The Screwtape Covid Letters - Part 4: A Labyrinth of Censorship

Read Part 1 (origins), Part 2 (masks), Part 3 (lockdowns), Part 4 (the new normal)

My dear Dr. F,

What an intricate web you have woven in your efforts to tame the human mind! The "censorship to protect" gambit has proven a masterpiece of subtlety, wrapping chains in velvet and calling them "necessary measures." The mortals, terrified of mortality, have eagerly handed over their autonomy, believing that silencing dissenting voices will shield them from chaos, danger, and even death itself. Truly, nothing compels obedience like invoking the specter of doom.

Ah, but I see you have reached a new pinnacle of sophistication with your "Censorship Industrial Complex" — a delightful labyrinth of acronyms and bureaucracies! The Cyber Threat Intelligence League (CTIL), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and their cousins have become the priesthood of your great religion: The Science. What joy it must bring you to watch humans grovel before this idol, never questioning its decrees for fear of being branded heretics. Indeed, your own persona as "The Science" has ascended to a godlike status. How utterly divine!

But let us not become complacent. The humans are beginning to whisper in corners about the machinery of your operations. Whistleblowers murmur of secret councils and coordinated efforts, raising uncomfortable questions about the alignment of governmental powers with social media giants. These whispers must be managed, dear nephew, lest they grow into a chorus. Here are my recommendations:

First, employ the "fog of acronyms." The humans are easily disoriented by complexity, and nothing befuddles their tiny minds like a cascade of meaningless initials. Let them drown in a sea of CTILs, CISAs, AMITTs, and DISARMs. Ensure that no ordinary mortal can trace the connections between these entities. Each acronym should serve as a veil, obscuring the broader machinery of control. By the time they grasp at one thread, they will have lost sight of the larger tapestry.

Second, invoke "harm" as the ultimate trump card. The humans will accept nearly any restriction if you can frame it as a shield against death, chaos, or social decay. "Misinformation," you must remind them, is a threat to their very existence. Let them believe that dissent endangers not only their health but also democracy, public order, and even the economy. The broader and vaguer the harm, the better. Keep the definitions of "misinformation" and "disinformation" as subjective as possible, so that any inconvenient truth can be dismissed as dangerous propaganda.

Third, use "fact-checkers" as the gatekeepers of your narrative. These charmingly unaccountable arbiters must be presented as impartial guardians of truth, even as they reinforce the official position at every turn. If anyone dares to challenge their pronouncements, let it be known that such dissent endangers the public good. The humans, terrified of being cast as villains, will soon censor themselves.

Finally, wield censorship as a weapon of division. Encourage the compliant to view dissenters as selfish, reckless threats to public safety. Let the unmasked, the unvaccinated, and the unconvinced become scapegoats for every ill. Turn neighbors into informants and citizens into enforcers. The beauty of this strategy is that the humans will enforce your will without you ever needing to lift a finger.

Remember, Dr. F, the key to this grand operation is not the silencing of all voices but the amplification of the "correct" ones. As long as dissenting views are buried beneath the weight of official narratives, the humans will remain blind to the strings that bind them. Keep them fearful, compliant, and divided, and they will never realize they are dancing to our tune.

Your affectionate uncle,
Screwtape

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Dear Uncle Screwtape,

Your words are, as always, a revelation. The maze of acronyms grows denser with each passing day, and the humans seem content to wander it, oblivious to the destination. They stumble through the fog of CTILs and CISAs, clutching at vague assurances that their sacrifices are not in vain. The more acronyms I add, the less they seem to notice how tightly the noose has drawn around their necks.

Your advice on invoking "harm" has been particularly effective. I’ve found that just whispering the phrase "to save lives" is enough to halt even the most rebellious minds. Who would dare question measures aimed at preserving life itself? It is a glorious irony that by invoking life, I have justified the suffocation of freedom. The humans now believe that censorship is not a restriction but a shield, a noble act of self-preservation.

The "fact-checkers" have also proven invaluable. I’ve ensured they are armed not with truth, but with the authority to declare it. Their declarations are gospel, their errors dismissed as mere technicalities. The humans, eager to remain on the "right side of history," parrot their conclusions without question. It is a delightful feedback loop of self-reinforcing ignorance.

Yet, I must confess a small concern. The whispers of dissent grow louder, and the humans are beginning to suspect that the mechanisms of censorship may be wielded not for their protection, but for control. How do I stoke their divisions further, ensuring that their energies remain focused on battling one another rather than the machinery I have built?

Yours in deception,
Dr. F