Everything is contained for the “Clicktatorship”

At President Donald’s house Trump’s second term, everything is contained. Videos of immigration raids are widely shared on X by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), conspiracy theories dictate policy, and prominent right-wing podcasters and influencers have held high-level government positions. The second Trump administration is, frankly, very online.

Trump and his supporters have long trafficked in – and profited from –misinformation and conspiracy theoriesleveraging them to build visibility on social media platforms and set the tone for national conversations. During his first term, Trump was famous for announcing the administration’s positions and priorities via tweet. In the years since, social media platforms have become more friendly environments for conspiracy theories and those who promote them, helping them spread more widely. Trump’s game plan has adapted accordingly.

Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, says social media, particularly right-wing ecosystems, are no longer just a way for Trump to control conversations and public perception. The administration, he says, is now actively making decisions and shaping policies based primarily on how they will be perceived online. Their priority is what right-wing communities care about, whether it’s real or not.

WIRED spoke with Moynihan, who says the United States has entered a new level of entanglement between the Internet and politics, in what he calls “domination by click.”

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

WIRED: First things first, what is clicktatorship?

Don Moynihan: A “clicktature” is a form of government that combines a social media worldview with authoritarian tendencies. This implies that people working in this form of government not only use online platforms as a mode of communication, but that their beliefs, judgment and decision-making reflect, are influenced by and respond directly to the online world to an extreme degree. Clicktatorship considers everything as content, including basic policy decisions and implementation practices.

Providing a platform that encourages right-wing conspiracies and demanding an administration of people capable of peddling those conspiracies is what is giving us the current moments of “clicktature” we are experiencing.

“Clicktatorship” generates these images to justify the occupation of American cities by military forces, or to justify removing resources from states that did not support the president, to do things that would have truly shocked us ten years ago.

Trump’s first presidency was characterized by a kind of showmanship. How is this different from what we see now?

The first Trump presidency could be understood as a “TV presidency”, where to watch The apprentice or Fox News gave you a real insight into the environment in which Trump operated. Trump’s second presidency is the “Social Truth or X presidency”, where it is very difficult to interpret without the reference points of these online platforms. Some of the content and messaging used by the president or other high-level policymakers is filled with internal references, messages that don’t make much sense unless you’re already in that online community.

The modes of speech have also changed. We see high-level policymakers showcasing patterns and habits that work online. Pam Bondi goes to a Senate hearing with a list of printed zingers and X messages as a means of responding to a traditional accountability process, reflects how this mode of online discourse shapes how public officials perceive their actual role.

Much research has been done on the polarizing and harmful effects nature of social media. What does it mean that our political leaders are people who have not only successfully manipulated social media, but have themselves been manipulated by it?