Former EU commissioner and activists barred from US in attack on European tech regulators
State department accuses group of pressuring tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints through regulation of disinformation
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Axel Bruns, Arthur Geßler, John Horgan , and 4 more

katestarbird.bsky.social
Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 2d
Nina Jankowicz: “They’re not doing this because they have any evidence of censorship — they lost a Supreme Court case that made those claims… They’re doing this because the group of researchers and advocates have stood up to liars like Donald Trump and the platforms that enable them.”

Reposted by Laurent Pech, Henry Farrell

alemanno.bsky.social
Alberto Alemanno @alemanno.bsky.social · 2d
I expect US sanctions against @thierrybreton.bsky.social
to force the EU to reverse its deregulation wave, starting with the #digitalomnibus—a gift to US companies and an own goal for European consumer and citizen protection. www.reuters.com/legal/govern... @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu
US targets former EU commissioner, activists with visa bans over alleged censorship
The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed visa bans on a former European Union commissioner and anti-disinformation campaigners it says were involved in censoring U.S. social media platforms, in the...
www.reuters.com

Reposted by Laurent Pech

kimlanelaw.bsky.social
Kim Lane Scheppele @kimlanelaw.bsky.social · 2d
The US govt wants to make the world safe for disinformation spread by US oligarchs. This is not about free speech.

Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky, Laurent Pech

davekeating.substack.com
Dave Keating @davekeating.substack.com · 2d
It begins.

The EU lawmaker who was in charge of digital affairs during 🇪🇺President von der Leyen's first term has been banned from entering the United States, because the 🇺🇸 tech giants and government don't like the EU's tech laws.

What will be the 🇪🇺President's response?
Former EU commissioner and activists barred from US in attack on European tech regulators
State department accuses group of pressuring tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints through regulation of disinformation
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Steve Peers, Edgar Morgenroth, Laurent Pech , and 1 more

jnbarrot.bsky.social
Jean-Noël Barrot @jnbarrot.bsky.social · 2d
La France dénonce avec la plus grande fermeté la restriction de visa prise par les Etats-Unis à l'encontre de Thierry Breton, ancien ministre et Commissaire européen, et quatre autres personnalités européennes.

1/3

Reposted by Laurent Pech

jeremycliffe.bsky.social
Jeremy Cliffe @jeremycliffe.bsky.social · 2d
Crucial point is that Europe does have retaliatory options against coercive action by the Trump administration. And *not* using those options is just as much of a choice - just as much of a signal - as using them.

agendapublica.es/noticia/2047...
Against Donald Trump, a Europe that abandons its illusions and wields its coercive power
For Jeremy Cliffe, editorial director at the ECFR think tank, the administration’s National Security Strategy confirms that both Europe and Washington misunderstand their relationship. In his analysis...
agendapublica.es

Reposted by Will Jennings, Steve Peers, Mark D. White , and 5 more

adamserwer.bsky.social
Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 2d
The people who profited most from the cancel culture/free speech panic were less interested in actual freedom of speech than establishing their own control over public discourse. You don't even have to take my word for it. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Every society that has ever existed has had views that are mainstream and views that are fringe. The free-speech frauds who captured the discourse over the past decade understood this, but their true objection was that they did not unilaterally have the power to define which was which. For example, in a 2018 Times column, Weiss complained that “leftists” were engaged in a “concerted attempt to significantly redraw the bounds of acceptable thought and speech.” This was meant to sound sinister, menacing. In fact, this is politics. Every faction is always trying to “redraw the bounds of acceptable thought and speech.” In a free society, the government allows people to have those arguments. Such disputes are not a threat to free speech; they are free speech. When I say that CBS News’s Bari Weiss understood this, you needn’t take my word for it. In November, shortly after being given the reins to one of the oldest broadcast-news organizations in the country, Weiss used identical language to describe her own project: “I think it’s about redrawing the lines of what falls in the 40-yard lines of acceptable debate and acceptable American politics and culture,” Weiss said at the Jewish Leadership Conference. “And I don’t mean that in, like, a censorious, gatekeeping way.” What’s the difference between her “redrawing the lines” of acceptable speech and other people doing it? What makes one “censorious” and “gatekeeping” and the other not? Well, because she gets to decide. That’s what so much of the free-speech panic was ever about: making sure the right people were in charge of what you see, hear, and read. Notably, this has very little to do with reporting the news, which is supposed to be what CBS News does. But if the point of installing Weiss was to ensure that she would gatekeep on behalf of right-wing interests, that is precisely what she appears to be doing.

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 3d
Instead of "closely monitoring" the situation, the @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu @ec.europa.eu should have activated both the pre-Article 7 procedure & the conditionality regulation months ago - see e.g. EPPO letter of Dec *2023* www.eppo.europa.eu/en/media/new...

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 3d
Got you. I think it would have completely changed the dynamics of the litigation and may have also convinced CEU leadership not to give up and not to move to Vienna prior to the judgment on the merits.

Reposted by Timothy Snyder, Joanna Bryson, Steven Van de Walle , and 6 more

anneapplebaum.bsky.social
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 3d
The CBS investigation portrays a modern concentration camp, similar to the Soviet GULAG (like CECOT, an acronym): sadistic guards, 24 hour lighting, isolation cells.
Americans once opposed this inhumane system.
The Trump administration sent innocent people there to suffer.
bubbaprog.xyz Timothy Burke @bubbaprog.xyz · 3d
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5

profpech.bsky.social
Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 3d
We will never know, not that it matters imo. In fact, non-compliance would have been “helpful” at that early juncture both at EU & domestic levels. Instead, we had to wait unreasonable amount of time for ECJ ruling before seeing Comm procrastinating further & denying non-compliance with ruling

Reposted by Laurent Pech

thegoodlobby.bsky.social
The Good Lobby @thegoodlobby.bsky.social · 3d
📩 Over 50 academics and experts specialising have written to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee to express their concern about misleading rhetoric that risks undermining constructive transatlantic dialogue on digital regulation.

👉 Read the letter here: lnkd.in/eYsjwzTv