'How did so many of us come to resemble automatons?'

Four identical hands holding up smart phones on purple background

Social media platforms have robbed Americans of their "ability to think and behave freely"

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 23 October 2023

'The more we exist online, the more privacy and autonomy we lose'

Jean Guerrero in the Los Angeles Times

Social media platforms have robbed Americans of their "ability to think and behave freely," says Jean Guerrero in the Los Angeles Times. This "pack mentality" has been on full display during the Israel-Hamas conflict, with the internet flooded in "one-sided" takes vilifying anyone with different views. Big Tech is fueling division by collecting mountains of personal data that helps businesses and "other entities" steer us wherever they want with "content that preys on our fantasies and fears."

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.