Annihilation of Memory
Armies and government and every-day people have been destroying books (or whatever media are being used) to annihilate ideas and memory since the destruction of Ebla (c. 2500 BC). The 21st century manifestation of the de-platforming of unpopular voices by denial of digital service is the evolution of annihilation.
John Greenwood and Henry Barrow, Elizabethan Separatists, were hanged in London in April 1593 for "devising and circulating seditious books." They were de-platformed.
In TK News on March 23, 2021 Matt Taibbi explored the writing of Timothy Wu one of the “intellectual leaders of a growing movement in Democratic circles to scale back the First Amendment.”
The “From Ebla to E-Books” Substack is about the annihilation of memory.
References.
Image: By Ian A. Wood - Flickr account Ian A. Wood + email sent to OTRS-NL, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34924468
Carlson, Leland H., John Greenwood, and Henry Barrow. The Writings of John Greenwood and Henry Barrow, 1591-1593. London: Allen & Unwin, 1970.
Taibbi, Matt. “A Biden Appointee's Troubling Views On The First Amendment.” TK News. March 23, 2021.
Wellisch, Hans "Ebla: The World's Oldest Library", The Journal of Library History16.3 (Summer 1981:488-500).
Wu, Timothy, “Is the First Amendment Obsolete?” Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. September 1, 2017.
This is yet another indication that authoritarianism always has two faces. One is plainly shown to its enemies, who are subjected to the worst possible torture: their thoughts are criminalized. The other is shown to its allies, justifying the torture as protection of "normal" people from "abnormal and dangerous" lies. Acceptance of the characterization of these thoughts is to be accepted on faith, just as the basis of a religion is to be accepted on faith. It is ironic how authoritarians proclaim to be objective truth-followers, unlike religions, who are superstitious mystics, when their basis for existence relies on the same blind faith.
The difference, of course, is that the authoritarians' basis is true. If you don't believe them, just ask them.