Satirical Video Viral As David Bowie Predicting Rise Of Internet In 1999

A satirical video is viral as the late pop star David Bowie predicting the future of the internet during a 1999 interview with BBC Newsnight.

BOOM found that the video does not feature Bowie but comedian Michael Spicer who created the spoof video based on a wide-ranging interview by Bowie in 1999.

In the viral video, Spicer, as Bowie, talks in detail about how the internet would lead to social media, spread of misinformation and targetted advertisements among other things.

In the viral video, "Bowie" says that people would waste hours watching cute videos of cats and dogs and will communicate with emojis and not words. He then talks about the advent of targetted advertising.

He then says that people would religiously access social media sites on their phones to have arguments with strangers. Social media will also be a platform for people to share misinformation about immigration.

He then ends by saying that a far-right government would take advantage of people's lack of attention and come to power thus ending freedom and democracy.

Actor Simi Garewal shared a 45-second version of the video on Twitter captioning it "So prescient". She then shared the entire 2.15 minute video.

An archive of the tweet can be found here.

The video is viral on Twitter and Facebook.

An archive of the tweet can be found here.

An archive of the tweet can be found here.

Fact Check

Many users pointed out that the video does not feature Bowie and replied with links to Bowie's original interview as well as Spicer's tweet.

In his 1999 interview with Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight, Bowie spoke at length about how the internet would change the world for good and bad.

Bowie said that he became a musician because it was subversive and provided him an opportunity to change the world. However, in 1999, the internet had replaced music to be the new subversive medium.

"I don't think we've even seen the tip of the iceberg. I think the potential of what the internet is going to do to society, both good and bad, is unimaginable," Bowie said adding that if he was young again, he would opt to go the internet rather than music.

Bowie can be heard speaking about the internet from the 6.08 minute mark in this video.

Michael Spicer tweeted the video on January 3 with Bowie's son Duncan Jones quote-tweeting it with a laughing emoji and replying with the original video.