Digital Media's Algorithm Fuels Violence: A Growing Concern in Turkey

Sanal medya diye şiddeti fonladılar: Algoritma şiddeti körüklüyor!

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The algorithm prioritizes videos and visuals containing violence. As these are promoted, we face a structure that threatens young people.

The alarming rise in violent tendencies among children has become a critical concern in Turkey, prompting a closer look at the role of digital media. As tragic incidents involving young people escalate, virtual and digital media companies, along with the gaming industry, find themselves under intense scrutiny. While some attempts are made to attribute the problem to television broadcasts, the real issue appears to lie in the unchecked flow of digital content.

Children and adolescents are consuming videos from content creators without any oversight, particularly on platforms like YouTube, where much of the content is unfiltered. Bilişim Uzmanı (Information Technology Expert) Ali Murat Kırık highlights a disturbing trend: "The algorithm prioritizes videos and visuals containing violence. As these are promoted, we face a structure that threatens young people." This algorithmic amplification is not accidental; Kırık explains that platforms promote content that garners engagement, inadvertently rewarding and thus funding violent and polarizing material. This creates a dangerous feedback loop, where sensationalism fuels the algorithm, which in turn promotes more extreme content.

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The algorithm does this. If you promote violent content, I will promote you too. This means buying followers. This also means funding violence and polarization.

Furthermore, children are spending hours immersed in gaming and unregulated communication apps such as Discord and Telegram, often accessing games like PUBG and Roblox through VPNs despite bans in Turkey. This digital immersion, coupled with the normalization of violent and deviant content on these platforms, poses a significant threat. The economic dimension cannot be ignored either, as digital platforms continue to profit from advertising, indirectly financing the very content that is causing societal harm. The question now is whether Turkey will take decisive steps to regulate these platforms or allow the cycle of violence to continue its destructive path.

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It is a serious loss for the country as a whole. Advertising taxes collected from digital platforms are constantly decreasing.