Symbolic cryptoviolence in on-line social networks

Abstract On-line platforms, and on-line social networks in particular, have a great impact on the life and liberties of individuals, and on the society as a whole. In this paper, we will show that social networks exert a special kind of symbolic violence on their users. The notion of symbolic violence was introduced by Bourdieu and Passeron to denote the arbitrary imposition of norms as well as cultural and moral values by a dominant group (for instance, the school system and the teachers) on a dominated group (for instance, the pupils). If the school system can exercise this type of violence thanks to the authority vested in it by the political power, on-line social networks exercise it without any authority, thanks to their use of artificial intelligence to alienate and control their users, in combination with the natural mechanism of homophily. We characterize and describe as symbolic cryptoviolence this type of more hidden and subtle symbolic violence.