Critics accuse European Parliament of censorship over ‘kill switch’ to cut racist remarks

‘The European Parliament is introducing a new rule set to curb hate speech, cutting live debate feeds and removing video/audio traces of offensive remarks. A fierce backlash from press and MEPs has critics accusing the EU Parliament of censorship.
The new rule would let the chair of a debate cut a live feed from the parliament “in the case of defamatory, racist or xenophobic language or behavior by a member,” also imposing a $9,500 fine on the offender. Remarks deemed offensive could also be erased from “the audiovisual record of proceedings.”
The step apparently aims to tackle racist remarks by far-right members of the EU parliament. For instance last year, Eleftherios Synadinos, an MEP for Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn party, was expelled from the parliament after calling Turks “dirty and polluted” and comparing them to “wild dogs.”’
Read more: Critics accuse European Parliament of censorship over ‘kill switch’ to cut racist remarks