Agreed. However, aren’t the other platforms doing the same thing? It’s easier to seem smart on social media. In personal conversations, it’s a far different matter.
Upon reflection, I see where I went wrong. I actually agree with the OPs original post about Hungary, the next portion, I went overboard on the callout.
Mea culpa.
Aside from boycotting their platforms nobody really has the first clue how to take on the broligarchs but it'll probably involve pitchforks and you'll hear about it here.
You may find my paper on the deployment of systemic disinformation by the #AtlasNetwork in the Australian context worth your time, including mention of the collaboration of ex-Australian PM Tony Abbot and the CPAC with Orban of interest.. https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/mcs/article/view/8813/8267
Agreed a key insight. Prompts the question of how much the NYT has examined its own role in the campaign to overwhelm the US media ecosystem with lies?
“When the political debate becomes so personal, so repugnant, so loud, the choice to engage in it, who wants to do that? And the moment you stop engaging, the moment you stop leaning in and you stop speaking up, the capture of the state institutions advances very quickly”
It was the same in communism. It was at the beginning with the gulags and the heavy secret police, after that it was the high cost of engaging in public debate which was thus non-existent.
The deep irony is that private debate centered around US radio broadcasts continued
our brains form associations and habits automatically. It’s how we learn and adapt. But instead of using this natural process to help us understand the world better, Social Media companies use it to create addictive feedback loops.
See also "Brandolini's law ... emphasizes the effort of debunking misinformation, in comparison to the relative ease of creating it in the first place.... The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandolini%27s_law
I noted that with alarm myself. I would say I think we r much better positioned than Hungarians - who suffered under Soviets for so long and lost so many dissenters to that totalitarian rule - to not fold. giving up isn’t part of our history.
I don’t believe it will be ok by itself and I’m not sure good will prevail but I have to act like I do. I’m ready to push back. But we need places to meet.
What Orban's regime does not control yet is social media. Part of the reason, why that young pentito was able to become so popular. But as social media moguls have become best buddies with Trump, they just might do a favor to his favorite post-communist autocrat.
They have flooded, and I mean flooded, the advertisement-based social media (FB, YT) with their pretty disgusting advertisements last year before the local gov't election. Basically _every_ ad in Hungary was a fidesz ad. They spent an unspeakable amount of money on that thru multiple channels.
Jean-Paul Sartre, 1946
"Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly,
since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith,
I tell you, as a Hungarian, that he was an excellent choice, worked pretty good to keep in balance protecting US interests and stand up for Hungarian people and culture. He was way more respected than our little handpuppet stalin.
The strategy is far from new, as already pointed out in these comments. This Vox piece is from 2020, quoting a 2018 phrase.
Our epistemic crisis is lasting more than I could predict back then. Sadly, no new strategy has been put in place to counter the success of “flooding the zone with shit”.
Unfortunately, the firehose of falsehood is a very common tactic, not restricted to any country in particular. One just needs to take a look at leaked/unclassified military manuals regarding psyops, irregular warfare, hybrid warfare etc.
In particular, I recommend the book “The Jakarta Method”.
According to the research (mostly about the "Stop Soros" campaign) it has been a Russian playbook, and have been tested in multiple countries (eg. Gruevski of Macedonia). But yes, origins very probably go back to Goebbels.
"And the moment you stop engaging, the moment you stop leaning in and you stop speaking up, the capture of the state institutions advances very quickly. Hungary is an embodiment of that phenomenon."
Devo la segnalazione a bianchi.
L’intervista è anche interessante da un lato per la ottusità dei funzionari ungheresi ricordata dall’ex ambasciatore (prima cit.) e (seconda cit.) per l’uso di tecniche di ‘moral panic’ [S. Cohen, 2015 (it)] così attuali nell’uso dei social (fake, hoaks, ecc.)
Comments
Bluesky really is the “I am mainly here to let everyone know how smart and righteous I am” platform.
Off to X then?
Mea culpa.
https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/mcs/article/view/8813/8267
“When the political debate becomes so personal, so repugnant, so loud, the choice to engage in it, who wants to do that? And the moment you stop engaging, the moment you stop leaning in and you stop speaking up, the capture of the state institutions advances very quickly”
The deep irony is that private debate centered around US radio broadcasts continued
our brains form associations and habits automatically. It’s how we learn and adapt. But instead of using this natural process to help us understand the world better, Social Media companies use it to create addictive feedback loops.
https://scottsuhy.com/2024/12/23/measuring-when-social-media-stops-informing-and-starts-reshaping-reality/
https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/16/media/steve-bannon-reliable-sources/index.html
Jean-Paul Sartre, 1946
"Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly,
https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1i4w8rd/comment/m7zpb0r/
https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.html
The Romans knew
But can't make stupid smart, at least I know no effective methods.
Our epistemic crisis is lasting more than I could predict back then. Sadly, no new strategy has been put in place to counter the success of “flooding the zone with shit”.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.html
In particular, I recommend the book “The Jakarta Method”.
L’intervista è anche interessante da un lato per la ottusità dei funzionari ungheresi ricordata dall’ex ambasciatore (prima cit.) e (seconda cit.) per l’uso di tecniche di ‘moral panic’ [S. Cohen, 2015 (it)] così attuali nell’uso dei social (fake, hoaks, ecc.)
https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-add-alt-text-to-images-on-bluesky-and-why-you-should/