To prevent our democracy from being hacked, we need to be transparent and accountable
In light of the ACCC’s Digital Platform Inquiry, Netflix’s The Great Hack, and comments from Christopher Wylie at Antidote Festival, it’s more important than ever to safeguard ourselves against the risk of our democracy being hacked, argues Guardian Australia’s Dan Stinton.
The issues of dominance and dysfunction in the digital economy are increasingly prominent.
On Sunday, the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie spoke at Sydney’s Antidote Festival and explained how data is being used to influence elections and invade consumers’ privacy.
This follows the recent premiere of The Great Hack documentary on Netflix. The film tells the story of the Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal and sets out how big data and micro-targeting is being used to manipulate the actions of individual citizens.
Facebook is a small part of the problem. The ironic thing is that the biggest parties putting the boots into Facebook at the moment are the conservative media companies like Newscorp and Nine, which let’s be fair had a much, much bigger part to play in promoting partisanship and subverting democracy through the flow of misinformation.
The faster Facebook and Google kill off Newscorp the better off Australia will be.
Amen sister
At least News Corp reporting is transparent, irrespective of what you think of it. Facebook’s news feed is a gigantic, personalised mystery. I’d rather fight News Corp ideas in the open.