During the 20th century the first objective for any military coup was the radio and television broadcasting stations: control of the broadcasting of the news was of strategical importance. The events of the Turkey coup last year show that social networks have rendered this tactics obsolete: Turkey President Erdogan was able to address its nation using his smartphone!
This is another change of paradigm and obsolescence of the public broadcasting institution as sole vector of news and propaganda.
The funny thing is that dictators and other dirigiste regimes will face a difficult paradox: reigning in social networks might feel good from the control of communications perspective, but it will also diminish resilience in the face of unexpected events like a coup. How to deal with this paradox? The openness of the world will necessarily win!
