Of Enrica Perucchietti

Source: On Earth
the care of Federico Cenci
In political dialectics, for some time now, there is a quick and effective way to delegitimize your opponent: accuse him of spreading fake news. Yet another English term has forcefully entered our vocabulary, taking on the form of a social alarm among public opinion. Such is the sensitivity of some political forces on the topic in various countries – including Italy – laws to combat fake news are taking shape or have already been approved. However several bloggers, journalists, essayists denounce that this battle against false and misleading news is moving towards a dangerous edge: that of violation of freedom of information. The journalist and writer is also convinced of this Enrica Perucchietti, than in his book Fake News (Arianna Publishing, 2018) depicts a dystopian intent behind the campaign against fake news. On Earth interviewed her.
What is the true intent?
“This is a complex witch hunt which in my opinion has as its objective the repression of dissent and alternative information. It exploits the spread of hoaxes on the web to lead to the approval of censorship of the Internet, leading to the hypothesis of the introduction of the crime of opinion, a modern form of Orwellian thoughtcrime. I agree with Marcello Foa, who edited the preface of my book, when he writes that the objective of the controversy over fake news is not to guarantee better information, but certified information: only news with the stamp will be considered as such. All the others could even be expelled from the web and, under the pretext of fake news, social pages of uncomfortable thinkers or non-mainstream bloggers could be obscured, effectively introducing censorship".
Especially on social networks there is an anthology of fake news, often defamatory, that spread virally. He does not believe it is necessary to intervene at a legislative level?
"Certainly, in particular towards fake profiles, defamatory content, of the haters, of cyberbullying, ecc. I fear that the use of social media has gotten out of hand and has brought out the worst in us: we are now incapable of holding back our impulses and violence. Ma la mancanza di educazione nell’utilizzo della Rete non deve servire come sponda per censurare l’informazione alternativa, così come le regole devono valere per tutti, per chi spaccia bufale grossolane ma anche per i media mainstream che fanno lo stesso o per quei siti che si sono autoinvestiti ‘smascheratori di bufale’ e che usano le armi del cyberbullismo per screditare, perseguitare e insultare i ricercatori e i giornalisti alternativi”.
Secondo lei ci sono stati episodi specifici – penso magari a qualche risultato elettorale – che hanno fatto maturare la necessità di intervenire per soffocare il dissenso?
“Da Brexit al 4 marzo scorso in Italia, the spread of ever greater dissent and so-called populism can only annoy the technocratic elite. This new social and political wave is subverting the plans of global subjugation. In fact, what started does not seem to be just a mere protest, but a real revolt: against growing inequality, against the impoverishment of work, against the financialisation of the economy, against predatory relocations e, above all, against elite domination. This is why I believe that those in power are taking action and that the battle against fake news is part of an attempt to tighten the rules of manipulation and social control.. In fact, no democratic regime can sustain itself without them to guide public opinion.".
He does not believe that these very expressions of dissent with respect to the dominant thought are the testimony that the people now have, however new systems are introduced, he no longer allows himself to be subjugated?
“In my book I show how power, even in democracies, has always been committed to distracting and at the same time manipulating the masses to obtain consensus. Public opinion is so subjugated that it is as if the rulers no longer miss any link in this mechanism. Something, but, of this mechanism, It seems to have jammed. If it's true, parafrasando Edward Bernays, the father of Public Relations, that modern society requires strong leadership and that therefore those who govern must know how to best exercise the art of command to direct and guide the electorate, the constant and widespread manipulation of public opinion has simultaneously reached its peak and perhaps its decline. The people (at least a part) is in fact starting to acquire the ability and will to go beyond appearance to better understand events and their genesis".
There are specific current issues that activate the information manipulation system, perhaps through the creation of words in what Orwell called "Newspeak"?
“The use of ever new artfully created neologisms allows us to no longer think with words, but to ensure that the words themselves do the thinking for us. This happens because they are emptied of meaning, sclerotizzate: language is reduced to the bone, words become empty shells, ideal for conveying concepts that can be constantly changed, overturn, deny, disavow. Politically correct Newspeak is an artificial construction, bureaucratic, it is a language for ideological fanatics, which is infecting the whole world, imposing itself through slogans and media addiction. Some Newspeak expressions that have entered into common use such as 'surrogate motherhood' fall within political correctness, 'assisted insemination', 'sweet death' (instead of euthanasia), 'peacekeeping missions' or 'humanitarian warfare' and 'smart bombs' (but if they are from the enemy they will be 'weapons of mass destruction')”.
But who represents the power that would like to muzzle alternative information?
“Today we prefer the repressive methods of the past (Still) support the 'soft' manipulation aimed at making citizens believe that they are free to choose when in fact all their decisions are decided and oriented from above. No regime can sustain itself without propaganda, as well as, paradoxically, Western democracies resort precisely to the widespread manipulation of public opinion. In democratic society, opinions, that is, the habits and choices of the masses are addressed, as he explained in 1928 Edward Bernays gives an 'invisible power that truly runs the country'. According to Bernays, propaganda is essential to "give shape to chaos". The techniques used by those in power to shape public opinion have been invented and developed over the years, spiegava Bernays, ‘via, as society became more complex and the need for an invisible government proved increasingly necessary'".
Previously he argued that even the mass media are not free from fake news...
“Most of the hoaxes offered to us every day come from the mainstream media which they have spread over the years, and they continue to do so, countless fake news (think for example of the infamous Iraqi weapons of mass destruction which later turned out to be non-existent) therefore resorting to sophisticated forms of manipulation that we could compare to war propaganda. In my book I document countless cases of hoaxes spread by the mass media, some of these have gone down in history and are still believed to be true: from fake news about North Korea (the killing of Kim Jong-Un's uncle mauled by 120 dogs or the Defense Minister executed for one too many naps) to Syria, from Serbia to Libya; the statements of 1990 of the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United Nations, Saud Nasir al-Sabah said Iraqi soldiers took premature babies from incubators and threw them on the ground; the image of the cormorant covered in oil in the waters of the Persian Gulf in 1991; the story of the soldier Jessica Lynch captured by Iraqi troops and freed in a sensational raid in Nassirya hospital in April 2003; the reconstruction of the Timisoara massacre... and unfortunately many others".