{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/9a03fe9e-1ff0-4dcc-b3f6-50bd1f016ea4/520df184-dc73-4e13-8883-9d41b5d8f22b?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Democracy for Sale","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/6195701f2eacc3a36070252a/619570bccb3c660012e3cede.jpg?height=200","description":"<p>We talk to Peter Geoghegan of openDemocracy and Jennifer Cobbe of the Trust and Technology Initiative about Cambridge Analytica, money, power and what is and isn't corrupting our democracy.&nbsp;How easy is it to buy influence in British politics?&nbsp;Did Cambridge Analytica break the rules or show just how little difference the rules make anyway?&nbsp;Who has the power to take on Facebook?&nbsp;Plus we discuss why the British government's failure to handle the pandemic tells us a lot about the corrosive effects of cronyism.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.petergeoghegan.com/books/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.petergeoghegan.com/books/</a></p><p><br></p><p>Talking Points:</p><p><br></p><p>The ICO report on Cambridge Analytica largely concluded that their tactics were not unusual.</p><ul><li>Of course, we can take issue with the fact these practices are so widespread.&nbsp;</li><li>One of the reasons Cambridge Analytica was such a scandal was that people didn’t realise they could be targeted in this way.</li><li>Cambridge Analytica and organizations like it can do is seed misinformation into a wider ecosystem. They take advantage of the lack of regulation.</li><li>Sowing misinformation doesn’t require sophisticated skills; it’s easy.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>The conversation about micro-targeting often centers on Cambridge Analytica, but we need to look at the structures that make these practices so easy and so potent.</p><ul><li>Facebook makes all of this really easy to do. Why were we so complacent?&nbsp;</li><li>When we think about the influence of money in politics, it’s easy to imagine nefarious people throwing around big sums, but at least in the UK a small amount can go a long way when people have the right connections. This is cronyism.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>The pandemic has made the tech giants unthinkably wealthy.</p><ul><li>At the same time, they’ve changed the way that money affects politics.</li><li>Could Trump have won without Facebook and Twitter?</li><li>The tech companies do not need to lobby politicians in the traditional sense because they are simply that powerful.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Governments are dependent on these technologies, as we all are.</p><ul><li>Can we think about the tech companies as the technical infrastructure of society?</li><li>Right now, these companies have a huge amount of discretion.&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Cronyism has been a prominent feature of the UK Government’s COVID response.</p><ul><li>There is a strain in a certain school of political thought that the state isn’t good for much. When politicians who believe that are in charge, it can be self-fulfilling.</li><li>A hollowed out state creates space for more cronyism.</li><li>The civil service has become a punching bag. This could have a long tail.&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Does the system that needs reform have the capacity to generate the necessary reforms?</p><ul><li>When it comes to tech, the biggest problem is ideological.</li><li>It’s hard to get politicians to agree that changing micro-targeting is necessary because they all use it.</li><li>Politicians do not want to change a system that has benefitted them even if they can recognize its flaws.&nbsp;</li><li>Can you build a coalition that would force them to do so?&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Mentioned in this Episode:</p><ul><li><a href=\"https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/investigation-into-data-analytics-for-political-purposes/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">The UK Information Commissioner's Office report on Cambridge Analytica</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.waterstones.com/book/democracy-for-sale/peter-geoghegan/9781789546033\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Peter’s book, <em>Democracy for Sale</em></a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/commentisfree/2020/oct/15/cambridge-analytica-threat-democracy-facebook-big-tech\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Jennifer’s recent piece in <em>the Guardian</em></a></li><li><a...","author_name":"David Runciman and Catherine Carr"}