Brave New World? Sure, Just Click Here

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Dystoptia is the near future society we don’t want. It’s as if we don’t have enough warnings of what’s to come from science fiction where the tropes are easy to spot: surveillance states, automation everywhere, space commercialization, vast divides between rich and poor, meat substitutes, an existential climate crisis.

https://amplify.nabshow.com/articles/brave-new-world-sure-just-click-here/

Yet that just about sums up the planet’s current dilemma. And if it doesn’t quite feel that way to you – then the battle is already lost.

“Unprecedented events that have unfolded within the past few years have revealed the flaws and weaknesses of the US government and corporate America, whose actions have shown they don’t always have your best interests in mind,” says Courtney Coonrod. “Therefore, it’s up to you to proactively adapt to this brave new world, starting with your everyday routine.”

From constant surveillance to algorithms that decide what we see, society is entering territory reserved for fictional dystopias.  Coonrod advises us to push back starting with the internet and social media.

“The eerie loss of individuality is looming right before your screen every time you passively press ‘accept’ on a new privacy policy and turn a blind eye to why your data is being collected.”

 While it's easy to ignore the data tracking that has become so commonplace, Caroline Hsu, the cofounder of Cyber Collective, an organization that champions data ethics, says those privacy popups seem “so inconsequential, but what we’ve historically seen with tech is that it starts very small and snowballs into something we didn't foresee.”

Steps are being taken at stage level to fight back – but not enough.

The recently enacted California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) for example, requires businesses to mandate Global Privacy Control, a  tool that allows California citizens to easily exercise their privacy rights online, but the clock is ticking for other states to follow suit.

Coonrood highlights initiatives like Project Liberty and the Web3 Foundation which are building tools that protect personal data, guided by principles that let individuals own their data and understand

when they’re granting access to it and why. Switching from Google to a browser like  DuckDuckGo will defend you from site trackers and filtered search results. Switching from WhatsApp to Signal or Telegram will keep your activity encrypted and private. Privacy management platform Elroi can even show where your data fits into the larger ecosystem and is currently developing ways for you to control that data.

The personalized news we receive automatically on social media has had persistent problems with algorithmic and confirmation bias, “ultimately increasing disinformation and polarization because you’re being exposed to news that’s favorable to your beliefs rather than news that will expand your outlook,” writes Coonrod.

Most of us know this but don’t seem to care. Perhaps we don’t see the bigger picture of rights being eaten away and facts replaced by memes. Perhaps we do and just passively accept it because it’s easier to feel like we’re part of something than having an opinion not shared by the majority.

Big tech companies have been scared into action but again it’s just enough to avoid enforced break-up or mass cancelling by users. Facebook’s rebrand will likely detract from its insufficient efforts to stop the dissemination of Covid vaccine misinformation. Twitter recently announced their plans to become a more credible news source, but Coonrod insists the onus is on individual to seek out authoritative and truthful news sources and diverse voices.

“Facebook is often quick to say they don’t sell your information, but their only response to questions about why they collect it is in order to make their own services better—which is supposedly in your interest, but not explicitly in your control, even if you choose not to use it.”

According to Mark Weinstein, the Founder of social platform MeWe, “a well-intentioned legislation is ineffective against these giants. People of the world will have to move away from these companies and support businesses that protect their privacy.”

We know that social media is like a drug, with algorithms calibrated to keep each of us coming back for more. And we may understand that every click we make online is feeding the machine, which in turn, controls what we see, what products are presented to us, what news we learn from.

But we do it anyway. Can we stop? Should we?

Coorod; “The more you take that control back from platforms and companies that are eager to offer you a minimal benefit in exchange for data and information that makes them wealthy and powerful, the more you walk back from the precipice of being a player in a dystopian society—one where your actions, impulses, and decisions are either subtly or overtly manipulated by those same platforms.”