Hot Type: The Internet Went Horribly Wrong

Wherever there are cell phones, there are misguided souls, writes American political correspondent Heidi Siegmund Cuda in the latest from her European travelogue

The real world, Galway. Photo: Heidi Siegmund Cuda

More often than not, the cab drivers I meet in Europe appear to be addicted to Facebook. Scrolling and scrolling through news and trauma porn as they wind their way through once medieval streets. Some appear so addicted, they can barely operate their vehicles safely.

Often they rant about immigrants, despite many being immigrants themselves. They comment on the increase in crime, even though with the slightest investigation, the facts undermine their concern. Many complain about people on social support, as if they’re a Rockefeller in a cigar smoke-filled room instead of driving a cab.

Radicalization is everywhere there are cell towers.

Sometimes, I find myself in a calmer part of the world — coastal towns where fishing rods are more prized than iPhones.

I find myself living and breathing in the small talk — I learn so much about a people and their culture in checkout lines at markets or the ‘modern politics’ section of bookstores. Quiet, brief conversations offer a temperature check on how a community is doing.

But in truth, the plague of disinformation and radicalization is everywhere. Asymmetrical warfare is cheap, and the internet has made it scalable.