A South African journalist told a conference audience in Calgary sophisticated mechanisms of digital surveillance and psychological manipulation require parents to be diligent.Lara Logan shared her insights at the Reclaiming Canada Conference, organized by citizens’ group We Unify."Every single one of us has a digital twin that exists," Logan explains, drawing from intelligence gathering techniques to illustrate how technology creates comprehensive profiles of individuals. She compares this to how intelligence organizations historically create "human terrain maps". These are detailed psychological landscapes designed to understand how to "recruit, exploit, corrupt, and defeat" targeted individuals.Logan won an Emmy Award and an Overseas Press Club Award in 2008 and maintains a watchful and critical eye."When I see riots in the streets of the United States," Logan said, "I'm thinking about where's the food, who's feeding them, how they stay out all night, who's coming across state lines, who's paying for the flights.".The former swimsuit model and later South African TV personality drew parallels with historical methods of social control. She referenced how the Nazis would meticulously plan genocide by studying geographical and social landscapes. "They would look for ravines where they could shoot people, areas where the soil was soft enough to dig mass graves," she explained, highlighting how understanding infrastructure reveals deeper truths about organized manipulation.Children are the most vulnerable targets of this digital manipulation, according to Logan. "When you hand over that Xbox or PlayStation or telephone, you've just opened the door to anyone in the world into your children's bedroom," she warned.Digital manipulation goes beyond simple targeted advertising, Logan said. "It's about manipulating and controlling your behavior,...getting you to vote a certain way, think a certain way, or feel a certain way."This exploitation isn't just about selling products, but about fundamentally shaping thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. "People mapping these digital twins are looking for any opening to exploit," she warned.Logan shared a clip of Charlie Kirk discussing the strong place of Christianity in the American government in its early decades. She recalled how her son said Kirk was "bigot." However, after introducing him to some clips of Kirk, her son watched his videos for three days and reached a different conclusion. .The story illustrated the importance of critical thinking and open dialogue to overcome quick judgments and digital echo chambers.The 54-year-old advised parents to engage in honest, sometimes uncomfortable conversations. "We've become afraid of disagreeing with each other and of conflict," she observed.Logan believes that when children understand their inherent worth and identity, they become more resilient to manipulations."For me, self-defense comes from giving them a sense and understanding of God upon which their faith can grow," she said. Logan, who was Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent at CBS news until 2018, offered another key to avoid the effects of relentless spin. "Sometimes how you get to the truth is by looking at what they're telling you to believe," she suggested, encouraging critical thinking and healthy skepticism.The most powerful defense, according to Logan, is maintaining close family connections and creating environments of honest dialogue. "Risk something in those relationships," she urged parents. "There's never been a more important time to hold your children as close to you as you can.”
