Previously, on "The Internet"... three billion people entered the global network for the first time, thanks in part to powerful new phones that made getting online easier than ever. Access to this vast store of human knowledge leveled all playing fields, making the triumph of truth and the onward march of democracy inevitable.
Or so many of us hoped in 2011, the year of the social media-enabled Arab Spring. The internet had 2 billion users and optimism was in the air. Now, in 2021, we're on the cusp of 5 billion. We know what happened in-between: The rise and radicalization of trolls. Massive harassment campaigns, particularly against women. Big Tech algorithms that rewarded extreme content, which in turn helped to elect authoritarian populists. Disinformation, weaponized. A genocide fomented on Facebook. And the world's most dangerous Twitter user, whose self-serving lies brought the U.S. to the brink of a coup. Read more...
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