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Elon Musk, the richest man on Earth, bought Twitter as a money loser and uses it to promote right-wing conspiracy theories, Trumpism, and disinformation.
Jeff Bezos, one of the richest men on Earth and the owner of Amazon, bought The Washington Post, another loser, and then canceled his editorial board’s endorsement of Kamala Harris. After Trump won the election, he went on Twitter to bend the knee and praise his new criminal overlord. No such sycophantry was present when Biden won in 2020.
Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, kissed up to Trump after a twice-impeached vulgarian survived an assassination attempt, saying, “Seeing Donald Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most badass things I’ve seen in my life.” It should be noted that in March Trump attacked Facebook as “a true Enemy of the People.”
On election night, Trump invited UFC President Dana White to address the MAGA crowd. From the podium, White thanked YouTube stars Joe Rogan, Theo Von, and streamer Adin Ross for their role in helping a fraudster return to the White House.
Trump also attacked TikTok in the past, but he might be open to reversing the upcoming ban on the popular China-owned social media app after he met the billionaire owner in March.
Meanwhile, the GOP spent over $140 million creating fear-mongering ads against the trans community and during the pandemic right-wing outlets churned out anti-vax disinformation mostly through social media outlets. Most young people now receive their news through social media platforms like Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube which are thoroughly dominated by right-wing personalities, talking points, and money.
Without this massive information weapon, Trump would have little chance of winning in 2016 and 2024.
Filmmaker Alex Winter has spent nearly two decades researching how the internet, and social media in particular, has been manipulated, weaponized, and unleashed by bad faith actors to incite divisions, disinformation, and hate. His documentary, “The YouTube Effect,” charts how a video-sharing app with humble ambitions has become one of the most effective and dangerous tools to spread lies, radicalize young people, and weaken democracies.
He joins me on this episode of Chai Talk to discuss how Big Tech helped accelerate the rise of MAGA and Trump and has “monetized propaganda” despite its corrosive effects on truth and democracy.
This is How Big Tech Radicalized America and Helped Trump Become President