just listing out my problems with The Social Dilemma on Netflix, because surprisingly every body here is praising it, and not talking about the problematic politics of the documentary. #TheSocialDilemma

1. a bunch of white dudes are criticising the tech that they created in the first place. they say that their sole motive of designing such platforms was to spread positivity. fake news, you did it so you could maximise profits. you knew exactly what you were doing sir.

2. it equates the far left and the far right(fascists) and in some way amplifies centrist views. how is a group which is pushing for an unequal society same as a group which wants to dismantle the structure of such a society (talking about US)

3.i don’t feel that social media is absolutely evil. if anything it is empowering and democratizing for the oppressed. why was there no mention of the #metoo and the #blacklivesmatter movement that challenged the status quo.

4.the documentary puts all the blame on social media for the mass polarisation, without critiquing crony capitalism, and white supremacy, that has led us to this day. (communalism, casteism in indian context)

5.they basically ask us to also listen to the “other side” so there’s a “common ground”. i am sorry but i am not talking to fascists just to gain objectivity.

6. polarisation is a result of the widening inequalities that has only amplified in the recent times, and putting all the blame on social media is juvenile.

7. the documentary rings an alarm about surveillance, but at least talk about who is going to be worst affected by this - the dissenters.

8. the dystopian narrative and the fact that the film is populated by white guys leaves no room for nuance. also, they seem to say that protesting is bad, which is so problematic.

9. they convinced us that social media is the biggest threat there is to humanity which will lead us to civil war, but, the solutions that they mentioned were as simplistic as downloading chrome extensions and reducing screen time. this is such a feeble solution.

all in all, i didn’t like it. and netflix is a capitalist venture, so it is obviously going to protect it’s capitalist interest by producing such a vanilla take about structural inequalities. DON’T FALL FOR IT.

*protect its