Cambridge Analytica, Facebook, Trump And Why The Internet Is Increasingly A Dangerous Place To Be
by Neil Bamforth
A company few had ever heard of – Cambridge Analytica – have fallen victim to an undercover report from Britain’s Channel 4 TV news. It appears they may have taken personal details from Facebook and used them to assist Trump in his presidential election campaign.
Their CEO – Alexander Nix – has been suspended. He claimed, during this undercover report, that Cambridge Analytical had cheerfully posted lies about Hillary Clinton, directing them to people on FB who they believed would be susceptible to such lies.
I’m certainly no expert when it comes to things like this but, I admit, the report frightened the bejabbers out of me.
The internet seems to be in control of us.
We are influenced by what we see and read on it regardless of the amount of bullshit we see and read.
I mentioned my concerns to a pal regarding the internet.
He said ‘You know nothing’.
He then gave me a web address and said “It’s far worse than you’d believe possible” – and he was right.
Jesus H bloody Christ!
Did you know there are websites that show videos of women being raped and killed?
I think – and fervently hope – they are ‘acted out’.
I watched a bit of one from the site my pal gave me. I had to stop. I felt sick.
Why did I even go there? I think I wanted to believe he was winding me up.
I mean I’m not entirely naive. I know there’s porn on the net but this??
What the hell is happening to us????
A company hijacks data from Facebook to trash Clinton and get Trump elected.
The Russians keep hacking everything.
Websites portray women being raped and killed.
There I was having a ball writing for MMA and occasionally trying to wind people up.
I post on FB. My friends read my stuff.
I run my walking football teams website.
I knew, reluctantly, I was getting older. Perhaps a little out of touch more than I used to be. I knew there was a thing called ‘the dark web’. No idea what it is other than it’s bad.
I just thought, somehow, I was in some kind of control.
I’m not. We’re not.
Humanity corrupts everything.
How the hell could we not know how corrupted the internet really is?
Personally, I need to sleep on this stuff.
I don’t know that I want to have or use the internet anymore.
I may resort to sending contributions written in long hand via carrier pigeon.
At least my carrier pigeon won’t be raping and killing anyone.
Suddenly it all seems so very very dark to me.
World sucks sometimes, and I don’t spend as much time on Google as I used to because there is a lot of depressing shit. Like Mike said shit’s dark man.
I learned very early in my career that the world was very dark, and nothing has happened for me to change that opinion.