Propaganda and Algorithmically Driven Persuasive Communication

with Alex Alvarová

It remains impossible to determine precisely how much the Cambridge Analytica Facebook data scandal influenced the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, despite extensive congressional investigations. Brad Parscale worked extensively with Facebook, according to insider whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams’ book, Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism. From the book by Canadian data genius Chris Wylie, who stood at the very birth of data harvesting and micro-targeting, it follows that these new methods of working with psychological data enabled the largest attempt at mass brainwashing in history. Chris Wylie, who became a whistleblower and described these methods in detail to both the U.S. Congress and the House of Lords, warned the entire world. Dangerous technologies had fallen into the hands of people who were far too simple to wield them responsibly. The personal data of millions of Facebook users was harvested without consent and used to construct psychographic profiles. Steve Bannon, who served on Cambridge Analytica’s board and acted as a senior adviser during that period, worked for Breitbart and later assumed the role of chief executive of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign at the insistence of the Mercers.

It was this relationship and more that Alex Alvarová explored in her 2021 fiction book Feeding The Demons: The Conquerors of America. The book was inspired by her research on Steve Bannon and his role in the 2016 election. The outcome is a political thriller that depicts America, Russia, organized crime, and how big data might have been used to influence significant elections. Alex also wrote the 2017 nonfiction work The Industry of Lies, an analysis of how Russia used the 2013 presidential election in the Czech Republic as a trial run to perfect its hybrid-warfare aggression for altering the outcome of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. She now teaches others how to recognize propaganda, increase data literacy, and defensive techniques against online attacks. Her new project, Radio Free America Prague, which she founded in collaboration with American writer and producer Natalie Kocab, launches in January.

Canaries in the Net and Data-Driven Persuasion

On her highly successful Czech podcast, Canaries in the Net, Alex co-hosts on topics surrounding digital propaganda and toxic algorithms. She combines her experience as a communication advisor to the chairman of the legislation committee in the European Parliament with the latest information on how digital space is becoming increasingly targeted. As one of the earliest to speak out about how digital information was being used to sway politics before 2016, she described herself as “one of those canaries in the coal mines”, giving an early warning of impending danger. She described the feeling of being overwhelmed by the information campaigns that we now understand create a technique of “flooding the zone” to destabilize. “At that time, we didn’t understand where it came from. It just came from everywhere, from social media, from news, newly built podcasts, and our news outlets.”

“The entire information space became unbelievably toxic,” she said of the time. She now understands that Russia was conducting a highly organized campaign to learn to destabilize systems of democracy. When her husband was offered a job in Vancouver, British Columbia, she decided to take the opportunity to relocate. I agreed with Alex about the KGB methodology of demoralization and raising anxiety, fear, distrust, and disgust, particularly against experts in science and democratic institutions. I described the technique she was referencing as their attempts to see what sticks, amplify, and overload methods, a technique used against the U.S., as well as other NATO countries. It is an intentional polarization that allows us to start seeing the enemy in our neighbors, friends, and family. This sets the population up to follow someone’s lead, and then a resource is provided.

Steve Bannon and Feeding the Demons

“Bannon is basically my nemesis. He’s doing the same job I tried to do ethically for years, but unethically for the other side,” Alex said. I noted that he was a communications propagandist and asked what she had found during her research into his life. “I collected a lot of his lifetime points I wanted to cover in the book. However, in the end, I didn’t have enough, and there were numerous theories to consider. I had a lot of explanation about what happened in between where I didn’t have enough meat,” she said. A colleague recommended that she based her book, Feeding the Demons, around a Bannon-like character to explore the topic better and fill in the gaps. Of Bannon, she said, “Everyone in America right now thinks, oh, he looks like a bum, and he must drink a lot, but that doesn’t mean he’s dumb. He’s one of the most intelligent people I’ve seen in the American information space in that job. He’s clever as hell.”

She described three life-changing events for Bannon, the first being a dirty campaign for Student Government president at Virginia Tech. “That was probably the moment when he learned how to break the rules and that nothing happens to the winner,” she said. Secondly, she noted his experience in learning about World of Warcraft farming from China and understanding that virtual gold could be sold for real money. Lastly, she emphasized the importance of Bannon’s meeting with David Bossie and his broader introduction to the Republican Party. Bossie is widely known for his role as president of Citizens United and would later join the Trump campaign as deputy campaign manager.

Educating on Algorithms and AI Persuasion

Alex and I agreed that educating people about cults, upcoming AI advances, and algorithmic persuasion methods should be a broader mission. We also discussed how topics like hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) can be powerful tools used for both healing and destructive authoritarian techniques, depending on how they are implemented. Of particular concern to Alex is the ability of AI bots to persuade. “AI scores in persuasion way higher than humans. They have AI bots, and the agents achieve significantly better scores in influencing a person within a certain timeframe, outperforming humans. So, they are masterful manipulators,” she noted.

In addition to education, we reminded listeners that as MAGA begins to crumble, they must be accepted back into society without shame. I advised listeners to reach out to family members who have been programmed, and without attack or argument, simply ask the question, “What do you think is going on?” Alex noted that she advises much the same in her lectures in the Czech Republic. “It’s not their fault. It could eventually happen to you. So just be kind. Don’t attack them, their gurus, their beliefs, their favorite politicians. Don’t attack, just ask questions, polite, neutral questions, that’s it,” she said.

Resources:

Alex Alvarova’s website

LinkedIn for Alex

Czech Podcast: Canaries in the Net

New Podcast coming soon: Radio Free America

Alex’s Substack:Mutiny of Mayhem Mother