I have been consuming content from several social media platforms for some time. Some disturbing patterns are arising, which is an assault on our fundamental values, and our freedom. Who thought, since the cold war, that nuclear war was common news? On social media, it’s normalized like the weather, or how good the latest show on TV was? Scarily effective, the patterning leads to pre-defined outcomes.
If you speak the language targeted, or your digitally engaged neighbors speak the language targeted by these digital authoritarians, then you are targets too. As indirect is it sounds, to ignore this is to delay its effects, while it manifests elsewhere. Not a pleasant fact, and easy to ignore until it is not, or it is too late.
We must decide how we deal with this change in our societal environment. Being honest, there is no one correct choice. As my dearly departed uncle used to say, “the more I learn, the less I know”. I adopted ordered-humility in addressing such issues, which was my correct choice. It allows me to see the patterns on social media, which points to some scary outcomes.
Disinformation’s Assault on Freedom
On Twitter/X, disinformation, mainly fuelled by disinformation specialists, useful fools, and bots, has an obvious pattern of intimidation to support Putin’s Russia. They are threatening nuclear war, should we dare have a voice of our own? The response from freedom loving patriots in the West and some to the East has been aggressive.
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Their general message is simple: attack us with nukes, and you all die. This latest wave of disinformation around nuclear war results from a second major disinformation campaign by Russian surrogates. They proffer it against English speaking social media platforms who allow it (aka. Twitter/X).
The second example I offer is the suppression of free speech and also free thinking. Donald Trump is a villain who has gorged on his upper class status in American society. He has gotten away with more than is right to allow. Not withstanding this, a larger threat is afoot. Russian-backed surrogates place themselves as key actors in target nations.
As ordinary (MAGA) Americans in digital subversion campaigns favoring Donald Trump up the ante through suppression of free speech, they are in effect serving foreign interests hostile to the United States. To illustrate, I offered an opinion on Twitter/X in reply to the novelist, Stephen King. I suggested Kamala Harris, when shopping for her US election victory, buy a cape and goggles for her arduous task ahead. In playfulness, I also suggested she shop for an orange jumpsuit for Donald. It would match his make up.
Digital Freedom is not Free
While the comment had some humor thrown in, Twitter/X’s algorithm detected a match to contention, and circulated it to those in favor, seeing it quickly boosted to 2k impressions. As those in favor saw it in their feeds, those against her received it on Twitter/X.
At c.2.5k impressions, that is when humans and bots struck my reply with tailored disinformation posts to suppress any expression of further support. From their posts, I noted aggressive, inflammatory, yet open-ended scripting, designed to spurn me into an equally contentious and bigoted response.
This is an example of manipulation of human psychology in the group process, and it routinely occurs on Twitter/X for those picked up by the algorithm. I ignored their scripted nonsense and reposted it the following morning, along with a disinformation tutorial. It as an illustrative example of how to deal with disinformation.
As a threat to nations from lessor trained, equipped, and ready aggressor nations require a competitive edge, digital means are their tools of choice. My simple example on Twitter/X shows that by just ignoring it, Twitter’s algorithm does not create self perpetuating conflict by digital means.
My reply post’s meteoric rise to c.2.5k impressions in a single day fell to c.200 impressions in the following 2 days. Their vile posts throttled my reply’s circulation on Twitter/X, which is an effective suppression of free speech. Digital authoritarians appeared to have won on social media.
Knowing what we know, if we all ignore hateful disinformation, misinformation, and trollish posts, Twitter/X, as their algorithm stands, will have no business. They need hate and contention to attract audiences via impressions boosting (aka. circulation).
Freedom’s Future Lies With Us
These two examples covered above illustrate a disturbing pattern. They belong to a pattern of normalization of conflict escalation and specific destruction at scale. It’s a pattern of normalization that has grey areas, which are hard to see. One that stands out is namely specific, and not total destruction. Either side is threatening each other’s lands with nukes, but not recognizing their own risks.
While outrageous to the average person, this fits into a scaled strategy that powerful neo-conservative bodies in particular would find attractive. Find a powerful shadow organization who believes in breaking our world and fixing it in their image. Identify those organizations, and you will have the likely orchestrators of patterns like this.
Fear is a great inhibitor, and anger is a great motivator. These psychological facts underwrite the development and implementing of hybrid warfare strategies involving digital subversion. While it sounds like a sequel to my novel, its real world equivalents are where we need to pay attention to. The cost is otherwise too great.
About the Author
John is a versatile author known for his gripping fiction narratives in the thriller, action, and suspense genres. With a background as a journalist since 2016, and expertise in cloud technologies as an engineer; John brings a unique blend of storytelling prowess and technical acumen to his work.
