Founder of the Respethica firm, teacher at ESCP Business School and Sciences Po, Pascale Thumerelle has just published Warming of spirits. The social responsibility of cultural industries (Actes Sud, 208 pages, 21 euros), a work in the form of a cry of alarm on the sometimes negative, and too often neglected, influence of hate and disinformation content on our psyche, and whose“brain imprint » is considerable. And a plea for better consideration by these multinational groups of their central role in social cohesion.
How do you define what you call “warming of minds”?
The warming of minds is a phenomenon caused by the excessive broadcast of hateful content, stereotypes, disinformation fueled by the distortion of facts, marketing practices harmful to children, which act as pollutants, harmful to individual development. and social cohesion. The digital age has amplified this evolution. Fox News admitted to having published fake news to please its audience in favor of President Donald Trump, defeated by Joe Biden. TikTok and YouTube are the target of investigations by the European Commission concerning their practices towards minors. Facebook/Meta, due to lack of rigorous moderation, did not remove messages that incited violence against the Rohingya and the responsibility of its algorithms was directly pointed out by an Amnesty International report.
So the cultural industries are responsible for this warming?
Through their offer of services or goods, their international influence and their business model, these industries have both positive and negative effects. They stimulate our curiosity, strengthen our judgment skills or, on the contrary, erode our critical thinking. The Internet itself becomes a medium, acts as a catalyst and accelerator of currents of emotion, reflection, delight, subjugation, anger, according to content providers and algorithms. This sector, which is so influential, both in terms of the income it generates and the jobs created – almost 8 million in Europe, twice as many as automobile manufacturing – is surprisingly little questioned about its societal impact.
This is what you called the “brain imprint”…
Yes, because if these companies generate a carbon footprint, their main effect is the creation of representations on the psyche of each individual. Realizing that this influence can affect the common good or contribute to it means demanding accountability from companies in the sector – media, press, video games, books, music, films, live shows, etc. – and questioning them about their reason for doing so. being, their governance, their shareholding, their investments and their responsibility to serve the culture that “gives man the capacity to reflect on himself”, according to the UNESCO definition [déclaration de Mexico, 1982].
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