The Wired portal has taken the initiative to publish a list of the individuals that sparked the most online debates in 2022. Controversies motives, false information, and online turmoil will also be on the minds of many people going forward.
Despite some issues that appear to be fading, such as the COVID-19 outbreak and the world of cryptocurrency, these issues frequently come up on social media. Money laundering, theft, and fraud are among the issues frequently in these debates.
1. Sam Bankman-Fried
Money laundering, theft, and scams have been rampant in the cryptocurrency sector, from the Crypto dark-web drug trade to billions of dollars being taken from crypto firms by cybercriminals. Sam Bankman-Fried is currently charged with fraud of more than $8 billion in connection with the fall of the bitcoin exchange FTX. The exact extent of the misuse of user cash in FTX's collapse is still unknown, and even the new CEO of the firm, John Ray, claims he's never witnessed a greater catastrophe. This could have far-reaching effects on the cryptocurrency economy.
In addition to the staggering losses, Bankman-Fried stands in as a particularly alarming example of the problems with the crypto economy. He seemed to really embrace increased government controls of the business, unlike so others in the crypto sphere.
2. Elon Musk
After the purchase of Twitter, Musk's dark side was exposed, and the erratic power of the world's richest person suddenly put a major online institution in danger. Elon fired at least 4,400 contract workers after letting go of nearly 50% of the Twitter personnel, jeopardizing the operations of a service that acts as Twitter's main artery.
Additionally, Twitter has drastically reduced the size of its team of content moderators, creating scenarios where only one employee is left to monitor child abuse-related tweets across the entirety of Japan and the Asia-Pacific area. Twitter has also outlawed left-wing accounts under Musk's supervision which goes against his support for free speech. He provides a glimpse of the conspiracy-minded ideas and trolling that really motivates his behavior.
3. Xi Jinping
Every wave of brutality under Xi Jinping has been accompanied by a tightening of online restrictions as censors combed social media for any mention of protests. Han Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have even insisted that Uyghurs install an app that checks their phones for prohibited information.
This year's protests against China's oppressive zero-Covid lockdowns have sparked a new round of online repression, in which it is now illegal to even like a protest-related post, and any indication of wrongdoing is monitored through a controlled credit system with the potential to result in users' immediate expulsion from online platforms. He's made it quite apparent that dictatorial control will infiltrate the Chinese digital life.
4. Narendra Modi
India has begun to resemble China ever more in how it suppresses both offline and online protests under Modi and the BJP. The Indian government has recently taken steps to tighten its control over social media, including temporarily shutting down the internet in the disturbed region of Kashmir, banning several Chinese apps, including TikTok, and giving a three-person group control over social media moderation policy choices.
The government can use the new IT regulations as a tool to challenge the platforms when it wants. It's the initial step toward making it possible to restrict online speech like in China.
5. GRU
In the past seven years, Russia's GRU military intelligence units known as Sandworm and APT28 caused two blackouts in Ukraine. In 2022, it started a plethora of cyberattacks aimed at erasing data from the Ukrainian government and business networks, frequently concurrent with direct physical assaults by the invading army. In a NotPetya-like incident of collateral damage, one GRU malware operation even managed to shut down connectivity to 5,000 wind turbines spread around Germany. A third blackout strike in Ukraine was also attempted by GRU's Sandworm hackers, but this time, at least in the view of the Ukrainian government, defenses were able to prevent it.
The year 2022 will be regarded as a time of major global events with several noteworthy events and occasions. Despite some issues that appear to be fading, such as the COVID-19 outbreak and the world of cryptocurrency, money laundering, theft, and fraud are among the issues frequently on social media.
