Hate speech, cyberbullying, fake news, conspiracy theory, manipulation of the masses... In less than twenty years, social networks have taken an exponential part in our lives. Expert in reputation strategy, crisis communication and opinion specialist, co-founder and president of Backbone consulting, Véronique Reille-Soult(1) publishes L'Ultime pouvoir, la vérité sur l'impact des réseaux sociaux (2). Through figures and anecdotes, his book draws an explicit panorama between truths, dangers and benefits of this new 5th power (that of public opinion, after those of the State and the press). It gives us here some keys to stem its drifts.
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The impact of social networks
"Fifteen years ago, social networks concerned much fewer people, only a few happy few a little insider ... Today, professionally, you can showcase your work, share your knowledge, research or find information - it's quite easy on networks like LinkedIn. For the new generation – let's say 15-25 year olds – it has changed a lot of things. Their use of it begins earlier and earlier - in fact at the worst moment, when they build their social image. Some behaviors can then become extremely distressing, especially on networks like Instagram, where we play with the glamour of things and the staging of our intimacy. They post photos, tell what they do and in the end no longer control what they want to offer. In addition, they easily fall into a logic of comparison that makes those who spend a lot of time there depressed – studies have shown this – imagining that their life, compared to that of others, is heartbreaking. On messaging systems like WhatsApp or others, and even on encrypted messaging, we also discuss with others, with a social notion complicated to manage. That's why you have to give them keys.
The double effect of force
"The best and the worst rub shoulders there. On the plus side, with RS, people feel less alone. And many societal currents have emerged – #MeToo or #Blacklivesmatter movements are good examples. Let us also add that reality, like testimonies on the ground, can no longer be hidden. On the negative side, there is cyberbullying, pack effect, fake news and manipulation of opinion. Finally, the real issue around RS is how to educate people so that the excesses are as low as possible. How to strengthen critical thinking and empower it."
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Transparency of algorithms
"A platform should be able to share the reality of its algorithm, to explain how it works, without necessarily sharing the code, and without going through obscure conditions of acceptance. But rather by explaining how it works and what one can choose - for example, one may decide to receive only news from friends or like-minded people, but one has to decide, not that one decides for oneself. One may also decide to be confronted with extremely different points of view. Or that we don't want any information on this type of subject. Today we can't; We undergo the algorithm. None of the major platforms have a clearly transparent algorithm. Now, why not be more simple and by saying: "This is how it works, you check boxes, you agree with this, that or not. But you choose." For example, do you know exactly what you clicked on Facebook as permissions and rules for being submitted information from people registered on the network? No, and that's normal. Yet they should be given to us. For example, on YouTube, people don't know that the algorithm is related to popularity – it's the same as on Google. The algorithms push the most viewed videos. Which is not at all the same logic as on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or even TikTok. But no one explains it to us. This could be done in a simple way."
Ways to counter aggression
"We should be able to verify that the platforms really give the means to denounce. For example, if you are harassed, even if a lot of progress has been made, you must have clear means and codes: the difficulty lies in the fact that on three-quarters of platforms, the rules are not. However, as today the social image goes through social networks, it is extremely complicated to get out, not to be there. In reality, the problem is endless. There are thousands of moderators, but they moderate more to put hashtags under videos to make them more popular than to remove horrible things, even if they try... That's why I think relying solely on artificial intelligence can't work, especially since it goes against the interest of platforms. It is up to us to find solutions to become reasonable. And for this, we must give ways to decrypt algorithms, understand how the platform works, specify the rules that everyone is ready or not to accept, give the means to follow and accompany reports and moderation. You can't just say "it's not okay", you have to be able to specify in what direction and why. And we must finally have a recourse.
I remember a young girl facing identity theft on Facebook. It quickly becomes hell, starting with the difficulty of contacting people, explaining that we have all the elements to prove that it is a crime ... There should be a place to file a complaint, to explain your problem, for someone to tell us "we are looking, that's why we can do something or not"... It would be an investment on the part of the platforms, and if they want to demonstrate that they are really concerned, it would already be a big step forward. I cannot bring myself to say to myself that we must resign ourselves to what already exists. We are all concerned, without anyone really having the keys. We must stop telling ourselves that on RS people are morons: no, they are a reflection of our society. There are brilliant people and others less so."
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Learning the rules of the game at school
"We should teach from school how to verify sources, how to manage data, how to share data and how to protect them. For example, rather than banning the use of Wikipedia in primary school - when all students use it - it would be more interesting to authorize it, but by learning how to use it, explaining how it works, how to check the sources... It's doable, even without being a social media specialist. There is also a lot of talk about AI and the difficulty posed by generative images, but you should know that when a technology appears, usually a counter-technology arises in the process. We could therefore very well imagine that over time, collective intelligence could bring things to this, in the sense that Internet users, with the tools and counter-technologies that will exist, will be able to validate the real images themselves and define if it is a magnified image, even if it can have a meaning. Collective intelligence is a more developed critical spirit than it is today."
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Believe in the impact of collective intelligence
"Artificial intelligence is about knowledge and the concentration of knowledge. But knowledge will never be superior to experience. So, the challenge lies in how to ask the right questions, to exploit the data that we will make available with this artificial intelligence, in short, how to ensure that we are as seasoned as possible. We must give the collective intelligence the means to settle things. If you want to denounce someone who has harassed you or if you see an absolutely despicable or totally false post, you can only report it. However, we should be able to argue and say "I report this because I think the content is false" or "I report this because the remarks are insulting" and... We should also be able to track the consequences of our report, know what becomes of it, and if the person is suspended or not. On Twitch for example, people will be reported, their account stopped for some time, without them even being notified. This is how we find the obscure rules related to AI... And when the account is unblocked, we should also be told why."
(1) Lecturer at Celsa-Sorbonne and lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, Véronique Reille-Soult is a regular columnist in the media and every week on France Info, France 24 and Le Figaro.
(2) Éditions du Cerf, 216 p, 20€.