The 93-minute Netflix Original documentary dramatizes the backend of social media platforms as a dystopian neuroscience lab. Social media platforms can and have been channels for momentous diabolic acts that question the platforms’ supposed positive value. Somewhere in an African state house – I suspect Entebbe – a government adviser watched The Social Dilemma and leaped for joy. Many forums with similar missions – #EndPoliceBrutality, #StandtoEndRape – also depend on the openness of social media to reach wide audiences quickly. But all of this has to be judged on specific definitions of the social media problem set.

Source: The North Africa Journal September 14, 2020 16:05 UTC