Thread by @farkasjohan

I've tried to summarise some key problems I see with Netflix's 'The Great Hack'(thread) #greathack

First off, I want to say that I still encourage people to watch the documentary, especially if they are new to the issues. That said, I think it has some major flaws.

I think it's problematic that the film uncritically builds on Cambridge Analytica's sales pitches, knowing how the company excelled in snake oil salesmanship.

The film largely reproduces a modern-day 'magic bullet theory' based on CA's pitches (which is not supported by research)

It fails to emphasise that CA's 'phychographics' was likely not very accurate
wired.com/story/the-nois…

And that CA boasting about prostitutes and bribes indicates that they themselves knew they couldn't swing elections through social media alone

The film downplays the role of politics, making Trump, Brexit and even Bolsonaro sound like mainly technological phenomena and great digital 'hacks' (they're not)

The film throws together a whole lot of different problems (genocide in Myanmar, Russian interference, the rise of Bolsonaro), making them sound as if they are the result of the same problem of lacking data privacy (they're not)

The film supports a prevalent (and wrong) post-truth/echo-chamber idea of millions of people "each living in their own reality". This narrative is dangerous (as we address in our book), as it paves the way for removing democratic rights -i.e. "the people can't decide what's best"

The film also reproduces a connected narrative, namely that you can't trust anything anymore in today's societies. I think this also potentially has an undermining effect on democracy (as people are then more easily pushed towards authoritarian leaders who 'knows best')

In sum, I think it's positive that the film introduces issues of data privacy and political manipulation to millions of people. But I don't think it introduces these issues in the best way and I think that could have some negative implications