Lies, the State, and capitalism

the age of post-truth and the State’s and public policies’ inability to confront fake news and shitstorms

Abstract

The present article investigates the structural incapacity of the contemporary State to adequately address the phenomena of the shitstorm (storm of indignation or firestorm), fake news, and post-truth. It demonstrates that such incapacity does not arise from merely technical or legal shortcomings but from contradictions inherent to the very political form of the State. The State, as an apparatus that presents itself as neutral yet operates essentially as a guarantor of specific social relations, finds itself in a paradoxical situation: it must preserve a certain degree of truthfulness to maintain institutional legitimacy, while simultaneously constituting itself through ideological concealment of its own nature. The digital world has amplified mass-attack practices, creating situations in which victims of shitstorms and fake news become entirely incapable of institutional response. In this context, the State reveals its limitations and inability to deal with these phenomena that threaten the preservation of truth.