Searching for Truth on the Internet

We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies Mr. Biel.
The world is a college of corporations.
Inexorably determined by the
Immutable bylaws of business.
The world is a business Mr. Biel.
It has been since man crawled out of the slime.
And our children will live Mr. Biel
To see that
 perfect world
In which there’s no war,
Or famine,
Oppression,
Or brutality.
One vast ecumenical holding company.
For who all men will work to serve a common profit,
And which all men will hold a share of stock.
All necessities provided.
All anxieties tranquilized.
All boredom amused.

You remember the scene in the brilliant 1976 film, Network, don't you, the one with the speech about corporations ruling the world?  News anchor Howard Biel has lost his mind yet becomes a ratings-winning prophet for his time. Howard's "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" becomes a rallying cry for millions but eventually he is called on the carpet by a shadowy corporate mogul who lets him know how the world really works and then sends him on his way.

Forty-plus years later we are seeing how this speech is even more cogent and applicable than it was a generation ago before the internet, and social media and...blogs. In the past couple of weeks there was an international conference on the influence of the internet on privacy, and good old fake news and elections, and what strategies could be developed to curb abuses.  


Sanberg and Zuckerberg

Then yesterday the House of Commons's privacy and ethics committee was joined by elected officials from around the world to discuss data collection, privacy online and democracy and to question witnesses. The committee had extended invitations to some of the most well-known tech players, including Facebook, Twitter and Google. Earlier this month, the committee voted to subpoena Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg to appear as witnesses They chose to ignore this request, essentially holding up a middle finger to the Canadian government. Why subject your corporation to our scrutiny when you have two billion monthly users?  

It seems to me that this should really matter to all of us in a world of increasing "truthiness", where we are constantly manipulated for financial and political gain. Facebook's motto is “Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together”, but surely we realize that this is not its purpose and never was? 

It's tough because most of us use social media and Facebook has become a go-to communication tool for many churches. What do we as communities of faith have to say about what is unfolding?

Prophet Howard doesn't heed the warning and offers his own on-air polemic which might be worth repeating oftenf:

So, you listen to me. Listen to me! Television [the internet] is not the truth.
Television's [social media's]a god-damned amusement park.
Television [Facebook, Google, Twitter) is a circus, a carnival,
a traveling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers,
sideshow freaks, lion tamers, and football players.
We're in the boredom-killing business.
So if you want the Truth, go to God! Go to your gurus. Go to yourselves!

I'm partial to animal videos myself, but that probably falls under lion tamers.

Perhaps it's time to listen and "go to God" for the truth.