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<\/a>, to pretend to unveil a secret plan for world domination… in short, to tamper with the facts in order to manipulate opinion.<\/p>\n 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,”<\/em> points out \u00c9meric 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.<\/p>\n 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”,<\/em> reminds \u00c9meric 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.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0Plus un utilisateur passe de temps sur une plateforme, plus celle-ci a des occasions d\u2019afficher des encarts publicitaires et plus ses recettes augmentent<\/em>, rench\u00e9rit Antonio Casilli, professeur de sociologie \u00e0 T\u00e9l\u00e9com Paris et membre de l\u2019Institut interdisciplinaire de l\u2019innovation2<\/a>.<\/p>\n Or, les algorithmes qui d\u00e9terminent le fil d\u2019information de chaque utilisateur sont optimis\u00e9s pour mettre en avant des\u00a0messages percutants et provoquant des r\u00e9actions \u00e9motionnelles fortes. Une sorte de \u201cprime\u201d \u00e0<\/em>\u00a0l<\/em>\u2019<\/span>\u00e9motion et<\/em>\u00a0\u00e0 la controverse, laquelle incite l\u2019utilisateur \u00e0 prolonger sa connexion. C\u2019est pourquoi les fake news les plus outranci\u00e8res<\/em>\u00a0b\u00e9n\u00e9ficient d<\/em>\u2019<\/span>une large diffusion.\u00a0<\/em>\u00bb Si les plateformes s\u2019enrichissent, ce n\u2019est pas le cas de tout le monde : \u00ab\u00a0Selon une \u00e9tude conduite en 2019<\/em>3<\/a>, le co\u00fbt des fake news en termes de pertes boursi\u00e8res, de risques pour la sant\u00e9 publique, d\u2019atteinte \u00e0 l\u2019image des marques et de d\u00e9penses de campagnes \u00e9lectorales est estim\u00e9 \u00e0 78\u00a0milliards de dollars<\/em>…\u00a0\u00bb, indique le chercheur.<\/p>\n “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…”<\/em>, says the researcher.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0De telles entreprises, sp\u00e9cialis\u00e9es dans la communication agressive, recourent \u00e0 des bataillons d\u2019op\u00e9rateurs pour d\u00e9verser des propos fallacieux sur les r\u00e9seaux sociaux,<\/em>\u00a0commente Antonio Casilli.\u00a0Ces petites mains invisibles, pay\u00e9es \u00e0 la pi\u00e8ce, \u00e0 peine quelques centimes par message, sont majoritairement install\u00e9es dans les pays \u00e9mergents ou \u00e0 faibles revenus. Les fausses informations ainsi produites peuvent ensuite \u00eatre relay\u00e9es par des comptes semi-automatis\u00e9s<\/em>\u00a0(bots)\u00a0capables d\u2019interagir avec des personnes r\u00e9elles. Ces programmes qui tweetent \u00e0 haute fr\u00e9quence, jour et nuit, notamment vers des comptes influents, amplifient la diffusion de fake news<\/em>.\u00a0\u00bb Autant de dispositifs mis \u00e0 profit pour organiser des campagnes de propagande comme celles d\u2019astroturfing<\/em>\u00a0(le nom est un clin d\u2019\u0153il \u00e0 la marque am\u00e9ricaine AstroTurf qui vend du gazon synth\u00e9tique, donc imitant le vrai\u2026). Cette pratique consiste \u00e0 simuler un mouvement spontan\u00e9 de l\u2019opinion avec un nombre restreint d\u2019acteurs.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 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.\u00a0This is how the architects of \u00c9ric 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.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i3.cnrs.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/twitter2-500x332.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA “premium” for emotion and controversy<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i3.cnrs.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/twitter5-500x331.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNetwork regulation and democracy<\/strong><\/h2>\n