this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2026
57 points (84.3% liked)

Europe

10267 readers
852 users here now

News and information from Europe πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Ί

(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)

Rules (2024-08-30)

  1. This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
  2. No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
  3. Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
  4. No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism. We follow German law; don't question the statehood of Israel.
  5. Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
  6. If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
  7. Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in other communities.
  8. Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
  9. No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)
  10. Always provide context with posts: Don't post uncontextualized images or videos, and don't start discussions without giving some context first.

(This list may get expanded as necessary.)

Posts that link to the following sources will be removed

Unless they're the only sources, please also avoid The Sun, Daily Mail, any "thinktank" type organization, and non-Lemmy social media (incl. Substack). Don't link to Twitter directly, instead use xcancel.com. For Reddit, use old:reddit:com

(Lists may get expanded as necessary.)

Ban lengths, etc.

We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.

If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 7 or 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.

If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the primary mod account @EuroMod@feddit.org

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
federalreverse@feddit.org
poVoq@slrpnk.net
anzo@programming.dev
EuroMod@feddit.org
57
Petition to add Politico (and Axel Springer media in general) to the banned media list (discuss.tchncs.de)
submitted 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) by CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de to c/europe@feddit.org
25 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Politico is owned by the german Axel Springer SE, a publisher that also owns Bild, Fakt (polish) and Welt among others.

The publisher and its news outlets (with the aforementioned Bild, Fakt and Welt most prominent) is a main driver for a news coverage and reporting that is jointly responsible for the rise of the far right in Germany and Europe.

Politico itself has published so-called Native Ads, a form of advertisng that is designed like op-ed articles and other opinion pieces in a way that is hard to differeentiate from regular, non-sponsored content, mostly for fossile fuel companies but also healt insurance, finance and weapons industries. (Source 1, Source 2).

That sums up to a news outlet that should not be shared, not be trusted and hence, not be posted here. It was not an issue mostly since this outlet wasn't posted here often , but recently, Politico articles are getting posted very frequently again, so I suggest the ban now.

Edit: lost a word

Edit 2: it should be noted that there is another publisher with a similar name (Springer Nature with several subsidiaries), but that company os not affiliated with Axel Springer SE and has different issues.

top 25 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] bossito@lemmy.world 11 points 3 hours ago

It's not like there's an abundance of EU focused titles. They often have good and pertinent articles, just judge by article.

Outright banning one of the most influential sites in the EU bubble is just making this corner of the internet even more blind sighted by extreme left orthodoxy instead of being a corner of healthy and interesting debate.

[–] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 5 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

Is there any option between banning and doing nothing? I do get the impression that some of their articles are decent, and I would agree that they're not that right wing in general (in contrast to Bild and Welt).

[–] CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 3 hours ago

Some news outlets are being removed only when the articles are about certain topics and Xitter is only to be linked through xcancel. But besides archive.org I don't know what would provide access to articles without giving Axel Springer the click. And AFAIK automatic flags like "Treat article with caution due to [factor]" don't exist in Lemmy.

[–] catharso@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 5 hours ago (3 children)

i think it is necessary to occasionally see what 'the other side' is pushing, just to be prepared.

so i'd say autotagging posts pointing to certain domains with a "warning" label (like for example https://ground.news/ is doing) might be the better approach.

but lemmy afaik does not have a feature like this; so banning might be the next best thing πŸ€·πŸ»β€β™€οΈ

[–] CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

I wouldn't care if it was every now and then, but recently the frequency of Politico articles being shared here has skyrocketed - mostly by a single user, but I have seen them being posted by others, too.

[–] cyberblob@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 hours ago

Banning newspapers? What are we talking about? Wtf

[–] Pip@feddit.org 1 points 4 hours ago

Yes, they have some well written and researched articles, which I shared.

[–] Pip@feddit.org 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Zombie@feddit.uk 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Pip@feddit.org 5 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

The wikipedia article section this links to highlights that the publisher endorses : US European alliance, reconciliation between Germans and Jews, support for Israel, European integration, oppositikon to PiS. Not exactly a far right rag then.

[–] Zombie@feddit.uk 2 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

You're so deep down the Overton Window that none of those things register as explicitly far right to you?

US European alliance

America is snatching people off the streets, silencing dissenting voices, threatening countries with both economic and military attack, and building concentration camps.

support for Israel

Israel is a genocidal ethno-state.

The 2025 letter has been signed by over 7500 citizens, 400 academics, includingΒ 31 Nobel Prize winners.

As in 1925, we scientists, philosophers, writers, artists and citizens of the world, have a responsibility to denounce and resist the resurgence of fascism in all its forms. We call on all those who value democracy to act:

  • Defend democratic, cultural and educational institutions. Call out abuses of democratic principles and human rights. Refuse preemptive compliance.
  • Join collective actions, locally and internationally. Boycott and strike when possible. Make resistance impossible to ignore and costly to repress.
  • Uphold facts and evidence. Foster critical thinking and engage with your communities on these grounds.

https://stopreturnfascism.org/english/

[–] Pip@feddit.org 3 points 3 hours ago

Nope, the wikipedia article referred to the transatlantic alliance which Trump and others are now dismantling. That is what the publisher endorsed : the transatlantic alliance established after WWII.

Support for the existence of Israel is mainstream, yes. Even though it committed war crimes that will probably soon be judged as a genocide by court.

Fully with you on fighting fascism. Not the same as fighting conservatives and the center right.

[–] First_Thunder@lemmy.zip 0 points 3 hours ago

Maybe forcing every title with politico to have [Warning] as the next best thing

[–] edens_zero@feddit.org 5 points 4 hours ago

Maybe instead of banning, add a disclaimer tag instead? I have no idea about the overhead for the moderators or if automation is a possibility.

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 5 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

We use Politico all the time as a generally reliable source on Wikipedia. The sponsored content is obviously shitty, but it's clearly distinguished by its "Sponsored" mark. If that goes, then banning it as a source might be a level-headed response.

[–] tja@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 hours ago

That page says

Politico is considered generally reliable for American politics. A small number of editors say that Politico is a biased source.

So maybe that small number of editors is correct

[–] Zombie@feddit.uk 5 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

And yet, if you read Wikipedia's own pages on Politico and Axel Springer it is clearly not a reliable source...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politico

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_Springer_SE

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 4 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

We're keenly aware of Politico's controversies when we use them as a reliable source. We consider them to have a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy, and sorry to say, we're generally better at sussing that out than most people – not inherently but because that's what years of writing encyclopedic prose does to a mf.

[–] CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

In your list, Politico is classified as a reliable source specifically on the topic of american politics. This community is only about american politics when they are affecting Europe directly. And if I understand your definition of a reliable source correctly it is about whether events and relevant topics are mentioned and not about how they are framed, right? So take the facts out of sources but do not automatically accept the framing of the facts from the source, am I correct?

Also, this isn't only about the factuality and bias, it is also about denying Axel Springer the clicks.

[–] Zombie@feddit.uk 1 points 3 hours ago

Is the average social media user capable of sussing out fact from fiction as rigorously though?

This discussion is about their potential for propaganda and viewpoint manipulation on Lemmy after all, not as a citation in an encyclopaedia.

Of their many daily articles how many would be deemed acceptable to Wikipedia and how many not? There must be a ratio where Wikipedia calls time. As Wikipedia only picks the parts that are relevant, the untrustworthy articles would be ignored. That's not the case on social media though where some users are spamming articles as if it's an RSS feed.

As Lemmy/PieFed grows in users, the likelihood of bogus articles climbing up people's feeds, legitimising the articles, also increases.

This is an issue that needs nipped in the bud earlier rather than later IMO.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Is there such a list to begin with?

Also fuck Axel Springer.

[–] CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 3 hours ago

Yes, in the community sidebar.

[–] Pip@feddit.org 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Politico Europe as a main driver of the far right, which it persistently criticizes, investigates and denounces.

Why are you on this vendetta?

https://ground.news/interest/politico-europe

[–] CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de 0 points 4 hours ago

That is not what I wrote. Don't rip stuff out of context.

[–] jlow@discuss.tchncs.de 0 points 4 hours ago

+1