What happens when authoritarianism expands into online environments? A form of digital repression takes shape. But what does that actually look like? What are the specific ways that authoritarian regimes use new technologies to control their populations? And how are resistance groups adapting to overcome digital repression?
This episode of the Irregular Warfare Podcast addresses those questions and more. Hosts Matt Moellering and Julia McClenon are joined by Steven Feldstein, author of the book The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance, and John Tullius, who retired from the CIA in 2019 and now teaches classes on intelligence at the Naval Postgraduate School.
They describe how digital repression affects democracy, how information warfare intersects with digital repression, and how the irregular warfare community can help resistance movements combat digital repression.
You can listen to the full episode below. And be sure to subscribe to the Irregular Warfare Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app so you don’t miss an episode!
Image credit: dahorsburgh
Some comparative information, context, and questions may prove useful here. Here goes:
In the Old Cold War of yesterday, what threatened the U.S./the West — and many other countries and regions around the world — this was Soviet/communist political, economic, social and value ideas; ideas that the Soviets/the communist worked hard to spread more throughout the world.
Thus, if "deep fakes", deception," "surveillance," etc. — such as our authoritarian opponents have available to them today — if these such capabilities and techniques had been been available to the U.S./the West in those Old Cold War times, then,
a. Given the existential threat to U.S./Western regimes posed by the Soviets/the communists and their ideas back then,
b. Would the U.S./Western regimes, back in Old Cold War days, have been tempted to/might actually have used some of these such capabilities and techniques — to support their "containment" and "roll back" strategies at that time?
Herein, what I am suggesting is that — in the New/Reverse Cold War of today — now it is the authoritarian regimes who are existentially threatened by, in this case, a U.S/West that is driven to spread market-democracy political, economic, social and value ideas more throughout the world. Thus it is:
a. From the perspective of this such U.S./Western existential threat to authoritarian regimes that we can
b. Best understand why authoritarian regimes now deploy such capabilities and techniques as "deep fakes", deception," "surveillance," ,etc.; these,
c. In support of now of THEIR "containment" and "roll back" strategies?