Google, Apple, Facebook (now Meta), Amazon and Microsoft, also known by
the acronym GAFAM, are five of the largest US firms in terms of globalmarket capitalization. These surveillance capitalism companies, known as
Big Tech, offer platforms that have managed to establish themselves as
essential communication tools in recent years. ---- Surveillance
capitalism feeds on the personal data produced when using these
platforms[1]. Until now, this has led to highlighting the content that
provokes the most reaction: this has thus contributed to the spread of
disinformation, including on crucial public health or democracy issues.
Capital always chooses profit to the detriment of everything else. We
already recalled this when Elon Musk bought Twitter at the end of 2022[2].
Influencing debates and public opinion
With the rise of fascism, of which Donald Trump's return to power in the
world's leading power is one of the symptoms, we have recently observed
an acceleration of the inevitable rapprochement between the technopolice
and surveillance capitalism, that is, between fascism and big capital.
It is now openly admitted by their leaders that these platforms no
longer only serve to make a profit, but also to influence debates and
public opinion in the service of their owners and the power in place.
Whether it is X with Elon Musk, or Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Threads,
WhatsApp) with Mark Zuckerberg, the turnaround in recent weeks is clear:
these platforms, and therefore the algorithmic curation of the content
highlighted as well as the moderation they implement, are now at the
political service of Trump in the United States[3], of the AfD in
Germany[4], etc.
Let's leave the Big Tech networks
In the same way as the large press groups and media conglomerates owned
by a few billionaires whose fascist or even fascist political projects
are no longer in doubt, the question no longer arises a priori for our
activist organizations: we must leave these networks. Even if we were
invited, we would refuse to intervene on Cnews for two main reasons: the
media trap and the refusal to bring visibility to the rest of what is
broadcast there. These two reasons are similarly valid today on X.
On the one hand, it is the messages of our political opponents that are
highlighted, including when they respond to us, whether through the
algorithmic curation of the platform or through its practice of
moderation[5]. On the other hand, the people who come to look for our
content there are now systematically exposed to far-right content that
is increasingly pushed by the platform, particularly to new accounts. In
Germany, the week after Musk announced his support for the far-right
neo-Nazi party, tweets from AfD parliamentarians, favored by the
platform's algorithmic editorialization, amassed 15 times more views
than those of other parties[6].
For these reasons, we call for people to leave X, if they have not
already done so, and to join the fediverse[7]and its free and
anti-authoritarian alternatives such as Mastodon to replace X, Pixelfed
instead of Instagram, PeerTube instead of YouTube, etc.[8]. A massive
movement of people leaving the platform bought by Musk, federated in
particular around the HelloQuitteX initiative[9]in which many people,
organizations and media participated, took place around January 20. The
date had been chosen symbolically, because it was the day of Trump's
inauguration. That day, as if to complete the rapprochement described at
the beginning of this article (written before January 20), Musk twice
made Nazi salutes to the crowd that had come to attend the event... An
unequivocal reason, if one were still needed, for the need to leave X
and re-appropriate truly democratic spaces for exchange.
Pablo (UCL Saint-Denis) and Céline (UCL Lyon)
Validate
[1]"Data economy: if it's free, you're the one producing?"», Alternative
libertaire no 297, September 2019.
[2]«Social networks: a completely biased comparison between Twitter and
Mastodon», Alternative libertaire no 334, January 2023.
[3]«In the United States, Facebook and Instagram authorize LGBTphobia
without moderation», dossier «Donald Trump, a strong comeback»,
Mediapart, January 9, 2025.
[4]«Elon Musk praises the German far-right party AfD, in an interview
with its leader on its X platform», Francetvinfo, January 10, 2025.
[5]And this goes as far as breaking individual moderation and protection
tools against harassment: blocking an account on X for example no longer
prevents it from seeing your content, citing you, etc.
[6]Post by Curd Knüpfer on Bluesky, January 9, 2025.
[7]"Network: understanding the fediverse", Alternative libertaire no.
300, December 2019.
[8]"The Fediverse is so much bigger than Mastodon", Framablog, November
11, 2022.
[9]"Quit X is an art that accepts nuance...", HelloQuitX - Let's Quit X
together:
https://helloquittex.com/Quitter-X-est-un-art-qui-accepte-la-nuance.html.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Big-Tech-Le-grand-capital-au-service-du-fascisme
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