Posted by Résistance à l’Agression publicitaire
On 20 January, five leading figures of civic associations explained in this column the connections between ad-based social media and hate speech and negative content. They call for users to move to adless social media, to block adverts online, to find other ways of funding the media, and for the implementation of laws to protect Internet users from that drift.
Elon Musk was confirmed as part of Donald Trump’s government on 20 January.
To oppose his nomination and open a debate on the political impact of social media, a collective instigated the HelloQuitX movement. This community aims at providing tools and encouraging users to opt for “healthier and more open”i social networks.
Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter in 2022 had already been a source of worry which is far from over. Musk now boasts about using his platform as a weapon at the service of the candidates he finds to his liking: Donald Trump for instance, or more recently the AfD, the German far-right party.
HelloQuitX and Musk’s provocative statements are a watershed in the recognition of what we have been aware of for a long time: platforms and their architectures have an effect on the content that is shared, and therefore on the users’ world-views.
But moving to other social media will not be enough: their funding model needs to be changed. This downward spiral is not only tied to personalities like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, or Mark Zuckerberg, they are part of the Internet’s architecture.
Advertising is the main source of funding for websitesii. Platforms then need to know us as intimately as possible. The more information they have about us, the more they can target adverts, measure their efficiency, and satisfy their actual clients: advertisers.
Those platforms set up a surveillance structure that has nothing to be ashamed of in comparison to those from the worst dystopias, mostly in order to sell their advertising spaces for a higher price.iii
Social networks have a massive economic interest in keeping us in front of our screens, and they are always finding new techniques to feed our addiction to their apps, despite the negative effects they carry alongiv.
But there is more. In order to further improve the efficiency of adverts, social networks brag about altering our emotions. Facebook’s internal research showed that the company could influence the mood of its users by changing the content of their timelinesv.
Thus, Meta gives advertisers the opportunity to target their adverts at times when users are feeling “uncomfortable with themselves” or “lacking recognition,” because its research found that people tend to spend more money to overcome daily suffering. Meta therefore favours negative or polarising content. As a consequence, “the more teenagers go on Instagram, the more we observe a deterioration of their general well-being, self-confidence, satisfaction with their own lives, mood, and image of their own bodies.”vi In 2016, one of Facebook’s internal notes explained that “in 64% of cases, people joining extremist groups did it as a result of [their] recommendation tools.”vii This did not happen by chance, but because there was a profit to be made.
For this reason, they push all the actors of the political scene into aligning their communication with hateful and uncompromising content. Internet users are locked in “filter bubbles,” surrounded with content that justifies and radicalises their opinions without ever opening them to contradictionviii.
As a result, public debate and constructive discussions become ever more difficult, and that feeling of unreconcilable differences is transferred to discussions in the fleshix. Hate speech is not just a digital abstract concept, it can fuel violence, sap social cohesion, and inflict deep wounds that reach far beyond our screens, as proven by numerous reports from associations and institutionsx.
This type of content nurtures “worldviews”xi that are based on fear and a feeling of invasion, thus strengthening ever more the upholders of the Great Replacement conspiracy theoryxii and other arguments supported by far-right movements.
So moving from X to another ad-based social network like BlueSky will not solve the problem. Little by little, financial pressures will push the latter to modify its content towards more advertisingxiii, and with an ever-growing manipulative hold on people’s mindsxiv.
To those structural effects, we can add the culture war that is led by some famous tech billionaires like Elon Musk, or more recently Mark Zuckerberg, to impose libertarian and openly far-right ideas. The sector’s concentration around a few monopolistic companiesxv allows these men to use their platforms as a voice to impose their view of the world. They shape the rules around content sharing and make their propaganda look like freedom of speechxvi.
Advertising as the main source of funding of social media is responsible for all these harmful orientations. If we want to regulate them, this crucial mechanism must be taken into consideration.
For that reason, we relay the call to leave X, while questioning our social media habits at the same time.
There are numerous free and efficient alternatives like the Fediverse’s networks (Mastodon, Pixelfed…), Framasoft’s shared office suites, or PeerTube for videos.
It is also essential to install an ad-blocker, for a more comfortable browsing, and to stop feeding the data-collecting machine. The website bloquelapub.net offers simple tutorials.xvii
Finally, all those individual measures must be followed by restrictive legislative measures. The first step could be to make social networks liable for the content that is shared. The website of La Quadrature du Net goes into the detail of French and European laws and also suggests ideas to overcome legal shortcomingsxviii.
It is also high time to think about alternative funding models to replace the lie of free ad-based networks. In order to do so, we call the media and interested websites to contact us, to think collectively about other possible models.
Thomas Citharel, co-director of Framasoft
Raquel Radaut, activist and spokesperson of La Quadrature du Net
Marie Youakim, co-president of Ritimo
Marie Cousin, co-president of Résistance à l’Agression Publicitaire
Tanguy Delaire, activist for Résistance à l’Agression Publicitaire
iSee HelloQuitX’s manifesto https://www.helloquitx.com/MANIFESTO-HelloQuitX.html
iiSee Shoashanna ZUBOFF, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Campus, 2018
iiiEthan ZUCKERMAN, “The Internet’s Original Sin”, The Atlantic, 14 August 2014, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/advertising-is-the-internets-original-sin/376041/
ivOn this topic, see the mini-series Dopamine on Arte: https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/RC-017841/dopamine/
vAccording to Frances Haugen, former Facebook employee and whistleblower, quoted by David CHAVALARIAS, Toxic Data, Comment les réseaux manipulent nos opinions, Flammarion, 2022, p. 100 (untranslated)
viChristia SPEARS BROWN, « Comment plusieurs études montrent qu’Instagram peut nuire au bien-être des jeunes », The Conversation, 26 septembre 2021
viiMathilde SALIOU,Technoféminisme, Comment le numérique aggrave les inégalités, Éditions Grasset & Fasquelle, 2023, p. 59 (untranslated)
viiiSee Chavalarias’ analysis, Toxic Data, op. Cit.
ixTanguy DELAIRE, « Publicité sur Internet : un terrain favorable à l’extrême droite », Le Club de Mediapart, 13 novembre 2024
xSee for instance Amnesty International’s analysis https://www.amnesty.fr/actualites/sinformer-se-former-eduquer-et-agir-face-a-la-montee-des-discours-de-haine-et-anti-droits or that of the European Commission https://www.coe.int/fr/web/combating-hate-speech/what-is-hate-speech-and-why-is-it-a-problem- or even the statement by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in June 2024: “The negative impact of hate speech on peace, sustainable development, human rights and the prevention of genocide and related crimes continues to be witnessed across the world.” https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/june-2024/investing-youth-counter-hate-speech
xiSee Félicien FAURY, Des électeurs ordinaires, Enquête sur la normalisation de l’extrême droite, Éditions du Seuil, 2024 (untranslated)
xiiThe Great Replacement theory is a debunked far-right conspiracy theory by French essayist Renaud Camus, according to which white European populations would be deliberately replaced by non-white populations, specifically from Muslim countries. This conspiracy theory has grown popular in the past few years, and was endorsed by far-right and right-wing presidential candidates and even discussed on national television. (translator’s note)
xiiiWe can read on HelloQuitX’s website : “However, as of now, it is not practically possible to join the Bluesky network independently of the company. Thus, the promise of decentralization is not yet realized. The recent support of Blockchain Capital, a company from the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, may also influence its business model in the future.” https://www.helloquitx.com/Leaving-Twitter-X-Step-2-I-Create-an-Account-on-Mastodon-and-or-BlueSky.html
xivBlog of the association Résistance à l’Agression Publicitaire, « Publicité : l’industrialisation de la manipulation », Le Club de Mediapart, 23 novembre 2021 https://blogs.mediapart.fr/resistance-agression-pub/blog/231121/publicite-lindustrialisation-de-la-manipulation
xvNikos SMYRNAIOS, « Les GAFAM, entre emprise structurelle et crise d’hégémonie », Pouvoirs, N° 185(2), 19-30, https://droit.cairn.info/revue-pouvoirs-2023-2-page-19?lang=fr
xviAFP, Le Nouvel Obs, « Meta met fin à son programme de fact-checking aux Etats-Unis, Musk trouve ça « cool », Trump dit qu’il a « probablement » influencé la décision », Le Nouvel Observateur, 7 janvier 2025 https://www.nouvelobs.com/monde/20250107.OBS98735/meta-met-fin-a-son-programme-de-fact-checking-aux-etats-unis-musk-trouve-ca-cool-trump-dit-qu-il-a-probablement-influence-la-decision.html
xviiThe website is the result of a collective work of volunteers and associations. It provides guidelines and resources in French on the different methods to block online advertisements, on computers and smartphones.
xviiiSee for example the analysis of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act adopted by the European Commission in May 2024: https://www.laquadrature.net/en/2024/05/22/with-the-ai-act-adopted-the-techno-solutionist-gold-rush-can-continue/ or their propositions in terms of interoperability of social networks https://www.laquadrature.net/interop/
