(Facebook)
Facebook is dangerous because they are a platform for political lies and manipulation (social engineering). Though they are inept at producing favorable outcomes, they are good at the old divide and conquer scheme. They are very good at manipulating masses with impulsive responses, away from conscious, deliberate, critical thought. This makes them most dangerous. The zombie apocalypse has begun.
This audit is the first stage of things getting better for Facebook. No matter what, the subsidies will flow until they no longer provide that political function; or someone else provides it better.
We like to believe in free will; but there is no evidence for it… what so ever. Those of us who feel we are “woke” are just part of another collective consciousness. That’s what the evidence suggests. Like it or not. Facebook is tapped into and manipulating a majority; and that makes them far more dangerous.
The difference in Facebook’s model is active political engagement; not just financial influence through lobbying. It’s never about the money. It’s about the implications of the money. Even so Facebook is still the largest social media site. I doubt that any other single actor has broken the system more than Facebook.
Don’t fall for this “display” of vulnerability. It’s probably a ruse.
(internet regulation)
I doubt that regulators in various countries will get the point until they have made internet 2.0 so insecure that it no longer functions -> in the way they wish it to <-. Bruit force is their method of choice; and they can’t see the unfavorable effects, because they don’t understand the system. It’s completely alien to them. For instance, the only thing that Comey ever said that made sense was when he criticized the security culture of the State Department. He thinks it’s a one way door… still. These people are not going to get it until they see it for themselves; because they are still under the impression that they know better. Even the instrumental tech giants are clueless. The probability of this being fixed seems slim to none. There is no one in a position to fix this that could. The urine content of the bath water has poisoned the baby. Internet 2.0 is a nascent stage technology that is becoming obsolete. Regulation will not help.
(Cambridge Analytica)
Following the trends, it seems that we’re becoming an information society. Privacy isn’t something that has been a large part of human history until recently. Privacy, like it or not, is a bit of a red herring. It’s a modern social construct that seems to be becoming less valuable.
It’s not so much that information is being sold as it is about the manner in which it’s being sold. It’s being captured and sold by aggregating actors. That’s the main issue, because of the far reaching implications. Cambridge Analytica would be making a poor investment in my opinion; because of how this can be turned on it’s head to benefit the public. This is part of The Economic Space Agency’s working model. They are working on giving data back to the individual to be leveraged as a currency; in and of itself. The young researchers at ECSA are much more prepared than CA. I suspect that they’ll be undercut; when the shite hits the fan.
(general)
Assuming continued centralization when the trend is exponential decentralization, is probably a bad assumption.