COMPLOTISME ET CYBERNETIQUE A L’ÈRE DE LA POST-VÉRITÉ : L’IMPACT DES CHAMBRES D’ÉCHO SUR LA COMMUNICATION DÉMOCRATIQUE
CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND CYBERNETICS IN THE POST-TRUTH ERA: THE IMPACT OF ECHO CHAMBERS ON DEMOCRATIC COMMUNICATION

Summary/Abstract: Western democracies are today politically polarised to the extent that the notion of “post-truth” has emerged in the public sphere. Truth does not longer seem to be the ultimate goal to be achieved but is relegated to a malleable tool serving interests of all kinds, whether they relate to public opinion, ideology, emotion, belief or the economy. However, we believe that “post-truth” also stems from the construction of media communication within echo chambers, a model that academic literature closely associates with conspiracy theories. In this article, we will attempt to demonstrate that audiovisual media communication in France is, too, shaped by dynamics of information closure and the reinforcement of certain narratives, with the result of polarising public opinion and making the exchange of ideas difficult. We believe that cybernetics is the logic that fosters communication within echo chambers, both in conspiracy-theory discourse on the internet and in audiovisual media in France. The aim of this paper is to problematise the concept of “echo chambers” by demonstrating that it does not apply solely to conspiracy-theory-driven communication on the internet. By extension, we will also attempt to problematise the concept of “post-truth” by demonstrating that it does not stem solely from deliberate lies, but that the emergence of such a discourse is facilitated by a cybernetic architecture of information circulation. Drawing on an international and multidisciplinary body of literature we examine the concept of “echo chambers” by comparing the communication strategies of the French audiovisual sector with those of conspiracy theorists. Our findings, show that the French broadcast media tend to communicate in much the same way as online conspiracy theories, that is to say, within echo chambers, and that this organisation of communication is a symptom of cybernetic thinking.

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