In addition to harvesting data, so that ads can be targeted, there is also the question of Artificial Intelligence. How many people are aware that some of the "news" stories they read are in fact created by Artificial Intelligence? There are some very clever apps which produce stories which seem totally authentic. However, if you search for a validated source, there is none. These stories can be debunked, but social media means they are around the world in seconds and it's hard to "undo" them. One of the most powerful of these apps is called Friendly AI - it is known that Boris Johnson's advisor, Dominic Cummings, is involved in a company called Friendly AI, founded by Elon Musk. I also wonder how many people are aware that many of the user IDs on social media are totally fictitious and not even human. Their comments are produced by AI to support a particular political stance. They are becoming increasingly difficult to identify. Newspapers don't have the army of the journalists they once had, so often use syndicated news, which is sometimes "sold" news from agencies. Don't believe anything, unless you check the source.