Everything is content for “Clicktatorship”

In President Donald Trump’s second term, Everything is guaranteed. Videos Immigration raids It is widely shared on X by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), conspiracy theories dictate policy, prominent right-wing podcasters and Influencers They held high-level government positions. The second Trump administration, frankly, is completely online.

Trump and his supporters have long traded and profited from it.Misinformation and conspiracy theoriesLeveraging it to build visibility on social media platforms and set the tone for national conversations. During his first term, Trump was famous for announcing the administration’s positions and priorities via Twitter. In the years that followed, social media platforms became Friendlier environments Conspiracy theories and those who promote them and help spread them On a larger scale. Trump’s playbook has been adjusted accordingly.

Social media, especially right-wing social media platforms, is no longer just a way for Trump to control conversations and public perception, says Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan. He says the administration is now actively making decisions and shaping policy primarily based on how it is perceived online. Their priority is what right-wing communities care about, regardless of whether that is true.

WIRED spoke with Moynihan, who argues that the United States has entered a new level of entanglement between the Internet and politics, what he calls “Clicktatorship.”

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Wired: Let’s start, what is a “clicktatorship”?

Don Moynihan: “Clicktatorship” is a form of government that combines the worldview of social media with authoritarian tendencies. This means that people who operate in this form of government not only use online platforms as a means of communication, but that their beliefs, judgments, and decisions directly reflect, are influenced by, and respond to the online world to an extreme degree. “clicktatorship” sees everything as content, including basic policy decisions and implementation practices.

Providing a platform that encourages right-wing conspiracies and calling on the administration for people who can traffic in these conspiracies is what gives us the current moments of “clicktatorship” that we are experiencing.

The “clicks” generate these images to justify the occupation of American cities by military forces, or to justify cutting off resources to countries that did not support the president, to do things that would have truly shocked us a decade ago.

Trump’s first presidency was characterized by a kind of showmanship. How is this different from what we see now?

Trump’s first presidency can be understood as a “television presidency,” in which… trainee Or Fox News gave you a real idea of ​​the environment in which Trump was operating. Trump’s second presidency is a “social truth presidency or X presidency,” as it is extremely difficult to explain without the reference points of those online platforms. Some of the content and messages used by the president or other senior policymakers are full of insider references, messages that don’t make sense unless you’re already in that online community.

Speech styles also changed. We’re seeing senior decision makers display patterns and habits that work online. Pam Bondi goes to a Senate hearing with A.J List of zingers and X publications As a means of responding to the traditional accountability process, how this mode of online discourse shapes the way public officials view their real-life roles.

There has been a lot of research on polarization and damage The nature of social media. What does it mean that our political leaders are people who have not only successfully manipulated social media, but have been manipulated?