Network of deception: Death, lies and the Internet, the new Netflix series about the dangers of the virtual world

With the first of Network of deceptions: death, lies and the Internet, of Netflix, rage over the real crime series expands into the dark virtual world. And it is not just the fault of social control exercised by social networks.

Misinformation and digital deception do millions of people become paranoid and fanatical to insane levels. Or that they are exposed to online crimes that will become real: conspiracies, tax fraud, harassment, supremacist delusions and even murders.

It doesn’t look like something new, but it’s detailed with magnetic true stories Network of deceptions: death, lies and the Internet: the six-episode techno-docu series that Netflix premiered on Wednesday, June 15. How to reverse the danger of misuse of Internet? Who will protect good users from real digital criminals?

The problem is not the network

This is not about hating the big network. Hate and violence are the cradle of Wi-Fi crimeas well as far-right groups, enemies of sexual, racial and ethnic diversity and even Holocaust deniers.

The key is know these stories to side with the victims, never by the authors. Empathy is the key against virtual criminals (like the laws governing the Internet). to expose it, Network of deceptions: death, lies and the Internet a fast edition works and a multiplicity of testimonials that never stop capturing.

Why is this a great docu series to binge on? With detailed characters and storylines, Network of deceptions: death, lies and the Internet (whose original title is “fictional network”, Which can be translated as“ a web of fiction ”) reveals how American families live with disinformation networks and systematic conspiratorial paranoia.

To prove this, the six episodes will show current cases on the matter how the virtual world has facilitated real crimes: tax fraud, “swatting” (call an emergency service to report a serious fake incident), racism, “sextortion”, terrorism, online Nazism, election meddling and even murder.

The chapters

In the first episode, “Death by SWAT,” for example, it is reconstructed how a subject made a series of fraudulent calls to the emergency health services to lure SWAT commandos into the homes of innocent people: his lie (classified as a crime) will become a tragedy.

In Network of deceptions: death, lies and the InternetAs a dramatization, a hooded man smiles with a cellphone in his hand. The voiceover enters his mind: “They couldn’t find me or arrest me. I was unstoppable. “And another voice says:” Him he liked making fake calls to people. It was his way of having fun. “

The second episode, “Murder in Washington,” recalls how the death of Seth Rich, a staff member of the Democratic National Committee, sparked unfounded conspiracy theories that endangered his own family. “Where reality ends, deception begins,” says a specialist.

In the next episode, “I’m Not a Nazi,” a Samantha confesses it he became the Internet spokesperson for hate speech of one of the many groups of white nationalists swarming the United States. And the event ended with violence and death.

“I had to start understanding what I was supporting. Was she the victim or was she also a villain?”Says Samantha, looking at the camera. Hand in hand with xenophobia, true digital crime seems to have no respite, which is why it will be shown how these supremacists work with a good Wi-Fi connection.

“Allowing the worst people in the world to have the unlimited capacity of the world’s largest platforms has huge consequences,” analyzes another interviewee in Network of deceptions: death, lies and the Internetwhose central theme would be like horrible people do horrible things behind the anonymity of their screens.

“I got a message from a man saying, ‘Send me a nude photo or I’ll kill you,'” denounces another young woman in the fourth episode, entitled “Sextortion”. And she manages to add her case to that of other women who dared to speak to expose the stalker. Nobody is completely invisible on the Internet.

The fifth episode (“Stingray, Part 1”) will talk about a suspected cyber fraud – by two 2.0 hackers – at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS): the United States federal tax collection agency. There you will hear: “I was wondering if I could do this refunds of money on behalf of deceased persons. It turns out it can “.

The sixth and final episode (“Stingray, Part 2”) will tell how a man is being watched by the government for alleged Russian electoral interference. Is he responsible or is he just a scapegoat for the people above? You’ll have to get to the end to find out.

The new crimes

“The internet has opened avenues for facilitating certain types of crime”Explains another voice Network of deceptions: death, lies and the Internetdirected by Brian Knappenberger, along with Luminant Media and Imagine Documentaries, and is produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.

Knappenberger already had prestige for two other related series: The Internet Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz Y The rehearsals of Gabriel Fernandez. All of these productions explore the unimaginable reach reached by the harmful use of the Internet. And how online alienation anticipates virtual terror but good stuff.

Even if there will also be punishments and sanctions. The case of Samantha, the repentant, is exemplary. She was a key witness against the white supremacists who promoted the Charlottesville riots in 2017.

No hate reports on YouTube or Twitter against African American, Latino, gay or anyone will be able to reject it. In the same episode of Samantha, a member of the leftist group Unicorn Riot, which is in charge of detecting and deactivating the operations of the digital Nazis, will take the voice.

Network of deceptions: death, lies and the Internet It’s not a series in favor of social paralysis, but a future where online communities foster better social bonds. Digital connection and good information are needed to create a better real world.

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