“People have to be atomized and segregated and alone. They’re not supposed to organize, because then they might be something beyond spectators of action. They might actually be participants if many people with limited resources could get together to enter the political arena. That’s really threatening.”
― Noam Chomsky, Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda

The story is to culture what the memory is to the individual. Like any story, memories can be inaccurate, clouded by biases or prejudices, and full of gaps or plot holes. But those memories also guide us. They inform how we interpret our world and interact with it. And we are living in a time where the dominant stories of who we are as a people are shifting in monumental ways.

Unsurprisingly, there has been a reactionary response to this. The old guard is threatened by a thinking public. For instance, the moral panic over the supposed dangers of social media is no different than the ones of the past. The ones that claimed comic books or television or jazz or hip hop or cannabis or pornography were destroying morality, breaking the family apart, or dumbing us down. This is what is behind the push for “age verification.” But it is not about protecting children, it is about censoring words and expressions that challenge power. And the younger generation is the biggest threat to that current arrangement of power.

Stories are what connect us. The ones we tell each other. The ones we tell ourselves. They give us meaning, especially when they are shared. To control this discourse is to control society itself. For many decades, the narrative was controlled by the wealthy and the powerful via the mainstream media. This is still largely true. But there have been seismic shifts that have deeply altered this pattern. Social media has been the most instrumental, in this regard.

None of this is to say social media is without problems. There are many. But most of them come from the billionaire class and Silicon Valley, who elevate some algorithms over others. It is they who flood the internet with AI slop and vapid celebrity gossip, while downgrading or disappearing content that is important, encourages curiosity and imagination, or persuades people to be more active in their world.

There is no doubt that the far right uses social media to peddle conspiracy theories and stoke racism and other social hatreds. The rise of MAGA is an example of this. But these voices were also amplified by the billionaire class, which sees division and divisive politics as a means to an end. And that end is social control.

Despite its copious flaws, social media has galvanized movements, from Black Lives Matter to the anti-genocide/pro-Palestine movement. This is a threat to the established classes that hold power. And it is why they seek to control and censor it like never before. They prefer spectators, not participants. Consumers, not citizens.

To many young people, the old narratives are dying. Racist tropes, the whitewashing of colonialism and genocide, misogyny, homophobic fearmongering, and pro-imperialist or capitalist slogans or puff pieces, are no longer satisfying. They fall flat when they witness masked ICE thugs smashing car windows or storming apartment buildings in the middle of the night, or see blown apart or starving children in Gaza, or hear the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and other powerful white men, or experience the exploding cost of living, from groceries to rent to healthcare. They see the monsters around them, and no spin will put those blinders back on.

Every current attempt to make the internet safer or more civil is a thinly veiled attempt to stifle dissent, critical thinking and free speech. It is why social media outlets like TikTok and Facebook are employing Zionists and former IDF soldiers to monitor “hate speech.” It is why the Trump regime has gone after various media outlets who defy his version of the truth. It is why politicians from both sides of the political aisle are pushing for more restrictive legislation.

They are losing control of the narrative, and they are terrified. This is why they have been buying up platforms and installing agents of propaganda at every level. But these measures are desperate attempts to put the toothpaste back in the bottle. It is too late and, on some level, they know this.

Now matter what bludgeon they chose, this generation is beyond their machinations and manipulations. They have seen too much. Whether the powerful understand it or not, they have lost. And their old myths are dead in all but name.

Kenn Orfanos, November 2025