Microtargeting in our surveillance capitalism is essential for all members to understand. Basically, we all leave data trails, and these data trails can be used to target specific advertising and information to shape our behaviors. This has economic and political implications, and one of the best tools for shirking our digital guides is critical analysis. Knowing what is an advertisement on a Google search or what is a reliable article on Wikipedia is essential for our intellectual sovereignty.
Addressing false information online is not a simple task due to the sheer volume on any given platform on a given day, and due to the legal protections provided to online platforms, such as Facebook. In fact, the current legislation, section 230 of the Communications Decency Act disincentivizes platforms from moderating content because the more they moderate, the more they are expected to moderate, which is cost prohibitive (47 U.S. Code § 230 - Protection for private blocking and screening of offensive material | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute (cornell.edu)).
Microtargeting started out as valuable marketing data to assess past behavior to predict future behavior. Its stealthy nature allowed it to creep into politics, eroding trust and concepts of truth. I fervently believe that the only way to resist the strong current of this trend is to teach every individual digital literacy to restore trust and truth. With each advancement of technology, such as DeepFake, society will have to keep up with emerging trends to circumvent misinformation. Ultimately, we need to teach our students how to be lifelong learnings to keep up with emerging trends.
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