We screwed up, bit by byte!

First, I present to you two cover images--of two authoritative publications:

I might as well leave it there for you to fill in the blanks and have nightmares for the rest of your lives!

The editors of MIT Tech Review write:

Silicon Valley was full of hope and hubris about its power to democratize the world.
Today, with Cambridge Analytica, fake news, election hacking, and the shrill cacophony that dominates social media, technology feels as likely to destroy politics as to save it. The tech firms and their boosters either didn’t imagine that “democratizing” technologies would be used by anti-­democrats too, or else believed that truth and freedom would inevitably defeat misinformation and repression.

Have you drawn the line from these to trump yet?

Haven't you been wondering, and worrying, over the past couple of years just what the hell happened?

How did all this happen? How did digital technologies go from empowering citizens and toppling dictators to being used as tools of oppression and discord?

Yes, in stating such views, I am assuming that you reader are not a trump toadie.  If you are, hey, enjoy the moment before your dear fuhrer and his minions are thrown out and thrown behind bars!

We need to be reminded over and over again that "we didn’t get where we are simply because of digital technologies."

The Russian government may have used online platforms to remotely meddle in US elections, but Russia did not create the conditions of social distrust, weak institutions, and detached elites that made the US vulnerable to that kind of meddling. ...
Russia did not create the 2008 financial collapse: that happened through corrupt practices that greatly enriched financial institutions, after which all the culpable parties walked away unscathed, often even richer, while millions of Americans lost their jobs and were unable to replace them with equally good ones.
Russia did not instigate the moves that have reduced Americans’ trust in health authorities, environmental agencies, and other regulators. Russia did not create the revolving door between Congress and the lobbying firms that employ ex-politicians at handsome salaries. Russia did not defund higher education in the United States. Russia did not create the global network of tax havens in which big corporations and the rich can pile up enormous wealth while basic government services get cut.

These are the socio-political conditions that we created for ourselves, in which Russia waded in and helped trump steal the election, with all the technological tools that our bright minds created while seeking higher profits and market capitalization. 

We have met the enemy, and it's us!