Featured Articles: Introducing #PlatformPitches

#PlatformPitches is the name we’ve given to our new series of articles, offering suggestions to the Republican ticket. There are now two articles in the series:

Introducing #PlatformPitches: Our Suggestions for the Republican Ticket

#PlatformPitches: Time For A New COPS Program

NEW: #PlatformPitches: You Want Price Controls? I’ll Show You Price Controls

Thought of the Day: Don’t Forget The Disastrous Breton

A recent article by Jeffrey Westling, director of Technology and Innovation at the American Action Forum reminded us of an event that seemed to be out of the news so quickly we had forgotten about it, even though we were shocked at the time. You may recall it too: that time EU Commissionner Thierry Breton sent Elon Musk a weirdly threatening letter for daring to host a Space with Donald Trump on X (formerly Twitter).

It’s easy (and correct) to simply be outraged at the arrogance of an EU bureaucrat having the audacity to comment on an American businessman hosting a conversation with an American political candidate on an American website.

But there’s more there than just outrage. Breton’s letter, citing the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), effectively warned against broadcasting content that could potentially “incite violence, hate and racism,” particularly in the context of political events and elections. It’s not a stretch to liken it, as Westling does, to mafia-style tactics.

The problem is that, as Westling points out, these restrictions don’t just affect European citizens; they’re increasingly influencing Americans’ ability to express themselves online. Given the global nature of most online platforms, content moderation policies applied in one region often end up being implemented universally, leading to a chilling effect on free speech worldwide.

While we in the United States might take comfort in our robust First Amendment protections, Westling’s article serves as a stark reminder that we’re not immune to these troubling trends. The practice of “jawboning” – where government officials exert pressure on platforms to moderate content in specific ways – is a growing concern.

Westling is right to remind us of this event and to be vigilant lest further such moves could empower not just Breton–but his would-be American counterparts.

Policy News You Need This Morning

#AmericanManufacturing – China is trying to kickstart its slowing growth through a new spurt of manufacturing for export: WSJ. Like in actual wars, in trade wars, the enemy gets a vote, and if he says you’re in a war, you’re in a war, whether you want to be or not.

#Economics – Cato’s Scott Lincicome skewers the Harris economic plan.

#Schools – Arizona is a pioneer in ESAs, the next step after school vouchers, and a very exciting one. Cato’s Neal McCluskey has an overview.

#FamilyPolicy – Fathers are more and more active in the home. This is good for the kids, of course, but it also exacerbates the two-parent privilege, AEI’s Daniel Cox points out.

#K12 – AEI’s Frederick M. Hess: Gadget Overload Is Hurting Our Schools

#Schools – Apparently today is a big day for policy news related to schools and kids. Since Covid, a scourge of schools has been chronic absenteeism. At NR, Robert Pondiscio asks how educators can “push, pull, or drag students across the finish line.”

#Children #Homelessness – Very sad but important findings: there is a well-known link between foster care and homelessness. Marvin Olasky points out that research has found that children in foster care experience “problems with attachment and developing trusting interpersonal relationships.” And “those are the same problems managers of homeless shelters face in their clients,” he writes for the Discovery Institute’s important “Fix Homelessness” project.

#TaxPolicy – ATR: Kamala Harris Calls for Highest-Ever Capital Gains Tax Rate of 44.6%

Friday Essays

You should mostly read books by dead people. But First Things columnist John Wilson has some forthcoming books he thinks you may want to read.

At Law & Liberty, David Conway reviews Robert Tombs’s book The English and Their History and thankfully finds a book that is not dedicated to self-flagellation.

The invaluable Titus Techera asks about the future of journalism “as old institutions fall apart and old technologies fall into disuse or are taken apart and repurposed.” He is always worth reading.

“A journalist is someone who reads other journalists,” French intellectual Régis Debray once quipped. The somewhat orthodox liberal writer Yascha Mounk explains why the media moves in unison.

“A new book attempts to push back against psychological, Putin-centric explanations for Russian behavior and restore realism to the discussion. […] Analysts of Russia need not conjure up the specter of World War II but rather that of nineteenth-century Europe.” At the National Interest, Matthew Bryant reviews Sumantra Maitra’s new book on Russian foreign policy.

Chart of the Day

Percentage drop in the number of births in selected nations in just one year (from 2022 to 2023).

Meme of the Day