A-Infos (en) Italy, FAI, Umanita Nova #11-26 - Algorithm Victory? Digital Networks and Social Activism (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

One of the interpretations advanced to explain the unexpected NO victory 
in the referendum is that the electoral preferences expressed on March 
22nd and 23rd are the product of a network in which human will, 
interface architecture, and computing infrastructure operate in an 
inextricable, intertwined, and mutually dependent manner, capable of 
exceptional results. The logic of this system is geared toward producing 
highly arousing emotions and capturing the subjects' attention. The NO 
camp, according to this interpretation, would have benefited from the 
divisive, oppositional, and indignant demands that constituted its 
emotional underpinning, and which were more congenial to the dynamics of 
the algorithm.

With respect to this interpretation, it is worth considering that the 
architecture of the networks on which social media reside and the 
algorithms that make them function can be considered the structure of a 
sector, that of the communications industry, in which the mechanism of 
value production and surplus value extraction is analogous to that at 
work in manufacturing. We are therefore faced with a piece of the 
"structure" of society, which produces its effects on society's 
political and ideological "superstructure."

The capitalist mode of production cannot survive without continually 
revolutionizing the instruments of production, and therefore the 
relations of production, and therefore the entire set of social 
relations. Previous modes of production, on the other hand, were based 
on the preservation of the traditional mode of production. This 
incessant revolutionization of production brings with it the equally 
incessant upheaval of all social conditions, all the stable and rusty 
conditions of life, with their entourage of opinions and beliefs, made 
venerable by their persistence over time. Bourgeois society, therefore, 
presents itself as unstable and less capable than previous generations 
of maintaining the pyramidal structure of society. This instability is 
accentuated by the growing inability to valorize capital, ensuring 
income for the privileged classes based on the exploitation of the labor 
capacity of the vast majority of the population. The ongoing 
transformation of the means of production is particularly intense in the 
high-tech, communications, and information technology sectors, shaken by 
constant innovations in materials, equipment, and procedures.

Scientific literature recognizes the importance of search engines in 
orienting the human subjects who interact with them. Psychologist Robert 
Epstein has suggested, as early as 2015, that a search engine 
manipulation effect (SEME) exists. Epstein's experiments suggest that 
partisan search rankings can shift the voting preferences of undecided 
voters by 20% or more; The shift can be much higher in some demographic 
groups, and these rankings can be masked so that people are completely 
unaware of the manipulation.

These effects, which can even manipulate voting patterns, are 
facilitated by the transmission of highly emotional messages. Emotions 
such as amazement or awe, anger, moral indignation, fear, or pleasure at 
the misfortunes and humiliations of political rivals are stimulated by 
the algorithm and, in turn, stimulate the algorithm.

Based on these considerations, it is legitimate to believe that the 
algorithm played an important role in the NO victory in the referendum, 
just as it did, on another level, in the mobilizations following the 
Israeli military seizure of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which included 
several Italian citizens.

Conversely, we can offer some reflections.

The management of search engines by governments and large monopolistic 
groups makes them a powerful tool of social control, but their intrinsic 
instability, resulting from the constant revolution in information 
technology, infrastructure, and network protocols, makes them incapable 
of ensuring the long-term stability that is a prerequisite for social 
preservation. The same pursuit of maximum profit, which primarily 
motivates monopolistic groups, pushes them to convey popular and 
therefore potentially profitable demands, regardless of their 
consistency with the overall project.

Another consideration concerns epistemic bubbles and echo chambers. An 
epistemic bubble is a social structure that limits exposure to diverse 
information, leading individuals to receive only content that confirms 
their preexisting beliefs. This phenomenon is particularly prominent in 
social media. The echo chamber, in turn, is a closed communication space 
that arouses no interest in outsiders or rejects their input.

It remains to be seen whether these epistemic bubbles and echo chambers 
that would have favored the NO victory were born in response to the 
electoral message or whether they pre-existed and merely bounced this 
message. Naturally, this depends on the type of bubble. The WhatsApp or 
Telegram chat of such-and-such a collective obviously pre-exists the 
flow of information about the referendum, which penetrates it and 
provokes different reactions in participants. In this sense, the 
algorithm accelerates and amplifies aggregation, perhaps directing it, 
but does not generate it. To understand the genesis of these 
aggregations, we must step outside of virtual reality and return to 
analyzing social reality. Social movements originate in their 
contradictions, not in the architecture of computer networks.

The unusually high turnout in the referendum means that many people who 
did not participate in the last elections went to vote. We are 
witnessing a mass mobilization in defense of the constitution, or rather 
to bring down the Meloni government. We are therefore witnessing a form 
of mobilization comparable to that in support of the Flotilla, though 
obviously less confrontational. Both the Flotilla and the referendum are 
mobilizations whose themes, one is solidarity, the other freedom, albeit 
vaguely understood. This is as far as it gets from the immediate and 
visceral reactions catalyzed by the content that the digital 
architecture, designed for this, systematically rewards and amplifies.

A final consideration concerns the extent to which revolutionary 
movements, and anarchism in particular, can interact with search 
engines. For my part, I believe that the algorithm's operating mechanism 
is intrinsically incapable of performing any emancipatory function, 
understood as the ability to build collaborative relationships between 
subjects and develop critical attitudes toward the messages it conveys. 
In reality, the algorithm's functioning reproduces, in an updated 
manner, traditional government practices, which tend to keep the masses 
in a state of subjection.

The way in which some supporters of the "NO" front have presented their 
issues has often been crude, based on an emphasis on legality and the 
demonization of their opponents, especially those who supported 
abstentionism, branding them as objective allies of the right.

Social critique represents an essential element of a reconstruction of 
revolutionary subjectivity, outside and against the logic of domination. 
A critique that, by uncovering the mechanisms of exploitation and 
oppression, restores to the revolutionary subject the ability to 
understand, if not control, the explosive contradictions that shake 
bourgeois society. This critique must question authoritarian and violent 
practices within grassroots movements and organizations, starting with 
the toxic rhetoric that uses denigration of others as a tool to assert 
one's own views. But to do all this, as we have seen, the digital 
architecture of social media represents more of an obstacle than a help: 
we need to step outside of cyberspace, put our feet on the ground, and 
engage face-to-face with our social contacts.

Our goal is not to win a few more votes in the next elections; our goal 
is to build the forces and organizations to create a new society.

Tiziano Antonelli

https://umanitanova.org/vittoria-dellalgoritmo-reti-digitali-ed-attivismo-sociale/
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