My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When it first launched, Facebook and other social media was seen as a cool, if benign, piece of technology that the internet had made possible. After the the 2016 election, the public was made aware of how social media could be used as a tool to manipulate an election, a very unsettling development. However, as the authors of this jaw-dropping book make clear, social media is not just some tool to keep in touch with friends any more. Social media is a new battlefront in both cyber warfare and traditional warfare. What happens online cannot only sway elections, it can also get people killed.
Starting with an introduction noting the different and unique ways social media has been used in recent years, such as ISIS's use of it as they were invading Mosul and Donald Trump's use of Twitter before and during his presidency, the authors show how social media has become a new battlefield. And what happens online can have deadly consequences in real life. One of the more shocking stories they relate is how gangs in America have been "cyber tagging" people's online profiles and then killing those people in real life. Online beefs are leading to bodies in the street in America and elsewhere. There are many more stories they relate about the dangers of this new battlefield, but I do not want to spoil this book any more than I have.
The book is not all bleak though. The authors note how cyber activists and the military have been using social media to combat terrorism and gather intelligence. One uplifting story is about how cyber activists combed social media to determine that it was Russian forces that shot down MH17 over Ukraine in 2014. So, for the old internet enthusiasts, there is hope that the internet can still be used for more than nefarious purposes.
But the authors never want the readers to forget that the internet and social media have left their adolescence and it is up to us and our elected leaders to determine what the internet will be moving forward. Will it continue to be the free-wheeling wild west sphere it has been, or will regulation become necessary? That's what the debate is at this point. For anyone who is concerned about the power of social media and its misuse by bad actors and authoritarian regimes, this is the first book you should read.
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