Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Tech companies are manipulating our elections and indoctrinating our children

The globalist agenda

A permanent, self-sustaining monitoring system such as America's Digital Shield is the answer to how we can stop Big Tech manipulation.

Published 11 October 2023
– By Robert Epstein
Photo: Pexels
7 minute read
This is an opinion piece. The author is responsible for the views expressed in the article.

Big Tech companies are deliberately manipulating the outcomes of our elections and the thinking and beliefs of our children. And they are having an enormous impact.

If you doubt that, consider this latest snippet of data from my lab, the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology (AIBRT).

Consider this: The GOP currently has a slim 10-seat majority in the House of Representatives. Without Google’s interference in 2022, it would likely now have a majority of more than three times that size.

The 2022 midterm elections that gave the Democrats a two-vote majority in the U.S. Senate had quite a bit of help from Google, and, to a lesser extent, from a couple of other major tech companies.

If Google had not interfered in the 2022 midterm elections, the GOP would likely have ended up with a Senate majority of at least two seats.

The Big Tech companies that exploded into existence over the past 20 years — as some of their prominent insiders have stated – have undermined our democracy, indoctrinated our children, and increasingly turned our freedom into an illusion.

Tristan Harris, a former “design ethicist” at Google, has warned that “the tech industry is creating the largest political actor in the world, influencing a billion people’s attention and thoughts every day.” Jaron Lanier, a computer scientist and one of the early investors in Google and Facebook, claims that Big Tech content has “morphed into continuous behavior modification on a mass basis.” Another early investor in these companies, the prominent author and venture capitalist Roger McNamee, has said that he now regrets having financed them, and asserts that they constitute “a menace to public health and to democracy.”

Rigorous Research

Such concerns are valid and the Senate numbers correct: we have been using rigorous, scientific methods to study Google and other tech companies for more than 10 years. During this time, we have discovered and quantified about a dozen powerful new forms of influence that the internet has made possible. We have also developed and deployed monitoring systems that track, record, and analyze the personalized content that Google and other tech companies send to voters and children 24 hours a day – in other words, we are monitoring their systems and doing to them what they do to us.

Our basic scientific, peer-reviewed studies clearly show the power that Google and other companies have to alter thinking and behavior. Our monitoring systems confirm that these companies are actually using these techniques, as confirmed by company whistleblowers, as well as by leaks of documents, emails, videos, and other materials from Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

The techniques we have discovered – the Search Engine Manipulation Effect, the Answer Bot Effect, the Targeted Messaging Effect, and others – can easily shift the opinions and voting preferences of undecided voters by between 20% and 80% after just one manipulation. Google can also repeat these manipulations many times over a period of months prior to an election.

Assuming the effects of these techniques are additive, Google can likely produce even larger shifts in opinions and voting preferences than the ones from a single manipulation used just once.

Google also knows exactly who is vulnerable to these manipulations – who is still undecided before Election Day, for example – so they can target and bombard just the right people on a massive scale 24 hours a day.

Our research has shown repeatedly that the manipulations used can make them invisible to people, and can often produce shifts of 40% or more in the voting preferences of undecided voters without anyone having the slightest idea they have been manipulated. They feel free, even while they are being strongly controlled. As one journalist wrote, “It really is the perfect crime.”

Finally, our research measures the influence of “ephemeral experiences” — their term — meaning content that is seen briefly, affects the user, and then disappears forever, leaving no paper trail for authorities to trace, Most online content – search results, newsfeeds, video sequence, and so on – are ephemeral.

Can Google deliberately use ephemeral content to manipulate people? You bet. If you doubt that, read this 2018 article from the Wall Street Journal about some leaked emails from the company. In that email exchange, Googlers are discussing how they might use “ephemeral experiences” to change people’s views about Trump’s temporary 2017 travel ban on visitors from seven majority-Muslim countries.

Rapidly Growing Monitoring Capabilities

In the days leading up to the 2022 midterms, the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology monitored Big Tech content through the computers of 2,742 registered voters in 10 swing states, and preserved more than 2.5 million ephemeral experiences – data that is normally lost forever – on Google and other platforms.

We preserved overwhelming evidence of Google’s manipulations on their search engine, on their video recommendations on YouTube (owned by Google), and even on their homepage on Election Day. On that day in Florida, for example, 100% of liberals received go-vote reminders on their version of Google’s homepage (Figure 1), but only 59% of conservatives did (Figure 2).

The Tried and Tested Solution: a Permanent, Self-Sustaining Monitoring System

Google can, overall, easily shift the votes of between 20-80% of undecided voters; right now, that is about 40% of the electorate. This could be enormously consequential. By mid-2024, 20% of voters will likely still not have made up their minds on who to support. At that point, Google will still be able to shift up to 80% of the votes of those individuals — or up to 16% percent of the electorate.

If, in 2024, 158 million people cast ballots, as they did in 2020, it means Google could likely shift the votes of between 6.4 and 25.5 million people, thereby easily controlling the outcome of any election in which the projected win margin is less than 4%. No laws or regulations are in place to stop them, but our monitoring can. We are monitoring their systems and doing to them what they do to us. When the Big Tech companies know that their manipulations are being watched, they back off. It has already worked to completely shut down manipulations in one important election.

On November 5, 2020, three U.S. Senators sent a strong warning letter to the CEO of Google expressing concern about the extreme political bias our monitoring system had detected in the days leading up to the presidential election – bias sufficient to have shifted at least 6 million votes to Joe Biden.

As a result, Google immediately shut down its election manipulations in the two upcoming Senate runoff elections in Georgia.

We were monitoring Google content through the computers of a politically-balanced group of more than 1,000 registered voters in that state. Go-vote reminders ceased, and so did bias in Google search results.

In other words, monitoring, combined with political pressure from our leaders and our public, can and will force Google and other tech companies to stay clear of our elections and our children. It will also give legislators, regulators, and litigants the ammunition they need to challenge both the company and its executives in court.

Since 2016, we set up six election monitoring systems, for only the weeks leading up to each election. After the 2022 midterms – with the results being so blatant and disturbing – we decided that the time had finally come to set up a permanent monitoring system in all 50 states – a $50 million project that we were able to launch with $3 million in donations from some patriotic Americans.

Without a permanent system like this in place, we will never know the extent to which Google-and-the-Gang are messing with our elections, our kids, or even with our own heads.

Yes, they do mess with us. As explained in “How Google Stopped the Red Wave,” whenever you see online content screaming about Democrats who have perpetrated widespread ballot harvesting or ballot box stuffing, you are being manipulated by Google-and-the-Gang. It is their algorithms – controlled very precisely by their employees – that decide what content goes viral and what content is suppressed. If stories about other election irregularities are spreading like wildfire online and then being echoed on the news, it is because Google-and-the-Gang want them to. Why?

So you will not look at them – at the tech companies themselves.

As of this writing, we are preserving and analyzing Big Tech content through the computers of a politically-balanced group of 9,838 registered voters in all 50 states, and we have met our minimum “representative sample” thresholds in 5 states. We are also now monitoring and preserving content – some of which is quite alarming – through the phones and mobile devices of children and teens.

Best of all, we have now preserved more than 25 million ephemeral experiences on Google and other platforms – content that is normally lost forever. Our goal is to make our findings available to the public in real time, 24 hours a day, through dashboards such as America’s Digital Shield.

The problem is: unless we can find additional major funding soon, we will have to start scaling down our effort in August and may have to shut it down completely soon after.

If this type of election interference continues unmonitored and unchallenged, could the GOP itself – and ultimately all of American democracy – become ephemeral experiences?

 

Dr. Robert Epstein

 


Note from the author: If you are concerned about the dangers the Big Tech companies pose to our democracy, our children, and our autonomy, please contribute at https://MyGoogleResearch.com. All donations are fully tax-deductible.

Robert Epstein earned his Ph.D. at Harvard University in 1981. He is currently Senior Research Psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology. He has published 15 books and more than 300 articles in both mainstream media outlets and scientific journals, among them, Science, Nature, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. He is the former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today magazine and was a longtime contributing editor at Scientific American. His 2019 Congressional testimony about Google can be viewed at https://EpsteinTestimony.com. To support or learn about his work, visit https://MyGoogleResearch.com or https://TechWatchProject.org.

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Merz: Defiant EU nations could be hit with economic punishment

The globalist agenda

Published 28 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Merz at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year.
2 minute read

German Chancellor and former BlackRock executive Friedrich Merz is threatening to support a freeze on EU funding for Slovakia and Hungary if the countries continue to oppose EU leaders’ sanctions policy against Russia.

On Monday, Merz removed restrictions on Ukraine’s use of German long-range weapons deep inside Russia, a decision the Kremlin described as a “serious escalation”. Slovakia and Hungary have also taken a critical stance toward the West’s policy in the Ukraine war.

However, Merz does not appreciate the criticism and issued a clear warning to Bratislava and Budapest, stating that EU countries considered to be in breach of the rule of law could face infringement proceedings.

– Withdrawing European funds is always an option… If it is necessary, then we will deal with it, he added.

He also emphasized that “we cannot allow the decisions of the entire EU to depend on a small minority” and hinted that there could be “clearer words and possibly also harder conflicts” if the two countries do not change course.

“The end of democracy in Europe”

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán have long criticized EU leaders for prolonging the war with military and economic support for Kiev without any visible progress.

Fico, who survived an assassination attempt in May 2024, has taken a more neutral stance than his predecessors since coming to power in 2023. Under his leadership, Slovakia has reduced its military support for Ukraine and promised to veto new EU sanctions that could damage the country’s economy. Fico has also visited Moscow twice since December to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which has sparked anger and criticism from both the EU and NATO.

The Slovak prime minister rejected Merz’s threat to withdraw funding and called the attack unacceptable.

– If someone wants to push a policy where only one opinion is allowed, that’s the end of democracy in Europe, he told reporters during a visit to Armenia on Tuesday.

“Not the path to unity and cooperation”

He argued that a policy where only one opinion is allowed is as dangerous for Europe as a third world war, and that German leaders must accept that not everyone shares their views.

Slovakia is not a little schoolchild that needs to be lectured. Slovakia’s sovereign positions do not stem from vanity, but are based on our national interests“, Fico stated, continuing:

When you hear such aggressive remarks, it feels like we are not heading into good times. The words of the German Chancellor are absolutely unacceptable in modern Europe. If we don’t obey, are we to be punished? This is not the path toward cohesion and cooperation”.

Pro-NATO candidate wins dramatic re-election in Romania

The globalist agenda

Published 19 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Nicusor Dan celebrates the election victory with his supporters.
2 minute read

Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, an outspoken supporter of the EU and NATO, has won the Romanian presidential election after an intense and polarized campaign. With just over 54 percent of the vote, he defeated his national conservative challenger George Simion.

The re-election was held after Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled the original election last fall. The independent candidate Calin Georgescu initially led by a large margin, but the election was later declared invalid due to alleged Russian interference, accusations that have not yet been proven.

The ensuing political crisis has been described as the deepest in Romania in decades. George Simion (AUR), who has spoken out against further military support for Ukraine and suggested appointing Georgescu as prime minister, won the first round of the re-election with a clear lead.

Nicusor Dan, an independent centrist liberal with a strong EU profile and advocate for NATO, has received support from, among others, Moldovan President Maia Sandu and a majority of pro-EU leaders.

According to preliminary official results, Nicusor Dan has won with approximately 54 percent of the vote. George Simion congratulated his opponent and commented that the election “reflects the will of the Romanian people”, even though he had previously questioned the election process.

Nicusor Dan thanked his supporters for their “outstanding mobilization” and promised to work for a “united and honest Romania” with respect for the law and citizens’ rights.

Allegations of interference from both East and West

Allegations of an illegitimate election process and influence campaigns from both the West and the East have characterized the election campaign, contributing to a sense of mistrust and uncertainty among voters.

George Simion has also accused Moldovan authorities and media of conducting an illegal campaign to favor Dan among voters with dual Moldovan and Romanian citizenship, something Moldova has denied. At the same time, Romania’s security services have warned of Russian influence, particularly in connection with the disqualified candidate Georgescu, allegations that Moscow has rejected.

 

 

Telegram founder Pavel Durov also recently claimed that France had attempted to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of the re-election by pressuring the platform to block political channels. Durov stated that they had refused and called the attempt a threat to freedom of speech.

Polish presidential candidate burns EU flag: “Down with Eurocommunism”

The globalist agenda

Published 13 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Grzegorz Braun has become world famous for his controversial and spectacular actions.
2 minute read

Grzegorz Braun, Polish presidential candidate and Member of the European Parliament, burned the EU flag outside the historic Wujek coal mine in Katowice last week.

The action, which was shared on social media, was carried out as a dramatic protest against what Braun calls the EU’s “bureaucratic tyranny” and “ideological occupation” of Poland.

In a video posted on Braun’s official channels, he is first seen tearing down an EU flag inside Poland’s Ministry of Industry in Katowice, wiping his shoes on it, and then setting it on fire outside the building. In the text accompanying the video, he wrote: “Down with Eurocommunism! This is Poland”.

– We will never in Poland exhibit signs against us of an enemy organization. This organization has led to the liquidation of Poland, such emblems are not surrounded by any protection of rights in Poland, he declared.

According to Braun, the flag burning is a symbol of resistance to the EU’s environmental policy, which he believes threatens Polish industry.

– This is Poland, not Brussels! We will not tolerate symbols of hostile structures, the politician shouted during the protest.

During a press conference, Braun argued that the EU is forcing political measures on Poles that are killing the country’s traditional industries and attempting to erase Poland’s national identity. The Wujek coal mine, a symbol of Polish labor and energy, was deliberately chosen as the setting to highlight the historical contrast with the EU’s climate agenda.

A controversial figure

Braun’s action is part of his Eurosceptic campaign ahead of the Polish presidential election, in which he continues to describe the EU as an “occupying power” and focuses particularly on attacking what he sees as supranational interference in national decisions. However, Braun only has between 1 and 3 percent of voter support in opinion polls, making his chances of becoming president highly unlikely.

The incident occurred after the European Parliament decided to lift his parliamentary immunity, allowing him to be prosecuted for an incident in December 2023. At that time, Braun used a fire extinguisher to extinguish Jewish Hanukkah candles in the Polish parliament – an act that attracted a great deal of attention.

– The people participating in the Satanic cult should be ashamed, he declared in connection with the incident.

The Nordic Times also drew attention to Braun earlier this year when, during the European Parliament’s annual memorial service for the victims of the Holocaust, he chose instead to focus on the ongoing genocide in Gaza, but was shortly thereafter escorted out of the chamber.

Klaus Schwab under investigation for corruption – by his own globalist organization

The globalist agenda

Published 24 April 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Schwab denies all allegations - and threatens to sue the board if they proceed with the investigation.
2 minute read

Members of the Board of Directors of the infamous World Economic Forum confirm the launch of a formal investigation against founder Klaus Schwab.

Whistleblowers accuse the globalist forum’s frontman of widespread corruption, including using the organization’s money for private cash withdrawals, massages, nights in luxury hotels and expensive trips abroad.

Yesterday, Schwab resigned with immediate effect after having led the powerful organization in Davos since 1971. The reason, reportedly, is a letter from a whistleblower raising alarm about serious financial and ethical misconduct – in which the 87-year-old and his wife are accused of systematically funding their exclusive private lifestyle with the organization’s donations.

For example, the Villa Mundi, located near the WEF headquarters in Geneva, was allegedly used privately by the Schwab family – even though it was purchased for the equivalent of €50 million of the organization’s money.

In addition to luxury consumption, Schwab is also said to treat his employees unacceptably – women close to him have reportedly been treated particularly badly.

The allegations have been deemed so serious that Schwab is now being investigated by the organization he himself once founded – and the board confirms that it has called in several legal experts for the purpose.

In a statement, the WEF says it “takes the allegations seriously” – but is careful to stress that these are as yet unproven and that it “will await the outcome of the investigation to comment further”.

Threatens to sue the board

Klaus Schwab himself denies all the allegations and claims they are completely unfounded. He claims that he has not misappropriated the forum’s assets at all and has also threatened to sue the board if they choose to proceed with the investigation.

In this context, it should be mentioned that Schwab is generally considered one of the world’s most high-profile globalists and technocrats – and The Nordic Times has over the years highlighted his activities in a series of articles.

He has often been recognized as a horror example of the international elite’s plans for the world – for example, when he proclaimed that his disciples are “penetrating the cabinets” of world’s governments or that “the fourth industrial revolution will lead to a fusion of our physical, digital and biological identities“.

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