The dark side of the internet and mass connectivity

US House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing on TikTok and its impact on data privacy and online harm in Washington, March 2023. Photograph: Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times The internet is beginning to damage us in a big way. Some 30 years after the beginning of its proliferation, and perhaps 15 since the introduction of the smartphone, we are becoming used to the idea that the world wide web and all its manifestations and applications, has a very dark side. With capabilities to propel malevolent ideas into motion, threaten democracy, and introduce chaos into our minds, most people are…