Big Tech and digital hate

Scientific thinking, rational approaches, humanism, religious tolerance, diversity, democracy, freedom of speech, and gender equality were some of the most significant fruits of the Enlightenment movement that helped pull Europe out of barbarism, religious intolerance, patriarchy, irrationality and anti-scientific thinking.

Technology, especially the invention of the printing press, was one of the biggest contributing factors to this emancipation of the European people, who used this new tool of spreading information and educating people to break the shackles of mental slavery that had been imposed by European priests, feudal princes and other retrograde elements of the Western society.

The printing press was used to counter the obscurantism of the religious class. First, this opposition emerged from within, as John Huss questioned the rationale for blindly following religious figures. Later, Martin Luther posed tough questions to the tyrannical rule of priests.

Their questions may not have put an instant end to the oppressive rule of the religious class, but they served to create an environment which paved the way for the scientific revolution and critical thinking.

Critical questions did not just shatter the foundations of the Papacy, but also weakened the bases of tyrants, dictators and unbridled monarchs. Such questions also helped create an environment that in the long run heralded an era of women and workers' emancipation, besides putting an end to religious superstitions that not only relegated women to the status of second-class citizens but also discriminated against the people on the bottom layer of social stratification besides justifying slavery.

Scientific inventions accelerated the process of Enlightenment which led to the movements of workers, women and other marginalised sections of society, forcing the ruling class to come up with the idea of social welfare state to help those condemned to a life of poverty and misery.

The traditions of Enlightenment, which were partly successful because of scientific inventions, encouraged women to pose tough questions to the defenders of patriarchy with many female activists asserting that they would never accept any subjugation.

It was expected that more scientific inventions would bring about more enlightened thinking and also promote rational approaches but unfortunately during the cold war the West promoted religious orthodoxy and conservatism, especially in developing countries, to counter communism.

The printing press and mass media were used on a massive scale to sow the seeds of obscurantism, which not only undermined material progress of countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran and others but also created immense problems for the rights of women and other marginalised sections of society.

In our own time, social media is countering the negative propaganda of the ruling classes, which dominate the mainstream media, but is also emerging as a tool in the hands of hate-mongers and rigid forces.

It is very unfortunate that some tech companies are promoting racist and far-right elements for the sake of their commercial, financial and economic interests. For instance, Tommy Robinson, who is considered an icon of the British Far Right, is believed to have been supported by Elon Musk and other wealthy personalities for the sake of profit and business.

Robinson was banned from Twitter for allegedly spreading hatred against immigrants, especially Muslims.

He is considered an anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan figure in British society, whose sole task seems to be spreading lies and misinformation. He was accused of making baseless allegations against a Syrian refugee family, which turned out to be completely false. Many in the UK believe that he could not have become that popular had his X account not been restored by Musk, who himself is accused of bankrolling far-right groups in various parts of the world.

Today, Robinson has a following of over a million people on his X account alone. A few weeks ago, his interview on a right-wing podcast attracted more than one million viewers within 48 hours, while posts of other right-wing leaders like Nigel Farage, a British politician and leader of the anti-immigrant Reform Party, are also read with great interest by millions of people. 

If you look at videos on TikTok or other social media platforms, many of them are full of hatred against immigrants. The massive gathering of the Far Right in London more than a week ago is attributed to their active hate-mongering on social media.

A recent report in the British Observer claims that US tech billionaire Robert Shillman, who openly defends Israel, also supported Robinson. Shillman is accused of supporting many other hate-mongers, including anti-Muslim and anti-women figure Charlie Kirk, who was recently assassinated. 

According to the Observer, "Shillman, who calls himself 'Dr Bob', citing his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is said to be a key figure in the transatlantic 'counter-jihad' movement. 

He has invested in about 20 fellowships, working with Rebel News, a Canadian right-wing media outlet, and right-wing think tank the David Horowitz Freedom Centre (DHFC), where the aim is 'to promote freedom and to expose the lies of the radical left, the Islamist movement, and their allies in the media'."

It is believed that such funding would not have been very useful if these controversial figures had not had a strong presence on social media. Elsewhere, conservative and religious forces have also been dominating social media. For instance, two orthodox clerics of Pakistan have more than 16 million subscribers on YouTube alone. 

A Canadian motivational speaker of Pakistani origin, who is extremely popular in Pakistan and recently described more than 90% of Pakistani women as illiterate, has over 600,000 subscribers. 

Another Pakistani YouTuber with Dutch nationality, who asked women to go back to the kitchen, has more than 300,000 subscribers, while a Jhelum-based cleric, who believes that girls should not marry without the approval of their wali or guardian, enjoys a subscription of over three million people.

At least two of these YouTubers are routinely invited to Pakistani educational institutions, where they openly peddle their conservative propaganda. A Karachi-based cleric, who openly advocated the marriage of even a four-year-old girl, is also believed to have thousands of fans in Pakistani colleges, universities and other educational institutions.

Another cleric of the metropolis, who reintroduced the shuttlecock veil among his female followers and runs a channel from Karachi with millions of viewers across the world, is also influencing millions of Pakistanis and other Muslims.

In India, a famous guru has over 12 million followers on Instagram alone. The guru is known for making tall claims, such as never having had the flu, let alone falling ill. Interestingly, this guru is also opposed to women’s emancipation and Muslims. 

A myriad of other religious figures, who are opposed to religious tolerance, gender equality and scientific thinking, are also dominating cyberspace. Paul Joseph Goebbels, the chief propagandist of the Nazi Party, started spreading hatred against other people years before the Nazi horrors. 

If hate-mongering, hostility to women and gender rights, propaganda against religious tolerance, the spread of irrational thinking and opposition to scientific theories and approaches remain unabated, then it will reverse all the gains of enlightenment, plunging not only Western societies into xenophobia and hyper-masculinity but also drowning the East in a bloodbath caused by hatred against minorities and various religious groups. 

Therefore, it is important that the global community rein in tech companies that are ready to do anything for the sake of profit.

Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this piece are the writer's own and don't necessarily reflect Geo.tv's editorial policy.

The writer is a freelance journalist who can be reached at: [email protected]

Originally published in The News