The Politics of Empathy and the Politics of Technology
Since 2010, when Google unveiled a crisis communication tool, People Finder, there have been many acts of terrorism around the world but only one instance where People Finder was mobilized: terrorism in Boston in 2013.
Last week, Facebook activated its own “Safety Check” feature for an act of terrorism for the Paris attacks, but not for Beirut last week or Ankara last month. In the future, they will, Facebook said.
These are not easy decisions with immediate right answers. In this case, the questions almost matter more than the answers. That’s because crisis communication is both incredibly valuable, and deeply political — yet another moment to observe the intertwining of technology and politics.
Last week, someone I know who hates Facebook considered rejoining it for one reason: the “Safety Check” activated after the Paris attacks. I understood her feelings. A month ago, I saw a frantic scramble online as people in Turkey tried to find out if their friends and loved ones had been caught up in the Ankara bombing by ISIS. Over one hundred people were killed and thousands were injured. Some people went to the hospitals solely to act as conduits for news on Twitter to confirm the identities of those affected. Waves of grief and relief combined as each item with news about survival meant that someone…
