Yeah, the trial was a disgusting spectacle, but
...Did we just witness one of the most obvious influence campaigns ever?
I'm not really on the largest platforms (f-book, twit, the 'tok, which btw seem more susceptible to influence campaigns, generally, probably the huge audience is both an incentive and a cloak), but there was reportedly a pretty big influence op. There must have been, because everyone (else) was talking about it at a get together, and everyone had sided overwhelmingly with Depp. But I did see the pro-Depp selection bias on reddit's front page, for sure. Shoulda checked Fox more.
I've no idea where I stand on the trial or verdict, which favors Depp, but I know that someone with that much wealth undoubtedly has access to influence ops on The Socials. If you could boost views on clips almost always unfavorable for Heard all the way to, say, the jury, for a few to ten-ish million bucks? Hmm.
-me, just now
We can debate whether the MeToo movement went too far, but that debate is forsure not what's happening most places out there. Actual witch hunt energy, a lot of places. Poop jokes, a lot of mocking Heard's in-court demeanor, celebrating Depp's, cheering the verdict, etc., it's... not great. Misogyny-adjacent, if not clearly within the circle, some places.
Even if I'm wrong about this specific case, the ultra-rich undoubtedly understand the possibilities. Remember Cambridge Analytica? Feels like ancient history. What, did they just.. go away? Its next business form was liquidated eventually, so all those aspiring dark-moneygrubbers found a new gig?? LOL nah don't think so. Is buying a social media influence op during a trial you initiated even actually illegal?
We are not handling these technologies well, at the moment. I hope it doesn't destroy us before we figure things out.
P.S. do you think Musk bought some of the bot followers he has, so he's pretty comfortable alleging that Twitter has a lot of bots, all in an effort to help him back out of the proposed deal? Classic.