Subhash Dhuliya
The first phase of the information and technological revolution was marked by the integration of computers, telecommunications, and satellites. A networked global “village” emerged, giving people access to diverse sources of news and information. The Internet opened numerous platforms for political, social, and cultural interactions. There was great optimism that information would be democratized through this new medium. For a time, this seemed to be the case. However, with the rise of global information giants, the democratization process began to reverse. Today, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft hold vast amounts of user data—so much so that these companies often know more about individuals than people know about themselves.
The present phase of the revolution is defined by the integration of information technology with biotechnology and the rise of artificial intelligence. This new convergence has acquired immense power to control and influence human behavior. Just as the industrial era gave rise to colonialism, the digital era has ushered in “data colonialism”—a new form of domination in which control over minds is exercised through data. The Age of New Media has evolved into the Age of Digital Media, where data reigns supreme. Power is concentrated in unprecedented ways, eroding diversity and plurality of voices. Dissenting perspectives are suppressed, while dominant corporations and voices monopolize online spaces. The supposed diversity of digital media often serves as a façade, masking the concentration of power and leading to the marginalization of truth.
Every digital interaction leaves behind data. Even a simple Facebook “like” can reveal a person’s behavior, preferences, and attitudes through the use of artificial intelligence and algorithms. From the moment we connect to the Internet, we begin sharing personal data. These companies continuously harvest and exploit this data, deploying vast resources into research and development to predict and shape future behavior.
The sheer volume of information now available is overwhelming. Sorting the authentic from the fake, the reliable from the unreliable, has become increasingly difficult. People are drowning in this ocean of data. According to one study, young people in developed countries check their phones nearly 150 times a day. Most of us are perpetually engaged on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, or Google News, subjected to an endless bombardment of news and advertising messages.
This flood of information, flowing from millions of websites, blogs, and tweets, creates chaos and confusion, making it nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction. Information overload takes such a toll that many people fall prey to rumors, half-truths, and outright lies.
The early years of digital media expanded choices, fostered plurality, and allowed access to multiple viewpoints. Today, however, algorithms and artificial intelligence manipulate those “choices,” narrowing the scope of perspectives available to us. The result is a serious erosion of diversity. Differing viewpoints and critical issues that shape our lives are marginalized.
The traditional concept of “news” is fading in dominant media. While dissenting voices still exist on some platforms, they are drowned in the noise created by corporate information flooding. News is now filtered, slanted, fabricated, and stripped of context. Headlines are designed to grab attention but often bury the truth. Journalism has increasingly become about clicks, hits, and circulation, reducing news to a commodity. In this environment, what media choose not to report is often more significant than what they do. When certain events are omitted, for the public, they might as well not exist.
An informed citizenry is the foundation of democracy. Yet, in the current climate of fake news, misinformation, and fractured reality, democracy itself stands at risk. Bombarded by information, people’s emotions are easily manipulated, often at the expense of rational thinking. A misinformed electorate cannot make informed choices.
Voting in democracies is increasingly driven by what people feel rather than what they think. “Free will” in the digital age is no longer free in the traditional sense—it can be guided by those who control the levers of digital media. As algorithms micro-target individuals, democracies, which depend on a pluralistic flow of information, are eroding. Media freedom and plurality—the cornerstones of democratic life—are blurring rapidly.
The Facebook–Cambridge Analytica scandal of 2018 highlighted this reality. Millions of Facebook profiles were harvested without consent and used for political advertising. Research from Mozilla further shows that most of the videos people regret watching on YouTube are recommended by the platform’s algorithm. News aggregators and social media platforms manipulate preferences by amplifying content that generates more clicks rather than what is accurate or important.
This brings us to the notion of the “post-truth era.” Truth, it is argued, is no longer objective but can be manufactured. In this post-factual world, politics is increasingly driven by emotions rather than evidence-based policies. Appeals to belief and feeling have overshadowed rational debate. As Oxford Dictionaries declared when naming “post-truth” the Word of the Year in 2016, it denotes a condition “in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”
In their report Data and Democracy in the Digital Age (2018), Stephanie Hankey, Julianne Kerr Morrison, and Ravi Naik warned: “Data has become an increasingly valuable asset for those that control it… The challenge of who controls that data and what rights we have over it are not just questions for those in the IT world. They become problems as fundamental to us as any other human right.”
Similarly, Yuval Noah Harari cautions that once big data systems know us better than we know ourselves, authority will shift from humans to algorithms. We may not yet have ceded full authority, but personal data already allows for micro-targeting with macro-level consequences. Studies suggest that even Facebook “likes” can be used to create psychological profiles more accurate than those drawn by close friends.
All these developments raise the specter of a digital dictatorship, in which a few information giants could exercise unprecedented control over societies. The rapid proliferation of fake news in both mainstream and social media has already disrupted democratic discourse. This erosion of informed public opinion undermines the very process of democratization.
The pressing question is whether ordinary people are equipped with the intellectual tools to evaluate, verify, and judge the reliability of the information they consume. Algorithms and artificial intelligence increasingly determine what information reaches us, drastically reducing diversity and marginalizing dissenting voices. As Harari observed in 21 Lessons for the 21st Century: “False stories have an intrinsic advantage over the truth when it comes to uniting people.”
The decline of plurality and the synchronization of political, economic, social, and cultural life have created an entirely new and unpredictable scenario. Technology is advancing faster than our ability to assess its implications. Those who invent it often do not fully grasp its political, social, or cultural impact. That responsibility falls on the social sciences, which must rise to the challenge and generate a global wave of awareness.
The future remains uncertain. The answers, as always, lie in the womb of the future.
References
- Anand, Bharat (2016): The Content Trap. Penguin Random House India
- Mayer-Schonberger, Viktor and Cukier, Kenneth (2017): Big Data. John Murray (Publishers)
- Kovach, Bill and Rosenstein, Tom (2011): Blur: How to Know What’s True in The Age of Information Overload. Bloomsbury, New York
- Harari, Yuval Noah (2018): 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. Jonathan Cape, London
- Charles, Alec and Stewart, Gavin (eds.) (2011): The End of Journalism: News in the Twenty-First Century. Peter Lang, Oxford
- Wahl-Jorgensen, Karin and Hanitzsch, Thomas (2009): The Handbook of Journalism Studies. Routledge, New York
- D’Ancona, Matthew (2017): Post Truth: The New War on Truth and How to Fight Back. Penguin Random House, UK
Web Resources
- Digitisation and Media Power – Le Monde Diplomatique
- Post-truth politics – Wikipedia
- Are we living in a post-truth era? – TED Ideas
- Media pluralism – Wikipedia
- New threats to media pluralism in the digital age – SlideShare
About the Author
Prof. Subhash Dhuliya is a senior media academician and former Vice Chancellor of Uttarakhand Open University, with over four decades of experience in journalism and communication education. He has held key academic positions at IIMC and IGNOU. Before transitioning to academics, he worked in senior editorial roles with The Times of India Group and Amrita Bazar Patrika Group.
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