Trump Media announced last week that it had signed an agreement with a company called Perception Group, Inc. to buy live stream television infrastructure for its social media platform Truth Social
But a video on the company’s YouTube channel proposing nationalized, government-controlled streaming infrastructure is raising eyebrows.
Perception Group Inc., which is registered in Canada, will provide the services through a few subsidiaries registered in the U.K. and Slovenia.
“Have you ever pondered the question: who holds the reins over the media we consume every day?” asks a narrator in a video uploaded last November. “Is it the giant tech corporations or could it be the government?”
“In this rapidly changing digital world, it’s time to consider the potential of a national, government-controlled content delivery network,” the video proposes as an answer to that question. Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) are server groups installed across the world that cache content to help it load quickly for wherever you’re accessing it from.
“This shit sounds ominous,” posted one redditor highlighting the video on the r/DJT_Uncensored subreddit, which is devoted to discussing the Trump Media Group.
The video said a federally run CDN would be a “means for governments to regain their influence over media distribution” and noted an “enhanced control over content.”
The video highlights that it could be similar to government control over the television airwaves.
And the idea of Trump launching a massive content delivery network and then taking back the White House sounded ominous to some on the forum.
Trump has long threatened networks whose journalistic arms have covered him, proposing to revoke their broadcast licenses.
"It's totally possible that a CDN is developed under the guise of national security," worried one redditor.
The user who flagged the video said that it popped up on the YouTube channel right around the time Trump Media began hunting for a video service provider.
Others, though, thought the video wasn’t nearly as right-wing authoritarian as some hyped.
“Don’t let Trump watch this. They showed wind turbines, mentioned reducing CO2, and care for the environment…” replied u/tetrisan.
The video does highlight what it says could be some potential benefits of a government-owned CDN, claiming that “a move towards a national CDN is also a step towards environmental sustainability,” and that “the deployment of efficient video servers contributes to a greener approach to streaming, significantly reducing CO2 emissions associated with it.”
A 2022 report from the International Energy Agency found that there was no “comprehensive data” on energy use by the data centers that power video streaming, though some writers have argued that the environmental impact of streaming a two-hour movie can produce as much pollution as taking a 45-minute car ride.
“With the expansion of AI and CDN technologies, the internet has become the fastest-growing energy consumer ever created by mankind,” notes a text caption in the Perception Group video.
It says that building a government-controlled CDN “represents a commitment to low-energy consumption and environmental responsibility.”
Trump, as well as his supporters, have long challenged any government action that could contribute to slowing climate change.
Trump Media and Perception didn’t immediately respond to questions from the Daily Dot.
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