Facebook’s role in Brexit — and the threat to democracy | Carole Cadwalladr

Facebook’s role in Brexit — and the threat to democracy | Carole Cadwalladr

In an unmissable talk, journalist Carole Cadwalladr digs into one of the most perplexing events in recent times: the UK’s super-close 2016 vote to leave the European Union. Tracking the result to a barrage of misleading Facebook ads targeted at vulnerable Brexit swing voters — and linking the same players and tactics to the 2016 US presidential election — Cadwalladr calls out the “gods of Silicon Valley” for being on the wrong side of history and asks: Are free and fair elections a thing of the past?

Comments

Thy HatKing says:

Remember the BBC invest millions in to the remain campaign.

九初 says:

It's not about democracy vs authoritarian, ironically, western democracies, so-called free world, have used media as weapons of subversion for decades, in the name of democracy… and Britain you are not free, the US is your best student…It's about who rules the world.

Bianca Bloom says:

Oh heyyy 1984, there you are!

Big John says:

Communists in Moldova said the same thing about the Soviet Union.

九初 says:

That's why we ban them.

Weaverbe Hart says:

This lady has lost her mind

Bill Houston says:

I agree with Carole Cadwalladr’s assertion that the silicon valley tech giants have to be held accountable, and that it could be convincingly argued that Twitter helped Donald Trump to win the 2016 American election. However that particular outcome is seen to be a bad one only by those who lost it.

Trump's win was not due to the popular vote anyway, but actually was finalized through the electoral college which ensures that the popular vote is not always a guarantee to win a federal election in the U.S. The justification for the electoral college is that it evens the playing field for those areas with small populations that otherwise could not compete with the heavily populated coastal areas. Sounds fair to me.

Why do I get the feeling that Ms. Cadwalladr would see things differently about the contaminating effect of social media if the female candidate (Hillary Clinton) had won the 2016 election with the help of Twitter? Do I detect a faint bias against the very idea of an old rich white man like Donald Trump having the audacity to think he can speak for the common people (for whom Ms. Cadwalladr obviously has the utmost respect and to whom she wishes only the best (as long as they stop being such deplorable ignoramuses)?

Is Ms. Cadwallader really just another purveyor of stealth feminism?

However, despite Ms. Cadwalladr's apparent left-leaning views, I do believe she's right when she advocates the passing of laws to stop the undue influence that social media giants have on public opinion. These laws would curtail the undeserved power the "silicon elites" currently possess. After all, these social media giants made a terrible mistake when they miscalculated Donald Trump's ability to successfully reach the common people through Twitter – much to the chagrin of the pseudo-feminist candidate, Ms. Hillary Clinton. And we can thank God for that!

Alfred Lomax says:

Boris Johnson for next PM.

Vella No.1 says:

When an English speaks…. It's a PROPAGANDA!

Ken Lightcap says:

I’ll listen to you lady after you investigate and publicly denounce George Soros.

richard burton says:

If this is true or in parts true … can anyone really contemplate that the established, globalist, elite are not already more skilled and financially more able to use these same methods.

Jason Leer says:

This may be true, but our politicians never listen to us and do as they please regardless. They are robbing us and laughing behind our backs. The world is absolutely ruined. Only a global revolution can solve this disaster.

julius hill says:

You are misleading audiences by titleing Facebook and highlighting right wing politics.

divad noskcaj says:

Wow..fantastic system the EU…like a Third World bank…put in GBP 100 and receive GBP 50 in a few years to fund a new bridge!

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