The Cambridge Analytica scandal shook political establishments and news audiences alike in 2018. The scandal, which figures prominently in accounts of the “techlash”, has been followed by a substantial reorientation in the attitudes held towards the digital sector. The aim of this chapter is to tell the story of the developing history of the digital backlash as seen through an empirical analysis of the Danish media coverage of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. While we find that the public’s view of Zuckerberg, Facebook, and the tech industry did change dramatically, we suggest that this was anticipated by a long-term change in the media representation of them in the years before. This challenges the notion of quick and sudden pushback, as implied by the metaphor of a backlash, instead suggesting that the scandal is part of a gradual process of change in public opinion regarding technology companies, their CEOs, and their operations.
The project was conducted as part of the Platform Intelligence in News project, funded by the Innovation Fund Denmark.