Social Networks or Social Nightmares?
09/27/2019 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM in Wien (Austria)
A decade ago social networks, big data and artificial intelligence were welcomed for their promise of progress and democratization of access. Today, the focus has shifted to their dark side as a threat to our privacy, a danger to democracy and as a new form of surveillance. Three of the world’s leading activists of the electronic age gather to discuss our digital future. Roger McNamee, an early advisor to Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg, has become one of his fiercest critics – his much-acclaimed book Zucked is a far-reaching indictment of the way the social media giant is dealing with data security. Evgeny Morozov gained prominence with his book The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom, a prophetically early warning about the dangers of the digital age. Max Schrems, Austrian data protection lawyer, became a world-wide celebrity for launching the first successful legal challenge against Facebook for privacy violations. The conversation is led by IWM Rector Shalini Randeria.