(This is my first Substack-hosted Red Tape Chronicles podcast. You can listen to the entire series at http://redtapechronicles.com/) Dirty digital politics is a fact of life all over the world now. Democracies are going to have to learn how to live with it. One thing that could help US voters understand this murky world is to learn about the kinds of tactics being used in other countries. Fortunately, that's what Nick Monaco does. He's the Research Director of the Digital Intelligence Lab at the Institute for the Future, and he's been studying digital disinformation for a long time.
Unfortunately, “dirty digital politics” is a natural extension of regular politics – but it’s “dirty regular politics” on steroids. I see two factors at work here: 1) the internet allows for the existence of billions of data points, but very little means for the average person to identify which data points are true and which are false and 2) social media can amplify any given data points at random, not based on truth, but simply by repetition. That definitely puts democracy in danger. Democracy depends on a reasonably informed citizenry, and when it’s so difficult to determine fact from fiction, how does one vote intelligently? At the moment we’re not doing very well, anywhere in the world.
Our minds are only capable of sorting thru a limited set of data, and the tsunami of information coming at us makes intelligent decisions almost impossible. I think what has happened is that people are so overwhelmed they’ve given up trying to sort it out themselves and have resorted to letting someone else (Facebook, Twitter, various cable news channels, etc.) decide what’s true, tell them in short talking points that they can record in their mind and spit out when asked for an opinion. No thinking or analysis required. It’s a lot easier, for sure. But if we continue down this path, it’s the death knell for democracy. I’m afraid I’m not as optimistic as your guest.
Unfortunately, “dirty digital politics” is a natural extension of regular politics – but it’s “dirty regular politics” on steroids. I see two factors at work here: 1) the internet allows for the existence of billions of data points, but very little means for the average person to identify which data points are true and which are false and 2) social media can amplify any given data points at random, not based on truth, but simply by repetition. That definitely puts democracy in danger. Democracy depends on a reasonably informed citizenry, and when it’s so difficult to determine fact from fiction, how does one vote intelligently? At the moment we’re not doing very well, anywhere in the world.
Our minds are only capable of sorting thru a limited set of data, and the tsunami of information coming at us makes intelligent decisions almost impossible. I think what has happened is that people are so overwhelmed they’ve given up trying to sort it out themselves and have resorted to letting someone else (Facebook, Twitter, various cable news channels, etc.) decide what’s true, tell them in short talking points that they can record in their mind and spit out when asked for an opinion. No thinking or analysis required. It’s a lot easier, for sure. But if we continue down this path, it’s the death knell for democracy. I’m afraid I’m not as optimistic as your guest.