Current Events: Cyber power (check this out!)

Sarah Laskin

Cyber Power PDF
Summary/Analysis

Cyber power is the newest form of power, and in general it is pretty new to our world. In the few short years it has been around, the Internet (and technology in general) has taken the world by storm. Now, messages can be sent in microseconds across the world, robots can be remotely controlled and you can tell your oven to preheat as you're coming home from the supermarket.

But, while there are so many uses for individual consumers to utilize technology, there are so many more for governments and other organizations.

Trade deals can be negotiated without having to be in the same country let alone the same room. Technology and research can be shared, and so can communications and military chatter.

Social media is important to both the individuals and the governments and organizations. Facebook and Twitter are both used in at least 50 countries regularly, and both platforms are used for spreading of news and events quickly and to a wide audience. The government can use these platforms to spread misleading informations to its people through algorithims and bots. Many bot-operated accounts, dubbed "cyber troops" are tasked with finding influencial accounts which could be potentially harmful in the spread of fake news. These bots also help circulate the government's news and fake news.

Fake news is a huge epidemic becuase of the widespread sharing of information, and it's more important more than ever to know where your news is coming from. Knowing who is writing something is a huge part of this. Certified experts in the field and live videos (AKA direct sources) are usually reliable. But, randomly reading news from a sketchy site or tweet? Probaly shouldn't be trusted, at least without further research.


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