'Something Has Gone Very Wrong' With Facebook, Google and Twitter
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ICYMI, a brief (1,020-word) but important read: “Do social media threaten democracy?” (subhead: “Facebook, Google and Twitter were supposed to save politics as good information drove out prejudice and falsehood. Something has gone very wrong”), an essay that serves as the cover story of the current issue of The Economist.
The unbylined (per usual Economist style) piece reads, in part,
Not long ago social media held out the promise of a more enlightened politics, as accurate information and effortless communication helped good people drive out corruption, bigotry and lies. Yet Facebook acknowledged that before and after last year’s American election, between January 2015 and August this year, 146m users may have seen Russian misinformation on its platform. Google’s YouTube admitted to 1,108 Russian-linked videos and Twitter to 36,746 accounts. Far from bringing enlightenment, social media have been spreading poison.
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