2017 has been a year of strained alliances. Between the US and the UK's "special relationship" suddenly looking not so "special", and the entire world's increasingly tense relationship with North Korea, it's apparent that international relations are at an all-time low.
And it doesn't look like it's going to improve much in the new year either. The much beloved former US President,
Barack Obama just made a subtle yet eyebrow-raising attack on
Donald Trump during a recent interview with
Prince Harry, when he took aim at the business mogul's use of social media.
Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday morning, the former President disclosed to Prince Harry that people in positions of power should exercise restraint when posting online about current affairs. He added that such irresponsible use of social media can distort the public's understanding of complex socio-political issues, leaing to the spread of misinformation, or in Donald Trump's preferred vernacular "fake news".
While Obama didn't explicitly mention Trump, he rather tellingly said that "people can have totally different realities... cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases".
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He continued:
"As a former Constitutional lawyer I’m pretty firm about the merits of free speech and the question I think really has to do with how we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, diversity of views but doesn’t lead to a Balkanisation of our society but rather continues to promote ways of finding common ground.
I’m not sure Government can legislate that but what I do believe is that all of us in leadership has to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the internet."
Certainly, Donald Trump's Twitter usage has come under fire countless times. He has used the social media platform to launch attacks on notable celebrities, politicians and even countries. In one notable instance, he even accused Barack Obama of tapping his phone during the 2016 Presidential election - comparing him to Nixon in the Watergate scandal.
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However, Obama did acknowledge that much of this toxic use of the internet and social media is occurring "outside of government". He asserted, "A good way to fight against that is to make sure online communities don’t just stay online, that they move offline."
“Social media is a really powerful tool for people of common interests to convene and get to know each other offline, meet in a pub, a place of worship, a neighbourhood and get to know each other."
The truth is on the internet everything is simplified and when you meet face to face it turns out they’re complicated. There might be someone you think is diametrically opposed to you when it comes to your political views but you root for the same sports team or you notice that they’re really good parents"
Obama and Price Harry became close after meeting at the Invictus games, however, their relationship is purportedly close to causing a diplomatic crisis as the royal allegedly wants to invite the Obama's to his upcoming wedding to American actress,
Meghan Markle. Donald Trump, on the other hand, is unlikely to receive an invite.
