Technological colonialism, digital industrialisation and the monopolising of influence are what I’ve been obsessing over lately.
I lose sleep over these things because of how subversive they are, but yet they have quietly managed to seep into virtually every aspect of our lives.
Propaganda used to be confined to specific regions of the world but now, for the first time in human history, information authoritarianism has finally gone global.
And I worry that not enough people are worried enough about it.
For all its flaws, Twitter used to at least have the checks-and-balances of a board of directors and a diversity of influential voices that allowed for course corrections along a wrong path.
All it has now is one sole owner who loves free speech for all, unless it’s critical speech directed at him. I remain a fan of Elon Musk, but I refuse to be blinded by admiration, so I always interrogate my own convictions first.
I worry that his sole ownership of Twitter is going to make social media a worse place, whose name is more ironic than factual, or even ambitious.
How social is a media that thrives and profiteers off hatred, bigotry, tribalism, moral decay and the general celebration of the dark underbelly of human nature?
As the world’s largest megaphone, Twitter stands at the very edge of taking humanity several steps back in our social progress and we are putting our faith in the hands of one man, whose ego must be bursting at the seams to be set free.
Creating one platform for the rich – Twitter Blue, with a monthly fee that will automatically exclude the majority of ordinary people – is the first crack in what could become a divisive canyon between who has a credible voice and who doesn’t.
Elon isn’t a megalomaniac super villain just yet, but he may be well on his way.
After all, he runs, has founded or has influence with some of the most revolutionary companies in history.
He is setting the course for the future of transport (Tesla and Hyperloop), space exploration (Space-X), alternative energy (Solar City), e-commerce (PayPal), human-computer interface (Neuralink), machine learning (Open A.I) and now setting and directing social discourse (Twitter).
I think I am right to fear that his next stop could well be megalomania – and not the sweet, cuddly kind.
Think narcissistic, world domination, dictator bringing us all to a genuine existential crisis.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za