Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America

by Christopher Wylie

If we are to prevent another Cambridge Analytica from attacking our civil institutions, we must seek to address the flawed environment in which it incubated. For too long the congresses and parliaments of the world have fallen for a mistaken view that somehow “the law cannot keep up with technology.” The technology sector loves to parrot this idea, as it tends to make legislators feel too stupid or out of touch to challenge their power. But the law can keep up with technology, just as it has with medicines, civil engineering, food standards, energy, and countless other highly technical fields. Legislators do not need to understand the chemistry of molecular isomers inside a new cancer drug to create effective drug review processes, nor do they need to know about the conductivity of copper in high-voltage wiring to create effective insulation safety standards. We do not expect our legislators to have expert technical knowledge in any other sector because we devolve technical oversight responsibility to regulators. Regulation works because we trust people who know better than we do to investigate industries and innovations as the guardians of public safety. “Regulation” may be one of the least sexy words, evoking an image of faceless jobsworths with their treasured checklists, and we will always argue about the details of their imperfect rules, but nonetheless safety regulation generally works. When you buy food in the grocery store or visit your doctor or step onto an airpl...