BLUF: The journalists behind the Twitter Files have exposed a censorship industrial complex, using mis/disinformation as a pretext, and now global governments are implementing laws to further censor online speech, posing a systemic threat to democracy.
The article discusses the Twitter Files, a series of journalistic reports that expose the US government’s cooperation with Twitter, and the subsequent formation of the Censorship Industrial Complex, which is built on vague definitions of mis/disinformation and is being replicated by governments globally. The article argues that the new complex resembles McCarthyism and leverages wartime expansions of government authority towards domestic goals. Several global governments have already passed or are proposing laws to filter and promote streamed media, censor online speech, and imprison those who spread “fake news.” The article cautions that these anti-democratic actions pose a systemic, unified, and global threat.