It is without a doubt that digitalization and the large amount of information we are exposed to has a great impact on our society. With the emergence of the digital age there is a shift from industrialisation to information age. Our industrial society which is primarily dependent on tangible resources, is shifting towards one in which data and information are essential. This has many implications on businesses and society as a whole in order to make the most use of it.
As more and more information becomes available. It’s becoming increasingly important for companies and society to distinguish between use and non-useful information. Specially, as information is easily collected people are now more exposed to information than ever before, it becomes difficult to distinguish true information from fake information. This leads to various dilemma’s. Take for instance social media, on social media platforms as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram users are allowed to express themselves, write, comment and share large amounts of information. However, with this user created content it’s very easy to spread misinformation. How should these tech-giants deal with the spread of fake news? To what extent should companies be held accountable for the behavior of their users and the spread of fake information?
The dilemma entails that although every user has the freedom of speech, however the spread of fake news can have severe consequences in real life. Take for instance the American election in 2016. This showed the impact of social media information and that it can be used to manipulate people’s psychology and behavior in real life.
On the other hand, social media also requires accountability, as the world becomes more saturated with cameras and live streams that are shared on social media platforms. Your every move and action can be recorded by someone and published online. This can have good implications, if you think about catching store thieves or exposing police violence. Nevertheless, digital surveillance can also have severe privacy concerns.
The digital age and the intensity of surveilling human behavior calls for accountability. But who should be held accountable? Governments? Corporations? Society itself? What do you think?
