When Tim Berners Lee invented the world wide web, he envisaged it to be a democratic medium. Many scholars and tech evangelists also pushed the notion that the internet would decentralise power structures, enhance productivity and increase economic opportunities – globally.
In their opinion, the internet was the best thing that could happen to the world. They were not peddling lies. Many of them believed the internet to be a democratic medium that would change the world forever.
Indeed. The internet changed the world in more ways than one. But no one – not even those who championed the idea that the internet was a democratic medium – imagined that it would, one day, lead a dystopian world.
The world, as we see and experience it today, is going through a catastrophic time – politically, socially and economically. Human societies, though connected through an elaborate digital network, are more fractured than ever. Wealth is concentrated only in the hands of a few. The internet and social media networks have turned into vehicles that drive political polarisation. Algorithms manipulate human behaviour.
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