Spying with impunity in the age of social and digital media -

Abstract

New media tools have in some ways empowered the underclasses to champion certain causes and become potential organizers in struggles for democratic and social reform. This is done by employing new media to influence popular debate, create new news values, and challenge official narratives, thereby stripping traditional media forces of their power to dictate what dominates the agenda. But those new perceived powers afforded to the public in the age of digital and social media come at great cost: namely the forfeiture of privacy and protection from government surveillance and intrusion. Upon examining details of the recent NSA scandal that have revealed unprecedented levels of surveillance and remarkably egregious violations committed by the US government and its partners (principally Britain) of laws designed to protect an individual's privacy, this paper concludes that technology has left people worldwide much more vulnerable, feeble and exposed today than they were before the inception of new media.