The Internet is dying from fake news and propaganda, who will save it?
A few months ago I was browsing the propaganda cesspool that is now Reddit and came across a post from someone looking to solve the fake news problem using machine learning, blockchain technology, and artificial intelligence. I messaged them immediately, told them who I was and my experience and arranged a phone call. Turns out I was actually talking directly to the CEO and founder of DeepSee.io, Travis Garland. The next thing you know Travis and I spent the next 3-hours on the phone discussing everything from cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to alien conspiracy theories.
After our call it was clear to me that DeepSee.io needs to exist. Not for my own benefit, or even Travis’s benefit, but because the Internet today has a fake news and propaganda problem built on a mountain of misinformation. If you’re the mainstream media, an established social media celebrity with a large following, or run an established website you can pretty much push whatever propaganda you want online today even if it isn’t true.
Aggregation sites like Reddit used to use a democratic process for sorting content, but they have long since abandoned their values in exchange for clickbait, corporate propaganda, porn, power moderator users, and cute pictures of cats. Reddit now caters to the powers that be, censors content creators, and panders to the masses for the sake of engagement rather than trying to find the truth or the best high value content.
Meanwhile, sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Google have become corrupted by corporate and political interests as well as foreign investors, and no longer seek the truth. In fact, one of Twitter’s largest investors was a Saudi Prince who was just arrested for corruption, and both Twitter and Facebook are being funded by Russians.
With all that said, evil mega-corporations like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit use tools like machine learning not for the betterment of humanity, but instead to profit off us, distract us, put us in echo chambers, and brainwash the entire planet into believing in their false realities.
DeepSee.io the Solution to Fake News
The concept behind DeepSee.io is to use the same machine learning technology that is being used to brainwash our Facebook news feeds, and instead leverage this technology to promote high value content created by people instead of corporations. The plan is to use blockchain technology, similar to Bitcoin and sites like Steemit to create a transparent ledger for content and moderation. This will create a transparent platform of governance where the truth cannot be hidden. Machine learning algorithms can automatically detect and label propaganda for what it is: fake news.
This way DeepSee can create a content media aggregation platform that will become a beacon of truth rather than a platform for misinformation. Keep in mind, it is because of fake news that half the country was convinced Hillary Clinton was going to win the election, and that pedophiles and sexual abusers didn’t run Hollywood. If a platform like DeepSee.io existed during the 2016 election the people of the World would have had a tool to discover and discuss the truth based on democratic consensus, transparency, and verified against machine learning algorithms.
Not only will a platform like DeepSee combat fake news, but it will also become a platform that helps high value content creators who share valuable truthful information reach an audience. This will create a new distribution platform for content creators allowing them to be in control of their own content, reach larger audiences, and do so transparently without the risk of censorship.
That is why I think DeepSee.io needs to exist. The technology that these major tech companies are using against us is being used for evil, and it is time for a startup like DeepSee.io to come along and disrupt them and use these tools for good. The Internet needs a new platform based on new technologies to help us combat the fake news problem and seek truth. To do so, we need to challenge the existing systems by using the same technologies they’re using, but instead tweak them for truth.
If you oppose censorship, propaganda, fake news, being put in echo chambers, and monetized like cattle perhaps you should check out DeepSee.io which is currently in the process of raising funding to complete development of their platform. Their friends, family, and private token sale begins on November 14th, if you are an investor and are interested.
Travis and his team are hoping to raise money nontraditionally by leveraging an initial coin offering (ICO) instead of relying on the current system and powers that be. This way, his vision and what he and his team create does not become corrupted like everything else we were promised by the tech overlords.
Disclaimer: I have signed on to this project as an adviser because I think this is an awesome startup, haven’t really asked about compensation yet because ultimately I just want to see this exist. If I somehow benefit from this becoming successful in the future, then so be it.