"Analog" is the word you want. That's not an alternative spelling; they're different words.

This is a fascinating idea off to a good start.

Walls of defense are usually built as concentric circles, to delay and contain threats. Here the outermost layer filters the world outside, both literally and figuratively opening and closing ports. You call this a wall of silence. Inside that layer, however, is a wall of noise, all the effort by the State and other powers to shape reality by controlling what Sigmund Freud's nephew Edward L. Bernays first called "public relations." Inside that layer is a zone of distraction we call "civil society," increasingly organized for behavior collection by the Parasite with the Mind of God, the interfused tissues of previously-existing human social life and the software and hardware tissues of the parasite now mingling everywhere.

I think the way to make this essay even better, therefore, is to shorten the introduction's overlong retelling of someone else's art so that you can concentrate ;on further developing your own: to go from drawing one wall to describing the architecture of the imaginary city that, as Elias Canetti said, we all inhabit.

Time to change from Analogue to Digital ‘Barriers of Silence’

-- By SkyeLee - 13 Mar 2022

The ‘Barrier of Silence’, a 1955 episode of Science Fiction Theatre, depicts malicious forces kidnaping the pilot on a flight gone wrong, before placing him within a ‘barrier of sound’. The barrier insulated him from all outside sources of sound and absorbed all noises he created within. Within days, the silence broke the pilot psychologically into hypnotic obedience to the only source of sound he could hear - commands made through a set of headphones. The devoted obedience that the silence induced was so strong, that the Voice could compel the pilot not only to give up the confidential details of his experiment, but even to forget the entire kidnapping.

Although anechoic chambers can cause individuals deep discomfort within a short period, there is little basis for claims that commands made under conditions of absolute silence engender irresistible compulsion. The science behind the show’s fantasy of the hypnotic power of ‘absolute silence’ is dubious at best, but metaphorically applied to the technological sphere, reveals important technological and psychological ramifications of the ‘Splinternet’. This is a characterisation of the Internet splintering along technological, political and commercial lines. Politically speaking, the effectiveness of a ‘barrier of sound’ is much more than mere fantasy.

From ‘Analogue’ to ‘Digital’ Barriers

The modern barriers look more like the Great Firewall of China, dedicated to the preservation of the ruling party’s narrative by filtering all streams of ‘sound’ from the World Wide Web. Other countries like Iran and Belarus have also set up their own ‘walled gardens’, and to some extent other Southeast Asian countries like Thailand have shown inclinations in that direction.

Barriers to freedom in Russia’s adaptive authoritarianism?

Though Russia has been shifting from analogue to digital forms of control, it is still incomplete. Beginning with the 2019 ‘Sovereign Internet’ law, regulations have been passed to restrict control over the technical space. The testing of Russia’s ‘RuNet’ experimented with an internet operating independently from the rest of the world, insulated behind their digital Iron Curtain. As foreign media platforms and internet service providers are either censored (Twitter), blocked (Meta), or willingly withdrawn (Cogent), the separation is ripe for Russia to complete its construction of a digital barrier of silence and build its own 'Splinternet'.

Both Technological and Psychological Impacts

Barriers to freedom in American liberalism?

Realistically, this non-coercive form of ‘barrier’ is unlikely to have the same effect. In free societies where infringements of the rule of law are exceptions rather than the norm, individuals who really live in politically partisan online news echo chambers are rare. Studies that demonstrate a strong indication of echo chambers or ‘filter bubbling’ often focus on one media platform, when most people get their news from a variety of sources. Even those who rely only on one source also typically rely on sources with relatively diverse audiences (commercial broadcasters for instance). Though a small minority may self-admit into echo chambers, it is a small percentage (around 5% average worldwide, slightly larger in the US). All in all, it is unlikely that this non-coercive form of the barrier of silence will become as popular as its authoritarian relative. Silencing sanctions (such as the law on knowing dissemination of false information about Russia’s armed forces that was passed just several days ago) will continue to play an indispensable role in maintaining Russia’s technological barrier of silence should she choose to continue its development.

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