Commentary
Ah, the internet and social media! Thanks to one of the greatest developments in communications history, we have at our disposal a series of tools that should, in theory at least, have led to the promotion and sharing of a near infinite treasure trove of information and data that could have made us all more knowledgeable, smarter, and more able to face the challenges of today and the future. Instead we are inundated with trolling, disinformation and misinformation, and a weakening of social structures.
The creation of these platforms by liberal secular democracies and those who live within them has not gone unnoticed by those at the other end of the political spectrum: dictators, autocrats, and illiberal leaders who use these gateways to monitor, threaten, and punish anyone perceived as antithetical to their aims. Not surprisingly, the main players in this bunch are China, Iran, and Russia, all of which are the poster boys of closed societies which broker no opposition, no criticism….