Click here for the full interview with Jacob Siegel: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/the-disinformation-hoax-of-the-century?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and chat live with Katie and Aaron in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Or find us on Locals at http://usefulidiots.locals.com Join the Absurd Arena live chat with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est at https://usefulidiots.substack.com/chat Watch this week's Thursday Throwdown: Matt Taibbi vs Mehdi Hasan https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/matt-taibbi-vs-medhi-hasan?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Read A Guide to Understanding the Hoax of the Century: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/guide-understanding-hoax-century-thirteen-ways-looking-disinformation “Something monstrous is taking shape in America,” warns journalist Jacob Siegel in an article at Tablet: Formally, it exhibits the synergy of state and corporate power in service of a tribal zeal that is the hallmark of fascism… A state organized on the principle that it exists to protect the sovereign rights of individuals is being replaced by a digital leviathan that wields power through opaque algorithms and the manipulation of digital swarms.America is ruled by a regime of censorship whose aim “is not to censor or to oppress, but to rule. That’s why the authorities can never be labeled as guilty of disinformation.” What is disinformation? It’s “whatever they say it is.” But, Siegel argues, “if the underlying philosophy of the war against disinformation can be expressed in a single claim, it is this: You cannot be trusted with your own mind.” Since 2016, the US has pumped out Orwellian programs like the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act and Nina Jankowicz’s (Scary Poppins) Disinformation Governance Board, claiming that protecting citizens from state spying was jeopardizing national security. The US was losing “influence warfare.” Make sure to watch the full Substack-only interview, in which Siegel weighs in on the Twitter Files, discusses the significance of Hunter Biden’s laptop story, and pushes back against the claim that they didn’t reveal any censorship. Plus, watch this week’s Thursday Throwdown: Matt Taibbi vs Mehdi Hasan. And join the Absurd Arena live discussion board with Katie and Aaron every Tuesday at 12pm est in the Substack app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices