The Blackout - The day FB, Insta & Whatsapp crashed
Intro
On Monday, the world experienced the real-time effects of downtime on Big Tech Social platforms for the first time in history.
So that time has come where I ask you to sit back, take a sip or toke of your favourite pastime, put on some dope music and enjoy the ride.
So, let's talk about what happened.
Part I - The Blackout
The 4th of October will go down as a marker in history. It was the day where Big Tech giants experienced global mass downtime, costing Zuckerberg approximately $7billion. In context, enough money to address significant humanitarian problems such as world hunger, water deprivation, shelter and human trafficking crimes.
With Facebook yet to make an official announcement, several rumours are flying around of what could have caused this issue, which all have credibility in their own right. The Big Tech giant is notorious for involving itself in privacy, censorship, and misinformation cases - they haven't played by the book. We've seen an expose on collaboration between Governments and Big Tech having unique platforms to help censor content.
So, it is therefore rather curious that at this particular moment in time, we experience a Social Media blackout. Facebook-owned platforms Instagram & Whatsapp also experienced downtime in service. It's almost like a hidden war is going on, which we cannot directly see, but we share the experience of it.
Part II - The Implications
I write this article like we experienced a Social blackout for days or weeks. But it was only five hours. Considering how much time the planet collectively spends scrolling through social feeds, think about its impact. Bam. The inhabitants of Mother Earth suddenly cannot access an online community.
What did you do?
How did you feel?
Did you find yourself hitting that refresh button every so often?
Generally, when exploring the implications of an event, the tendency is to look towards business & the economy. Considering the sheer amount of ad spend that goes through Facebook by the hour, it's easy to see the knock-on effect for business. It would be like immediately stopping customers from visiting your store, leaving a dent in the pockets.
However, I am much more interested in exploring what really happened. Given the political whirlwind of 2020, 2021 seems to be another year where Big Tech continues its dominance over humanity. What do I mean by that? Well, think about everything you do online and your personal life. Ask yourself this question:
"How much is Big Tech involved in my life?" - think about it?
So, how is it that a giant like Facebook can suddenly experience a blackout? If you follow mainstream media articles, you can be sure of one thing: you will not find the truth.
What was interesting was this picture:
What this shows is that server names pointing towards Facebook have disappeared from the DNS table. It's unlikely they would not have known about this.
When you add in the level of corruption & nefarious agendas/schemes against humanity, you start to paint a very different picture. It leads me to ask this question:
"Was the DNS pulled on purpose?" - and if so, then why? Why would you voluntary lose $7billion for a couple of hours? I guess that's not much of a billionaire mindset.
The most curious rumour that floated around on the blackout day was that whistleblower information (not the kind on fake news media such as 60min) connecting Zuckerberg to crimes against humanity, including the facilitation of human trafficking, was about to be revealed.
Now, can you imagine owning one of the biggest companies (ever to exist), wielding an absurd amount of power in your hands? Can you then imagine evidence presented against you for your crimes against humanity? What would you do to stop that information from spreading? It's just that again; it doesn't make much sense, even by their logic.
On the other hand, should we be caught up in one of the most incredible plot twists this planet has witnessed, then perhaps it was a move from one of the 'good guys' in a bid to kickstart the showdown between the cabal and the entirety of humanity. Were the whitehat guys taking back control from the corrupt organisation?
No idea. Let's see what happens. Whatever is going down, I'm sure we're witnessing history.
Part III - The Realisation
These 5 hours of downtime provided us with a lot of valuable information—namely, our reliance and dependency on Big Tech. An actual demonstration of how much power they hold. Imagine if we went through a period of darkness? Darkness where our digital communication was down. Not only were our fingers favourite social networks down, but the internet was down. It's crazy to think of the panic that would arise. I mean, I'm in the UK, and when the mainstream announced fuel shortages, we were all out like a moth to a flame.
The lesson from this is that we must learn to become less dependent on Big Tech. They make us much more vulnerable than we ever realise. We must empower our digital lives by taking back control again. Stop giving your data away to Big Tech and ensure they cannot watch every move you make in the digital world. They will be watching, so it's not a question of whether this is a little silly - Snowden and the gang have already given us the proof from their whistleblower bravery.
Start now by making a list of everything your personal information is connected to digitally. And then work your way towards liberation as you seek alternatives to those platforms that will protect you from harm's way.
And secondly, at the minimum, go and find yourself a solid VPN (with a no IP log policy) you can add to all your devices - you only need to do it once, then connect to it every time you use it. (If you still need guidance, just let me know below, and I will get back to you). For example, I have a VPN installed on my phone & computer. They are always on by default, so I don't need to do anything extra. The result? You turn yourself into a ghost online rather than openly bate yourself in front of Big Tech to manipulate you.
If the blackout has taught us anything, it's that you still cannot trust Big Tech. Look after yourself and protect yourself online - they will not be telling you that.
Til next time, squire.
NiKKO
#TheNikkoProject covers Digital Freedom which tells you exactly what you need to do and set up to stop prying eyes all over your information.