The reporter who broke the story of how Cambridge Analytica swung the 2016 vote to Donald Trump, Carole Cadwalladr, is back and this time she's warning that Facebook could swing the November vote to Trump.
This is Facebook’s world now. And we live in it. And if you’re not terrified about what this means it’s because you haven’t been paying attention.Cadwalladr writes that the wheels of election rigging are already in motion,
America, the idea of America, is on the brink. And at the cold, dead heart of the suicide mission it has set itself on, is Facebook. Facebook and America are now indivisible. Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, these are now the bloodstream of American life and politics. A bloodstream that is sick.
And so the world is sick, because American capitalism has been the vector that has brought this infection across the globe. Algorithmically amplified “free speech” with no consequences. Lies spread at speed. Hate freely expressed, freely shared. Ethnic hatred, white supremacy, resurgent Nazism all spreading invisibly, by stealth beyond the naked eye.
For Trump 2020, the band is back together. The chief data scientist of Cambridge Analytica, Matt Oczkowski has launched a new firm, Data Propria, which is working with the digital director of Trump’s 2016 campaign Brad Parscale. And Trump is testing his limits. Can he place ads that feature Nazi symbols? Yes. (Taken down but only after accruing millions of views.) Can he spread lies about mail-in fraud? Yes. Can he threaten Black Lives Matter protesters with violence? Yes. Will be he be able to use Facebook to dispute the election? Watch this space.
In a world without consequences, the bad man will be king. And an aggressive multinational company whose business model is threatened by the bad man’s opponent is, at best, conflicted; at worst, complicit.
This week, Mark Zuckerberg was forced to deny he had a “secret deal” with Trump. “A ridiculous idea,” he said. It was an uncanny echo of the “pretty crazy idea” he cited in November 2016 when it was first suggested fake news on Facebook might have played a role in electing Trump.
It wasn’t crazy. It was true. We know this because of the painstaking work the FBI and congressional committees did in investigating foreign interference in the US election.
Facebook is at the centre of this too. It’s Facebook that enables hostile nation states like Russia to attack us in our homes. A geopolitical war being fought in front of our noses, in our pockets, on our phones.
1 comment:
.. I dunno, Mound.. tho its unarguable the influence Facebook has.. as well as in the new kingdom of 'Data Hauling' .. & hell, we've had 'Oracles' from the beginning of time. People still buy gossip rags & are fascinated by the First Lady fake tits.. (she married for love, dontcha know) ..
American peeps not only watch the way the wind blows.. they see Trump for what he is.. a classic swindler parasite glad to piss on their leg, insult them.. and then expect them to eat shit
In my view its Barr & Bannon, Pompeo Inc that should never have been at the poker table, much less cut the cards.. Its the old West Point Mafia doing they thang..
Meanwhile Biden Inc doing the quiet things.. getting the ground operation finely tuned.. and if you think Barack Obama aint working the field of opportunity.. he got a crack team of mules that would shame the Budweiser Clydes.. Biden will come out throwing knuckleballs.. There's a Presidency there for the grabbing as Trump flounders as he always does.. and I don't think Barr or Pompeo can hit the curve.. This is no time to spare the mules folks.. its WORKTIME.. and the White House, Congress and the Senate are there to be had.. and McConnell et al ready to be turfed.. Facebook be damned.. Trump's 15 minutes of fame goes down in flames
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