Barack Obama called for regulating social platforms: “Putin has used them as a strategic weapon against democratic countries”

“In Russia, Putin armed ethnonationalism through disinformation, waging hate campaigns against domestic opponents, delegitimizing democracy itself. And, of course, it has intensified such efforts as part of its war in Ukraine.” This is how blunt former US President Barack Obama (2009-2017) was during a conference at Stanford University.

At the heart of Silicon Valley, the core of the tech industry, the former president called for updating and strengthening the regulation of social platforms that, he believes, are weakening democracies by leaps and bounds by facilitating the proliferation of conspiracy theories, hate speech and extremist messages.

“Autocrats like Putin have used these platforms as a strategic weapon against democratic countries that they see as a threat,” Obama said.

“These companies are no longer the typical phone operator of yesteryear, they have changed a lot in the last 20 years,” he said, referring to platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Misinformation has become the favorite cause of the former president, embarking on a campaign with which he is trying to use his influence to have Washington update its laws and companies address the issue internally.

Earlier, in another appearance at the University of Chicago, the politician was “concerned” about the erosion of democratic and civil values on the Internet.

In his lengthy speech to the Stanford Cyber Security Center, Obama implored the reform of the well-known Section 230, a legal remedy that protects technology companies not being legally responsible for the content published on them.

Thus, Obama painted a scenario in which false news about coronavirus vaccines has caused people to die or, in countries like Russia, have created societies in which the population “does not know what is real and what is not.”

“We are seeing the effects,” Obama said of a problem that he believes is “going to get worse” and become “more sophisticated.”

However, the former president, who maintains contact with entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg, added that big tech companies “are making a sincere effort” and showing “genuine” concern about the problem. “Social networks have not created racism, extremism, or division,” he said.

But, at the same time, he did not hesitate to point out that “the new information ecosystem is driving some of humanity's worst impulses.”

According to Obama, the human brain “is not used to receiving so much information” and he himself admitted “experiencing an overload”, a context that countries like China, Brazil, Russia and the Philippines take advantage of against those groups that “don't like” power.

Still, Obama appreciated the platforms' push to connect citizens and facilitate access to sources of knowledge with a single “click”: “I would not have been elected president if it weren't for Facebook, MySpace or MeetUp,” he admitted.

Therefore, he asked students at the university to assume their responsibility so that the positive wins over the negative in the future of technology. “The Internet is a tool, and tools don't control us, we control them,” he concluded.

Mentions of Vladimir Putin, Russia and the invasion of Ukraine

In one of the most interesting moments of his speech, Obama said: “In Russia, Putin armed ethnonationalism through disinformation, waging hate campaigns against domestic opponents, delegitimizing democracy itself. And, of course, it has intensified such efforts as part of its war in Ukraine.”

“We are experiencing another tumultuous and dangerous moment in history. All of us are horrified by Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine. The response of a nuclear-armed despot to a neighboring state whose only provocation is its desire to be independent and democratic. There has not been an invasion of this scale in Europe since World War II, and we have all witnessed the resulting death and destruction, and displacement, in real time,” said the former head of state.

He concluded: “The stakes are high and the courage shown by Ukrainians has been extraordinary and demands our support. Unfortunately, a war in Ukraine is not happening in a vacuum. Vladimir Putin's aggression is part of a broader trend, even if similar levels of oppression, anarchy, violence and suffering don't always attract the same levels of attention if they occur outside Europe.”

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