TOBY SHAPSHAK: The year of social media capture
The death of our privacy will be the thing we regret the most when we look back at this period
This is the year our social media innocence died. Sadly, the biggest tech trend this year is the one that has dominated headlines: how social media, despite its personal sharing intentions, has become a cesspool of hatred, trolling, threats of violence against women and revenge porn. It has been easily manipulated by Russian propagandists and right-wing fascists, as well as other fringe groups. And then there is the rampant misogyny, disgraceful attacks on prominent women (and the threats of rape) and the seeming indifference of Twitter and Facebook towards preventing such abuse. Social media, in short, has been weaponised. Created in a democracy and used by people to express themselves, it has been turned into a tool for powerful manipulation by narrow interest groups. Then there are the millions of "bots" used to foment propaganda, like those used by the Guptas and their various malevolent lackeys, including the disgraced Bell Pottinger. Social media is no longer just about fear o...
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