In typical robotic stance, Zuckerberg denied the question, insisting that his digital monolith remains in pristine compliance with the law. But is this actually true? During a recent episode of MFA TV News, host Scott discusses this important matter, which has escalated in recent days following the shocking news about Alex Jones' removal from a number of major tech platforms.
In a video clip posted to Brighteon.com, which you can watch below, Scott explains that, despite what they might claim, social media platforms do have the ability to track the movements and behavior of users – even when they're not actively using the associated social media apps.
"I started testing this about six months ago," Scott explains. "I don't own a cat, and yet I talked about buying cat food and vitamins and different pet products all day long – not in front of my computer, but with my trusty cell phone right next to me."
"As soon as I got home and turned my computer on and jumped on Facebook, all of a sudden there were cat food ads all over my Facebook page. No matter where I went, I was looking at something for cats, and then pets."
Scott tried the same experiment again, this time with webcam and other tech equipment that he uses on his computer. And sure enough, later that same day, he began to notice ads for new microphones – and specifically "boom" microphones commonly used by radio stations and recording studios.
What seems to be happening here, despite Zuckerberg's repeated denials, is that Facebook and possibly other social media sites are constantly "listening" to what users are saying whenever they're in the vicinity of their smartphones or computers. It then populates online advertising accordingly.
This is something that we covered earlier in the summer – after Zuckerberg's hearing – revealing how even the mainstream media now admits that this type of spying is becoming commonplace.
VICE writer Sam Nichols conducted similar experiments to Scott, intentionally talking about certain subjects near his smartphone and computer to see if those subjects were snatched up by Big Brother. For the next several days, he, too, started to notice advertising that directly corresponding to the subject matter of his verbal statements.
"What are the odds that I was talking about all of this throughout the day ... probably over the course of eight hours, and then within four hours, the visual ads are appearing on my Facebook page, no matter where I go?" asks Scott.
"Are they that good in target marketing, or was social media eavesdropping on everything that I said?" he further asks. "This should prove to you if you had any doubt whatsoever at any time if social media actually eavesdrops on you each and every day in order to advertise and sell something to you."
Such activity is against the law, of course. But these tech companies seem to operate above the law, having so embedded themselves into the government apparatus that the two have become one – the epitome of corporate fascism and the total surveillance society described in dystopian novels like 1984.
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