The Architect of Illusion Dissecting the Design of Digital Platforms as Machines for Producing Extremism – A Critical Analytical Study in Light of the Circular Model (CM-PIM)

Abstract This research transcends the ongoing debate surrounding extremist digital content to pose a more radical question: How does the engineering design of a digital platform transform from a merely neutral tool into a fundamental actor in the production of extremism and polarization? The study is grounded in the Circular Multi-level Propaganda Influence Model (CM-PIM), developed and published by the researcher (Al-Turfi, 2026), as an analytical framework demonstrating that extremism is not an anomaly but rather the natural outcome of a profit-driven equation based on maximizing dwell time and emotional engagement. The research adopted a critical analytical methodology, utilizing a "Design Content Analysis Card" to examine a purposive sample of the most influential design components across Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Through three axes, the research analyzes the design mechanisms that transform the user into an extremist "product" and reveals how these mechanisms embody the levels of the Circular Model (CM-PIM) in practice. The research concludes that digital extremism is the inevitable output of a profit-driven machine, and that dismantling this machine necessitates structural interventions, not merely awareness-based ones.