ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an approach which argues that corporations or political agents involved in online manipulative practices act wrongfully because they use persons purely instrumentally or as “a mere means”. Common responses to manipulative practices typically share two features: they are broadly consequentialist and risk-based. However, there are potential downsides to focusing on consequences for people’s autonomy in terms of the risks posed. Firstly, it makes one’s moral evaluation of the agents responsible for such manipulative practices hostage to whether bad consequences have indeed resulted and whether the risks posed are real. Political microtargeting works by tailoring a message to fit an individual’s interests or personality trait through the use of psychometric profiling models. Zarouali et al. conducted two studies on personality-based political microtargeting that we will discuss in some detail in order to better understand the strategy of microtargeting.
