I’m asking for public policy ideas here. A lot of countries are enacting age verification now. But of course this is a privacy nightmare and is ripe for abuse. At the same time though, I also understand why people are concerned with how kids are using social media. These products are designed to be addictive and are known to cause body image issues and so forth. So what’s the middle ground? How can we protect kids from the harms of social media in a way that respects everyone’s privacy?
This sounds interesting. Please elaborate
Which part, Tracer Tong, or the MKULTRA total control panopticon?
Tracer Tong is just a character from the 2000 computer game Deus Ex. He encourages the player to overload the reactor and destroy the facility at Area 51, taking with it the infrastructure supporting the Aquinas net and ending global communication. This frees people from control by the secret government, but brings the world into a new dark age.
As for the rest, MKULTRA is probably a stretch, but there’s a lot of evidence that the internet was intended for mass surveillance right from the start. It’s common knowledge that the internet originated as a distributed communication network that could survive many nodes being knocked out in a nuclear attack, but Surveillance Valley (2018) convincingly makes the case that the real origin was gathering and structuring intelligence - computer systems used in the Vietnam war to compile data gathered from sensors deployed in the Ho Chi Minh trail to track VC and PAVN movements, and computer systems used in the US proper to compile data on dissidents.
No matter the origin, it’s obvious that the internet is used as a surveillance tool. Even just on the commercial side, you have data brokers buying up user data from sites and apps, all of whom build detailed profiles on users. All of this information is compiled to build marketing profiles. Naturally, the state also has access to all of this information, and they work hand-in-glove with the tech companies. They also have access to everything on the “internet-of-things”, so every smart speaker, or just anything internet-connected with a microphone in it is a listening device; every suburban street has a network of surveillance cameras in the form of smart doorbells. Almost everyone on earth carries an internet-connected camera and microphone on them at all times.
At the same time, we all give our opinions freely on public forums, all of which can be correlated by IP, e-mail address, or associated accounts with a specific person. Sifting through all this data is no longer a problem now that they have sophisticated machine learning algorithms - dossiers can be compiled and updated automatically.
So, the state knows who you are, where you are, what you think, and can listen in on any conversation you have unless you’re far away from any phone or internet-connected device. Algorithms can be adjusted to subtly shift beliefs and behaviours. It’s a machine for total surveillance and control, and it’s important to remember in light of recent revelations regarding the Epstein files, that it’s controlled by Nazi pedophiles.
Are there alternative network infrastructures that could avoid some of these issues?
They probably stopped steam-opening letters, so the mail is probably more secure than any kind of electronic communication. But basically, no, unless you have advanced encryption and state-level equipment produced with secure supply chains (i.e. you’re a member of the Chinese MSS using a ministry-issued device), you have to assume that anything electronic is compromised. The internet is a tool of the enemy and must be treated as insecure.
That isn’t to say you can’t criticize the government online. You can (and should!) call them Nazi pedophiles all day long and they won’t do anything about it. Unless you’re leaking classified information or plotting to overthrow the state, the worst thing that could happen is that you’ll be put on a list of people to be rounded up in the event of severe civil unrest.