Don't get caught in the Net. Click, scroll, captured: how the internet became a weapon
- Julie Reid
- Sep 8
- 1 min read
by Gill Gifford, Senior journalist | Sunday Times
The internet was once the world’s great equaliser —an infinite library, a democratic stage, a safe place where everybody had a voice. But now a Unisa professor is challenging that. An elderly, sick man who had booked a last-hurrah holiday with friends ending up in a horrible spot; a young girl murdered in Costa Rica and her disappearance discovered only when she failed to return; the easy rental of a legal Uber profile for R200 a week; cryptocurrency investment opportunities that fail; products purchased because of glowing reviews that turn out to be fake. These are among the horror accounts of almost 600 victim stories detailed in a book by Unisa communication science lecturer Prof Julie Reid —an academic, researcher, co-founder of the Media Policy and Democracy Project and an expert consultant for Unesco.