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<\/a><\/p>\nModern censorship is more dangerous than open totalitarianism, it being concealed and incorporated in our daily routine, says Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, commenting on the insider leak detailing Google\u2019s news blacklist.<\/span><\/p>\n The intellectual told RT he\u2019s not advocating for online anarchy, comparing it to snuff movies in hardcore pornography \u2013 some regulation should be in place to block harmful content on the internet, he says. But hiding political motives for suppressing voices online is what worries Zizek the most.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe all know we have to censor things at some level, but the main rule for me is that the process should be transparent. Not in the way \u2013 I\u2019m talking about the developed West \u2013 it is done now, when all of a sudden somebody is prohibited and you are not even allowed to debate it,\u201d<\/em> Zizek explains. The \u201cfalse choice\u201d between politically correct censorship and radical liberalism is a trap, he believes.<\/span><\/p>\n This week, conservative transparency group Project Veritas published documents it received from an ex-Google employee. The documents appeared to confirm that Google can boost or de-rank news sources based on a seemingly biased set of internal rules. Calling the practices \u201cdark and nefarious\u201d<\/em> the whistleblower, Zachary Vorhies, also leaked a doc detailing Google\u2019s \u201cblacklist\u201d<\/em> that lists nearly 500 websites, including both conservative and leftist media outlets.<\/span><\/p>\n Zizek believes the Big Tech’s practice of blacklists and shadow bans could prove an opportunity for right-wing activists to show themselves as a group fighting establishment politics and targeted for their opposition. The philosopher thinks this tactic will actually backfire against liberals by giving \u201cthe new populist right a position where they can say: you see, we\u2019re the true alternative, we\u2019re the true oppressed.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Google is likely not the only tech megacorporation with a tight grip on their users\u2019 digital menu, Zizek argues \u2013 but \u201cthe process isn\u2019t some kind of a dark plot,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0rather an inconspicuous slide \u201cinto a new, controlled society.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s terrifying about it is that we don\u2019t even experience it as something controlled. We just use social media, buy things, go to a doctor \u2013 and all the data about us is out there. But those are the things that we perceive as our freedom. So what we perceive as freedom becomes the very way we are controlled.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n One doesn\u2019t know anymore \u201cif there is secret police following you or somebody reading your letters,\u201d<\/em> and this in Zizek\u2019s mind is what differentiates it from the totalitarianism of the past. Modern control is hidden and undeclared, Zizek says.<\/span><\/p>\n