Should Silicon Valley be held accountable for its role in “the dark evolution of internet culture”?
BuzzFeed news reporter Ryan Broderick attempts to answer that question in his article “This Is How We Radicalized the World,” as he blames the companies that own the hardware, software and social media platforms for their inability to manage the “darkness” dividing communities in the U.S. and around the world.
Broderick offers the following compelling evidence: “Roughly 70% of smartphone users have an Android phone; the remaining 30% are on Apple. There are 2 billion monthly active Facebook users, 2 billion monthly active YouTube users, and 1.5 billion monthly active WhatsApp users. And when it comes to digital media, Facebook and Google control almost 60% of the digital advertising market, with Amazon as a distant third.”
This past week in my Introduction to Digital Communication class at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication, we were asked to read and respond to Broderick’s article.
From Brazil to Charlottesville, and Poland to Italy, Broderick’s article analyzes the growing use of social media and botnets to amplify far-right movements, and, in some cases, even incite violence. The journalist said he has been tracking the internet’s impact on global politics for about a decade.
Broderick’s fascination with politics and its intersection with the internet has led him across 22 countries and six continents, affording him a Forrest Gump-like perch on recent historical events.
He was on the ground in London in 2016 when 52 percent of United Kingdom citizens voted to leave the European Union, an outcome he said was shaped by social media.
Broderick was also in France in April 2017 during the volatile election season where far-right politician Marine Le Pen faced off against Emmanuel Macron. In fact, during a street protest, he said, “A shopping cart full of Molotov cocktails emerges from the crowd of anti-fascists and is rammed into the line of riot police. One of my pant legs briefly catches fire after I’m hit with a Roman candle.”
Beyond misinformation campaigns, Broderick also discussed an emerging digital divide, this one focused on information, which was also a topic of discussion in this past week’s class. Concerned with dwindling profits, many news organizations, such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, have placed their content behind a paywall, where only paid subscribers can access information.
The financial inability to access that paywall, Broderick, said has created an information divide that will likely discard poor, old and young people, which according to several studies—one in the UK and one by the Pew Research Center—has already begun. Irresponsible memes, conspiracy theory-filled YouTube videos and fake news articles populate free digital spaces. While paid subscribers are offered balanced, well-researched articles with strong editorial oversight.
Though bleak, Broderick’s assessment of the current internet landscape presents an opportunity for change. As Silicon Valley wrestles with how to manage the growing internet darkness, a counter force of technologists needs to start spreading light.
Front Paige News 