All major communications advances have had both liberating and authoritarian uses. And, I believe, every one has been stronger on the authoritarian side than on the liberating side.
There is a widespread myth in our society that Progress is always Good.
It is not. Sometimes it is good, sometimes it isn’t. Generally it is mixed, with bad dominating.
Right now, in much of the world, the good of the telecom revolution seems poised to be swamped by the bad (and this is without even discussing the data coming in showing that the more time you spend on your phone/computer, the unhappier you are. This data is not mixed, it is virtually all bad.)
The Telecom Revolution is Mostly Authoritarian | Ian Welsh:
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