It's so critical to be conscious of that balance. Obviously, authoritarian governments would love Roger's recommendation—shut it down, because we don't like what they're saying. Obviously, that's not the intention here, so how do we make that distinction?
One thing I can say is that I really think we are in the midst of a sea change in this public reaction. I wonder if you're seeing this in Germany. I've been travelling all over the world, to many cities, over the last five months, continuously. With every group I talk to, I begin with one question: What are the concerns that brought you here?
In all different parts of the world and in every single group, no matter where I am, they say the same things. I ask them to shout out one word. It begins with “anxiety”, “manipulation”, “control”, “fear”, “resistance”, “democracy”, “freedom”, “rebellion”, “malaise”—the same constellation. What I've learned is that there is a sense, within our populations, that things are not right, that there is a power that is not aligned with our interests, that we don't understand it and that no one can control it.
That is beginning. With Cambridge Analytica, with Chris Wiley, our work is all making a difference. I think there is a ripeness there.
My advice would be to look to those areas where these new crystallizations are already emerging. Barcelona is one, which is based entirely on citizen solidarity. There are other cities as well that are getting on that bandwagon. There are groups of digital workers who are trying to devise digital communities and digital sovereignty.
It's about amplifying these things that are already coming up from the grassroots. The other side—and Maria was mentioning this as well—is education. We're still in a situation where every piece of peer research shows us, over and over again, that so many people simply do not understand these backstage operations. Why? Because billions of dollars have gone into designing them to keep us ignorant.
We have to break that, and we have to communicate and educate.