During economic strife, authoritarian political systems masquerading as populism rise to protect the power, profits, and privilege of the wealthy ruling class. Power is obtained through conspiracy theories and disinformation and it is maintained through surveillance.
We are at the crest of a disinformation apocalypse.
Elections can be won when disinformation and conspiracy theories—such as the false claims that the 2020 election was rigged or that Barack Obama is Kenyan—are deliberately used to promote hate speech against trans individuals, undocumented immigrants, or members of the opposing party.
Consider the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In that contest, Cambridge Analytica used the Facebook data of some 50 million users without their consent to run manipulative, micro-targeted political ads designed to influence voting behavior. Fortunately, attempts at election interference in 2016 and 2020 were more low-tech, relying on generic bot messaging containing low-quality content; thus, having a limited impact.
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