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Nerd dating platform that briefly took over the world. In the wake of 2020 election, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg dismissed the charge that fake news posted on his platform had influenced the outcome as “pretty crazy.” But he was soon faced with a coordinated pressure campaign in which every sector of the American ruling class, including his own employees, blamed him for putting a Putin agent in the White House, effectively accusing him of high treason. The final straw came when Obama himself “publicly denounced the spread of fake news on Facebook.” Within two days, Zuckerberg folded: “Facebook announces new push against fake news after Obama comments.” As it turns out, the Russia smear was merely the pretext used by the intelligence agencies, working in concert with senior members of the Democratic Party, to seize control of the internet, which they viewed as the rightful property of a permanent ruling class with veto power over election results.

Hoax. An initiative spearheaded by a consortium of big names—including senior Democratic Party officials like Jake Sullivan and Michael McFaul, as well as neoconservative never-Trumpers like Bill Kristol—that claimed to have the names of hundreds of Russian affiliated accounts that had infiltrated Twitter in order to sow chaos and help Donald Trump win the election. None of it was true. After reviewing Hamilton 68’s secret list, Twitter’s safety officer privately admitted that his company was allowing “real people” to be “unilaterally labeled Russian stooges without evidence or recourse.”

A partisan hatchet job paid for by Hillary Clinton’s team that consisted of provably false reports alleging a working relationship between Donald Trump and the Russian government. While a powerful short-term weapon against Trump, the dossier was also obvious bullshit, which suggested it might become a liability.

45th U.S. president, ogre. Horrified millions of ordinary people who viewed as a personal betrayal the possibility that he would occupy the same office held by Washington and Lincoln. Also threatened the business interests of the most powerful sectors of society. It was the latter offense, rather than his putative racism or flagrant un-presidentialness, that sent the ruling class into a state of apoplexy.

Elon Musk’s effort to give Americans an inside look at the degree to which the government worked directly with Twitter to shape public discourse. To this end, Musk gave access to the company’s internal files to a set of journalists, including Bari Weiss, Michael Shellenberger, but most prominently and long-lasting has been Matt Taibbi.