No Longer Tools but Weapons

Big Tech transformed social media from a tool of connection into a weapon of mass behavioral engineering. These platforms are not neutral technologies; they are sophisticated systems designed to exploit our deepest psychological vulnerabilities. They monetize our outrage and hate; amplify our divisions; and systematically erode our capacity for nuanced thinking, our capacity for empathy.

This quote taken from the above critical and moving talk by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Maria Ressa at the Jubilee of the World of Communications at the Vatican succinctly sums up where we are in this moment in time. I cannot more highly recommend watching it because we should expect — and must demand, better.

We’ve been tricked into believing we’re trapped in the walled gardens of tech companies, but it’s not true. How much longer will the charade hold that these so-called leaders have our best interests at heart and not their own? The curtain has fallen and the true nature of the wizard revealed. We just need to believe it.

There was life before them just as there will be life after them. None of this is inevitable.