Is The Tech Company the New Empire?

I have just finished reading Christopher Wylie's "Mindfuck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America". If you don't know who Christopher Wylie is - he is one of the Cambridge Analytica's whistleblowers (the other one is Britany Kaiser). In case you are not familiar with Cambridge Analytica scandal, perhaps you have heard about the Brexit and Donald Trump? It turns out that there is a link between the two. Both Brexit and Donald Trump are the results of psychological warfare used by Cambridge Analytica to influence people's psychology so that they would vote for certain candidate or certain outcome. This is of course is not a new tactic. What's new is the use of sophisticated technology and illegal data harvesting from Facebook and other online flatforms to accurately determine people's personality. As it turns out, it is easier to convince you when you are told what you want to hear, instead of the real facts. That's exactly what Cambridge Analytica did. They mapped people who were vulnerable (gullible) and fed them with disinformation about issues (hidden darkness) that they potentially care about or secretly care about such as job or immigration.  

 

This book is simply great. It delves deep into more than just talking about the chronology of how the whole shitshow happened. Instead, it also talks about culture, social issue and philosophy, if you like. Wylie's good story telling skill certainly helps to make the story even more interesting. When I read it I can't help but feel like the whole thing is a sci-fi story exists in Christopher Nolan's movies. But obviously it is real and that makes it even more scary.

Courtesy of https://www.meetup.com/DC-International-Affairs-Book-Club/events/266930092/

  

One of the themes addressed in this book is about how tech company has emerged as the new empire. Wylie repeatedly talks about how tech company like Facebook has acted as if it is a nation. If fact, according to the book, tech company has more power than a nation. While a country has to have a warrant that involves a complicated bureaucracy to investigate a case, tech company can just go and investigate the case in question. No warrant necessary. This happened during the early days of Cambridge Analytica's investigation. Facebook investigated Cambridge Analytica before law enforcement in the UK was even able to get their hands on the case.

 

The question then is to what extent tech companies or private entities have the power to do what they do? Should our law draw a clear line on what is okay and what is not okay? As we have recently learned - our law does not have that clear line yet. Because of it people's online engagements (data) are harvested freely. We are creepily watched by the big brother of the tech company. If they just passively watch, it would not be a big problem. They watch and learn about our personality. With that knowledge they become the mastermind behind every of our decisions. They feed us with advertisement, news, hobbies that will tempt us into buying the product that we don't need and doing things that are harmful to our democracy. In the case of election, they feed us with issues sensitive to our psychology, so that we would vote for a certain candidate. We no longer have our free will. We are puppets of the modern technology.

 

As such, it is pressing to question whether tech company is the new empire. Our world order cares so much about democracy and human rights. The irony is both of these elements are being eroded by the new technology. The use of algorithm puts people in the bubble of their "looks-alike" and people are psychologically manipulated to think and feel in certain ways.

 

In the book, Wylie describes Alexander Nix as a colonial figure who uses SCL (Cambridge Analytica) to fetishize about Britain's past colonialism. Perhaps what Cambridge Analytica did is a new colonialism? Cambridge Analytica, a UK-based company - meddles in foreign election (particularly in British former colonies) and uses propaganda to divide people in those countries. Isn't that the very tactic British Empire used in its heyday? Divide and conquer! It is the divide and conquer tactic that has become the roots of all disasters that are occurring in the world today. Look at India - Pakistan conflict. Look at Palestine - Israel conflict. So perhaps tech company is the new empire? Perhaps colonialism has evolved. It is no longer about territorial annexation, perhaps data is the new thing to colonize? Why not? You can divide people through that data. When people hate one another, they fight against one other, more chaos and more destruction.

 

The UN charter bans any form of colonialism. Should we ban the colonialization of data? Should we ensure that internet users are given the rights to self-determination? Should sovereignty over the content of our internet feeds be made a thing? I think, yes! They should. 

 

Coincidentally, my courses this semester were about imperialism and human rights. In fact, my final assignments were literally about those two things. I wish I had read this book sooner, I could have talked about tech company's emergence as the new empire, as opposed to the slowly and painfully dying American imperialism (the one that I ended writing). Similarly, in my other assignment I could have talked about how imperative it is for the rights to digital privacy to be included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Instead I talked about how human rights should be treated as a dynamic concept rather than a rigid one. Well . . . I did write about this topic before in the Pre Departure Workshops, but I am not confident that it was any good. But I am really interested about this topic and really look forward to being engaged in it more in the future. Hopefully, my 2nd semester courses will allow me to learn more about this issue!