This opinion piece argues that Europe should “shut down recommender algorithms” of the big US social media platforms - Facebook, X, Instagram, etc. - because the author believes that these algorithms are undermining European democracy.
The most obvious example of such an algorithm is on X, where Musk can manipulate the algorithm to boost European far-right parties, like AfD. But the author argues that other social media CEOs, like Zuck, are beholden to Trump’s anti-liberal agenda - for example, Trump “openly threatened to throw Mark Zuckerberg in jail for the rest of his life”. Therefore: “It is reasonable to assume that tech oligarchs will do what [Trump] tells them”, which may include the Trump administration pressuring US social media companies to recommend more right-wing content.
So the author says: “The EU must immediately switch off the tech companies’ algorithms on its soil, at least until they are proven safe for democracy”. Do you agree with that?
I’ve always felt this discussion way to little mentions investigation. They call for investigation when it’s about harmful chemicals in fertiliser, food, toys etc. They call for investigation when it’s about fair business, corporate greed, abuse of power. Same with dangerous behaviour like drunk driving, when it’s about violence from mentally unstable people. I can go on and on about times when legislators call for investigating the problem and also scientifically proving something they think is happening is actually happening but in this case it seems like all they can do is talk about examples like Cambridge analytica. Just go and prove these algorithms are doing bad things so we don’t need opinion pieces in newspapers to get legislation passed. I’ve heard about it being ‘potentially’ dangerous for far too long, they could have easily gotten real answers by now.