Secretive

Joachim Hagopian writes on the treatment of whistleblowers and journalists by the most secretive president in American history.  More of them have been jailed than under any other president.  More Freedom of Information requests have been turned down than under any other president.  More American citizens have been indicted under the Espionage Act from 1917 than under all other presidents combined.  Free speech is an abstract concept, only applicable to subjects harmless to the administration.  Everything everyone says is being watched very closely.

No wonder, then, that 34% of writers in countries labeled "Free" by Freedom House responded that they are concerned about researching or privately discussing certain topics.  These concerns were particularly prevalent in the Five Eyes countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.S. and the U.K.  It is interesting if not surprising that these are the countries, along with Israel, that have aligned on an axis against the rest of the world.  Maintaining that kind of hubris requires a strictly regulated narrative that can't abide anomalies.

Ubiquitous technology observing our every action and thought is fast becoming a reality.  Locking up people for saying something undesirable is bad enough, but getting themselves to lock up for fear of the consequences is a different kind of evil.  It outsources the punishment to the imagination of the subject.  We've entered Bentham's Panopticon, never sure if the jailor is watching, so always on our best behaviour.  It doesn't matter if the rules are fair or reasonable.  You might be seen, and you might be punished unfairly, so better not to stray too far.  Of course, if all the prisoners acted independently, the jailor could never watch them all.