How extremists exploit tech's respect of “free speech” and media's bias to cover “both sides” to amplify fringe messages and get into mainstream conversation
This is a crib of a talk that Data & Society Founder and President danah boyd gave at the Online News Association conference … Tweets: @zephoria , @peteforsyth , @fabiochiusi , @marklittlenews , @annehelen , @ilparone , @craigsilverman , @pomeranian99 , @lokapila , @jeffjarvis , @albertocairo , @sherryaske , and @justinhendrix See also Mediagazer Tweets: Danah Boyd / @zephoria : Yesterday, I had the honor of keynoting #ONA18 and speaking with journalists about Media Manipulation, Strategic Amplification, and Responsible Journalism. For those who couldn't make it, I've made my talk available here: http://points.datasociety.net/ ... http://twitter.com/... Pete Forsyth / @peteforsyth : “When the goal is to drive a wedge among the public, it's not hard to encourage people to see bias,” says @zephoria. What also makes it easy: When it's impossible to audit a tech company's algorithm. https://points.datasociety.net/ ... Fabio Chiusi / @fabiochiusi : This by @zephoria is *the* essential read of 2018 so far, imo. There is just so much good thinking in here, one almost feels like there's life after algorithms. https://points.datasociety.net/ ... Mark Little / @marklittlenews : “You will only earn the trust of the American public when you once again become a part of the American fabric” - applies to journalists the world over. Must-read speech/essay from @zephoria http://points.datasociety.net/ ... Anne Helen Petersen / @annehelen : There's so many smart and contentious things to think about from this @zephoria piece on the pitfalls of journalism today - but these points re: hedge fund management of small papers struck me esp. strongly given this week's closure of the Missoula Indy https://points.datasociety.net/ ... pic.twitter.com/qmZUvCtjK5 Jarno M. Koponen / @ilparone : Indeed. “Algorithmic systems aren't their target. Journalists are the real target of their digital shenanigans.” -@zephoria https://points.datasociety.net/ ... #ai #journalism Craig Silverman / @craigsilverman : Every journalist should read this http://twitter.com/... Clive Thompson / @pomeranian99 : *Superb* speech by @zephoria here on how conspiracy theorists and reactionary far-right forces yank the mass media's chain and get us to cover them: https://points.datasociety.net/ ... Too many good parts to fully quote; a crackling dissection of the forces mass media must now contend with Lois Kapila / @lokapila : This is so good — on the mechanics of media manipulation, how journalists should respond, the importance of local journalism rooted in communities, and a whole lot more. http://twitter.com/... Jeff Jarvis / @jeffjarvis : This is the most important talk about journalism in the social age yet. Critical, mandatory reading. http://twitter.com/... Alberto Cairo / @albertocairo : I'd heard that @zephoria gave a great keynote at @ONA. I finally made some time to read the transcript. It's far better than “great”. If you work in journalism or tech, please DO block some time to read it carefully. https://points.datasociety.net/ ... pic.twitter.com/ulHlvLpQFE Sherry Aske / @sherryaske : “at this very moment, those who built these tools and imagined letting a thousand flowers bloom are stepping back and wondering: what hath we wrought?”—@zephoria https://points.datasociety.net/ ... #socialmedia #fakenews #journalism pic.twitter.com/QzsuIcwiAM Justin Hendrix / @justinhendrix : 6/ They would do well to read @zephoria, and contemplate what giving Bannon this platform means. http://points.datasociety.net/ ... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
danah boyd's ONA18 keynote lands mid-arc in a running argument about who controls online speech. Earlier that year, Wired reported that free expression had grown even as Facebook, Google, and Twitter concentrated attention, and that the most effective censorship now works by meddling with trust rather than muzzling speech — exactly the mechanism boyd names as 'strategic amplification.'
Her target audience is journalists, not platforms: she argues extremists route around platform neutrality by exploiting tech's free-speech commitments and the press's both-sides instinct, turning newsroom balance into a distribution channel. The later coverage of a deepening rift between Silicon Valley figures and critical journalists shows how contested that framing became.
First-order effects
- Newsrooms at ONA18 are told to treat 'both sides' framing as an attack surface: covering a fringe claim as a live debate hands its proponents mainstream legitimacy they cannot earn organically.
- Because platforms like Facebook and Twitter define themselves through free speech, the filtering burden falls on editors, making journalistic judgment the de facto moderation layer for what reaches the public.
Second-order effects
- Platform executives increasingly read critical press coverage as partisan bias rather than accountability, hardening the Silicon Valley–media antagonism that later coverage of the Slate Star Codex dispute documents.
- Engagement economics pull against the fix: BuzzFeed's analysis found top fake-news stories on Facebook out-drew fact-checks by orders of magnitude, so outlets resisting amplification compete against rivals chasing the same viral loops.
Third-order effects
- If trust manipulation, not takedown, is the dominant control problem, the durable responses look less like content policing and more like structural alternatives — the human-curated 'slow media' model media historians and designers proposed a year later.
- The pattern feeds a lasting split among researchers and policymakers over whether social media's societal harms are real or overstated, which in turn sets the terms for any future platform regulation.
The trend: Online speech governance is shifting from a censorship question to a trust-and-amplification question, with newsroom editorial judgment and platform design choices as the competing counterweights.