CHRIS ROPER: Tyrants with hearts of digital darkness
Remember the good old days of coup leaders seizing the radio station? Now they just shut down the internet, often with the help of telecom companies
One of the casualties of the internet age, a list that includes traditional media, the livelihoods of recording musicians and fax machines, is the role of radio stations during state coups.
Time was when the first port of call for any self-respecting military junta was the state broadcast house. Now, they concentrate on the internet. I checked this with an AI assistant, which said (said?) that coups can still involve seizing broadcast stations, particularly in countries with limited internet access or older media infrastructure, but the internet has significantly changed the dynamics of power struggles...
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