[ESSEC Knowledge] by Guillaume Chevillon - Professor at ESSEC Business School ,Director of the ESSEC-CentraleSupélec Master in Data Sciences & Business Analytics.

The influence of social networks on the democratic debate is the consequence of the choices made by their algorithms rather than to the messages posted by specific individuals, however misleading they may be. Regulation of algorithmic recommendations is possible in order to limit their political influence.

The Brexit referendum and the US elections have shown the political influence that social media recommendation algorithms command. These days, the CEOs of Twitter and Facebook disagree about how best to react to Donald Trump's misleading interventions. Reasons are to be sought in the economic model of each of these companies, their influence and the specific dynamics of social networks. But are the solutions they advocate sufficient?

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