Boris and Cambridge Analytica

Internet based “targeting” is here to stay, not one country/leader will /can unilaterally make it illegal.

Basically it is down to politics being taught without bias in schools, including the pitfalls of targeted “political pop-ups” on social media.

Wash yer mouth out with soap and water Varian.......you may be that age, I’m certainly not ( but accept that one day in the distant future I may well be.)

I agree GrannyG the Internet is like Pandora’s Box, once things are let out, they stay out.
It’s simply the new way of advertising ( targeting) even the supermarkets know exactly what we like, as does Amazon.

Blimey, kids on GN- who'd have thought - the day of DD1 and year of DD2 - you could almost be my daughter - OMG (my maiden initials too - uncanny).

My maiden initials are AIBU jura and am proud to share it
?

Oooh - those are good initials lemon

I like changing my title on the drop down menus you get - my very favourite was Admiral of the Fleet, but I usually choose Reverend, Captain, Lady or Professor. It’s very disappointing when you only get the usual Mr/Ms/Mrs - where’s the fun in that?

The gin was very nice btw, and as everyone knows, Scottish gin is best ???????

You are right, GrannyGravy. Internet manipulation is here to stay. Anybody interested in democracy needs to acknowledge it and recognise they have almost certainly been a victim.

lemongrove, you seem extraordinarily naïve about the extent and power of the internet.

The issue that needs to be recognised though is not simple advertising etc, it is actual manipulation of the voter as took place in Trinidad and Tobago, the USA and the UK. amongst others so far identified.

And where it is used to stir up racial hatred and division, it is not a case of advertising it is far more sinister and a real threat to democracy.

The genie may be out if the bottle, but we do have it in our power to control it if we wish. Facebook etc are owned by a single entity. They can easily be controlled if the will is there.

It's even more important now for schools to instil healthy scepticism and the need to consider the reliability of information sources.

Scottish gin is definitely best SirChenjin! My two favourites are Hendricks with ice & cucumber and recently in an Hotel in Wester Ross I loved the Edinburgh Gin Rhubarb & Ginger. Simply the best rhubarb gin I’ve ever tasted!

P.s. sorry to derail the thread.
Back to ‘Boris & Cambridge Analytica’ now.

I definitely agree Jane because it’s young minds ( as ever)
Who are sucked into believing all they read on the internet far, far more than adults.
It used to be believing all that is presented in newspapers,
But as youngsters never read newspapers it didn’t affect them.
I really don’t see any way of controlling the Internet, although you could devise ways of doing so with the large
Companies.

jane yes that is important, but it goes further than that.

They are identifying particular groups of people like religious groups or age sets and deliberately targeting them. So for example a type of movement was formed on social media in T&T which encouraged the young not to vote as a rebellion. It spread like mad. CA had been employed to help a particular political party win the election. This party is largely supported by the Asian community. Asian children are for more compliant than Afro-Caribbean youngsters. The movement succeeded by ensuring the Afro Caribbean young rebelled against voting and the party they were assisting won the election.

It sounds far fetched, but this is exactly what happened.

In Myanmar, the Military employed CA. CA through social media encouraged the denigration of the Muslim population by the Buddhist population. The result is what we all witnessed. Genocide.

The FBI and Muller have proven that particular persuadable groups were identified by Russia, who used social media to swing the election. Russia flooded social media with false information before the election, enough to convince these persuadables to vote in a particular way.

Have you tried the Lochness Gin Urmston?

It is the 21st century's equivalent of biased newspapers, political rallies and the door to door canvassers.

The more people become aware the less of an impact these internet "canvassers" will have.

gg13 what are you basing that opinion on?

The issue is that if you pick up the Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Express, The Sun, The Times etc you are or should be aware of both their owners and editorial agenda. So you expect a particular set of beliefs and support for a political party.

However, what we are talking about is information being disseminated that is entirely unclear as to its agenda, and indeed whether the facts are true or not. Social media is being used to aim directly at particular groups of people and being flooded with messages which are directly implicated in voting patterns.

The reason there are so many threads about Boris is that the majority of posters on here are, in the main, Lefties who can't get over the fact that they lost and that, after more than 3 long years of insulting half the country, the Referendum result might actually stand a small chance of being realised.
Now I'm off to read the other post of insults about one of my favourite politicians- no, not Nigel, he's my second and Trump my 3rd, but the delightful Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Long may the UK prosper, and I look forward to the demise of the EU without us.

WWM2,

Political Parties have always been subjected to "lobbyists" who all have their own agenda depending on the Company/Organisation they are "lobbying" for.

Big Businesses are politicised so it is obvious they will try to influence the electorate.

Since the invention of the WWW, it is possible to reach more people with a click of a button. In my opinion it is naive not to think that if using the internet we are not subjected to hundreds of "pop-ups" and "news items" daily, even on GN. These occur for two reasons, one getting you to buy "stuff", the second being to influence how you think or respond, i.e. influence you.

quizqueen- could you point out to us any occasion during the Campaign, when any politician advocated and openly campaigned for No Deal. I'd be grateful.

No jura I haven’t yet. But I intend to!

Quizqueen