May 28, 2024 10:25:00

Nobel Peace Prize winner says social media bosses like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are the most powerful dictators

Journalist

Maria Ressa , who founded the news site Rappler in 2012 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her criticism of the authoritarian politics of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte , claims that 'the bosses of social media companies are the biggest dictators.'

Social media bosses are 'the largest dictators', says Nobel peace prize winner | Social media | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/may/27/social-media-bosses-are-the-largest-dictators-says-nobel-peace-prize-winner-maria-ressa

Speaking at

the Hay Festival , a literary festival held in Hay-on-Wye, England, Ressa argued that 'social media platforms have the ability to change the way we feel, which changes the way we see the world and the way we act.' He also said, 'Discussions about online identity ideology are becoming increasingly polarized around the world.' Ressa gave the example of this 'polarization' as 'like rich or poor in the Philippines, or white or other races in the United States.'

'Social media platforms aim to further pit people against one another and create chaos, with tech companies driving polarization and stoking fear, anger and hatred,' he said. 'These practices change us on an individual and societal level.'

Ressa has previously criticized then-President Duterte, but said, 'Former President Duterte is a much smaller dictator than Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk.'

To reduce the power that tech companies have over their users, Ressa argues that the US government should repeal

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which says that providers are not liable for the information that third parties transmit. 'If you have children, you shouldn't let them use social media until they're old enough to use it.'

In fact, laws banning TikTok are currently being drafted in the United States and Italy, but Ressa said, 'This is a great initiative,' but added, 'It's not just TikTok that we should be worried about, it's all social media.'

In addition, Ressa said, 'The quality of information we get is declining due to generative AI,' and presented examples of many websites generated by poor quality AI (PDF file) . He then suggested, 'This research was done before generative AI really took off. One day generative AI will surpass our intelligence.'