If you've got them by the bits, their hearts and minds will follow.
May 14, 2012 12:19 PM   Subscribe

The Dictator's practical internet guide to power retention. The Internet can be a real pain for a comfortable dictator. Here's how to turn it to your nefarious advantage.
posted by bitmage (5 comments total) 18 users marked this as a favorite
 
I think it's just an article going over how dictators and governments control the internet, written with a 'hook' of being 'for' the dictator.
posted by delmoi at 12:42 PM on May 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


This is a long but very good read, a kind of internet-age version of Machiavelli's "The Prince". It explains quite detailed how regimes can keep their countries being non-democratic even when they allow their citizens internet access to the rest of the world.
posted by flif at 1:28 PM on May 14, 2012


This was written by Handsome Dick Manitoba? Seems really dry for him...
posted by Thorzdad at 4:53 PM on May 14, 2012 [1 favorite]


I've found that a lot of these Internet how-to guides leave out critical details. Just the other day, I tried to cook a casserole using the directions provided by a well-known Internet video site, which told me to take the casserole out of the oven after 35 minutes, but neglected to mention that I should do so using oven mitts. I burned my hands. The casserole was pretty good though.

Anyway, I think if we search the Internet for valuable tips about creating a dictatorship, we have to be aware that some of those tips might be wrong. It's even possible that the tips were written by someone who has never been a dictator, because the demand for Internet how-to advice is so great that almost anyone who gives advice gains a certain credibility. I imagine an eager young mind, typing keywords into an Internet search engine, focused on the steps and processes needed to become a dictator - this is something the youngster really cares about, something this youthful spirit believes will improve his or her life. And I worry that this young person will be misled by the Internet, and fail to fully become the dictator that he or she dreamed of becoming. Another life ruined by the Internet.
posted by twoleftfeet at 5:53 PM on May 14, 2012 [2 favorites]


Oh, how could you post this in the very week when the Facebook IPO will set in motion a chain of events that will result in the perfection of the human race and an end to all forms of strife?
posted by senor biggles at 9:27 PM on May 14, 2012


« Older Your best friend is suing you for $600 million...   |   Don't you know what table tennis is? Come on. I'll... Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments