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Be there, it will be wild!" urged Donald Trump on Twitter before the invasion of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, reenacted in mid-June by an investigative committee. The former president cried voter fraud... Have fake news and opinion manipulation really turned the Internet into a disinformation superhighway? Several studies offer a more nuanced picture.
This article was originally published in Carnets de science, #12, available in bookstores.
Fake news or infox: modern name for a very old social phenomenon. To date the emergence of these falsified statements would indeed be risky as the deliberate distortion of facts by an individual, a group or a government seems to have always existed. The objective: to tarnish the reputation of a personality, to discredit a political opponent, to weaken a scientific fact, to pretend to unveil a secret plan for world domination... in short, to tamper with the facts in order to manipulate opinion.
However, according to some, humanity has never sailed in the middle of such an ocean of information as infox... "Fake news has become the main driving force behind recent election campaigns, from the pro-Brexit campaign in the United Kingdom to the election of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, as well as various elections in Europe and the United States," points out Émeric Henry, a professor in the economics department at Sciences Po1. Similarly, many infoxes, such as those conveyed by the documentary Hold-up, released in November 2020 and viewed millions of times on the Internet, are circulating around the Covid-19 pandemic.
In fact, digital platforms, in particular social networks such as Facebook or Twitter, play a major role in the virality of content, whether it is true or intentionally misleading. As a fantastic sounding board, the Internet is a godsend for opinion manipulators. It all comes down to the fact that "the model of the platforms is based on sharing at all costs, since their advertising revenues depend on the degree of activity", reminds Émeric Henry. The algorithms of social networks, far from being neutral, are not designed to sort out the true from the false but to choose, classify, prioritize and target information likely to capture the attention of a maximum of users.
A "premium" for emotion and controversy
« Plus un utilisateur passe de temps sur une plateforme, plus celle-ci a des occasions d’afficher des encarts publicitaires et plus ses recettes augmentent, renchérit Antonio Casilli, professeur de sociologie à Télécom Paris et membre de l’Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation2.
Or, les algorithmes qui déterminent le fil d’information de chaque utilisateur sont optimisés pour mettre en avant des messages percutants et provoquant des réactions émotionnelles fortes. Une sorte de “prime” à l’émotion et à la controverse, laquelle incite l’utilisateur à prolonger sa connexion. C’est pourquoi les fake news les plus outrancières bénéficient d’une large diffusion. » Si les plateformes s’enrichissent, ce n’est pas le cas de tout le monde : « Selon une étude conduite en 20193, le coût des fake news en termes de pertes boursières, de risques pour la santé publique, d’atteinte à l’image des marques et de dépenses de campagnes électorales est estimé à 78 milliards de dollars... », indique le chercheur.
"However, the algorithms that determine the news feed for each user are optimized to put forward messages that are hard-hitting and provoke strong emotional reactions. A kind of "bonus" to emotion and controversy, which encourages the user to prolong his connection. This is why the most outrageous fake news is widely distributed. If the platforms get rich, it is not the case for everyone: "According to a study conducted in 20193, the cost of fake news in terms of stock market losses, public health risks, damage to the image of brands and election campaign expenses is estimated at 78 billion dollars...", says the researcher.
To operate, various stratagems are used by government agencies, political parties, activist groups, business sharks and other clever digital geniuses. Starting with the use of fake profiles controlled from "troll factories" (evil Internet users) such as the Internet Research Agency established in St. Petersburg, close to the Kremlin and particularly active during the 2016 American presidential election.
« De telles entreprises, spécialisées dans la communication agressive, recourent à des bataillons d’opérateurs pour déverser des propos fallacieux sur les réseaux sociaux, commente Antonio Casilli. Ces petites mains invisibles, payées à la pièce, à peine quelques centimes par message, sont majoritairement installées dans les pays émergents ou à faibles revenus. Les fausses informations ainsi produites peuvent ensuite être relayées par des comptes semi-automatisés (bots) capables d’interagir avec des personnes réelles. Ces programmes qui tweetent à haute fréquence, jour et nuit, notamment vers des comptes influents, amplifient la diffusion de fake news. » Autant de dispositifs mis à profit pour organiser des campagnes de propagande comme celles d’astroturfing (le nom est un clin d’œil à la marque américaine AstroTurf qui vend du gazon synthétique, donc imitant le vrai…). Cette pratique consiste à simuler un mouvement spontané de l’opinion avec un nombre restreint d’acteurs.
"Such companies, specializing in aggressive communication, use battalions of operators to pour out fallacious statements on social networks," comments Antonio Casilli. These invisible little hands, paid by the piece, just a few cents per message, are mostly based in emerging or low-income countries. The false information thus produced can then be relayed by semi-automated accounts (bots) capable of interacting with real people. These programs that tweet at high frequency, day and night, especially to influential accounts, amplify the spread of fake news." So many devices used to organize propaganda campaigns like those of astroturfing (the name is a nod to the American brand AstroTurf that sells synthetic turf, so imitating the real ...). This practice consists in simulating a spontaneous movement of opinion with a limited number of actors.
Network regulation and democracy
By flooding social networks with fake accounts, a contractor and a few subcontractors make people believe that there is a vast grassroots movement," explains Antonio Casilli. This is how the architects of Éric Zemmour's Internet strategy, by relying on a limited number of Twitter accounts ("Teachers with Zemmour", "Entrepreneurs with Zemmour", "Military with Zemmour"...), have managed to make the polemicist one of the most trending topics on Twitter, creating the illusion of a rallying of civil society to his ideas.
