The Information State

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We're often told that disinformation is everywhere and that it's endangering our democracy. But what if the war on disinformation itself is really just a weapon to squash any and all legitimate dissent? The Information State is an incisive examination of how we reached the point where anything that contradicts the dominant narrative can be labeled dangerous disinformation. Tablet contributor Jacob Siegel charts how the technological infrastructure built to make society safer and more rational has steadily replaced democratic freedoms with systems of digital control. Commercial Internet applications now double as military-grade surveillance and influence tools. Government tech partnerships established after 2001 in response to the global war on terror took on a life of their own and now target Americans. Instead of competing for voters' support, the information state uses censorship, mass surveillance, and algorithmic