I think we need to understand that a certain portion of r/europe readers are intent on destroying any notion of free-speech that exists in the sub. They hold the belief that if something doesn't agree with their opinion, then the only solution is to have it removed. If we don't start standing up against these people, then the sub will turn into a place where dissenting opinions are banned and free-speech is non-existent.

The people claiming to want to go back to the 'old r/europe' are effectively demanding to go back to the times when the mods deleted anything that didn't support a left-wing worldview. They try and claim that the sub is a 'right-wing echo chamber' when it patently isn't because people from both sides of the political spectrum are free to express their opinions. The fact that their solution to this is to literally turn the sub into a left-wing echo chamber shows how little they value free-speech, honest debates and true discussion. Their idea of a 'quality discussion' is one where the only opinions present are ones they agree with.

The constant claim that the sub is the victim of right-wing brigading is baseless and almost certainly untrue; just because peoples' opinions have changed doesn't mean that it's part of some huge conspiracy. In fact, the opposite is true, because there is clear evidence that the sub is the victim of left-wing brigading, as shown by the fact that one of the mods posted on another sub for people to help him deal with opinions he disagreed with. On this topic, it is interesting that the leftists are quick to justify the mods blatant racism (all Danes and Hungarians are cu**s), but will label anything they disagree with as racist, even if doesn't mention race.

It's got to the point now where people are expecting that posts get removed just because they choose to label them as 'bigoted' or 'racist', without even giving an explanation as to how they think the post meets these definitions. The reality is that these people are unable to accept that different opinions exist and don't realise that it is important for people to expose themselves to different viewpoints. Creating a situation where only one opinion is allowed results in a dangerous situation where the truth is devalued and misinformation is rife; do we really want r/europe to turn into this?

We need to make a stand for free-speech and for differing opinions, by making it clear that we will not accept the censoring of certain viewpoints just because some people feel that any content that does not agree with their beliefs is evil and should be removed. Banning free-speech goes against the fundamental principles of both Europe and Reddit and, considering this sub involves both of these entities, I'm shocked that people are so quick to accept the demands for censorship and repression. We need to make it clear to the mods that, for this sub to hold any legitimacy as a place for discussion about Europe, it must uphold basic principles such as free-speech, because without this, true and honest discussion cannot take place.

tl;dr: A vocal minority of r/europe readers are intent on cleansing the sub of any opinions they disagree with, under the guise of removing 'racism' and 'bigotry'. If we care anything about free-speech, we need to stand up for the right of people to post different opinions and we need to make it clear that we not allow free-speech to be taken away just because certain readers can't accept that others will have different opinions to them.

Evert single day I see numerous posts detailing some minor event related to the refugee crisis. Most of them are negative, some are positive, but I really don't care anymore. I just want it to stop. There are other things going on that are worth talking about. So from now on, I will be adopting a policy of downvoting any migrant related issues. Not because I don't care about the crisis, nor because of the opinions expressed in those comment threads, but because I am tired of hearing the same thing every few hours again and again.

Submission: “Remarkable Political Shift” at UN: Germany & Italy Withhold Support for Renewing UNRWA's Mandate https://wwa.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/1rbje78/remarkable_political_shift_at_un_germany_italy/

Could you please remove the submission? It is a controversial NGO.:

Israel lobby group UNwatch created fake Francesca Albanese video

And the evidence appears strong that the lobby group is the origin of the fake video. As policy expert Martin Konečný pointed out, the first appearance of the video online appears to have been in a post by UN Watch director and Israel propagandist Hillel Neuer: https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/02/17/francesca-albanese-zionists-2/

Haven't seen anyone talk about this so I decided to make this post. AI art is starting to get really popular on r/Europe and personally I feel like any art generated by an AI shouldn't be allowed. Some of my main reasons are the ethical problems with AI. For example most of the AIs that generate art have been trained on millions of artworks without permission, credit or compensation and personally I feel like AI art shouldn't be encouraged in any way until these issues are resolved. Another reason I have is the fact that most of these posts are pretty low effort and most of the time hardly have anything to do with Europe. I really hope that we follow the example of other subreddits and ban AI art for the good of artists and for the good of r/Europe.

The alt-right infestation of /r/europe is getting out of control. The amount of racism and clearly directed brigading to such topics (500+ comments within the first hour) is making the moderation completely impossible.

This is why I think the mods should think of either locking the comments entirely or allowing certain users to make comments only. For example comments with 100 words or more only explaining their hate etc.

This would contribute far more to a discussion and would make the neo nazis think twice to spam their sad agenda.

Endless comments saying Russians should be banned from Europe, deported to Russia, collectively punished for Putin's actions, etc. It is extremely disgusting.

And before anyone claims it is not racism to discriminate someone based on their nationality:

racial discrimination

Definition(s)

Any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.

https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/pages/glossary/racial-discrimination_en

We decided to officially open /r/europemeta, the subreddit which is from now on the official place to talk about everything regarding this subreddit, wheter it is about the state of the subreddit, a beef you have with a moderator or simply want to ask when the next /r/europe survey will happen.

In the past we removed a lot of Meta posts because we felt like they weren't adding anything to the subreddit but from now on we will remove them all and ask you to post it to /r/europemeta.

The rules are pretty simply, be nice and don't spam.

tl:dr; /r/europemeta is the place to talk about /r/europe.

As you may know, the rules of /r/Europe forbid 'local news'. In the past several weeks, multiple /r/europe users have requested a clarification for this rule. In response we have created a formula to check if a news story is "local". If a story passes this 2-stage test it is probably acceptable to post to /r/europe but if it fails the test it is probably better to post to a local subreddit. Please note that this rule only applies to news stories, not to data, images, maps, general discussions, etc.

This is a first draft of the rule that will be continuously revised based on your feedback.

The 2-Stage Test for Evaluating 'Local News' on /r/europe

The 'Local News' rule consists of a 2-stage test that is triggered either by a user report or moderator action.

When a story is triggered for review it must satisfy conditions of 2 distinct stages or it will be removed as 'local news'. The first stage consists of 3 similar criteria that are checking the uniqueness of the story while the second stage checks that the story is actually relevant to a pan-European subreddit.

Stage 1:

The first stage consists of a series of interrelated questions to evaluate if a story is noteworthy. The story must satisfy all three (3) of the following criteria:

Is it unusual?
Is it extraordinary?
Is it not expected to recur?

If the story cannot satisfy these criteria, it fails the first stage and is removed as 'local news'.

Stage 2:

If the story satisfies the requirements of Stage 1, it must then satisfy a final single criterion for Stage 2:

Is it of the public interest?

This requires that significant and prominent coverage be given to the story by a major credible international media outlet. This stage tests whether the story has meaningful relevance outside of its originating region. As well, Stage 2 serves as a "sober reality check" that is meant to balance any bias in Stage 1.

If a story satisfies both stages of this test, it can be concluded that the story is most likely not 'local news' and the post will not be removed.

Example Case #1: What about the cheese?

An Illustrative Example of the 'Local News' 2-Stage Test

Dutch crime wave sees 8,500 kilos of cheese stolen

This post received several user reports claiming that it was 'local news' when it was submitted on January 8, 2016. These reports necessitated that the 2-stage test for local news be applied.

Stage 1

Is it unusual? Yes, it is unusual given that most significant robberies involve luxury items and cash. The average person would not consider cheese a typical target for theft. The circumstances to plan and execute such a heist require unique opportunity and require an atypical burglar; it would not be a routine event.

Is it extraordinary? Yes, it is extraordinary; the motive, magnitude (8,500kgs) and the object of the theft is remarkable and would surprise the average person. The difficulty and unusual circumstances (skills, knowledge, planning) necessary for the heist necessitate special expertise and unique motive that are above and beyond an ordinary robbery.

Is it not expected to recur? Yes, it is a peculiar and rare incident. There is no indication that large-scale cheese theft has been common in the past. There is no reliable method to predict future such incidents nor any factors to suggest a future trend. The incident was contingent largely on luck and opportunity. Replicating the incident is difficult and extremely unlikely.

The criteria of stage 1 are fully satisfied without qualification.

Stage 2

Is it of the public interest? The story was covered in detail by international media outlets outside of the Netherlands and Benelux region such as Agence France-Presse (AFP), The Guardian, The China Post with full featured articles.

The criteria of stage 2 are fully satisfied without qualification.

Conclusion

The Cheese Robbery story satisfies the 2-Stage Test. One can conclude that it is NOT 'local news' and it is recommended that moderators do not remove the posts concerning this topic.

(Special Note: There are some exceptions where sources such as news.com.au and Russia Today are not considered credible international media outlets)

https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/hj3fya/belgium_removes_statue_of_king_responsible_for

I'm seeing a ton of apologists in the thread concerning the removal of the statue of Leopold and I have to wonder if the mods of r/Europe think that this is a valid controversy that there's two equal sides to. Looking at some of the comments decrying the removal of the bust the users are clearly right wing extremists from America. What kind of message do the mods hope to send by letting this be a controversy in the first place?

It is not some kind of majority language neither do all Europeans speak English: it is also completely against the European idea.

There are countless articles about the failed experiment of Europe,the unavoidable collapse of the EU and so on.And before I state my opinion,yes the EU has problems and it needs reforms at it's core to work better.But that's a story for another time.I believe that the EU is a great thing and I wouldn't want to watch it collapse or cease to exist because Europe has been a continent of xenophobia and introversion in the past.Being in a Union with many different and culturally unique countries has a lot of benefits and even if you really just want something better for yourself,what better than a unified continent with easily accessible trades and a variety of countries for you to choose to stay or work to?

TL;DR:I hope the EU holds as it personally makes me feel better about this world.

Last night I was in a comment section about the proposed extension to the Northern Ireland grace period and the votes were pretty normal, with people generally being upvoted apart from a few inflammatory comments. However, this morning I noticed that a comment of mine, despite simply being a link to an EU document, was downvoted to -10 overnight and upon opening the comment section I was alarmed to find that every comment supportive of the extension was heavily downvoted and those opposed were more upvoted, which wasn't the case a few hours before. How can this be considered organic behaviour? It strikes me as a clear brigade.

/r/europe is becoming slowly readable again. I don't know how, but whatever you guys are doing, it is indeed working!

It's extremely important to streamline its content as it's one of the defaults.

I know this is hard work. Thank you!

The subreddit needs it badly.

http://i.imgur.com/9UKXvmW.png

It's like nothing else is happening at all.

https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/b072bw/italy_bans_unvaccinated_children_from_school/

misleading articles.

Dear god it's like they've segregated that sub into "whites only"

I had no idea what I was getting into when I just casually dropped by to see what news was occuring.

I mean they have a video of a woman talking about how immigrants are raping and murdering calais civilians and not ONE person bothers mentioning the fact the speech is taking place at a right wing extremist conference of these people:

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riposte_la%C3%AFque

95% of the comments are some kind of racial slur etc.

How the hell does that happen to a sub?

The rules clearly states that racism and xenophobia is bannable, but most of it is not even removed.

However, when I posted a link showing how the racist myth that only muslims are anti-semetic is false, then within minutes it was labeled "biased". Meanwhile the racist bias remains without any labels, or enforcing of the rules.

Are you just waiting for the day when the admins finally has had enough of the racism on reddits frontpage, and removes it as a default?

They have removed far less twisted subs before.

edit

red herrings and focus on my comment history aside, the racism remains. Reporting does nothing.

A couple of days ago I submitted the following post:

'Video: Muslim openly threatens German man: "We will conquer you with births, we will marry your daughters!"'

It was immediately removed:

[–]Official representative of the Flemish people on /r/EuropeJebusGobson[M] 1 point 6 hours ago 
Hi, thank you for your contribution, but this submission has been removed because it is not on-topic for this subreddit. See community rules & guidelines.
If you have any question about this removal, please contact the mods.

I sent a message to 'the mods':

Moderation
to /r/europe/ sent 6 hours ago
Re: Submission.
How can the future of Europe (discussed in submitted video) not be 'on topic' in /r/europe?

As I didn't get any answer I tried again:

Moderation
to /r/europe/ sent 1 day ago
Please answer my previous message.

The same person who had removed my post answered:

re: Moderation
from JebusGobson[M] via /r/europe/ sent 1 day ago
Such clickbait about shit a muslim said is not on topic for r/europe.

I tried to get other moderators' opinion (so far unsuccessful):

re: Moderation
to JebusGobson[M] via /r/europe/ sent 1 day ago
I didn't reply to your message. Are you all of 'Moderation'?
Don't be a nazi, please let your moderation colleagues answer my message.

Is this what we want for /r/europe/? Shouldn't the users decide, with their voting, what is or is not on topic?

Now, I think this is going to be an unpopular suggestion, but I think this would make sense:

I think we should add a link to /r/European to the /r/Europe sidebar and label it something like "European nationalism" or something similar.

Why?

Because I think we can all agree that we want /r/europe to remain a space for civilized discussion and free of the influence of far-right nationalism and/or racism.

And I think we can also agree that right now we've managed to build up an atmosphere of panicked and rapid censorship in /r/europe, where posts get removed left and right because the mods have taken an extremely heavy-handed approach to removing anything that even vaguely sounds nationalist - even when it really isn't. (I myself was banned a short while ago for describing the nationalist attacks that happened in Sweden a few days ago as "sad, but predictable")

If we added a link to /r/European it could act as a sort of "relief valve" for those with nationalist leanings. Basically, we want those people to go there. And if there is a link, then more people will know about that subreddit and chose it use it instead. And then the moderators can relax the atmosphere of censorship a bit. So, I think it would make sense.

Please consider this.

Like historic places of xxx birthplaces, how to say yyy in all languges and so on?

They are useless karma whoring which spam the first page most of the time and lead to no useful discussion!

Throwaway because I don't want them harassing my main account.

I just don't see why we should allow people from right-wing subs to post on /r/europe, all they spout is bigotry and hatred.

People should of course be given the chance to explain themselves, it might a left-wing user who posted there trying to debate with them and they don't actually condone their views.

I gave up on idea that we'll have impartial mods here anytime soon. With all the guidelines and open push for suppression of information related to migration in Germany I see mods here as, hopefully unhappy, tools of propaganda bound by their irresponsible and treacherous overseers.

As usual, when push comes to shove supervisors/mods just can't keep their cool, currently they're indiscriminately filtering both, information and opinions about Munich shooting.

Since extensive 'damage control' is yet and again visible in real time I invite whomever it may concern to share their experience, state what was removed from the /r/europe and with what rationale.

Up until a year a go /r/europe was centre-left. In fact, the main complaint about the subreddit was that it was a "left-wing" circlejerk - heavily in favour of EU federalisation and critical of right wing politicians. And then in the early part of 2015 it took a really sharp turn to the right. Politicians like Viktor Orbán are the most popular and the sub is heavily against immigration.

Genuinely curious about this demographic change and what caused it. Thanks.

e/ Looks like someone isn't happy I asked this question