The last few days represent more than just the most recent and inevitable controversy emanating from Facebook’s beleaguered offices. The scandal over Cambridge Analytica’s participation in electoral manipulation and gross breaches of privacy have resonated more widely with users than the earlier allegations about fake news and Russian connections.
On an individual level, Facebook users have to contend with the fact that through no fault of their own, their personal information was harvested and weaponised by the fractious company that provided analytics for the Brexit campaign and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. On a societal level, we are only beginning to understand how our democratic institutions are being manipulated by unethical technological practices that transform a loose amalgamation of interests into targeted advertising. This meddling could have disastrous consequences; facilitating the rise of a new Radio Rwanda or form of agitprop for the Web 2.0 world. We are now in the era of bespoke, personalised propaganda. CONT.
MacKenzie F. Common, LSE Business Review