POL106 Wk 2: Politics in the Social Media Age

What is the purpose of the internt?

It delivers and generates data

What are the three layers of the internet?

Infrastructure, code, and content

What is in the internet’s infrastructure? Which source references this?

This is where power is concentrated: the pipes and protocols, cables and networks, search engines and browsers (Farrell and Berjon, 2024)

What was the significance in switching from Web 1.0 to Web 3.0? What are the difference between the two?

It resulted in increased data generation; Web 1.0 is static content that users consumed but did not interact with from the 1990s to early 200s and Web 3.0 is a fully immersive experience (virtual reality), in which decentralized apps (cryptocurrencies) and generative artificial intelligence exist spanning from the mid 2010s to now

How is data used and who collects it? What is this term called? Give a singular example of how it is used and identify its 3 harms

Data is collected and synthesized by data brokers who create detailed user profiles and sell them to advertisers who use this data to influence user behavior; an example of this is the recommendation of ads targeted to the users’ interests/needs

Harms —> Threatens: autonomy due to lack of consent, right to privacy, and protection of data as data breaches can occur (could lead to identity theft)

Identify the 3 Layers of Media Communication

Physical layer: infrastructure such as routers, undersea cables, and satellites

Protocol layer: technical standards and rules such as domain names (DNS — ex: utoronto.ca) and web communication protocols and encryption

Content layer: information being transmitted as images, videos, and audios

How much does the internet have access to an individual’s political activity? Which source references this?

The internet is able to collect data from individuals’ political conversations, donations, and forms of political organizing (Henry Farrell, 2012)

How has internet mobilized political activity? Which source references this?

The internet’s enablement of information sharing across borders enabled the organization of the late 2010 pro-democracy movement, the Arab Spring, which emerged in Tunisia and spread throughout in the Middle East and North Africa due to online discussions (Henry Farrell, 2012)

How was the internet originally used?

The internet’s precursor, APARNET was created in the 1960s for wartime communication during the Vietnam War and was used as a tool to exercise freedom of expression for hippies

What design was intended for the internet?

A decentralized design in which no entity had full control or even a concentration of power over the internet was the original purpose

Who is Edward Snowden? What was his impact?

A former contractor for the CIA who leaked the media details of extensive internet and phone surveillance by American intelligence and its counterparts (‘Five Eyes’: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States) —> Sparked global debates and awareness of surveillance, encryption, and privacy issues

How are politics embedded in different levels of digital systems?

3 Main Ways: the data we reveal or share (in)advertently to corporations, to physical infrastructure like undersea cables (are opposed/contested by gov’ts), and physical to content layers