Internet (un)chained: Why cyber-censorship is here to stay

A few years after the beginning of the French Revolution, France underwent the ‘thermidorian reaction’. Policies became more moderate, the bourgeoisie came back to power. But nowadays, most historians use the expression to describe the moment when a radical revolutionary regime is replaced by a more conservative one, almost heading back to the pre-revolutionary period.

The internet has been a revolution in every country of our increasingly cyberized planet. Information is coming in from all over the world, communication is instant, new business models emerge almost daily, a nobody can become an influential personality in an instant (whether through intelligent podcasts or platforms like OnlyFans), access to books and ideas is unlimited, etc. And every country underwent (or is currently undergoing) its cyber-thermidorian moment. However, one shouldn’t forget that, not surprisingly, reports on internet censorship are written by Western organizations, such as Freedom House with its dubious links to the US State Department. Thus, the most famous internet censorship system is the Great Firewall of China, which is regularly criticized by the so-called liberal democracies. Iran’s temporary internet blackouts and Russia’s sovereign internet laws are also common targets of the West.

What is important is to look at the timeline. China is certainly the country that experienced the strongest and swiftest thermidorian reaction, creating basically a closed but coherent ‘Chinese internet’. The Chinese authorities seem to have quickly abided by Deng Xiaoping’s saying: “If you open the window, both fresh air and flies will be blown in.” They launched the Great Firewall project as far back as 1998. Iran organizes blackouts during social troubles. Russia’s laws were passed accordingly along with the growing tensions with the West.

Liberal democracies, skating along on their undeserved ‘free countries’ reputation and thanks to their mastery of propaganda, have been able for decades now to denounce online censorship. Because their system is extremely sophisticated and in order to maintain their public image, they had to be cautious. However, their own thermidorian reaction really appeared during the last five years. Gradually, certainly, but they definitely tightened the screw each time their ideal world was shaken: Reactions to the Covid crisis management, shifting climate change theories, the Twitter Files revelations, Hunter Biden’s computer, woke ideology being challenged, Russia’s operation in Ukraine being explained (one can only think about RT being banned from absolutely everywhere in the West), discussions about the physical makeup of Brigitte Macron’s nether regions, and now, the outraged caused by the Epstein files.