| This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a red pill of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here. Who among us has not asked: If you don't know you're in the Matrix, then how do you escape? The Chinese people have been living through just such a nightmare under Xi Jinping's tenure — until now. After years of living under strict "Covid Zero" policies, many in China are getting red-pilled to the fact that the Western world has all but forgotten about Covid-19. Xi has painstakingly censored China's digital universe to obscure this fact. But cracks are starting to appear in his vision as it becomes increasingly detached from reality, Matthew Brooker notes. After Tiananmen Square, the Communist Party made a pinky promise to its people to provide ever-higher living standards in exchange for unchallenged power. But since the pandemic began, quality of life has worsened in China — a breach of that very social contract. No one has fared worse than China's Gen Z, Adam Minter writes. Students have faced wretched circumstances on college campuses, confined to their dorm rooms for months on end, sometimes without access to food or medical care. Now, the cohort once known for "lying flat" is rising up alongside factory workers and middle-class city dwellers to demand change. Although suppressing dissent might be Xi's first instinct, Bloomberg's editorial board warns doubling down on surveillance and censorship will only make matters worse. The best thing China can do now is lay the groundwork to re-open safely. Unfortunately, Chinese officials still seem intent on peddling a false narrative. Take the World Cup: China's state broadcaster has reportedly been executing Kim Kardashian-level photoshopping by removing close-up shots of fans without masks. But once again, Parmy Olson writes, the social-media apps we call "hellsites" have been vital for helping people escape the digital handcuffs of an oppressive regime. In Iran, 35% of the world's websites are blocked, but that's not stopping soccer fans from calling for the regime's downfall in online videos. Thanks to the widespread use of social networks, Bobby Ghosh writes, Tehran's streets "are now a stage for protest, not celebration." Exposing the fakery of China and Iran won't be enough to defeat the Matrix alone. But it's a necessary first step in helping countless real-world Neos make real change. Bonus China Charts and Reading: China's relentless surveillance of its people might extend to TikTok users, at home and abroad. ByteDance's short-form video app is increasingly getting the stink-eye from regulators for collecting user data, writes Tim Culpan. (Its freakishly good algorithm certainly knows whether Barbie actually said an expletive in Toy Story 3.) The FCC has lately been focused on restricting equipment made in China, but a TikTok crackdown could be next. Get your Meghan Trainor dances in while you can, people. Tech disappointment is everywhere you look these days, in fact. In India, extremely wealthy person Gautam Adani wants to create a super-app that would be "the Ferrari of the digital world." But Andy Mukherjee writes his app would have been a lot more useful and popular during the pandemic. That's a common theme throughout tech, writes Allison Schrager: When Covid was in full swing, demand for online services boomed, lifting productivity. The rise of Zoom was akin to when Laura Ingalls Wilder discovered indoor plumbing: But the productivity boost didn't last, and now tech workers are being let go in droves. Suddenly Peloton looks more like Pets.com. The repercussions could be long-lasting. Bonus Tech Reading: China is jealous of Japan's video-game prowess, but not for long. — Gearoid Reidy Palantir's thing is sifting through piles of data, Chris Bryant writes. But when it came time to identify its own SPAC risks, it failed spectacularly: The excitement of this year's World Cup has been soured by host Qatar's abuse of migrant workers. But Eduardo Porter writes the flood of migrant remittances leading up to the event points to the upside of guest-worker schemes: their poverty-fighting power. In order to resuscitate FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried was willing to part with his personal Robinhood shares. — Matt Levine HSBC is in the clear, thanks to Canada's $10 billion. — Paul J. Davies It's awkward when your entire board of directors high-tails it out of the boardroom. — Chris Bryant "Keep the ziti flowing" may be a sleazy thing to say, but is it criminal? — Stephen Carter Donald Trump better hope winnowing works, or he'll end up a gargoyle. — Jonathan Bernstein To beat Russia on land, Ukraine needs help in the air. — James Stavridis An ancient zombie virus was defrosted by climate change. Kevin McCarthy admitted white supremacists are terrible. Elon Musk fired the people who stop child sexual abuse on Twitter. Three weeks into UC's strike, the students are struggling. Would you want free McDonald's for life? Wordle now has a human editor, and not everyone is thrilled. Being a cheap date is a great thing in inflationary times. Notes: Please send McDonald's and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook. | 
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