I learned to think as a “conspiracy”, so that the algorithms would take me to the bubble of misinformation. What I discovered
As after each round of presidential elections in Romania, the discussion about “national reconciliation” appears, about the need to build bridges between the two Romanians, one of them being captive in the conspiracy circles of social networks.
I do not think we can rebuild national trust with naive messages of type “to be good with each other”. This generalized optimism, although well -intentioned, ignores reality. You cannot fight years of propaganda and sophisticated manipulation on social networks, with smiles and peace speeches.
The reconstruction of social confidence needs a scientific, multi -sectoral strategy, with emphasis on education, social psychology and information hygiene. State authorities must be involved in order to build this strategy and apply it.
The reality is that part of the society is trapped in the net of a well -organized misinformation network, which exploits the collective fears to produce hatred and radicalization.
From the television break, to cry in hiccups
This part of the society I watched for months on social networks, listened to it and analyzed it. Is part of the captive society. It was not easy to get in the middle of this bubble that I didn't know much about until the November 2024 elections. There are huge faults in society, so it is extremely difficult for the two Romanians to interact. I had to learn to think as a “conspiracy” so that the algorithms on the social networks would also come to me and introduce me among those exposed to misinformation.
This is how I learned that nothing changes these people the beliefs modeled by conspiracy networks. Contrary to many opinions, not poverty is the big problem demanded by them, many earn far above the average of the country, even boast about their income, but fear. An irrational fear, cultivated in years.
No rational argument works when fear is already installed
Fear is a powerful catalyst. Conspiracies about vaccines, “stripes in the sky” or “sexualization of children” are created to arouse exactly this fear, which completely cancels the reasoning capacity.
They are blinded with conspiracy theories, they have many unjustified fears, such as “forcing children to enter LGBTQ” or “mass extermination”, through vaccinations and spread of toxic substances with the help of airplanes. From here everything begins, from their fears, which are already strongly rooted in the collective mind.
In the context of the presidential elections, two major themes were massively exploited on social networks, especially on Tiktok: if they do not win the “sovereigns”, our children will be the victims of LGBTQ propaganda and will be sent to war. In this propagandistic war, no rational argument works when the fear is already installed in the brain of these people.
I watched their reactions after losing the elections George Simion, the exponent of the “sovereigns”. Some of these reactions were disproportionate, we saw pictures of people who were breaking TVs, who were cutting their identity documents and crying, claiming that from now “our children are in danger”, “will take our children to war” or “will force them to be LGBTQ.” In their minds, the image of Nicușor Dan is associated with these fear.
The media “literacy” – an emergency
We will not repair this break in society with slogans about empathy, but with government, systemic and durable measures, based on studies, meant to destroy misinformation networks and to educate the population. It is necessary to be gathered at the table specialists in communication, psychologists, neuroscience specialists, data analysts, digital marketing specialists, etc. and to develop a government strategy.
If we really want reconciliation and reconstruction, we must start with the most important pillar: education. It is necessary to urgently introduce digital education and average in schools, starting from the gymnasium. A separate, mandatory matter, by which students learn to identify false news, understand the mechanisms of manipulation and build their critical thinking.
The media “literacy” is essential in the fight against misinformation. It is also an emergency, especially since generations have already formed that do not know how to separate the truth of fiction.
Digital education, the regulation of the information space, the sanction of those who misinforms with bad faith and the promotion of critical thinking are the only real bridges that can be built between the two Romanians.
Misinformation, a well -organized industry
Misinformation has become an industry, the raw material being the human mind, the pre -existing emotions being massively exploited. People are served daily narratives meant to maintain their faith in conspiracy theories and to radicalize. It is a huge manipulation network, well coordinated, which exploits people's emotions and vulnerabilities.
The case of the EvarS educational program in France, regarding the introduction of hygiene and health notions, is revealing. First, a false appears, that France would have legalized pedophilia, targeted being kindergarten and primary classes. Then, the false is disseminated anonymously, after which it is validated by the conspiracy influencers on the social networks. In the “sovereign” bubble, I often encountered the message that the EVARS program will be adopted, if George Simion does not win.
The tactic is simple, it appears as false information, it is massively spread in the form of a rumor, then it is validated by a person with many followers. The quantity, not the quality of the information, matters, and the more distributed, more varied and faster, the more efficient the manipulation is. It is a Russian propaganda technique “Firehose of Falsehood” (the lies hose), which also wrote journalists from context in an article regarding how the conspiracy theories are spread. There are misinformation methods used by Russia, for the benefit of the far right, in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including Romania.
Sometimes, even people with public functions contribute to the validation of conspiracy theories. Former deputy Mihai Lasca sent, two years ago, to the Civil Aeronautical Authority an interpellation in which he asked to explain what the white lines are in the sky, feeding the theory that the airplanes spray chemicals over the population, not as normal condensation.
Another case is that of the doctor from Iași Răzvan Constantinescu, famous for the spread of fake news and anti-vaccine theories and intensely promoted by the Russia Today International television. Being a doctor, many people cannot conceive that they can misinform with bad faith.
Fear of society and manipulation on their behalf can only disappear with education, verified information, rational public discourse and coherent public policies. Thus, a manipulated people does not calm down with vague exhortations to “national unity”, but with firm and well thought out interventions.
