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#里茲螞蟻批判性思考寫作專欄 #Alex專欄 #外師每週精選閱讀
It might seem a bit strange to people who are used to getting their news from more traditional sources that the news ban by Facebook caused such a kerfuffle, not just in Australia, but also around the world, as politicians and supporters of free speech overwhelmingly condemned the despotic behaviour of an enormous corporation that has amassed more power and wealth than even some countries. The shocking truth is that many millions of people use social media as their primary, and in some cases exclusive, source of news and other information now. This means that the algorithms, which these tech companies force on users to ensure we are flooded with more of the same content that we are already seeing in order to expose us to as much advertising (“Sponsored”/”Suggested for you”) content as possible, create an echo chamber of ideas. You have no doubt experienced this before when, after clicking on or showing interest in a link in your feed, you are subsequently force-fed similar content continually for the next few days or weeks. #里茲螞蟻批判性思考寫作專欄 #Alex專欄 #外師每週精選閱讀
Following hot on the heels of last week’s warning about the outsized power of big tech companies in modern life, Facebook demonstrated yet again just how undeserving it is to wield so much influence. Possibly at the behest of more traditional media tycoons like Rupert Murdoch, the Australian government decided to pass new media laws that are designed to share with old-media newspapers some of the advertising revenue that Facebook and other tech companies enjoy by freely sharing content that has been created by those newspapers. In a completely disgraceful attempt to force the government to back down, Facebook completely blocked all access to Australian news on their platform for all Australians. #里茲螞蟻批判性思考寫作專欄 #Alex專欄 #外師每週精選閱讀
As FOMO takes hold once again, and people clamber to jump on the bandwagon with the latest social media app sensation (despite it being almost a year old already), security experts are warning that Clubhouse poses serious risks to users. The warnings are focused on at least two ways that users’ privacy is compromised. Firstly, since the company providing the voice services to the app has an office based in China, they are required by Chinese law to share all their data with the Chinese government. In addition, there are hundreds of thousands of Chinese government employees – China’s “cyberwarriors” – whose sole job is to trawl public and private internet communications to track down any instances of speech or behaviour that the Chinese government deems subversive or unacceptable, and then they record all the details of everyone involved, potentially leading to sinister consequences. This kind of mass surveillance is not too dissimilar to how the despicable Stasi in Communist Eastern Europe operated for decades in the past century, but now it is on a much more global scale thanks to the internet. #里茲螞蟻批判性思考寫作專欄 #Alex專欄 #外師每週精選閱讀
In related news, the alleged head of an international crime syndicate, who was purportedly a frequent resident of Taiwan, was arrested in the Netherlands only a few weeks ago. Reuters’ investigative piece details the estimated $17 billion global drug smuggling operations that produced heroin, ketamine and methamphetamine in the Asia Pacific region and distributed it around the world. That the supposed kingpin of this operation has been arrested likely does not signal the end or even a setback for the criminal empire which was created in China and run through Macau, Hong Kong, Myanmar and Taiwan, because as we have seen in past articles, organised crime gangs are so completely embedded in these societies that arresting a few of their members is unlikely to set them back significantly. #里茲螞蟻批判性思考寫作專欄 #Alex專欄 #外師每週精選閱讀
Just how central is the role that organised crime plays in Taiwanese society, and is it actually the nexus of a much broader criminal syndicate involving temples, night markets, the construction industry, the police, the military, and politicians, among others, whilst also acting as the linchpin for drug, wildlife and human trafficking across Asia and the Pacific region? This editorial from the Taipei Times asserts that Taiwan could help other countries deal with the Chinese influence operations to try to undermine democracy in their nations by sharing experiences Taiwan has had over the past decades as the CCP has used Chinese criminal gangs to undermine democracy on the island. #里茲螞蟻批判性思考寫作專欄 #Alex專欄 #外師每週精選閱讀
No legal or political system is immune to corruption, but are there certain types which are more prone to being gamed by criminals? Conversely, are there legal or political systems which have more robust checks and balances? In Taiwan for many years already, calls for the introduction of juries into the legal system have been increasing in the hope that it could address two of the perceived weakest links – corruptible judges and a complete lack of citizen participation in the judicial process. Although no progress has been made towards the implementation of a jury system in Taiwan, the plans for a lay judge system similar to the one Japan introduced in 2009 are one form of judicial reform that could be hailed as some form of progress. #里茲螞蟻批判性思考寫作專欄 #Alex專欄 #外師每週精選閱讀
When reading about law, you may come across the concept that justice is “blind”. This is (still) a hotly debated concept which asserts that the dispensation of justice is supposed to be impartial. Although not entirely without basis, it is difficult to find many examples that demonstrate that there is such impartiality in law, but very easy to find evidence to the contrary. This is particularly the case when you consider the innumerable injustices faced by minorities, the poor, ex-criminals and other defendants who are incapable of paying for expensive legal representation, or bribing judges, or being judged without discrimination, and who are therefore most likely to be convicted and given more severe punishments. These common injustices demonstrate the very same inequalities that exist in broader society, but in a more concentrated form, thus precluding the possibility of impartial judiciaries in most countries. #里茲螞蟻批判性思考寫作專欄 #Alex專欄 #外師每週精選閱讀
Social media was heralded as the great liberator of the press, opening up closed and censored societies, and making the already free press even freer, by removing the middleman and facilitating the free flow of information. Has this ideal been realised? While the rumour- and fear-mongers of government censors and press dominated by moneyed interests might have been relegated to somewhat less prominent roles as masters of information, the floodgates have also been opened to let through a torrent of hearsay, gossip and outright falsehoods in the form of anyone and everyone’s opinions. But it is only now, after four years of benefitting massively from the publicity attracted by the rantings of an egotistical sociopath have Twitter, Facebook and other platforms decided to ban Donald Trump’s accounts and attempt to stem the flow of hatred and vitriol. Is it too little too late? #里茲螞蟻批判性思考寫作專欄 #Alex專欄 #外師每週精選閱讀
When examining biased media and government propaganda, it is also essential to consider whether or not the news service itself is a government mouthpiece, and also what degree of free press exists, if any, in the nation being reported on. Blanket censorship of the media is just as powerful a tool as propaganda in controlling the narrative to attempt to rewrite history in the way the government wants it to be retold. Thus, it is common to see both propaganda and censorship combined when used to cover up government ineptitude, corruption and malfeasance. #里茲螞蟻批判性思考寫作專欄 #Alex專欄 #外師每週精選閱讀
Can you always trust the authorities? The answer to this question is the same as the answer to the question “Can you always trust anyone?”. It may seem cynical or even a bit paranoid to question and be sceptical of everything you see and hear in the news, but the reality is that fake news and government disinformation campaigns make up a huge part of what is reported these days, and it behoves the intelligent reader to be more discerning in what they accept as fact, and also to choose their sources of information wisely. |
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