As part of his research while working as a consulting producer at Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, American filmmaker and activist Igor Vamos opened many pro-Trump social media accounts, which functioned as a kind of window into the former president’s echo chamber. that is formed – we say – by unhinged threats from his followers.
For Vamos, as chilling as those posts may be, “their appearance makes sense when analyzing the ads that bombard those accounts.
On January 16, Facebook stated that it will “ban ads promoting weapon accessories and protective equipment in the United States until at least January 22.”
According to the analyst, in an article published in The Guardian, that ad is a manipulative piece that confirms how social network algorithms continue to divide people around the world.
“About four out of five ads shown on my pro-Trump profiles sell tactical gear clearly intended for combat”; Although the situation is not new – as Vamos argues, it probably happens long before the analysis began in June 2019 – it has become highly worrisome in the face of invasive and indirect advertising that promotes firearms through accessory advertisements. military.
According to a study by the Pew Research Center, in 2018 – Vamos says – seven out of ten American adults are on Facebook, and about half of all Americans check the platform every day.
“Those who liked and shared pro-Trump posts, or who mostly have pro-Trump friends, are being bombarded with advertising driven by fear and aggression that warns them to stockpile weapons and accessories.”
The associate professor of media arts at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in New York, considers that the problem we face as a society is not just fake news or political advertising, “it is mathematics that drives the entire system”, because ” platforms claim that their advertising algorithms give us what we want. That may be the case with the first few clicks or friends, but very quickly the algorithm is in control. Like the flute player, he takes us to a land of extremes ”.
So much so that a few months after keeping his identities in line with Trump, he began to feel like he needed to buy guns.
“I knew it was irrational and impractical given my lack of training and urban lifestyle. Nevertheless, he was convinced that he needed them. When I told my girlfriend, her puzzled response made me realize how deeply my mind had been manipulated by my pro-Trump Facebook feeds, “he wrote.
Hence, I insist that the greatest danger is in Facebook’s advertising algorithm, which has not been the focus of the most recent debates, but the regulation of content and the banning of accounts.
“Ad revenue is the lifeblood of platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and ads for companies selling military-style gear are key to creating the hateful communities we see online today. To change the violent world that Facebook has created for the “Trump Army”, it will be necessary to change the algorithms themselves, the basic architecture of its advertising, a market that is projected, will bring the company close to 100 billion dollars next year”.
According to Vamos, the Administration of current President Joseph Biden needs to establish a task force to address these issues, “if we allow social media companies like Facebook to continue accelerating the divide, democracy will just bleed to death.”
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