If you repeatedly step on the toes of groups of people who usually prefer to work in the background, you have to be prepared for reactions. This is currently the case with my work in the EU Special Committee on the Corona Pandemic [COVI].
There I had already managed last year to forge an alliance of critical MPs from different member states and different political tendencies, which has since appeared publicly at various press conferences under the name “Team Freedom” and regularly reports from the committee.
In the last few weeks we have tightened the thumbscrews so much during the interviews with various actors from politics, business and science that not only did the committee chair of the Belgian Social Democrats lose control of the internally desired narrative, but also high-ranking representatives of the pharmaceutical industry publicly Stumbled and finally, as in the case of Pfizer CEO Alfred Bourla, – apparently for fear of the questions – even completely refused to participate. Finally – also due to my persistent public relations work – an avalanche of events broke out, which is now heading straight for EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, with the EU Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in tow,
The investigation also apparently includes the deleted text messages between Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer boss Bourla. Even the Social Democratic committee chair Kathleen Van Brempt – with whom I’ve had quite a few exchanges of blows in the committee – is now at least superficially willing to clarify on Twitter.
1/3 The COVI committee will be following this case with great attention. Several aspects of the 3rd Pfizer contract deserve looking into, the text messages between the Commission President and the fact that there is no paper trail of the preliminary negotiations in first instance https://t.co/g7dlcGBmjv
— Kathleen Van Brempt (@kvanbrempt) October 14, 2022
The Empire Strikes Back?
Of course, I have always publicized all my activities within the committee via my social media channels. These videos recently reached an audience of millions via Facebook, YouTube and Telegram. However, this had consequences. When I, together with “Team Freedom”, in September, put the vice president of AstraZeneca for Europe and Canada through the wringer to the point that she could only stutter, YouTube suddenly came into the picture. With the claim of spreading “medical misinformation”, my video was immediately deleted and a first warning issued.
A few days later, another, somewhat older video from the EU-COVID special committee was “discovered” and also deleted because of so-called “medical misinformation”, including a 2nd warning and posting ban for 14 days.
YouTube now openly threatened me with the fact that my channel would be completely and finally deleted if another “inappropriate” video was found on my site.
David versus Goliath?
At this point I had to activate my lawyers. In both cases, YouTube was asked to restore the videos and withdraw the warnings. YouTube should also disclose its definitions of “medical misinformation.”
Goliath and the backwards roll
Now it got really exciting. Two days after the first lawyer’s letter arrived on YouTube, all of a sudden – and as if by magic – the corresponding video was online again and the associated warning disappeared. A few days later, directly after the second letter from the lawyer, the other video was also available again and the second warning was also withdrawn.
It is interesting that YouTube has not yet commented on the process. No explanation, no apology, no information. Viewed from the outside, everything seems as if nothing had ever happened. Only the very different number of hits between the German and English versions shows that the German versions of these videos must have been blocked in the meantime. But that was not the end of it.
The avalanche rolls and the knife falls
On October 19, 2022, the video of the latest press conference by “Team Freedom” followed. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla had previously failed to appear before the special committee, text messages between him and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had disappeared and EU public prosecutors had started investigations into the vaccine contracts.
As a result, YouTube immediately blocked the entire video of the press conference and warned me again for an alleged “violation of the community guidelines”, including a new posting ban.
Two days later, YouTube suddenly backtracked. Before a third letter from my lawyers reached the company, the video of the press conference had been put online again overnight and the associated warning had been removed.
These multiple bans and threats will probably not be a coincidence. Especially since they started at the moment when the official corona narrative began to collapse with the total public failure of the AstraZeneca representative before the special committee.
Now that even the EU public prosecutor’s office has taken action due to months of persistent pressure from my work and that of my colleagues from “Team Freedom” within the EU special committee, YouTube may not seem ready to grab a falling knife anymore and put the previously deleted video of the press conference back online as a precaution. Intransparency and obfuscation are found not only within the EU circles of power, but also in the corporate culture of globally active media platforms. It is precisely this elitist political-media complex that is hostile to us citizens, our freedom and democracy as a whole.
Against the Silent Cartel – The cards are on the table
But it is precisely this lack of transparency that I cannot and will not accept either as a free citizen or as a member of parliament and a representative of the people. As a result, my attorneys have now given YouTube a final deadline to issue their so-called “Policy on Medical Misinformation.” If this period expires unused, I will file a lawsuit against YouTube in court.
I won’t be silenced. Firstly, this does not correspond to my personality and, secondly, it does not correspond to my understanding of an MEP as a representative of the people. Anyone who tries to do this, however, has to come up with a lot more than any self-made rules that are so secret that nobody is allowed to see them.
Of course, I will keep you, dear reader, up to date on future developments in this matter and I would be very pleased if you continued to be interested in me and my work in the EU Parliament.
Kind regards,
your Christine Anderson, MEP
