Algorithms, lies, and social media

A strategy to maximize advertising revenue when the interests of the online platform do not align with the user's interests is to present users with surprising or sensational content to keep them engaged. A study by Mozilla researchers found that YouTube actively recommends sensational content to keep users engaged.

Our attention is negatively captured by either negative or awe-inspiring news. To grab our attention, digital platforms offer misinformation that feeds outrage and anger. For example, Facebook's newsfeed curation algorithm favours content eliciting anger and negative ads.

When people use social media, they are not always aware that they are the passive subjects of commercial transactions between the platform and advertisers involving their own personal data.

Users are also often unaware of how their news feed on social media is curated. Even people who are aware of algorithmic curation tend not to fully understand what that involves.

However, people often object to collecting sensitive information and data for personalization.

Protecting citizens from manipulation and misinformation and protecting democracy itself requires redesigning the current online “attention economy”.

The redesign must restore the signals that are available to consumers and the public in conventional markets: users need to know what platforms do and what they know, and society must have the tools to judge whether platforms act fairly and in the public interest.

1. There must be greater transparency and more individual control of personal data.
2. Platforms must signal the quality of the information in a newsfeed so users can assess the risk of accessing it. “Endogenous” cues could alert us to emotionally charged words designed to provoke outrage.
3. The public should be alerted when political speech circulating on social media is part of an ad campaign. Paid ads masquerading as independent opinions distort that marketplace.
4. The public must know exactly how algorithms curate and rank information. The public should be able to shape their own online environment.

There is considerable public and political scepticism about regulations. Governments that step in to regulate social media content, if done improperly, could result in censorship.

In liberal democracies, regulations must not only be proportionate to the threat of harmful misinformation but also respectful of fundamental human rights.

The best solution lies in shifting control of social media from unaccountable corporations to democratic agencies that operate openly, under public oversight.