Amazon, Facebook and Google have lofty goals for their effects on global society. But people around the world are still waiting for the positive results. Here’s what the tech giants could do.
The U.S. is not the only country worried about foreign influence over its elections. Australia is concerned too, and taking steps Americans could learn from.
Almost every online deception, fraud and scam – even propaganda and misinformation campaigns – begins with a fake social media profile. How do fakers get real people to agree to be friends?
A 90-minute presentation in 1968 showed off the earliest desktop computer system. In the process it introduced the idea that technology could make individuals better – if government funded research.
Some behaviors might help tell propaganda-spewing trolls apart from regular internet users, but the main protection is for people to think more critically about online information.
Google News does not differentiate search results according to users’ politics – but it does favor mainstream news sites, which are seen as leaning left, and doesn’t clearly disclose how its algorithms work.
The strengths of social media are also its weaknesses. Facebook must acknowledge that it has transformed from a startup company into a powerful social force.
Three trends suggest people in less developed nations – who are coming online in greater numbers – use and trust the internet very differently those in more developed economies.
Information on social media can be misleading because of biases in three places – the brain, society and algorithms. Scholars are developing ways to identify and display the effects of these biases.
Researchers analyze social media data to gain useful insights into modern society and culture. But it’s important to protect users’ privacy. How can both ends meet?
Social media sites aren’t the only online systems that can secretly influence people’s votes. Search engines can too and may be even more successful – and undetectable.