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Who Is in Control? The Need to Rein in Big Tech
Hilldale College Imprimis ^ | January 2021 • Volume 50, Number 1 | Allum Bokhari

Posted on 02/04/2021 8:04:34 AM PST by EBH

How does Big Tech go about manipulating our thoughts and behavior? It begins with the fact that these tech companies strive to know everything about us—our likes and dislikes, the issues we’re interested in, the websites we visit, the videos we watch, who we voted for, and our party affiliation. If you search for a Hannukah recipe, they’ll know you’re likely Jewish. If you’re running down the Yankees, they’ll figure out if you’re a Red Sox fan. Even if your smart phone is turned off, they’ll track your location. They know who you work for, who your friends are, when you’re walking your dog, whether you go to church, when you’re standing in line to vote, and on and on.

They identify the types of content that can change our beliefs and behavior, and they put that knowledge to use....

But it is equally true that these companies have huge economic interests at stake in politics. The party that holds power will determine whether they are going to get government contracts, whether they’re going to get tax breaks, and whether and how their industry will be regulated. Clearly, they have a commercial interest in political control—and currently no one is preventing them from exerting it...

...What determines what appears at the top of a person’s Facebook feed, Twitter feed, or Google search results? Does it appear there because it’s popular or because it’s gone viral? Is it there because it’s what you’re interested in? Or is there another reason Big Tech wants it to be there? Is it there because Big Tech has gathered data that suggests it’s likely to nudge your thinking or your behavior in a certain direction? How can we know?

(Excerpt) Read more at imprimis.hillsdale.edu ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government
KEYWORDS:
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1 posted on 02/04/2021 8:04:34 AM PST by EBH
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To: EBH

Who’s in control?

What?

Whoever put Biden into the wh. Wasn’t the voters.


2 posted on 02/04/2021 8:09:06 AM PST by stanne
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To: EBH

The easiest way to rein in big tech is to, if they block any user content for any reason besides containing “offensive” words, which is a simple word search, they become responsible for ALL content.

And let the chips fall where they may. :)


3 posted on 02/04/2021 8:09:54 AM PST by cuban leaf (We killed our economy and damaged our culture. In 2021 we will pine for the salad days of 2020.)
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To: cuban leaf

Perhaps business owners whose livelihoods were destroyed need to sue twitter and facebook as a class action suit? Just as they ban conservatives or Christian speech, it is reasonable to say they knew or should have known about the violent protests? Errr. the mostly peaceful, violent protests.


4 posted on 02/04/2021 8:16:04 AM PST by EBH (Don't drive staring in the rearview mirror.)
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To: EBH

With democrats in power, good luck. And since nobody wants RINOs, it will be decades before we can do anything in majority.


5 posted on 02/04/2021 8:23:07 AM PST by napscoordinator (Trump/Hunter, jr for President/Vice President 2016 )
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To: EBH

I dont use and never have used facebook,twitter,youtube,social media,....

JUST SAY NO!


6 posted on 02/04/2021 8:27:00 AM PST by eyeamok
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To: EBH

” Even if your smart phone is turned off, they’ll track your location. “

~~~

How does this work exactly?
I’m curious.

The way I figure it, if you turn off location services, or even if you go to airplane mode, they probably still track you. Either by storing it secretly (the way it was discovered many years ago) and uploading your movement history once it gets a connection, or by actually pinging towers even data is turned off because pinging isn’t considered data transfer.

But if your phone is actually off, does this mean it’s not actually off?


7 posted on 02/04/2021 8:29:02 AM PST by z3n
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To: cuban leaf

So-called offensive words should not be blocked. What is offensive is highly subjective. Right now there are far, far too many words deemed offensive by mostly leftist groups.


8 posted on 02/04/2021 8:34:32 AM PST by Avalon Memories (I will only ever refer to Biden by his new nickname...Asterisk. )
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To: stanne

How about don’t use Big tech.


9 posted on 02/04/2021 9:04:42 AM PST by cp124 (The elite vs the people.)
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To: cp124

Almost as practical as saying don’t use electricity at this point.


10 posted on 02/04/2021 9:05:43 AM PST by Shadylake
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To: cp124

What?

I’ve never used FB or twitter.


11 posted on 02/04/2021 9:11:28 AM PST by stanne
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To: EBH

Later.


12 posted on 02/04/2021 9:13:46 AM PST by wjcsux (“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.” )
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To: Avalon Memories

So-called offensive words should not be blocked.


though I tend to agree, I’m just using it as an example of things that can be limited in a place where anyone, regardless of age, can see the text.

But yeah, I tend to agree.


13 posted on 02/04/2021 9:16:37 AM PST by cuban leaf (We killed our economy and damaged our culture. In 2021 we will pine for the salad days of 2020.)
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To: EBH

Too late, the US has a fetishistic attachment to their cult of ‘technology’.

They are like addicts and totally hooked


14 posted on 02/04/2021 9:19:05 AM PST by SMARTY (“If you have ten thousand regulations, you destroy all respect for the law.” Winston Churchill)
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To: EBH

There is a great documentary movie on Amazon Prime and Tubi (free with ads) called “The Creepy Line”. It shows the research that was done on Google by Harvard researchers that showed just how effective the ranking algorithm is in manipulating voting preferences without the viewers even realizing it. A must watch if you want to see the details.


15 posted on 02/04/2021 9:30:52 AM PST by Dave Wright
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To: cuban leaf

We live in an age when children as young as 4 are being taught about transsexuals in pre-school with nary a peep of protest from their parents or other so-called responsible adults. Kids are exposed to all manner of explicit trash in the popular culture, in school and among their peers. So censoring speech on the internet is pointless.


16 posted on 02/04/2021 9:51:02 AM PST by Avalon Memories (I will only ever refer to Biden by his new nickname...Asterisk. )
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To: EBH

Bookmark


17 posted on 02/04/2021 10:15:29 AM PST by GOP Poet (Super cool you can change your tag line EVERYTIME you post!! :D. (Small things make me happy))
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To: Dave Wright
There is a great documentary movie on Amazon Prime and Tubi (free with ads) called “The Creepy Line”.

Thanks for the rec.

18 posted on 02/04/2021 10:25:08 AM PST by viewfromthefrontier
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To: stanne
Whoever put Biden into the wh. Wasn’t the voters.

Amen and the question of the hour.

19 posted on 02/04/2021 10:27:51 AM PST by viewfromthefrontier
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To: Dave Wright

netflix has The Social Dilemma also .


20 posted on 02/04/2021 10:49:55 AM PST by ßuddaßudd ((>> M A G A << "What the hell kind of country is this if I can only hate a man if he's white?")
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