Attempts to Censor People Are a Sign That Arguments Were Lost, Gagging the Opposition Attempted Instead
2017: Immunity of the Intellectual Property Office of the European Union Causes Outrage in Spanish Media (because nobody is above the law)
Our previous article serves to show that no matter how supposedly "prestigious" an institution may be, it can still be corrupt and intolerant of criticism.
Why did the EPO become like that? When did it become like that? Well, we've told the story of the EPO for over a decade already, based on exclusive material (he had covered it beforehand, but not based on any leaks and/or whistleblowers).
Generally speaking, one thing a person learns by observation online and offline is that censorship is like the "last resort" or a loser's "recourse"; when you fail to convince people you're right, you then become eager to just censor those you disagree with.
There are many reasons this approach does not work and typically backfires:
- First, as we've seen in the EPO before, any time the union leaders or staff representation get repressed in some way, that becomes like a "recruitment tool" for revolt, such as industrial action
- People "out there" become even more curious about the suppressed information (and find some way/s to locate it regardless)
- It emboldened existing or remaining critics to become even more critical or more actively critical; after the EPO had attempted to censor us we escalated things; we've promised ourselves to write a lot more about the EPO (as we have)
- Truth tends to prevail, eventually, even if that necessitates more people coming along and saying the same thing
This is universally applicable (a truism at the EPO for sure); when society loses the ability to speak or study (what other people speak or spoke about) it reaches a point of breakdown, then some kind of revolution. The father of António Campinos thought he was a revolutionary and died young; his grandson, named after him, got arrested for drunk driving. Will the EPO President ever be busted for drug use? Stay tuned, as EPO staff shared with us all sorts of stories. █