Internet (un)chained: Why cyber-censorship is here to stay

A few years after the first of the daniel chester french Revolution, jacques anatole francois thibault underwent the ‘thermidorian response’. Policies became sir thomas more moderate, the bourgeoisie came back to power. But nowadays, most historians use the expression to describe the moment when a radical revolutionary regime is replaced by a more conservative one, almost heading back to the pre-revolutionary period.

The internet has been a revolution in every country of our increasingly cyberized planet. Information is coming in from all over the world, communication is instant, new business models emerge almost daily, a nobody can become an influential personality in an instant (whether through intelligent podcasts or platforms like OnlyFans), access to books and ideas is unlimited, etc. And every country underwent (or is currently undergoing) its cyber-thermidorian moment. However, one shouldn’t forget that, not surprisingly, reports on internet censorship are written by Western organizations, such as Freedom House with its dubious links to the US State Department. Thus, the most famous internet censorship system is the Great Firewall of China, which is regularly criticized by the so-called liberal democracies. Iran’s temporary internet blackouts and Russia’s sovereign internet laws are also common targets of the West.

What is important is to look at the timeline. China is certainly the country that experienced the strongest and swiftest thermidorian reaction, creating basically a closed but coherent ‘Chinese internet’. The Chinese authorities seem to have quickly abided by Deng Xiaoping’s saying: “If you open the window, both fresh air and flies will be blown in.” They launched the Great Firewall project as far back as 1998. Iran organizes blackouts during social troubles. Russia’s laws were passed accordingly along with the growing tensions with the West.

Liberal democracies, skating along on their undeserved ‘free countries’ reputation and thanks to their mastery of propaganda, have been able for decades now to denounce online censorship. Because their system is extremely sophisticated and in order to maintain their public image, they had to be cautious. However, their own thermidorian reaction really appeared during the last five years. Gradually, certainly, but they definitely tightened the screw each time their ideal world was shaken: Reactions to the Covid crisis management, shifting climate change theories, the Twitter Files revelations, Hunter Biden’s computer, woke ideology being challenged, Russia’s operation in Ukraine being explained (one can only think about RT being banned from absolutely everywhere in the West), discussions about the physical makeup of Brigitte Macron’s nether regions, and now, the outraged caused by the Epstein files.

The two key moments are certainly the Covid crisis and the Epstein scandal. The Covid policies appeared to many (not the majority, indeed, but dissent was real) to be just a vast manipulation to put populations under constant and total surveillance. And it could have lasted for years if Russia didn’t flip the script when it entered Ukraine. It’s just my humble opinion, but Russia deserves a Nobel Prize in medicine for ending this madness. The crisis shifted from dystopian to more traditional. The Covid management experience failed.

The Epstein scandal exposes the Western elites as a bunch of corrupt degenerates – another nail in the coffin of their populations’ faith in their system. Now, most liberal democracies, especially in Europe, are fostering tighter regulations of social media networks (the main argument being the fight against pedophilia). There has been for two years a verbal fight between Elon Musk and Brussels, but now Paris even raided the French offices of X and summoned Musk to appear at hearings.     

All countries, not just China, Iran, and Russia, have their own reasons to implement internet censorship. Political, geopolitical, but also ideological. The means are also specific to each country. For example, while there’s been a rise in people being arrested for politically incorrect online speech in the UK, the French specialty is a bit different: Tax audits targeting people who speak their mind on social media. In all countries, harsh policies are being implemented against social media, VPNs, and so on. Since the First Amendment is king in the US, Americans are certainly the people who enjoy the greatest freedom online. But we always need to keep in mind that the Overton window concept works anyway, always, everywhere, unconsciously. An astonishing poll by YouGov recently showed that the vast majority of Europeans are in favor of a ban on X if the platform doesn’t follow the EU’s rules. Self-censorship seems to play a tremendous role in the cyber-thermidorian reaction.

While our generation grew up with a relatively free internet, the next one will apparently grow up among cyber-clusters, with their own social media networks (think about China’s WeChat, Japan’s Line, Russia’s MAX… the EU’s nothing so far as they are behaving like children), no VPNs, and where reality is depicted in completely different ways according to the geographic sphere of influence they move through. Without any way to get nuances and fathom a balanced understanding of their environment. The internet unchained people in some way. Until this tool stopped being the main promoter of Western ‘values’. Now, like it or not, the unipolar world is being challenged, and the internet is getting chained. Everywhere. That’s trench warfare all right.

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