Share this page!

Elise Thomas Profile picture
Twitter logo
30 Apr, 4 tweets, 2 min read
I made a little GIF to show how Amazon's search auto-complete recommends conspiracy theories. If you select the Books category, type 'election' into the search bar and add a space, the one and only suggestion is 'election fraud'
Similarly, in the Kindle category, typing in just 'vaccines' results in being recommended anti-vax auto-complete suggestions.
Anyone searching for 'covid' in the Kindle category will also be recommended a bunch of conspiracy theories as auto-complete suggestions, from anti-vax to the Great Reset conspiracy theory.
At a time when other tech companies are coming under pressure about how their platforms amplify disinformation, Amazon has been flying under the radar despite its key role in the monetisation of this content. Time to start paying attention. isdglobal.org/isd-publicatio…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Elise Thomas

Elise Thomas Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @elisethoma5

Elise Thomas Profile picture
29 Apr
What happens when you take an algorithm designed to up-sell customers on gym equipment and gardening tools, and apply it to conspiracy theories, disinformation and white nationalism?

Spoiler: it's not good. Here's the latest from me with @ISDglobal. isdglobal.org/wp-content/upl…
For this research, I took a look at how Amazon recommends other books to users who visit a book landing page, for example the 'Customers who bought this item also bought' and 'Customers who viewed this item also viewed' panes.
To be clear, this is not a quantitative piece of research. It's intended as a qualitative walk-through to illustrate the issue, like kind of a Spotters Guide to Problematic Algorithms.
Read 13 tweets
Elise Thomas Profile picture
13 Apr
I've written a lot of weird stories, but this one with @bellingcat takes the cake. A loose thread turned into a tangled web, looping in Libyan money in Ghana, border-hopping in Montenegro, Russian lobbyists and some unexpected familiar faces bellingcat.com/news/2021/04/1…
This story started with one of the biggest double takes I've ever done. Scrolling through the site of a French human rights organisation, I came across 'Robert Comune', 'Pakolov Zbishik' and 'Wacław Kozakiewicz'. #Auspol Twitter users may also be double-taking right now.
In reality, 'Robert', 'Pakolov' and 'Wacław' are in fact current and former Australian politicians Scott Ludlam, Bob Brown and Adam Bandt.
Read 13 tweets
Elise Thomas Profile picture
17 Feb
Trying to share an ABC article via the URL
Trying to share an NYT article via URL
Trying to share an Infowars article, get the fact-check pop-up and then blocked
Read 13 tweets
Elise Thomas Profile picture
7 Jan
For me, the striking thing about so many of these images of rioters in the Capitol is that what they're doing - all of them - is creating content for social media.

At least in their minds, the true seat of power is not actually in that building. It's online.
Politics is always performative, but the nature of the performance has changed dramatically in just a few years. What we saw today was the sudden, violent disruption of one performance, the certification of electoral college votes, for another, wilder show.
They could have done anything in that building today. What they did, by and large, was take selfies and create social media content. That was what really mattered to them. Whatever higher motives they might claim, their actions suggest that was the real motive for many of them.
Read 4 tweets
Elise Thomas Profile picture
6 Jan
Twitter users openly calling for the 'day of the rope', a white supremacist fantasy ImageImageImageImage
That noose is made from camera wire. The Turner Diaries specifically references hanging journalists.
Read 4 tweets
Elise Thomas Profile picture
6 Jan
Do these people look like Trump supporters, yes. That's the QAnon shaman guy
mashable.com/article/qanon-…
QAnon Shaman is going to be quite hurt at the number of his compatriots who are pretending not to recognise him
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @elisethoma5 has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @elisethoma5!

Read all threads by @elisethoma5