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Possibly some sour grapes from George Soros?

Facebook and Google have become “obstacles to innovation” and are a “menace” to society whose “days are numbered”, said billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.

“Mining and oil companies exploit the physical environment; social media companies exploit the social environment,” said the Hungarian-American businessman, according to a transcript of his speech.

“This is particularly nefarious because social media companies influence how people think and behave without them even being aware of it. This has far-reaching adverse consequences on the functioning of democracy, particularly on the integrity of elections.”

In addition to skewing democracy, social media companies “deceive their users by manipulating their attention and directing it towards their own commercial purposes” and “deliberately engineer addiction to the services they provide”. The latter, he said, “can be very harmful, particularly for adolescents”.

“The power to shape people’s attention is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few companies. It takes a real effort to assert and defend what John Stuart Mill called ‘the freedom of mind’. There is a possibility that once lost, people who grow up in the digital age will have difficulty in regaining it. This may have far-reaching political consequences.”

George Soros has funded – magnificently in my view – a great deal more than his share of media outlets and open society reporting.

People seem to enjoy getting their news and open society stuff from commercially minded companies instead.

Oh Well.

18 thoughts on “Possibly some sour grapes from George Soros?”

  1. Please always refer to his conviction for insider dealing – people need reminding of it, the BBC will not do it.

  2. Old bastard’s got the nerve to quote JSM. I suppose it’s not manipulation when you are merely guiding the plebs to the korrekt conclusion. Good deed really.

  3. There’s a serious point to be made that ol’ George wields a disproportionate amount of influence for a man that’s not elected.

    Him, and his enormous pile of money, are responsible for influencing (or manipulating) large numbers of people through the institutions and organizations that he funds.

    I for one (and Viktor Orban for sure) will not shed a tear when he shuffles off this mortal coil..

  4. Soros and his brats need to be in a basement somewhere, facing a simple choice. Between signing over every penny they have in the world to the cause of good and retiring to a simple, quiet and absolutely incommunicado life. Or some other alternatives.

  5. Tim–Why the candle for Soros –a man who is an active agent of Global Elite ( not Globalist capitalism or Jewish conspiracy in case you think you recognise that as some kind of code–remember I support NO branch of socialism) and is doing his best to turn Europe and the West in general into a shithole?

    Also I’m not inclined to believe–in view of his subsequent activities–his and his friends account of how he was forced to work for the Nazis. It may be true. But given his life-long love of big battalions lording over little folk I have a few doubts to say the least.

    There is nothing “magnificent” about him Tim.

  6. When the Koch Bros are actively paying for the import of Mexicans the way Soros has a hand in the actual movement of imported beards to the West the complaints will both be justified.

  7. I’d always assumed that “Paul Rain” was a leftie/SJW troll, or even plant. Wonder how wrong I was.

  8. I suspect he thought he was being funny or clever, or something.

    But let’s face it, there is in these parts no shortage of calls for hempen rope and piano wire. In whatever sense those calls are meant – as calls to arms, to assassination, or merely as fortifying gestures among nebulous people who don’t know each other – I see little or no substantive difference between them and the deprecated Rains comment.

    Tom’s house, his rules, etc. And I’m glad he’s as free and easy as, generally, he is. The only other similar example I can think of was when Arnald got a ticking off for being more than usually twittish. Still. Seems to me the Rains comment was in poor taste … but not a million miles from much else we all read here.

  9. It appears that Mr. Soros is slowly coming to the realization that he has met his match in President Trump. Soros spends millions on social media and Trump spends none… And guess which of the two rules social media. I take his comments as an expression of frustration more than anything else.

  10. @Mr Ecks, January 26, 2018 at 10:54 am

    “Tim–Why the candle for Soros…
    …There is nothing “magnificent” about Soros Tim.”

    +1

  11. I’m surprised you’d take this position Tim. Soros supports open society in the same way that communists demand free speech. It’s a tool to attack the opposition and the moment their faction has control, they shut down any form of accountability. Soros support “open society” in one direction only. The right is to be humiliated while the left is defended by a bodyguard of lies.

  12. “Facebook and Google have become “obstacles to innovation” and are a “menace” to society whose “days are numbered”, said billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.”

    The fun part is that if we stop using Facebook and Google, it will be because they became too much part of the Davos set, and anyone looking for an exciting place to hang out will flee to somewhere more like 4chan.

    Facebook is already “where mum is” for kids. Seriously. kids aren’t joining.

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