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Did A Billionaire Harvest Big Data From Facebook To 'Hijack' Democracy? (theguardian.com)
Long-time Slashdot readers walterbyrd and whoever57 both submitted the same article about the mysterious data analytics company Cambridge Analytica and its activities with SCL Group, a 25-year-old military psyops company in the U.K. later bought by "secretive hedge fund billionaire" Robert Mercer. One former employee calls it "this dark, dystopian data company that gave the world Trump."
Facebook was the source of the psychological insights that enabled Cambridge Analytica to target individuals. It was also the mechanism that enabled them to be delivered on a large scale. The company also (perfectly legally) bought consumer datasets -- on everything from magazine subscriptions to airline travel -- and uniquely it appended these with the psych data to voter files... Finding "persuadable" voters is key for any campaign and with its treasure trove of data, Cambridge Analytica could target people high in neuroticism, for example, with images of immigrants "swamping" the country. The key is finding emotional triggers for each individual voter. Cambridge Analytica worked on campaigns in several key states for a Republican political action committee. Its key objective, according to a memo the Observer has seen, was "voter disengagement" and "to persuade Democrat voters to stay at home"... In the U.S., the government is bound by strict laws about what data it can collect on individuals. But, for private companies anything goes.
A branch of this company reportedly also received half the campaign budgets of four pro-Brexit campaign groups, and there's some dark talk about "military-funded technology that has been harnessed by a global plutocracy...being used to sway elections in ways that people can't even see." The article notes the two firms have plied their services in Russia as well as Lithuania and the Ukraine, and suggests that "we are in the midst of a massive land grab for power by billionaires via our data. Data which is being silently amassed, harvested and stored."
A branch of this company reportedly also received half the campaign budgets of four pro-Brexit campaign groups, and there's some dark talk about "military-funded technology that has been harnessed by a global plutocracy...being used to sway elections in ways that people can't even see." The article notes the two firms have plied their services in Russia as well as Lithuania and the Ukraine, and suggests that "we are in the midst of a massive land grab for power by billionaires via our data. Data which is being silently amassed, harvested and stored."
and it won't stop as long as these "persuadable" voters make their decisions based on facebook posts.
sudo rm -r -f --no-preserve-root /
This goes way beyond traditional marketing. This isn't branding, this isn't an ad campaign, this isn't a PR slack on TV. This is psychological manipulation on a personal level.
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a difficult battle. - Plato
By the same logic, I present you a few fine organizations that cannot possibly have anything to hide because they have a website that tells you what they do:
The FSB
The mossad (hope this is the right site because I didn't much care to enable javascript)
The CIA
The NSA
On a completely unrelated note, would you by any chance be in the market for a bridge? I can make you a really good price, because you're my friend!
Actually the BBC failed miserably to debunk the lies. In its typically misplaced idea of "neutrality" it would typically avoid making a factual statement and instead have interviewees on to make opposing points. The effect of this was to dignify the lie and place it in the centre ground.
They've done this consistently for years, especially since coming under significant pressure from the Blair government around the Iraq war time (regarding the dodgy dossier, David Kelly etc). And now the threat of the Conservatives scrapping or reducing the licence fee appears to make them particularly timid about calling out political lies, for example never questioning the premise of austerity and the blame placed on the previous labour government.
With the advent of 24 hour news the factual content is even more diluted and it's 90% speculation and sensational interviews with nutters.
Channel 4 News in the UK does a much better job of fact checking and challenging, as does BBC Newsnight, but sadly they mostly only attract the educated and more liberal demographic that is less likely to be misled in the first place.
My dad was a reporter for CBS News radio. He originally started at WCOA in Mobile Al in the late 1950's. He covered the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. He eventually moved to DC and WCBS radio ending up covering the White House before passing away in 1994.
When ever I went to see him in my late teens to early 20's, I would occasionally go with him to work to watch him cover stories at the white house or capital hill, AND his exact words to me every time was if you are not telling both sides of the story all you are telling is propaganda. My dad made sure he was telling both sides of the story.
Sadly I have failed to see that type of reporting since his passing. I used to watch CBS Evening news all the time. I switched every few years since his passing, to either ABC or NBC and maybe back again to CBS.
But, I started noticing the downfall of news turning into propaganda since September 2001. I gave up watching any network news around the 2006 or 2007 timeframe and have never turned it back on.
My dad is rolling over in his grave, God rest his soul.