9 August 2019 — True Publica
By TruePublica: Boris Johnson was advised by Lynton Crosby throughout his Tory leadership race. As far back as 2013, Crosby has been a controversial figure to the Conservative party. There was a concern then that he influenced government policy in favour of his company’s clients. He got the Tories to dump plain packaging on cigarettes and curbed restrictions on alcohol. Through his business activities, Crosby has been seen as an enemy to those who advocate for the rights of asylum seekers, indigenous people, women seeking abortions and gay marriage activists. He was found to have been lobbying for the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, which promotes fracking. Since Crosby became Tory election strategist in 2012, the government then dished out tax breaks for the oil and gas industry. Fracking opponents alleged a link at the time and is now accused of using Cambridge Analytica style campaigns to the results the Tories wants.
“You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.”—George Orwell, 1984
The Internet was originally promoted as a completely free and uncensored mechanism for people everywhere to exchange views and communicate, but it has been observed by many users that that is not really true anymore. Both governments and the service providers have developed a taste for controlling the product, with President Barack Obama once considering a “kill switch“ that would turn off the Internet completely in the event of a “national emergency.”