As someone born and raised in British Columbia, I have followed closely as the provincial political party that ruled for most of my lifetime, the B.C. Liberal Party, changed its name to the B.C. United Party and withdrew themselves from B.C.’s upcoming election on 19 October. I could write a lengthy article about the incompetent (and possibly malicious) decisions of B.C. United and their leader, Kevin Falcon, but a recent PressProgress article outlines a story with significantly more relevance to Canadian society.
PressProgress’ article shares information from a B.C. United opposition research document on the B.C. Conservative Party, a fringe right-wing political party that has not won a single seat in B.C.’s parliament since 1975. The article reveals that over a third of B.C. Conservative candidates have made at least one social media post about their alt-right beliefs. When I refer to alt-right beliefs, I am referring to any social media post that falls under PressProgress’ categories of conspiracies and extremism, misogyny, racism or racial insensitivity, antisemitism, anti-2SLGBTQIA+, climate change and environment denialism, medical quackery, and U.S. politics. For a more comprehensive understanding of the alt-right, I highly recommend YouTuber @Innuendostudios’ video series The Alt-Right Playbook.
Canadians generally like to pretend that our liberal and multicultural values insulate us from alt-right politics popularized by the U.S. and their former president, Donald Trump. In reality, B.C. Conservative candidates’ social media posts illustrate how common these alt-right beliefs have become among provincial conservative political parties in Canada. With recent election polling data showing that a majority of people in B.C. support the B.C. Conservative Party, I believe it is necessary to evaluate how their alt-right views have become normalized in Canadian politics.
In reviewing B.C. United’s opposition research document, there is a clear link between alt-right politics and social media. By understanding the influences of social media companies and their algorithms, it becomes apparent how they have normalized alt-right politics in Canada. This understanding should make us mindful of how algorithms manipulate the public’s perceptions and empower us to demand legislative action to regulate them.
While our polarized political climate and other factors contribute to the proliferation of alt-right social media posts, I believe social media companies and their algorithms are the main culprits. Social media companies are for-profit corporations with one goal: increasing shareholder profits. With this goal in mind, social media companies encourage their users to engage with content for as long as possible so they can profit by bombarding their users with advertisements. To ensure users are addicted to their platforms, social media companies have programmed their algorithms to prioritize content users will spend the most time reading, liking, and commenting on.
For example, algorithms would deprioritize a post saying that Canadian healthcare is bad because most users are likely to quickly read it, not care about this benign comment, and move on. Conversely, algorithms may be more likely to prioritize a post that says “Canadian healthcare is a scam designed to control the population.” The irrational complexity of the statement is more likely to prompt users to like or comment, thereby creating a more sustained period of engagement. The profit incentive, coupled with the other emotional and financial incentives created by social media companies, rewards users who post emotionally triggering content. In this context, alt-right political commentary thrives because inflammatory opinions like “the government controls the weather” are inherently prioritized by social media algorithms.
There are two main reasons Canadians should view social media algorithms—or their current iterations—with skepticism. First, these algorithms popularize views that would not otherwise attract many adherents. Social media users who follow politics and come across alt-right content will believe these beliefs are widespread, not knowing they’re being promoted by an algorithm designed to generate engagement. This illusion of popularity creates a sense of reassurance among those who engage with such content—how detestable can these views be if they’re being parroted by the B.C. Conservative Party?
Second, the relevance of algorithmically boosted alt-right beliefs is harmful to Canadian society. I am not suggesting that conservative politics are harmful; alt-right politics deviate from mainstream conservatism through their vilification of minority groups as the single cause of Canada’s cultural and economic problems. For example, it’s much easier to blame immigrants for Canada’s housing crisis (a statement not supported by data) than to propose a solution considering our housing market’s economic and cultural nuances. These politics of hate and demonization persist in part because social media algorithms have lifted alt-right politics into the mainstream of Canada’s political discourse.
As a solution, Parliament should enact legislation that regulates social media algorithms so that content is sorted chronologically. Forcing algorithms to use an objective standard time to sort content would prevent social media companies from using algorithms to filter content based on its potential to generate engagement. Though this solution is a first step, a comprehensive solution is still needed. It would need to address the biases of social media algorithms without resorting to content moderation of political speech.
