Biokinetic2
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Registered: 12-2017
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Tech's terrible year
The Guardian
quote: In the last year, barely a day has gone by without a scandal placing technology companies in the spotlight, whether for sexual harassment, livestreamed murder, Russian influence operations or terrorist propaganda.
Tech’s annus horribilis started with calls to #DeleteUber, but the way things are going it will end with calls to delete the entire internet.
“2017 has definitely been a year when tech has found there is a target painted on its back,” said Om Malik, a venture capitalist. “The big companies have been so obsessed with growth that there’s been a lack of social responsibility. Now the chickens are coming home to roost.”
The surprise election of Donald Trump acted as a catalyst for scrutiny of the platforms that shape so much of our online experience. Even so, it’s taken many months for the enormity of their role to sink in.
Perhaps the biggest wake-up call has been the showdown in Washington. Congress summoned representatives from Facebook, Twitter and Google to testify over their role in a multi-pronged Russian operation to influence the 2016 presidential election. All three companies admitted that Russian entities bought ads on their sites in an attempt to skew the vote.
In Facebook’s case, fake accounts pushed divisive messages in swing states; Google found similar activity across its paid search tool and YouTube; and on Twitter, armies of bots and fake users promoted fake news stories that were favourable to Donald Trump. Similar patterns were identified around the Brexit vote.
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12/26/2017, 9:58 am
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greendocnowciv
Registered: 11-2017
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Re: Tech's terrible year
Gosh - odd that nobody found any sign of any votes affected by all that huge amounts of stuff.
And meantime, lots of conservo and Progressive, anti-Corporate Dems have been demonetised from during the campaign to now.
Part of the "we gotta make up for our lax, lets-be-fair attitude" purity campaign, ah reckon.
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12/28/2017, 7:30 pm
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