System of governmental control over the information space in the U.S.

Abstract

After the 2016 election disinformation has been securitized in the U.S. This precedent, which intertwined disinformation with the foreign influence in public opinion, laid a foundation for the emerging system of governmental control over the information space in the U.S. This article analyzes American official institutes charged with countering disinformation and foreign influence as well as the ways in which such activities are reinforced by input from tech companies and leading social media. Author studies how the limits of acceptable content moderation extended over the years. The first stage included public and private efforts to moderate content related to elections and coming from the foreign sources. During the second stage the content censorship started to be applied to topics other than the elections but nevertheless coming from abroad. The third stage – the current one – may be called a period of limitless control since the respective action has been taken by the government and social media both towards all kinds of information coming from foreign and domestic sources. Article concludes that the U.S. is entering the new electoral period amidst the existence of unprecedentedly obvious, well-established and effectively functioning system of governmental control over the internal information space.