Fascism is back. Blame the Internet.

[Mosby]

Some Americans ask: What is wrong with the Internet? Others ask: Can fascism return? These questions are the same question.

Despite all the happy talk about connecting people, the Internet has not spread liberty around the world. On the contrary, the world is less free, in part because of the Web. In 2005, when about a quarter of the world’s population was online, common sense held that more connectivity would mean more freedom. But while Mark Zuckerberg was calling connectivity a basic human right, the more traditional rights were in decline as the Internet advanced. According to Freedom House, every year since 2005 has seen a retreat in democracy and an advance of authoritarianism. The year 2017, when the Internet reached more than half the world’s population, was marked by Freedom House as particularly disastrous. Young people who came of age with the Internet care less about democracy and are more sympathetic to authoritarianism than any other generation.

It’s also telling that the Internet has become a weapon of choice for those who wish to spread authoritarianism. Russia’s president and its leading propagandist both cite a fascist philosopher who believed that factuality was meaningless. In 2016, Russian Twitter bots spread divisive messages designed to discourage some Americans from voting and encourage others to vote for Russia’s preferred presidential candidate, Donald Trump. Britain’s vote to leave the European Union that same year was substantially influenced by bots from beyond its borders. Germany’s democratic parties, by contrast, have agreed not to use bots during political campaigns. The only party to resist the idea was the extreme right Alternative für Deutschland — which was helped by Russia’s bots in last year’s elections.

Democracy arose as a method of government in a three-dimensional world, where interlocutors could be physically identified and the world could be discussed and verified. Modern democracy relies upon the notion of a “public space” where, even if we can no longer see all our fellow citizens and verify facts together, we have institutions such as science and journalism that can provide joint references for discussion and policy. The Internet breaks the line between the public and private by encouraging us to confuse our private desires with the actual state of affairs. This is a constant human tendency. But in assuming that the Internet would make us more rather than less rational, we have missed the obvious danger: that we can now allow our browsers to lead us into a world where everything we would like to believe is true.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/05/21/fascism-is-back-blame-the-internet/

[MattP]

1. I blame right wing radio and Fox for fanning the flames as well

[Thomas Hurt]

2. Fascist Selective Populism - Umberto Eco 1995

In a democracy, the citizens have individual rights, but the citizens in their entirety have a political impact only from a quantitative point of view -- one follows the decisions of the majority. For Ur-Fascism, however, individuals as individuals have no rights, and the People is conceived as a quality, a monolithic entity expressing the Common Will. Since no large quantity of human beings can have a common will, the Leader pretends to be their interpreter. Having lost their power of delegation, citizens do not act; they are only called on to play the role of the People. Thus the People is only a theatrical fiction. There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People.

Because of its qualitative populism, Ur-Fascism must be against "rotten" parliamentary governments. Wherever a politician casts doubt on the legitimacy of a parliament because it no longer represents the Voice of the People, we can smell Ur-Fascism.

[yurbud]

3. I blame politicians who put their donors ahead of the public good.

When some people don't see a legitimate way to fix their situation, they lose their fucking minds.

Also, fascism is always going to appeal to some percentage of the population. It's just a matter of whether they have space to be open about it and support candidates like Trump.

[BigmanPigman]

4. Social media has changed the country and effected elections.

It may be the single biggest factor for trumps win and the GOP gaining control. I watched a show about this last week and social media is the BIG change that no one saw coming. It's influence has shaped opinions and politics in a profound way and there is a lot of harm it is doing and will continue to do. It is a giant and it has only begun to show its power.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

5. Blame the Internet ?

What utter bollocks !

If one wants to assign blame, then place it where it rightfully belongs - squarely on the shoulders of those people who WANT to have their intolerance, bigotry, misogyny, ignorance, racism, prejudice, bias, narrow-mindedness, arrogance and their sense of entitlement, superiority and religious beliefs validated and applauded in the echo chamber of their own confirmation.

To blame the Internet for the resurgence of fascism (or anything else for that matter) is like blaming Johannes Gutenberg for pornography.