Truth, Story and Power II

Part II: When the Network Became the Battlefield

This series is based on a book chapter by Ida Manton, originally published in Macedonian in Mediumska pismenost.

With the author’s permission, the text has been edited for brevity and adapted into a three-part series for publication on Cardigan Collective. The structure and subheadings are editorial additions intended to guide readers through the themes of the original work.

Part I traced the long arc of storytelling from myth to media authority. Part II moves into the rupture: the moment when the digital network transformed narrative from a cultural force into a scalable instrument of power.

The Internet as Infinity

When the internet first appeared, it felt limitless. It was a space without borders, without precedent, without regulation. A structure existed, but what flowed between its nodes seemed infinite and undefined.

No one anticipated the scale.

In a remarkably short time, vast amounts of human expression poured into this space. Personal stories, opinions, speculation, journalism, propaganda, art, anger, belief, and invention accumulated side by side. There were no editorial gates, no shared professional standards, and no meaningful mechanisms to anticipate harm.

The early web resembled mythological chaos before order: a dark, unbounded global web. Regulation lagged behind expansion. And by the time governments and institutions recognised the risks, enormous damage had already been done.

The Algorithmic Mirror

We learned, slowly, that the platforms were not neutral.

The personal information we voluntarily upload becomes raw material. Algorithms track patterns, preferences, emotional reactions, and social networks. They assemble digital profiles that shape what we see next. Content is filtered not for truth, but for engagement.

The result is not censorship in the traditional sense. It is curation through amplification.

Rather than offering a neutral stream of information, platforms prioritise content that aligns with established preferences and emotional triggers, because such material sustains engagement. Over time, this process narrows exposure, reinforces existing assumptions, and simplifies complex issues into repeatable narratives that travel efficiently across networks.

Each click feeds into a system that continuously refines the individual user's profile. Gradually, what once functioned as a shared public sphere shifts into a constellation of overlapping yet increasingly insulated informational environments. As common points of reference diminish, interpretations grow further apart, and narratives harden within their respective communities.

Information as Commodity

Information has always been valuable. Today, it is arguably the most valuable resource on the global market.

Data extraction is no longer incidental but has become embedded in the structure of the digital economy.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal exposed how personal data could be harvested, analysed, and used to build psychological profiles that could influence electoral behaviour. The 2016 U.S. presidential election and the Brexit referendum demonstrated how digital tools could be leveraged not merely to persuade, but to target and manipulate at scale.

The market for influence extends beyond major capitals. In the Macedonian town of Veles, teenagers generated fake news content that spread into American political discourse, demonstrating how economically motivated disinformation could have geopolitical consequences.

The economic architecture of digital platforms encourages circulation at scale rather than reflection in depth. Material that stimulates emotion often spreads more quickly than that which demands sustained attention, and simplified accounts can overshadow complex realities. As information becomes commodified, its value is increasingly measured by reach and engagement, placing truth in tension with the mechanisms that govern visibility.

Misinformation, Disinformation, and Mal-Information

Not all false content is the same.

Some people share incorrect information because they are poorly informed. They repeat claims without understanding their implications. They do not always intend harm. In a click-driven culture that rewards speed and visibility, the pressure to contribute can override caution.

This is often referred to as misinformation: false information shared without malicious intent.

Disinformation, by contrast, is the deliberate spreading of falsehoods to harm, destabilise, or manipulate. It is strategic.

Malinformation goes further still. It uses real information, often private or selectively presented, and weaponises it within a harmful or misleading context.

Yet the boundaries between these categories are rarely clean. Grey zones dominate. An unintentional falsehood can be amplified by actors with strategic motives. A private truth can be framed to incite public outrage. Selective omission can destabilise trust without technically fabricating facts.

The network's architecture accelerates all three.

Democracy Without Filters?

The digital environment raises uncomfortable questions.

If every voice can publish without credentials or accountability, does this represent the strength of democracy or its vulnerability? Does democratisation mean that anyone is qualified to shape public understanding on any topic? Or does a healthy democratic culture still require merit, expertise, and professional standards?

Traditional journalism demanded verification, sources, and editorial oversight. Today, anonymous portals publish without authorship. Revenue flows disproportionately to platform intermediaries rather than content creators. The economic foundations of professional reporting erode.

When journalism becomes underfunded and undervalued, and when algorithms reward spectacle over substance, the public sphere shifts. Authority becomes performative. Visibility substitutes for expertise.

In this environment, storytelling once again becomes a primary instrument of power.

But unlike the tribal elder or the sacred king, today’s storyteller operates within a global, instantaneous network that can amplify a narrative across continents in seconds.

The terrain on which these struggles unfold is no longer confined to geography but increasingly situated within the informational sphere.

About the Author

Ida Manton is a writer and scholar whose work explores storytelling, myth, media, and political power. Her writing examines the thin line between truth-telling and narrative construction in both historical and contemporary contexts.