The Netflix Documentary The Great Hack has so much relevance to our course and what we have studied so far. It looks into the way companies are stealing and selling our information, then using our information against us to change our party-alliance.
If we are being bombarded with media that has been bought to manipulate our voter minds with, is this still free thinking? Is it still our vote? Or is this just another way the world is stepping further and further away from free and fair democracy.
One of the main researchers featured in this two-hour documentary is Carole Cadwalladr. She believes that this media manipulation is one way an authoritarian regime is hiding behind the mask of democracy. My favourite quote from her in this doco is: “‘Our electoral laws are not fit for purpose.’ We literally cannot have a free and fair election in this country, and we can’t have it because of Facebook, because of the tech giants who are still completely unaccountable... Authoritarian governments are on the rise and they’re all using these politics of hate and fear on Facebook.”
Sure, the US or UK aren't banning elections or parties, but that doesn't mean the elections are free and fair. There is just a newer, more modern, and arguably more dangerous weapon in play: Social Media and Information Manipulation.
If you don't have time to watch a 2 hour doco, watch Cadwalladr's TEDTalk to get a good idea of what the film delves into. - https://youtu.be/OQSMr-3GGvQ
So what do you guys think? Are elections still free and fair? Is the media manipulation still allowing us to use our free will therefore elections are fair or is this just another method of authoritarian strategy?
Thanks for this, Renee. Several other people have mentioned this documentary. One question here is about how much influence do these tactics really have: are we so easily manipulated?
ReplyDeleteOne issue here is state media vs private media. State-owned media that is designed to manipulate the population is considered non-democratic, but can the same be said about private media if they are acting independently? Private media exercising their right of free speech will often result in bias political information. A government's attempt to regulate this could just be seen as more autocratic.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Simon - what do you think? When does private media produces more non-democratic outcomes?
Delete