While we’ve all had a lot of fun being distracted by Elon Musk and his Twitter takeover, which may or may not be on hold, at least for now, there are a few things that you might have missed. We may also be at the juncture of a new era in tech.

 

Remember when Marc Andreessen famously said that software is eating the world?

 

He was right and it seems that its appetite is insatiable. Software was intended to make our lives easier, but it seems to be taking a different path and stepping over the line when it comes to global politics and arenas in which it does not belong.

 

Just over a year ago, we published a post entitled 1984: Blueprint for the New Normal:

Ministry of Thought: Google – they control search, and you see what they want you to see

Ministry of Plenty: Amazon (and you must have noticed the price increases, too: surge pricing, baby)

Ministry of Truth: Facebook (with their army of ‘fact checkers;’ media-driven and commoditized discourse only, and thanks for sharing)

Ministry of Peace: Twitter (think culture mobs and the attacks on anyone who may move you to think differently: war is declared on people – and products – not in line with the talking points, to bring about peace, of course)

Ministry of Love: Tinder, where love has been reduced to swipe right/swipe left. Love has become a mechanical event.

 

Now there is a formal Ministry of Truth in these United States, although it’s officially called the Disinformation Governance Board – same difference – which the Biden Administration announced two days after Musk announced his intention to purchase Twitter.

The board’s executive director, Nina Jankowicz, is on the record saying that setting up free speech in opposition to censorship is “a false dichotomy.” Huh? Jankowicz Wants to Edit Your Tweets, saying, “I am eligible for it because I’m verified, but there are a lot of people who shouldn’t be verified who aren’t, you know, legit, in my opinion. I mean, they are real people, but they’re not, you know, trustworthy.”

Not sure we do know, Nina, and 20 AGs (have already demanded) Biden Disband ‘Orwellian’ Disinformation Governance Board, Threaten Legal Action, demanding that the administration “cease all efforts to police Americans’ protected speech.”

 

We know where the Ministry of Truth is leading to: social credit scores.

 

Not that former MiniTruth Facebook/Meta will be completely displaced any time soon: Facebook Deliberately Caused Havoc in Australia To Influence New Law, Whistleblowers Say “Last year when Facebook blocked news in Australia in response to potential legislation making platforms pay publishers for content, it also took down the pages of Australian hospitals, emergency services and charities. It publicly called the resulting chaos “inadvertent.” Internally, the pre-emptive strike was hailed as a strategic masterstroke,” Slashdot and the WSJ reported.

 

Bill Gates doesn’t seem happy about Musk’s latest acquisition: Bill Gates Questions Elon Musk’s Goals for Twitter, Approach to Misinformation. Platforms must curb spread of harmful falsehoods, Microsoft co-founder says, adding that he would speak out if Tesla chief makes Twitter worse, said the Wall Street Journal. Misinformation? Gates is heavily invested in both pharmaceuticals and the WHO itself, and is a strong proponent of  China-style monitoring of populations and the economically devastating (except for him) lockdowns as a way of life.

 

In case you missed it, Motherboard reported that the CDC Tracked Millions of Phones to See If Americans Followed COVID Lockdown Orders Newly released documents showed the CDC planned to use phone location data to monitor schools and churches, and wanted to use the data for many non-COVID-19 purposes, too. Now Bill Gates calls for worldwide government surveillance system. Maybe the CDC tracking with just a test. It’s to keep track of COVID, of course, since Gates is heavily invested in the vaccine and despite that New UK government data shows the COVID vaccines kill more people than they save.

 

Hey, trust but verify and Gates would definitely make the new Minister’s ‘trusted’ list.

As would Apple and Alphabet and its many properties, never mind that Tech Giants (were) Duped Into Giving Up Data Used to Sexually Extort Minors, as Bloomberg reported, and yes, Alphabet and Apple were among firms that complied with fake requests.

 

Trusted?

 

To quote a childhood ditty that every adult should take to heart:

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten, which is simply a twist on Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

We’ve long been sounding the alarm about the dangers of software and its invasion into every part of our lives. The response is often, it’s too late; they already know everything there is to know about me.

Given the new Ministry of Truth, the unending Facebook shenanigans and the tech uberlords dispensing personal information without verifying the source from whence the requests have come and speaking of insatiable appetites, time to invert the question and start asking,

Do you really know everything there is to know about them?

And hope you have the stomach for it as we go ever onward and forward.