GRANT WANTS TO KILL SOCIAL MEDIA
Hollywood star Hugh Grant says the triumph of technology over democracy is “terrifying” and if he had the option, he would just pull the plug on social media.
Grant has been active in the UK’s press reform initiative with his Hacked Off campaign after it came to light that he was among the celebrities whose phones were hacked by a prominent British tabloid for gossip.
The Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) star has now widened the scope of his campaign to include the impact of online propaganda.
“It’s particularly terrifying, the triumph of technology over democracy,” Grant told Variety.
“You realise, Trump couldn’t have happened without Facebook manipulation, and Brexit couldn’t have happened without it. It’s all possible now, for people with enough money and resources, to manipulate swing voters through very highly tailored Facebook ads,”
the actor said.
The Notting Hill (1999) actor would prefer if social media did not exist. He says, “I would just pull the plug on social media. I look at the pluses and minuses, and to me the minuses way outweigh the pluses. We had perfectly decent lives before social media. At the very minimum, I would take away anonymity from social media posts,” he said.
I would just pull the plug on social media. I look at the pluses and minuses, and to me the minuses way outweigh the pluses. We had perfectly decent lives before social media. HUGH GRANT, ACTOR