The article emphasizes the importance of the internet in preserving information and history. It discusses how powerful entities can manipulate perceptions by engaging in 'memory-holing,' which involves erasing or downranking content that reflects poorly on them. This tactic creates a skewed narrative of events and can mislead the public about the past. The author highlights copyright claims as a common method for erasing critical information, illustrating the ongoing struggle between transparency and manipulation in the digital age.
It can be as subtle as organizing a campaign to downrank articles about their misdeeds, or as unsubtle as removing previously available information about themselves.
This creates an impression of permanency where, historically, there was fluidity.
One particularly egregious practice is when a piece of media that is critical of someone, or just embarrassing to them, is copied and backdated.
Instead of acknowledging mistakes, memory-holing allows powerful people, companies, and governments to pretend they never made the mistake in the first place.
Collection
[
|
...
]