The current malaise about tech platforms and the effects they are having on democracy has come to be understood primarily as a question of disinformation. Government agencies, Silicon Valley NGOs, and research centers have been crucial in channeling collective disgust at unaccountable tech oligarchs into a single-minded preoccupation with (alleged) “truth.” From Russiagate to January 6 and COVID denialism — all these are deemed to stem from problems of “epistemic terrorism,” Facebook acting as a “hostile foreign power,” or Russia hacking our minds. Instead of instituting public-interest regulation and bringing out the antitrust blowtorch, a revolving door has been established between the national security state and platforms. Only the disinformation experts get to peek into the algorithmic black boxes that govern the internet. While the prospects for regulation have always been slim, we would do well to avoid reinforcing the dismal Cold War science of disinformation studies.

The dominant story of the post-2016 populist tumult has centered on “bad actors” — from foreign trolls to populist political operatives — weaponizing the openness and ubiquity of network communication. The West’s internet innocence has been taken away by Russia’s malevolence and its deployment of useful idiots from across the political spectrum, the narrative goes.

In a reversion to Cold War propaganda, the Russians are said to benefit from their masterful centralization of power, which they deploy against a divided and embattled West. While we may be past the days when “Buff Bernie” and masturbating Jesus memes were solemnly presented to the US Senate Intelligence Committee, we are still gripped by the idea that our mundane social media lives are the stuff of civilizational war.