A new threat

Beyond the obvious and most talked about threats of terror and cyber assaults, a new kind of threat has come to the forefront: the spread of misinformation campaigns to subvert societies and nations. In the old days, intrusive, all-seeing surveillance and spread of misinformation was associated with repressive regimes like the Soviet Union and East Germany. The Soviet Union’s primary security agency KGB’s and East Germany’s Stasi operatives had effectively used the spread of false information as a tool to tarnish reputations, undercutting political unity and to sow the seeds of discord. The threat is not new neither is the weapon. But we no longer live in the Stasi or KGB age. We live in the age of Facebook. Willingly or unknowlingly, most of its users share a significant amount of personal information on the social network. And as we now know, the harvesting of our personal details goes far beyond what many of us could imagine. In 2016, Facebook data was used to influence US voters. This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end of our troubles.

According to Mark Zuckerberg’s congressional testimony over his company’s handling of user data, fake accounts on the social network can modify upcoming elections in Pakistan, India, Brazil and other countries. Interestingly, Facebook updates and tweaks its service in order to keep users glued to their screens and internet-savvy populations end up being an easy target. These technical tricks can have significant consequences, like limiting the audience for credible news sources and — surprisingly — magnifying the impact of fabricated and sensational reports. While Facebook has emerged as an important, independent channel for the flow of information, the social media giant has also morphed from a social networking website into an influencer that has gained unfiltered access to the hearts and minds of billions of its users around the world. Therefore, it is time that nations, including Pakistan, must acknowledge and prepare to deal with this opaque threat to democracy — without restricting the free flow of credible information.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2018.

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