Meredith Whittaker, President of Signal Foundation: Feelings Are Facts [video]

The privacy aspect while important given the Uganda example, feels like its really part of a much larger ecosystem.

The Platforms store, buy, sell, trade, exchange personal data for Attention Capture which is then traded for cash or reputation/status in the real economy. There are people who think the Attention economy might just replace the real economy if your rep on a platform gets you more stuff than someone who has a whole lot of cash in the bank.

Right now the platforms through their algos (feeding on personal data) mediate what people pay Attention too and how global human Attention is distributed.

Everyone needs some base level of attention/love/desire/intimacy etc which is tied to their self esteem. If people don't get that base level in healthy ways, or aren't taught properly how to get it they start acting up. Platforms have supplanted normal human ways people get this stuff by drip feeding them likes, follower, click counts, karma pts etc

And then there are people like Trump and Elon who don't have base level need but a limitless need for Attention/love/respect. And the platforms again supply these kind of people too. Cause they get free user generated content in return which is used for further attention capture.

Encryption and privacy are not going to solve anything until we have better theories about Attention. Its hard to fall in love with anyone if their Attention is under constant assault.