Social Media and Authoritarians

(I wrote this in 2023. It’s even more true today.)

It is sobering to realize those of us who post to Facebook in the U.S. compose only roughly 8 percent of the social network's 2.8 billion users.

It's a big world and there's a lot of data about everyone in the hands of Facebook executives. The company utilizes that data to make tons of money off of those who advertise in the hope of affecting our behavior, not only as consumers but also as voters.

Siva Vaidhyanathan published an important piece in the New Republic documenting how Facebook's algorithms and business model favors authoritarianism, and it's worth considering how this happens in this growing period of domestic political unrest.

"(I)f you wanted to design a propaganda machine to undermine democracy around the world, you could not make one better than Facebook," argues Vaidhyanathan. "Above that, the leadership of Facebook has consistently bent its policies to favor the interests of the powerful around the world. As authoritarian nationalists have risen to power in recent years—often by campaigning through Facebook—Facebook has willingly and actively assisted them."

The way Facebook and other social media platforms do this is easy for me to see as an author. If I post something that acts to inflame emotions of those who read my essays, the number of "likes" and other reactions rises dramatically. This in turn elevates the visibility of my posts so that more people see them, and a virtuous cycle has been set off.

That is success, right?

The problem is that I do not want to inflame anyone's emotions; I want to inform people and start reasonable conversations.

Those seeking to manipulate voters' emotions are far better at this game than people like me will ever be. Thus they have used Facebook for years to circulate wild conspiracy theories created by QAnon, the Proud Boys, Three-Percenters and other racist, white supremacist and violent groups.

This process got us Trump (twice) and is bolstering authoritarian leaders all over the world, such as Vladimir Putin of Russia, Narendra Modi of India, Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Andrzej Duda of Poland, Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, and the brutal junta that still rules Myanmar. (as per New Republic)

Extreme content is rewarded by Facebook algorithms and that contributes to extreme outcomes. We've unleashed a Frankenstein and it is ravaging democracies around the world.

Including ours.

HEADLINES:

• In South Carolina, Newsom Tests the Presidential Waters (Without Saying So) (NYT)

• A confrontation erupted Thursday between protesters and federal officials carrying out a raid on a Southern California farm, with authorities throwing canisters that sprayed what looked like smoke into the air to disperse the crowd. [AP]

• Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says she fears for U.S. democracy (WP)

• Stephen Miller, the White House aide wielding unprecedented power over Trump's aggressive immigration agenda, now possesses immense power over multiple areas in the West Wing as deputy chief of staff for policy. (Reuters)

• California surgical center staff demand to see warrant as ICE agents detain landscaper (AP)

• ‘The Tariffs Are Going to Be the Tariffs’ (Atlantic)

• State Department to lay off 1,300 civil servants, foreign service officers (USA Today)

• White House quietly drops plan to abolish FEMA (WP)

• Rubio and China’s Top Envoy Vie for Influence in Asia Over Trump’s Tariffs (NYT)

• Pete Hegseth Is Unleashing Chaos at the Pentagon (The Nation)

• The F.B.I. Is Using Polygraphs to Test Officials’ Loyalty (NYT)

• White House reviews mass federal layoff plans, aims for swift action (Reuters)

• How US views of immigration have changed since Trump took office, according to Gallup polling (AP)

• Justice Dept. Promised to Prosecute Abrego Garcia. Now It’s Not So Clear. (NYT)

• Budget limits at DHS delayed FEMA’s Texas deployment, officials say (WP)

• Fuel to Air India Plane Was Cut Off Before Crash, Report Says (NYT)

• Gen Z is afraid of sex — and for good reason (NPR)

• Summer travel’s X-factor: Trump (Business Insider)

• A love note in a bottle is found years later, an ocean away (WP)

• AI Will Never Be Your Kid’s ‘Friend’ (Atlantic)

• Robot performs realistic gallbladder surgery 'with 100% accuracy' (Sky)

• A New Kind of AI Model Lets Data Owners Take Control (Wired)

• Video Game Actors End Contract Dispute Over A.I. (NYT)

• Google’s latest AI tool lets you turn a photo into a video. Some fear it could be misused. (WP)

• Dubai to debut restaurant operated by an AI chef. (Reuters)

• Milwaukee Removes Fonzie Statue Amid Reckoning With Greaser Past (The Onion)