Censorship > The 25th of August that passed was a significant date — but also an invisible one. From that day onward, dozens of well-known platforms and “major” internet service providers with operations (i.e., clients) in the EU will be required to implement the DSA, the European law on content moderation. The decade between 1995 and 2005, when cyberspace was seen as a “new realm of freedom” (for some more fanciful: capitalism’s salto mortale!) is long gone, far behind us.

In a speech at the beginning of last June, Vera Jourova, Vice-President of the EU and Commissioner for Values and Transparency (yes, that’s actually a portfolio!), left no room for misinterpretation regarding what this “new censorship” really is: war!

“…The cooperation between signatories (the companies) and the large number of organizations wishing to sign the new Code of Practice shows that this Code has become an effective and dynamic tool in the fight against disinformation. However, progress remains far too slow in critical areas, especially in tackling pro-Kremlin war propaganda... As we prepare for the 2024 European elections, I call on platforms to step up their efforts to combat disinformation and counter Russian information manipulation across all member states and in all languages…”

A little earlier, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, shortly before heading to Silicon Valley for final negotiations with the companies there, declared:

“…We’re going there, but I don’t want to make it an issue, nor do I want to talk too much about it… We’ve made them an offer, and I’m pleased that some companies accepted it… I am the one responsible for enforcement. I represent the law, which is the will of the state and the people…”

You should note how “state and people” (we’re talking about the 27 EU member states...) are becoming “one flesh,” legislatively and rhetorically, in the name of censorship. This comes as no surprise to a working-class analysis: the ideological and institutional trend is clear and has serious causes. It’s not “Russian disinformation” that’s the root cause; after all, during the recent “sanitary” terror campaign, voices previously considered leading in their scientific fields were banned and censored — and they weren’t accused of being Putin’s agents! Nor will the definitions of “disinformation,” “spreading fake news,” “inciting hatred,” or even “thought crime” be limited to the war in Ukraine.

“Truth” after “truth,” capitalist systems build their disciplinary repertoire during this Paradigm Shift, which could last for decades — and they mean it: “Crackdown!!”

The DSA is a display of power — but simultaneously, it is also proof of weakness. If European elites judge it necessary to suppress by force those opinions, views, and critiques that oppose their own “truths,” it means they fear the effectiveness of their own propaganda, despite having unprecedented (from a historical perspective) tools at their disposal. And if they’re afraid, they have good reason — we understand them: all these “truths” and “new normalities” are full of holes, often irrational, inhumane.

The advantage they (think they) have is that they’ve entrusted the articulation of these “truths” to “experts,” who, even if they are “specialized idiots” (as Le Monde diplomatique once called them), have so far ensured a demagogic radiance. The disadvantage is the flip side of this advantage. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for these “experts” to hide that they’re not credible, and this has already led to a widespread crisis of trust — a crisis that, although not yet systematically analyzed from working-class or popular positions, is making the foundations of power sink into shifting sand.

Cyborg has closed its 9th year (it started in September 2014) and continues to do what is increasingly forbidden: demystify the achievements of “experts” from specific class positions. It’s out of fashion. And perhaps a time will come when not only the digital universe but also print media will find themselves face to face with “law and order.”

But censorship (and the prospect of its intensification) has never been outside our analysis...

Ziggy Stardust