“We sleep with gas. My book is to say: “Wake up! This is not going well!” » Alain Saulnier, journalist and former director of the information department of -, launches an appeal to all with his new essay Stand up to the web giants. A democratic requirement. While in his previous work, The digital barbarianshe was worried about the effect of Internet multinationals on our culture and our media, this time he directs the spotlight on the dangers that await democracy.
A fundamental question is at the heart of his remarks: do we really want to accept that the richest people on the planet control our economy, our communications, our culture, our social media, our lives? No ? However, this is already quite the case.
First there is Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet and owner of the social network The consequence is that Musk has bought himself a man in power,” says Mr. Saulnier, met in a Mile End café the day after the results of the American presidential election.
He believes disinformation played a major role in the election campaign. Since Musk took the reins of the platform and its editorial line, he has used it as a propaganda tool to put forward his ideas, explains Mr. Saulnier in his book. Whether you subscribe to your account or not, the X algorithm often makes sure to present users with your own publications and those, among others, of Donald Trump.
“It’s a complete drift towards conspiratorial, racist, sexist comments,” laments the author. The leader of Tesla and SpaceX does not hesitate to get involved in politics in various countries, showing himself favorable to right-wing leaders, such as Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Javier Milei in Argentina or ex-president Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. He compared Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler during the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa during the pandemic. The next Canadian election loses nothing by waiting.
The fourth richest man on the planet, Mark Zuckerberg, does not seem to be actively involved in politics. But Meta’s social networks, including Facebook and Instagram, have failed miserably to combat disinformation, which is profitable in terms of clicks. Worse, he decided to block publications from the news media that could counterbalance it. This is to avoid paying them royalties under the Online News Act (C-18).
American interference
At the same time, cultural platforms like Netflix and YouTube impose American shows, films and music, which leads to a disaffection among young people for French-speaking culture, observes the author. Rigorously, Mr. Saulnier explains how the Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft of this world, to which he adds the microprocessor and graphics card company Nvidia as well as TikTok, are increasing their revenues and their hold on the markets in appropriating our personal data. And the rise of artificial intelligence is increasing their power. Meanwhile, individuals and governments are becoming increasingly dependent on it. “Never in history has humanity been so held hostage by such a small number of powerful people,” he writes.
“The possibility of manipulating public opinion, as well as changing people’s habits and culture, has become so great that there must be awareness,” he insists in an interview. “There has been a lot of talk about foreign interference from China and India. But what do we do with the interference of American multi-billionaires? » he adds.
Frame the monsters
In response, Mr. Saulnier pleads for democratic states to reestablish their authority over these monsters. “Some people are afraid that the government will control us. But we are controlled 1000 times more by the Web giants. It has been shown that everything we do on our computers can be recorded and sent anywhere. The Big Brother is already in our homes and our pockets. The only option we have is to supervise and regulate our activities,” he argues.
In Canada, he believes that Bills C-11 and C-18 are a step in the right direction. The first “grants the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission [CRTC] the power to supervise all traditional and digital companies, including foreign ones.” “One of the CRTC’s first decisions was that companies like Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video should reinvest 5% of their turnover to encourage the creation of Canadian productions. It’s a great decision. There should be others,” judges Mr. Saulnier.
The Trudeau government has been sympathetic to the cause. However, the risk of decline will be strong if the Conservative Party of Canada takes power, since it has already positioned itself against these laws.
In order to curb the monopolization of advertising revenue by social networks, Mr. Saulnier also proposes that we put an end to the tax credits that Canadian companies can obtain for their advertising expenses on the Facebooks and TikToks of this world.
Mr. Saulnier does not deny that social networks and technologies play an essential role in our lives. But we can hope for the emergence of choices of platforms less controlled by multinationals. On this subject, he mentions the Quebec cooperative social network project La nouvelle place. Mr. Saulnier admits it himself, he is an eternal idealist.
