Speaking during the session, Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador decried the erosion of principles that held Western democracies together, rendering them a shadow of their fronted image.
As the UN General Assembly Meeting 79th session resumes in New York, the United States, attended by heads of state the world over, the world is dangerously dangling in the praecipes of complete erosion of basic freedom of expression.
This might have sounded like a wild conspiracy a decade ago, but verifiable evidence, especially in the recent past has proven this beyond a doubt.
Forced censorship on social media by governments and muzzling of opposition voices were initially associated with authoritarian states, while the West, tagged the free world were always champions of democracy and waged war on states they dimmed undemocratic.
“Tragically we can see the undeniable evidence of this decline every day. The threats of new wars continue to grow. When the free world became free, it was thanks to the principles of freedom of expression, equality under the law, unity, and respect for private property,” President Bukele said.
He highlighted that the consequences of the erosion of these principles are currently playing out.
“We can see them. In some cities in the so-called first world, the streets no longer belong to the people. They have fallen prey to homelessness, gangs, organized crime, and drugs,” he said.
He further opined that the West cannot claim to be the “free world” if its citizens are not free to walk the streets without fear of being harassed, robbed, or killed.
“We are also witnessing how freedom of expression is eroding in real-time. Just a decade ago, the West was a bastion of freedom of expression. And now it is lectured by the people it once denounced.
The largest social media platforms in the world have been forced to censor their users at the behest of the governments. Citizens from Western countries have been arrested for sharing posts on social media. The ruling parties have attempted to prohibit their political opposition. These are verifiable and well-documented facts,” he added.
This comes in the wake of X’s legal battles with the Brazilian government on compliance with standards and Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s recent arrest by French authorities for failing to regulate information in the channel. British citizens were also jailed for social media posts that stirred up far-right violence.
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