A-Infos (en) Italy, UCADI, #206 - Epic Fury: Algorithmic Totalitarianism and the Eclipse of Reason (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The name "Epic Fury," chosen by Trump for the joint operation with 
Israel against Iran launched on February 28, is the perfect aesthetic 
framework for a manipulative strategy aimed at mortgaging the future 
through instant consensus. In this scenario, the use of "Cringe" that 
sense of unease felt when faced with an out-of-context act is not a 
Hollywood affectation or excessive arrogance. It is a deliberate 
communication technology, or, more precisely, a deliberate technology of 
"capture." Its goals are, in fact, surgical: to engage Generation Z and 
Millennials by mimicking their codes (from TikTok to memes); to shift 
attention from the inconvenient content to the individual expressing it 
a vital tactic when valid arguments are lacking and to saturate the 
social space with an avalanche of comments that fill the content void. 
It is the ultimate tool for undermining authority, a quality once sought 
after but now sacrificed on the altar of a narcissistic polarization 
that transforms the leader into an unquestionable tribal chief. The 
awkward dance to the tune of YMCA, the AI-generated video that 
transforms Gaza into a utopian Disney-esque vision, or the embarrassing 
statement in which Trump mistakes Victor Orbán for the leader of Turkey 
rather than Hungary are not accidents. They are traps. This strategy 
does not spare Europe and Italy. Minister Antonio Tajani, in the 
aftermath of Operation Epic Fury, urged Italians stranded in Dubai not 
to look out or go out in the streets in the presence of drones, an 
instruction that seems surreal to say the least. Even before that, Carlo 
Calenda attempted to penetrate these new digital spaces to build bonds 
of trust by adopting a strategy of authenticity through contrast: "One: 
I can't dance, I look like a drunken bear. Two: I can't give makeup 
advice because I have a belly and I'm ugly. But I can talk to you about 
politics. About politics, about books, about culture." In contrast, 
Giusi Bartolozzi, chief of staff to the Minister of Justice, lapsed into 
verbal violence when, in a recent televised debate on the upcoming 
justice referendum, she described magistrates as veritable "firing 
squads," sparking a bitter institutional clash. Even the paradox of 
identity becomes a matter of viral circulation in the digital space. 
This is the case with the slogan "I am Giorgia, I am a woman, I am a 
mother, I am Italian, I am Christian," uttered by Giorgia Meloni during 
a 2019 rally and subsequently transformed into the viral remix "I am 
Giorgia," which became a veritable political meme. Even the appeal to 
God, country, and family, enacted by political leaders with the tone of 
a chivalric epic, is a narrative crafted to capture the consensus of an 
electorate seeking certain references.
It is a populism that offers simplified solutions and the restoration of 
a supposed popular sovereignty as an antidote to social uncertainty; 
however, behind this facade lies the triumph of selfishness and 
political opportunism: a rhetoric devoid of ethical meaning. The process 
of capturing consensus would not be complete without the crucial support 
of automated processes that use AI to identify, extract, and quantify 
the opinions and emotions contained in a text. AI maps emotional 
micro-reactions in real time anger, fear, sharing, joy extracting and 
measuring collective sentiment to tailor communication to the intended 
purpose. It's no coincidence that AI was used extensively and in real 
time during Operation Epic Fury: not only to plan logistics and target 
selection, but to profile audiences and test the public's level of 
emotional engagement. "Epic Fury" thus represents the first mass 
experiment in which AI manages warfare and information in an integrated 
manner. Propaganda is no longer an art of persuasion, but an exact 
science of profiling, where the future is mortgaged in the name of a 
present saturated by algorithms and fury. Traditional media, in an 
obsessive attempt to stay in line or even lead in content production, 
chase trends generated or amplified by artificial intelligence, 
unwittingly becoming amplifiers of the very disinformation they are 
supposed to combat. In this race to achieve maximum speed, they have 
lost sight of their true competitive advantage: credibility, authority, 
fact-checking, and proximity to local communities. At the same time, the 
direct relationship between leaders and citizens has accelerated the 
decline of intermediary bodies. Political parties, unions, and 
associations today appear increasingly unsuited to countering "pop" and 
populist politics.

This crisis is not merely aesthetic: it has a huge social cost, eroding 
the protections enjoyed by workers and vulnerable groups. However, 
revitalizing these organizations is a necessary condition for restoring 
democratic vitality. These bodies must once again become solid bridges 
between institutions and citizens, capable of conducting clear analyses, 
projecting strategic visions, and offering concrete solutions to 
community needs, abandoning sterile emotional reactions. It is urgent to 
demand rigorous and coherent political action that restores the 
educational function and the construction of the common good. The 
current fragility produces disillusionment and abstention, putting the 
very stability of democracy at risk. Emerging from the "Epic Fury" means 
breaking the short circuit created between the algorithm and our most 
archaic emotions; it means stopping inhabiting the cave of conditioned 
reflexes and returning to investing in competence and collective 
responsibility.

Sabrina Barresi

https://www.ucadi.org/2026/03/28/epic-fury-il-totalitarismo-algoritmico-e-leclissi-della-ragione
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en