‘Something That’s Frightening’: Robert Epstein Warns Against Big Tech Manipulation

The Epoch Times Header

Robert Epstein has been researching and looking at how the biggest tech companies influence human behavior, and conducting extensive monitoring projects of bias in these companies’ products, with a particular focus on Google.

Epstein, a senior research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology in California, called his findings “frightening” because of the tech companies’ ability to manipulate and change people’s behavior on a global scale.

“Now put that all together, you’ve got something that’s frightening, because you have sources of influence, controlled by really a handful of executives who are not accountable to any public, not the American public, not any public anywhere. They’re only accountable to their shareholders,” Epstein told Epoch TV’s “American Thought Leaders” host Jan Jekielek during a recent interview.

“And yet they hold in their hands the power to change thinking behavior on a massive scale, the power in close elections anyway, to pick the winner in the country after country after country.”

Epstein said that Google’s search engine shifted 2.6 million to 10.4 million votes to Hillary Clinton over a period of months before the 2016 election, and later shifted at least 6 million votes to Joe Biden and other Democrats.

“We calculated at one point that as of 2015, upwards of 25 percent of the national elections in the world were being controlled, being determined, by Google’s search algorithm,” he said.

Epstein is making these comments after conducting rigorous studies, spanning almost a decade, and managing to document ephemeral experiences of manipulation on Google and other companies’ platforms.

He said ephemeral experiences, such as a flashing newsfeed, a search result, or a suggested video, are the ideal form of manipulation because they aren’t recorded and are hard to document.

“They affect us, they disappear, they’re stored nowhere, and they’re gone,” Epstein said. “People have no idea they’re being manipulated, number one, and number two, authorities can’t go back in time to see what people were being shown, in other words, how they were being manipulated.”

By Masooma Haq and Jan Jekielek

Read Full Article on TheEpochTimes.com

The Epoch Times
The Epoch Timeshttps://www.theepochtimes.com/
Tired of biased news? The Epoch Times is truthful, factual news that other media outlets don't report. No spin. No agenda. Just honest journalism like it used to be.

Columns

Trump’s EO to Reduce Drug Prices Explained

Trump signed an Executive Order to bring the prices Americans pay for prescription drugs in line with those paid by other nations around the world.

Parents of Autistic Children Weigh In on RFK Jr.’s Plan to Find the Cause

‘The bottom line is we want the truth. We want safe products for our kids,’ said an Ohio dad with an autistic child.

Fighting the Idiocracy

Despite our country's noble efforts to defend freedom and liberty across the globe we now find ourselves defending democracy against idiocracy.

Recent Sun Activity Could Trigger Major Earthquakes

A number of scientists around the world are sharing concerns about an imminent global seismic event.

Bioterror Roundup: RFK Jr. Plotting to Genocide Autistic People?

Bioterror Propaganda Roundup: The latest updates on the “new...

News

Lawsuit Alleges Musk, Election PAC Failed to Pay Swing State Petition Signers

Lawsuit filed against Musk and his PAC accuses them of failing to pay registered voters in swing states for signing petition supporting candidate Trump.

Trump Weighs In on Supreme Court Case Involving Birthright Citizenship

President Trump weighed in on the U.S. Supreme Court hearing arguments in a case involving his order to limit birthright citizenship.

DOJ Charges High-Ranking Sinaloa Cartel Suspects With ‘Narco-Terrorism’

Feds charged alleged leaders of Sinaloa cartel’s Beltran Leyva Organization with narco-terrorism, terrorism support, and international drug trafficking.

Judge Orders HHS to Restore Jobs in Health Monitoring Program for West Virginia Coal Miners

West Virginia federal judge ordered HHS to reverse terminations of nearly 200 workers who oversee a health monitoring program for coal miners

Trump Admin Urges Supreme Court to Permit DOGE Access to Social Security Records

The DOJ urged the Supreme Court on May 13 to let the DOGE have access to Social Security data after lower courts blocked that access.

Deported Mother Who Took 2-Year-Old US Citizen Child With Her Drops Lawsuit Against Trump Admin

Lawsuit against Trump admin alleging it deported an illegal immigrant and her 2-year-old U.S. citizen child to Honduras without due process is being dropped.

Federal Judge Says Trump’s Invocation of Alien Enemies Act Was Legal

Federal judge in PA has ruled that President Trump validly invoked the Alien Enemies Act as part of an effort to deport Venezuelan gang members.

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Wisconsin Judge Accused of Helping Illegal Immigrant Evade ICE

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was indicted by a federal grand jury after being arrested and accused of helping an illegal immigrant evade ICE.
spot_img

Related Articles