Since 2016, when the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal began to emerge, public concern has grown around the threat of “online manipulation”. While these worries are familiar to privacy researchers, this paper aims to make them more salient to policymakers — first, by defining “online manipulation”, thus enabling identification of manipulative practices; and second, by drawing attention to the specific harms online manipulation threatens. We argue that online manipulation is the use of information technology to covertly influence another person’s decision-making, by targeting and exploiting their decision-making vulnerabilities. Engaging in such practices can harm individuals by diminishing their economic interests, but its deeper, more insidious harm is its challenge to individual autonomy. We explore this autonomy harm, emphasising its implications for both individuals and society, and we briefly outline some strategies for combating online manipulation and strengthening autonomy in an increasingly digital world.

中文翻译：

---

技术，自治和操纵

自2016年以来，当Facebook / Cambridge Analytica丑闻开始出现时，围绕“在线操纵”的威胁引起了公众的关注。尽管隐私研究人员已经熟悉了这些担忧，但本文旨在使决策者更加关注它们-首先，通过定义“在线操纵”，从而识别操纵行为；其次，通过提请注意在线操作威胁的特定危害。我们认为，在线操纵是利用信息技术通过针对和利用他人的决策漏洞来暗中影响他人的决策。从事这种做法会损害个人的经济利益，从而损害他们的利益，但其更深，更隐蔽的损害是它对个人自治的挑战。我们探索这种自治的危害，