It’s a fable of our time: Small investors are teaming up to take down greedy Wall Street hedge funds through the stock of a struggling video game store.
But the online investor uprising is much more. The internet is changing the balance of power in society in unforeseen ways. And the same tools that empower the common man – enabling them to organize quickly, provoke powerful institutions and unleash chaos – can also give rise to extremist groups, intimidation campaigns or the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill.
In the world of pseudonymous Internet messaging, outrageous jokes, and the reverse logic of the pandemic, riots come in all shapes and sizes and for all purposes.
Last week, they led to the big surge in GameStop’s stock price. Who knows what will happen this week.
One thing is certain: we will experience more of this. More and more people have learned how to manipulate the system, be it for a noble cause or for fun. If a Bernie Sanders meme wearing gloves can distract us and the Reddit sign can scare off the great Wall Street figures, maybe something good could come out of this too. True?
“The Internet can democratize access and disrupt the power dynamics between traditional people and institutions,” tweeted Tiffany C. Li, a law professor and attorney who focuses on technology platform management and privacy.
With GameStop, he added in an interview on Friday, the goal was to fight big hedge funds.
“But in other places the goal may be even clever. Online spaces are being used to radicalize people towards extremism, to plan hate crimes and attacks, ”he said. “The internet really isn’t the villain or the hero.”