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Please could you clarify - what does he stand to gain here? In your Mongol analogy, motive is clear. Here, not so much.

pphysch 5y ago
Sure. Information sovereignty was pioneered on a national scale by China's Great Firewall, upon which Bill Clinton famously commented, “There’s no question China has been trying to crack down on the internet. Good luck! That’s sort of like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall.” A Russian GFW would make Pomerantsev's job--spreading anti-Kremlin disinformation to benefit NATO's geopolitical goals in the region--very very difficult. He would have to work harder for fewer results. Like the Mongol raider, this is bad for his job security and quality of life.
- tialaramex 5y ago
  > "That’s sort of like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall" More so every day. It's amusing that US pundits appear to have believed Clinton was dead wrong about this just a few years ago. The analogy is apt, the Jell-O may seem initially to have been successfully fastened in place for now, and then you are distracted for a moment and it's slipped to the floor again.
- elefanten 5y ago
  You seem to overestimate the effectiveness of national firewalls. Sure, they'll squash you like a bug if you start saying the wrong things publicly, but China hasn't exactly succeeded with keeping ideas and information out of the country. These aspiring totalitarian systems are quite porous.
  - pphysch 5y ago
    Virtually every country suffers from online disinformation crises. China is one of a handful that has it mostly under wraps. The GFW has been enormously successful in this regard. Societies with high amounts of internal distrust will not be able to compete in this century. They will fall apart. That is why the US is taking it so seriously and cracking down on disinformation (see Google this week). The GFW must have been visionary if Western governments are now playing catch-up.

Sure. Information sovereignty was pioneered on a national scale by China's Great Firewall, upon which Bill Clinton famously commented, “There’s no question China has been trying to crack down on the internet. Good luck! That’s sort of like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall.” A Russian GFW would make Pomerantsev's job--spreading anti-Kremlin disinformation to benefit NATO's geopolitical goals in the region--very very difficult. He would have to work harder for fewer results. Like the Mongol raider, this is bad for his job security and quality of life.

tialaramex 5y ago
> "That’s sort of like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall" More so every day. It's amusing that US pundits appear to have believed Clinton was dead wrong about this just a few years ago. The analogy is apt, the Jell-O may seem initially to have been successfully fastened in place for now, and then you are distracted for a moment and it's slipped to the floor again.
elefanten 5y ago
You seem to overestimate the effectiveness of national firewalls. Sure, they'll squash you like a bug if you start saying the wrong things publicly, but China hasn't exactly succeeded with keeping ideas and information out of the country. These aspiring totalitarian systems are quite porous.
- pphysch 5y ago
  Virtually every country suffers from online disinformation crises. China is one of a handful that has it mostly under wraps. The GFW has been enormously successful in this regard. Societies with high amounts of internal distrust will not be able to compete in this century. They will fall apart. That is why the US is taking it so seriously and cracking down on disinformation (see Google this week). The GFW must have been visionary if Western governments are now playing catch-up.