Is Facebook a 'Bug' in Our Democracy? Part 2

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[Commentary] Is it time to recognize that Facebook, and ‘Big Tech’ at large, may be a bug in our democracy? In Part 1, I examined how the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica story illustrates the harmful effects of “Surveillance Capitalism.” The erosion of our privacy is contributing to the declining health of our democratic discourse.  Moreover though, Facebook has facilitated the proliferation of hate speech, fake news, and international electoral interference. In the space vacated by traditional, reliable journalism, political campaigns have stepped in, working hand-in-hand with data miners to exploit our personal information to, it now seems, dramatically impact our elections. "Our goal is to build the perfect personalized newspaper for every person in the world. We're trying to personalize it and show you the stuff that's going to be most interesting to you," said Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2014.


Is Facebook a 'Bug' in Our Democracy? Part 2