Pág. 1 SOCIAL NETWORKS: “CAPTURE OR MANIPULATION”? João Francisco, PhD 1 One day, I decided to visit Luanda Island so that I could relax after a stressful week. I found a restaurant near the beach that was busy with customers. but I was lucky to find a table, so I took a seat and began to enjoy the special moment whilst there. I saw an amazing thing: all the customers on the tables had their eyes glued to their mobile phones. Some flashing some pictures [some were taking pictures], others were filming the place. It seemed that all the customers were connecting with other people remotely and despite of the good music, weather and sea breeze, people did not look away from their mobile phones. Then I wondered if what was happening at moment was a social networks capture or manipulation. what was happening with the people there? Even the children were all handling cell phones and tablets, eating and smiling, but didn’t put down their devices for a second. Social networks and technologies are influencing lives and families more and more. When we are at home or when we go out with our family, friends or colleagues, we often see people focused on their mobile phones. In the streets, pubs, restaurants and meeting rooms, people are more entertained with their phones than what surrounds them. It shows that people who are virtually further are the nearest closer than those around us. Digital electronic devices as communication tools are becoming more and more powerful because everywhere they take someone as a prisoner or take the all community members attention [Electronic devices are becoming more and more powerful as communication tools and they have the potential to take over people’s lives . Notoriously, electronic devices are creating new behaviours and manipulating people’s thoughts, turning them into authentic consumers and hedonists whose main feature is dependence. Akerlof & Shiller (2015), refer to these consumers as ‘psychological and information wary. According to a research made by Global Order of Disinformation (2019) research carried out by the University of Oxford found that based 40 countries misused their social networks in 2017 while 70 countries had manipulative targets in 2018. Emphasis is given to developed and developing countries such as United States, United Kingdom, Russia, India, Iran, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria, to mention but a few. The most used networks are Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram and Google. Some ITC experts believe that “the IT propaganda is one of the most powerful tools against democracy” therefore, social networks “need to be reset so that democracy survives”. 1 Associated Professor International Public Law, Faculty of Law, Catholic University of Angola. Author of Information Technology Law Manual, Law of New Information Technology and Communication. Researcher in International Public Law. Luanda, February, 28th, 2021.