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How Social Media Monetized Conspiracy, and Why It Must Be Stopped
A 3D-printed miniature model of Elon Musk and the X logo are seen in this illustration taken Jan. 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Most people do not understand how social media really works. They might think the loudest voices online are simply the most passionate or most informed. In reality, visibility is driven by something far more corrosive.
Social media monetizes attention, and attention is captured most reliably through outrage, fear, and suspicion.
This is not a side effect of the system. It is the system.
Algorithms are designed to keep users emotionally engaged because engagement translates directly into profit. Calm explanations do not spread. Nuance does not get clicks. What gets attention is provocation. What spreads is conspiracy. What pays is outrage.
This is how unsourced or false information turns into millions of dollars.
When tragedy strikes, facts take time. Investigations move carefully. But social media does not wait. Speculation is instant, and speculation generates outrage and views. Before truth can catch up, narratives harden, accusations circulate, and audiences are activated.
We saw this play out publicly after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. While authorities worked through the facts, a parallel economy of speculation exploded online. Unverified claims were promoted. Insinuations were framed as courage. Suspicion was sold as truth.
Most disturbingly, people closest to the tragedy were dragged into the storm.
Candace Owens used her platform to promote speculative and unsourced theories surrounding Kirk’s death, theories that cast suspicion on individuals without evidence. Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, publicly rejected these claims and pleaded for the conspiracies to stop. That moment laid bare the human cost of this system.
This was not investigative journalism. It relied not on sourcing or verification, but on suggestion, implication, and the familiar phrase “just asking questions.”
And it worked.
The videos generated views. The views generated revenue. The revenue incentivized more escalation. Restraint was punished. Recklessness was rewarded.
This is how social media monetizes harm.
The platform encourages content that provokes outrage, spreads fear, and poses a danger to others. Any negative consequences are irrelevant to the algorithm.
Social media has turned distortion into a business model. Families are harassed. Reputations are damaged. Entire communities are reduced to villains and symbols. Those pushing unsourced narratives profit. Those targeted absorb the cost.
This is not confined to Jews, although Jews know the pattern intimately. Antisemitism has always relied on conspiracy theories and dehumanization. Social media did not invent these lies, but it has industrialized them. What once spread slowly now spreads instantly, globally, and for profit.
But once a society accepts unsourced accusation as entertainment, no group remains safe. Dehumanization is endlessly reusable. Today it is one family. Tomorrow it is another.
Dehumanization lowers the psychological barrier to hostility. For individuals already unstable or isolated, these narratives can become justification.
This is why online hate cannot be dismissed as “just words.”
Social media companies insist they are neutral platforms. They are not. Their algorithms actively shape what people see and believe. They decide which content is amplified and which disappears. They intervene constantly, but always in the direction of profit.
Which brings us to the core problem. Nothing will change until the money stops.
People ask why certain influencers keep escalating their rhetoric. Why they repeat unsourced claims. Why they lean into conspiracy even when it harms real people. The answer is simple: it pays.
Telling people to “be responsible” does nothing when irresponsibility is being actively subsidized. You cannot lecture people out of conduct that is financially rewarded.
As long as platforms continue to monetize conspiracy, outrage, and dehumanization, those behaviors will dominate.
That must change.
Algorithms should not deepen distortion. They should correct it. If someone searches conspiracy theories, the system should surface verified reporting and factual rebuttals, not escalate paranoia. If someone engages with antisemitic tropes, the algorithm should counter them with history, data, and context.
And monetization must follow responsibility. People can say what they want. They do not have a right to be enriched for spreading hate, lies, and dangerous content.
This is not censorship. It is common sense.
Technology reflects values. Right now, social media reflects the value of profit over truth. If we want a different culture, we need different incentives.
The system was built this way. It can be rebuilt.
But only if we are willing to stop paying for the damage it causes.
Linda Sadacka is a noted political activist and community leader, serving as the CEO of the New York Jewish Council and founder of the charity Moms on a Mitzvah. Follow her on Instagram.
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Iran and US Views on Sanctions Relief Differ, Iranian Official Tells Reuters
Iranian women walk past an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, February 19, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iran and the United States have differing views over sanctions relief in talks to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday, adding that new talks were planned in early March as fears of a military confrontation grow.
Iran and the US renewed negotiations earlier this month to tackle their decades-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program as the US builds up its military capability in the Middle East, fueling fears of a wider war.
Iran has threatened to strike US bases in the Middle East if it is attacked by US forces.
“The last round of talks showed that US ideas regarding the scope and mechanism of sanctions relief differ from Iran’s demands. Both sides need to reach a logical timetable for lifting sanctions,” the official said.
“This roadmap must be reasonable and based on mutual interests.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday that he expected to have a draft counterproposal ready within days, while US President Donald Trump said he was considering limited military strikes.
READINESS TO COMPROMISE
While rejecting a US demand for “zero enrichment” – a major sticking point in past negotiations – Tehran has signaled its readiness to compromise on its nuclear work.
Washington views enrichment inside Iran as a potential pathway to nuclear weapons. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and wants its right to enrich uranium to be recognized.
Washington has also demanded that Iran relinquish its stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU). The UN nuclear agency last year estimated that stockpile at more than 440 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60% fissile purity, a small step away from the 90% that is considered weapons grade.
The Iranian official said Tehran could seriously consider a combination of exporting part of its HEU stockpile, diluting the purity of its most highly enriched uranium and the establishment of a regional enrichment consortium in exchange for the recognition of Iran’s right to “peaceful nuclear enrichment.”
“The negotiations continue and the possibility of reaching an interim agreement exists,” he said.
BENEFITS FOR BOTH SIDES
Iranian authorities have said that a diplomatic solution delivers economic benefits for both Tehran and Washington.
“Within the economic package under negotiation, the United States has also been offered opportunities for serious investment and tangible economic interests in Iran’s oil industry,” the official said.
However, he said Tehran will not hand over control of its oil and mineral resources.
“Ultimately, the US can be an economic partner for Iran, nothing more. American companies can always participate as contractors in Iran’s oil and gas fields.”
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Mike Huckabee’s Comments to Tucker Carlson on Israel and Middle East Land Draw Condemnation in Region
Tucker Carlson speaks on first day of AmericaFest 2025 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona, Dec. 18, 2025. Photo: Charles-McClintock Wilson/ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect
Comments by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee suggesting that Israel had a biblical right to much of the Middle East drew condemnation over the weekend from countries across the region, who called his remarks “dangerous and inflammatory.”
Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, has been a staunch supporter of Israel throughout his political career and a longtime defender of Jewish settlements in the West Bank – land which the Palestinians seek for a state.
In an interview with Tucker Carlson that was conducted on Wednesday in Israel and aired on Friday, the populist US talk show host asked Huckabee about Israel’s right to exist and about Jewish roots in the ancient land.
Citing the book of Genesis, Carlson asked whether the modern state of Israel had a right to the lands promised in the Bible by God to Abraham, stretching from the Euphrates River to the Nile, covering much of the Middle East. In response, Huckabee said:
“It would be fine if they took it all. But I don’t think that’s what we’re talking about here today.”
Huckabee added: “We’re talking about this land that the state of Israel now lives in and wants to have peace in, they’re not trying to take over Jordan, they’re not trying to take over Syria, they’re not trying to take over Iraq or anywhere else. They want to protect their people.”
In response, a joint statement condemning Huckabee’s comments was issued by the Palestinians and countries in the Middle East and beyond, including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan.
They said his comments were: “Dangerous and inflammatory remarks, which constitute a flagrant violation of the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and pose a grave threat to the security and stability of the region.”
A US Embassy spokesperson said Huckabee’s comments did not reflect any change in US policy and that his full remarks made clear that Israel has no desire to change its current boundaries.
Israeli officials did not immediately comment on the interview or the reaction from countries that signed the joint statement.
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Jack Hughes Makes History as 1st Jewish Male Athlete with Olympic ‘Golden Goal’
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Ice Hockey – Men’s Gold Medal Game – Canada vs United States – Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, Milan, Italy – February 22, 2026. Jack Hughes of United States scores their second goal in overtime to win gold. Photo: REUTERS/David W Cerny
i24 News – Jack Hughes made history on Sunday as the first hockey player widely recognized for both having a bar mitzvah and scoring an Olympic game-winning goal, leading the United States to its first men’s hockey gold medal since 1980.
The 24-year-old New Jersey Devils star from Orlando, Florida, scored early in sudden-death overtime to secure a 2-1 victory over Canada at the Milan Cortina Olympics. Hughes finished a cross-ice pass from teammate Zach Werenski, who had wrestled the puck from Canada’s Nathan MacKinnon.
“This is all about our country right now,” Hughes said. “I love the USA. I love my teammates. It’s unbelievable. The USA Hockey brotherhood is so strong.” Hughes also endured a high stick during the game, losing a couple of teeth but continuing to play.
The victory marked the first US win over Canada in a top-level men’s competition since the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. The win completed a US sweep of Olympic hockey gold, following the women’s 2-1 overtime victory against Canada on Thursday.
Hughes ended the tournament with three goals and three assists, contributing offensively even from a lower line. His older brother, Quinn Hughes, a Minnesota Wild defenseman, scored the US overtime winner against Sweden in the quarterfinals. Their parents, Jim and Ellen Hughes, were present for the celebrations.
Team USA also paid tribute to the late Johnny Gaudreau, who was killed in 2024 with his brother. Gaudreau’s jersey hung in the locker room throughout the tournament, and players carried it onto the ice after the medal ceremony. Two of Gaudreau’s children joined the team for commemorative photos.
Sunday’s match marked the third men’s Olympic gold medal game between the US and Canada, with Canada having won in 2002 and 2010. Hughes’ golden goal solidifies him as a historic figure in hockey, blending his Jewish heritage with Olympic triumph.