Invisible Rulers

6 Benz uses this metaphor repeatedly to capture attention from credulous audiences on Twitter (see Mike Benz [@MikeBenzCyber], “Would love to explain the AI censorship death star superweapon to @joerogan,” Twitter, July 1, 2023, 8:35 p.m., Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20230906192037/https://twitter.com/MikeBenzCyber/status/1675347554895302657), often with accompanying footage of himself discussing the concept. For a summary of one such video, see Melissa Fine, “Elon Musk ‘Picked a Fight with America’ Say Critics, ‘He Has No Idea the DARPA Rattlesnake He Just Stepped On,’” BizPac Review, July 3, 2023, Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20230711021158/https://www.bizpacreview.com/2023/07/03/elon-musk-picked-a-fight-with-america-say-critics-he-has-no-idea-the-darpa-rattlesnake-he-just-stepped-on-1373855.

7 Stanford’s portion of this $3 million award was $748,437 over five years. For details, see “$2.25 Million in National Science Foundation Funding Will Support Center for an Informed Public’s Rapid-Response Research of Mis-and Disinformation,” University of Washington Center for an Informed Public, August 15, 2021, https://www.cip.uw.edu/2021/08/15/national-science-foundation-uw-cip-misinformation-rapid-response-research.

8 The project was first announced at Jason Foster, “My New Project: Empower Oversight: Because That’s What Whistleblowers Do,” Stubborn Things, July 2, 2021, https://jasonfoster.substack.com/p/my-new-project. In 2022, Mike Benz’s Foundation for Freedom Online website acknowledged Empower Oversight in its footer; see “Protecting Digital Liberties, Educating about Censorship, Promoting Online Freedom,” Foundation for Freedom Online, Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20220829203730/https://www.foundationforfreedom online.com.

9 Robert Faturechi, “A Partisan Combatant, a Remorseful Blogger: The Senate Staffer Behind the Attack on the Trump-Russia Investigation,” ProPublica, March 28, 2018, https://www.propublica.org/article/jason-foster-the-senate-staffer-behind-the-attack-on-the-trump-russia-investigation.

10 “Mission,” Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research, accessed September 23, 2023, Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20230809021038/https://empowr.us/mission.

11 “Disinfo Dictionary: Benz, Mike,” Tablet, March 27, 2023, https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/disinformation-dictionary#benz.

12 Greg Piper, “Stanford Accused of Rebooting CIA Mind-Control Project with ‘News Source Trustworthiness Ratings,’” Just the News, updated August 25, 2023, Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20230825102917/https://justthenews.com/accountability/watchdogs/stanford-accused-rebooting-cia-mind-control-project-news-source.

13 Jeff Cercone, “Partnership Targeted Election Misinformation, Not Conservatives,” PolitiFact, October 11, 2022, https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/oct/11/instagram-posts/partnership-targeted-election-misinformation-not-c.

14 Benz, “Department of Homeland Censorship.’”

15 See Harry G. Frankfurt, On Bullshit (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005). A liar attempts to conceal their deception; a bullshitter simply does not care about the truth.

16 There is an online adage known as Brandolini’s law, or the bullshit asymmetry principle: “The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it.” See Alberto Brandolini (@ziobrando), “The bullshit asimmetry: the amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it,” Twitter, January 10, 2013, 11:29 p.m., https://twitter.com/ziobrando/status/289635060758507521.

17 “A Statement from the Election Integrity Partnership,” Election Integrity Partnership, October 5, 2022, https://www.eipartnership.net/blog/a-statement-from-the-election-integrity-partnership.

18 John Suler, “The Online Disinhibition Effect,” CyberPsychology & Behavior 7, no. 3 (2004): 321–326, https://doi.org/10.1089/1094931041291295.

19 Jeremy Frimer et al., “Incivility Is Rising Among American Politicians on Twitter,” Social Psychological and Personality Science 14, no. 2 (March 2023): 259–269, https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506221083811.

20 Sandra González-Bailón and Yphtach Lelkes, “Do Social Media Undermine Social Cohesion? A Critical Review,” Social Issues and Policy Review 17, no. 1 (January 2023): 155–180, https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12091.

21 Brandy Zadrozny, “House GOP Candidate Known for QAnon Support Was ‘Correspondent’ for Conspiracy Website,” NBC News, April 14, 2020, https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/georgia-congressional-candidate-s-writings-highlight-qanon-support-n1236724.

22 Paul LeBlanc, “Video Surfaces of Marjorie Taylor Greene Confronting Parkland Shooting Survivor with Baseless Claims,” CNN, updated January 28, 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-david-hogg-video/index.html.