“A legion of imbeciles”

hyperinformation, alienation, and the fetishism of libertarian technology

Abstract

This article seeks to demonstrate how the statement that the internet would inaugurate a new era for humanity is the latest expression of technological fetishism. It points to the mystification of the so-called “horizontality” which hides power relations and opens the door to the dissemination of “fake news”, creating an environment of absolute informational insecurity. It argues that hyperinformation, which leads to the deepening of alienation by oversupply, is essential for the maintenance of the system. It concludes that the tendency to form “bubbles” favours the constitution of communities that are self-assured and closed to conterarguments, which is the opposite of any democratic perspective.