At least it makes a decent job of criticizing french exploitation of Africa but between the Orientalism and muh sneaky bad Russians I can’t recommend it as a support to learn about the coups in Africa.

  • DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
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    8 months ago

    Fedlifelore at it again. I feel like these big youtube channels get an “offer they can’t refuse” from the US state department to start pushing generic western centric bullshit in exchange for letting them game the algorithm. I’m sure it’s phrased as some kind of “help us combat misinformation” bullshit, but I’m becoming increasingly convinced that big youtube channels that talk about politics or science or have any sort of established “trustworthiness” are co-opted or manipulated by the US state department in some way.

    • Houdini@lemmygrad.ml
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      8 months ago

      More like this:

      1. The algorithms aren’t controlled like that, but they are engineered to promote Amerikan-backed propaganda just by nature of existing within the state.

      2. Youtubers already have no qualifications, for all we know, RealLifeLore has a high school history education and reads wikipedia articles for each of these videos, both of these already have the pro-regime biases built in as well.

      3. Lets say you, a typical liberal, make a YouTube video, it just happens to be that after making this youtube video about how the USA did X thing (in line with the regime’s propaganda), you get 50 new Patron subs over the next month, wouldn’t you double down on that content? What if your next video someone donates a grand to you over paypal, “Loved that last video! Big fan of the new direction, been a long time viewer, you’re videos mean a lot to me”

      It only takes a few thousand dollars per youtuber and suddenly you can manipulate the discourse further than your inbuilt biases alone could have, but those inbuilt biases primed the discourse to begin with.

      Not saying some people are actual Scully and Mulder ahh feds, some are, but for the most part our enemy works in much more subtle ways. Know your enemy.

      • DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
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        8 months ago

        Oh, I didn’t mean every channel posting this stuff is a 100% CIA op, I meant it more like this:

        1. A channel posting this sort of stuff starts getting popular, they do content that they want to do.

        2. They are approached by a group offering to help them “maximize the algorithm” or “streamline the process of editing” depending on what sort of person they are and how they’re likely to react.

        3. They work with groups to help them “streamline” the process of creating content, and as a part of that system, their content is “corrected” here and there to make sure it fits with the US state department line, if needed. I’m talking channels like RealLifeLore and Kurgesagt, that have a slick, “professional” sort of presentation, not every single channel, or even every single big channel. Only the large ones that are considered a reputable source of “facts” by their audience.

        • Houdini@lemmygrad.ml
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          8 months ago

          Yeah this just sounds entirely too /x/ brained for my tastes. The men in black did show up to Second Thought’s house as a threat. It’s simple, follow the money. iirc there’s a good video taking down Kurgesagt and it follows a similar logic to my post.

          • DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
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            8 months ago

            Yeah, you’re probably right. I’m just being overly paranoid. I know channels like Kurgesagt get donations from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, but that doesn’t mean every big channel is being actively used to push the US status quo as a deliberate effort. I appreciate the call out.

            • Houdini@lemmygrad.ml
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              8 months ago

              Chances are what you think goes down happens but only for people like the horse fucker and other DNC syncophants like Mr. Borelli