Obama attacks social networks. The former US president gave a rather sharp speech at a conference organized by his foundation and the Stanford Cyber Policy Center on the challenges of digital transformation for democracy.
He blamed these platforms for contributing to the polarization of society because of the very way they are designed. “In the competition between truth and lies, cooperation and conflict, the very design of these platforms seems to be tipping us in the wrong direction. And we see the results,” he said, citing attempts at manipulation by Putin or Steve Banon. People don’t need to buy into fake news, he says. It is enough that it sows trouble and the population then no longer knows who to believe.
Disinformation is a threat to our democracy, and will continue to be unless we work together to address it. Tune in as I share some thoughts on what we can all do now. https://t.co/6R6n3MOPPR
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 21, 2022
Barack Obama pleads for regulations that would guarantee competition and the possibility for new entrants to break through. He also thinks that the platforms should be transparent about their algorithms and that this would not require them to reveal industrial secrets. Finally, he regretted that social networks had accelerated the decline of newspapers and other traditional sources of information.
The former president of Big Tech
The former American president has not always been so hard on the web giants, quite the contrary. Rather, he fostered their development during his two terms. It must also be said that he is considered the first candidate to have relied to this extent on digital tools to conduct his campaigns and then communicate when he was in power. He also acknowledged that social networks had played a big role in his election.
The divorce between the White House and GAFAM occurred under Donald Trump, who used these platforms extensively to manipulate public opinion and spread fake news. Not to mention the interference of Russia during its presidential election and the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Faced with attempts to moderate social networks, Trump had constantly questioned their neutrality and intended to bring them to heel. But the Capitol riots in January 2021 and his compromise over it ended up getting him banned from major services.
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Legislation in preparation for Congress
Obama’s statements come as Congress is working on a series of laws aimed at regulating the tech market. The protection of competition, personal data and user privacy are at stake. The Section 230 sea serpent has also resurfaced. This text guarantees since 1996 to content hosts not to be held responsible for the content published by Internet users. Donald Trump had wanted to repeal it without having the time. He accused Section 230 of allowing social media to censor conservatives. For his part, Barack Obama made it clear that he was not “not convinced that the total repeal of Article 230 is the solution”as CNBC reports.
In Europe, the regulations are much more advanced since the continent can already rely on the GDPR and competition will be better guaranteed thanks to the Digital Markets Act. We now expect an imminent agreement on the Digital Services Act which should redefine the responsibilities of the services and further protect their users. Obama also cited European initiatives as an example.
Source : CNBC