EXPONETIAL RADICALIZATION

By Mickey Skidmore, AMHSW, ACSW, FAASW

Twenty five years ago following the downing of the twin towers in New York City, the notion that Islamic terrorists were being radicalised via the internet and social media was generally recognised. I previously wrote about Social Media being the amplifier of radicalisation four years ago in these pages (Skidmore, Nov 2022). Here we are four years later, and it is not just the Islamic Jihadist that are being radicalised — in my view we are all being radicalised across the globe. I suggest the alarming curiosity with authoritarianism around the world as evidence to support this observation. 

Historians will confirm that one of the manoeuvres of an authoritarian play book is to control and centralise the narrative of reality aligned with the power base of the regime, and thereby squash alternative viewpoints whenever possible. Looking at perhaps the luckiest authoritarian wanna-be alive today, there is compelling evidence that Trump continues his march towards authoritarianism which he clearly hopes to consolidate before the mid-term elections in November 2026 — which if they are held, places him at risk of the Republican majority in all three branches of government being voted out.

Until then, in the meantime, Trump and his sycophants employ Orwellian techniques amplified by AI technology and social media to twist, contort and gaslight the American people about situations, circumstances, conduct and communications that have the audacity to voice an alternative viewpoint from his administration policies. For example, the principles of the first amendment to the constitution (free speech) seemingly only apply to Trump or members of his regime. Suddenly, in an effort to whitewash (pardon the pun) slavery, removing critical race theory (CRT) from the teaching curriculum. Moreover, diversity is now not only “woke” it essentially illegal in the United States.

Perhaps the clearest authoritarian example is highlighted in the right to peacefully protest and express “democratic dissent.” This has been manipulated, twisted and re-presented to the American public as being “insurrectionists”, “terrorists”, “violent rioters”, “criminals” or other demonised descriptors that the Trump machine chooses. And then the irony of a convicted felon weaponising the US government to prosecute his political rivals; employing the military on its own people, and seize funds already appropriated by Congress to Democratic states while calling for Democratic Governors and Mayors to be jailed is underscored by the amplification of social media — radicalising nearly everyone.

You see, one day Lily is browsing online an purchases a yoga mat. Immediately, internet forces are mobilised (probably using AI to conclude Lily is a tree-hugging, do-gooder, hippie) to create a progressive, left-leaning algorithmic bubble where she is unlikely to ever be exposed to any alternative narratives. At the same time, Lily’s neighbour signs up for a FOX and friends newsletter online. Likewise, the internet forces mobilise (probably using AI to conclude she is conservative or perhaps even a Trump supporter) creating a conservative or even a MAGA-leaning algorithmic bubble where they too are unlikely to ever be exposed to any alternative viewpoints. Moreover, the amplification of each bubble contributes to the radicalisation of each polarised position where civil and respectful discourse or conversation is no longer a viable option.

This only offers an explanatory theory of how 49% of the previous electorate voted for Trump and 48.5% of the previous electorate voted for Harris — and how the amplification of social media has contributed to the radicalisation of divided government — and further contributed to an overall climate of cancel culture. However, it does not account or justify how members of the Republican party have forfeited their oversight power and responsibilities to allow Trump to run rough shod over democracy or how the Supreme Court allows him to continually violate legal precedents without accountability (I said he was the luckiest man alive).

Even so, I do see an exit ramp to address this radicalisation issue. It involves people setting aside their screens. Putting their phone away and stepping away from their devices. If people can sit down without any electronic gadgets and engage in conversation with each other, they can begin to realise that (even with their differences) they share more in common than the algorithms of their machines lead them to believe. Given however, that people do not even bother to look where they are walking these days because they are completely focused and absorbed on their screens; or they can not even go hand-gliding; rock climbing or be in a swimming pool without their phones in their hands; this may be an even bigger issue to overcome than radicalisation or the prospect of losing the beacon of democracy as we have come to know it.

REFERENCES

  1. Skidmore, M.  Social Media: The Amplifier of Radicalisation (November 2022).