A Cypherpunk Chronicle of the New Millenium.
Preface
In early 2021 mass deplatforming of accounts contra to the official narrative occurred. Some argue the Rodney King reaction riots of 1992 shifted the way we consume news, ushering in the "If it bleeds, it leads" news cycle. The news became less about reporting facts and journalistic integrity. Instead, we started to see shock journalism and narrative led pieces reinforced by a 24-hour news cycle. In retrospect, this hyperfocus helped acclimatize us to the current polarized way of reporting and consuming information.
In mid-2020 identity politics rose to a hysterical crescendo of SJW voices clashing against a rise in hyper-patriotic values and idealism. In western media, you belonged to one of two camps: the left, fighting for social justice; or the right, fighting for a return to patriotic/nationalist ideals. Always on, always engaged social media along with corporate mass media propagated these echo chambers further reinforcing social division.
It's currently January 12, 2021. Mass censorship of right-leaning accounts began on January 6th when Twitter temporarily suspended a sitting American President amidst claims three of his posts incited violence. Within a few days that suspension became permanent and a less than a week later entire points of view are being wiped from all social platforms, worldwide. This mass-cleansing extends in some cases to actual platforms as we saw Twitter competitor Parler denied service from all service providers including legal council; disappearing from app stores within 24 hours and the internet in less than 48. It seems we've learned nothing from history.
The public square is where ideas are discussed, examined and critiqued in the open air. We've had this, at least in concept, over several mediums throughout the rise and fall of multiple civilizations. When we become deprived of this public forum, for whatever reason, society becomes a uniculture of "right-think" while those who question the narrative are put figuratively and sometimes literally to death. Once again, disturbing trends to re-educate, punish, ostracize, contain and cancel are re-emerging.
Look to the next chapters for a more detailed accounting of events.
Editor's Notes
- Please use the suggestions below as a guide. Factual accounting matters - beyond that, please contribute in whatever style or way you like.
- Anonymous contributions are encouraged and welcome.
Suggested Format
- Write an account of the events of 2020 as you've experienced them. Can be centered around one event, a cluster of events, a trend. Feel free to pull in historical events that match current events to compare/contrast. Please write the title or subject matter of your contribution below:
- [title/subject of your contribution here. name or alias]
- []
- [] [...]
- Pick one month to write about and self-assign (below)
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December