Platform algorithms delivered foreign propaganda to its most receptive audiences

Evidence

The pages had names like Blacktivist and Being Patriotic, and they paid Facebook to sponsor posts, blasting them directly into the newsfeeds of people who were likely to be most receptive to them. Jonathan Albright, research director at Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism, told the Times that the practice amounted to “cultural hacking.” — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 203

Categorization

• XREF: Algorithmic amplification of targeted divisive content connects to vault material on how media/disinformation environments shape belief. — connects to: Algorithmic content filtering can funnel users toward polarization and extremism — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 476; Platform algorithms optimized emotionally charged content for viral spread. — W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the…, 487; Platforms look like markets but are centralized fiefs owned by algorithms — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 868 (+5 more)
• SHARE: ‘Cultural hacking’ is a compact description of algorithmic propaganda targeting worth sending to someone tracking disinformation research.

Broader Connections

• Algorithmic content filtering can funnel users toward polarization and extremism #corroborates (0.78) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 476
• Digital platforms and ethno-nationalist populism share an affinity via engineered confusion #corroborates (0.75) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 698
• Platform algorithms individually curate each user’s reality into isolated bubbles #corroborates (0.74) — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 343
• Platform algorithms optimized emotionally charged content for viral spread. #corroborates (0.72) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 487
• Platforms look like markets but are centralized fiefs owned by algorithms #qualifies (0.72) — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 868
• Authoritarian propaganda exploits cognitive biases while hiding the manipulation itself #corroborates (0.72) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 225
• Postmodern propaganda techniques now operate internationally across several states #expands (0.71) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 676