Algeria Gate: Luxury cars, continuous travel, planes, luxury hotels, and a life that seems without financial limits… This is how some “influencer” accounts create an image of wealth on social media, turning display into content that attracts millions of views and creates the impression that quick money and sudden luxury have become a normal lifestyle.
But behind this shiny image, heavy criminal cases have begun to impose a more embarrassing question: does everything we see of displays of wealth on social platforms really reflect clear and legitimate sources of money?
The case of the network involving 228 kilograms of cocaine seized in Oran brings this question forcefully back to the forefront, after the case was linked to names and personalities known on social media, including the influencer Hammadi Chahrazed, known by the nickname “Chouchou.”
While the truth of any link to the criminal acts remains the competence of investigations and justice, the case has again highlighted the shocking gap between the image of luxury presented to the public and the reality that investigations may reveal in some files.
In this regard, information technology and artificial intelligence consultant Mohamed Cherif Zaidi said to “Algeria Gate” that the algorithms of social platforms such as TikTok do not judge whether content is good or bad, and do not necessarily know whether the wealth displayed by a person is real or artificial and fake, explaining that their work is based primarily on the logic of interaction.
Zaidi said the algorithm measures indicators such as video viewing time, whether the user completed it or not, rewatching, comments, sharing, and interaction with it, stressing that “the algorithm does not understand and has no emotion; it understands numbers.”
He added that the danger lies in the fact that content displaying a very luxurious life; cars, money, travel, and rapid and unusual success, arouses curiosity, comparison, and even controversy, and therefore obtains high viewing time and interaction. He noted that the more these signals increase, the more the algorithm may understand that the content is desirable and expand its reach.
Zaidi explained that the algorithm “is not built on what exists,” but on views and sharing, adding that the algorithm “does not ask the video owner: where did you get this money from?” but poses a technical question: “Is this video capable of keeping the user on the screen?”
He pointed out that content creators know what is called “value,” i.e., whether the content makes the viewer complete the video or not, considering that the matter can turn into a real social influence, especially on the youth category.
He said that young people’s daily exposure to dozens of models that link success to quick money, appearances, and sudden wealth “can, over time, reshape the hierarchy of values and social expectations,” so that studying, working, and building a project gradually; seen as a slow path; appear not to bring results, while rapid enrichment becomes the norm.
Regarding the description of the phenomenon as a “soft war,” Zaidi called for precise use of the term, stressing that “technically, we cannot consider every ostentatious piece of content as part of an organized war.”
However, he clarified that if it is established that there is organized and deliberate use of networks of accounts aimed at influencing public opinion, normalizing criminal behaviors, or luring young people into illegal activities, then the matter shifts, in his view, “from a mere social phenomenon to an issue related to digital security and even societal security.”
He added that if official investigations or judicial rulings prove that some owners of these accounts are linked to criminal networks, the problem becomes more serious, because the platform may have granted them; automatically or unintentionally, reach and influence over hundreds of thousands or millions of users.
On the legal and institutional side, Zaidi affirmed that there are already legal and institutional tools to deal with crimes committed using information and communication technologies, pointing to the existence of several laws related to the prevention and combating of crimes connected to information and communication technologies, in addition to the National Authority for the Prevention and Combating of these crimes, as well as the specialized national criminal hub for crimes related to information and communication technologies.
He also noted that the law includes provisions concerning the deliberate publication of false and malicious news and reports when the aim is to undermine public security or public order.
Yet Zaidi stressed that acting after the content has spread is no longer sufficient, saying: “We are in urgent need here of a shift to smart, risk-based monitoring, not comprehensive surveillance of users.”
He explained that this means developing early detection systems, affirming that Algeria has the capacities to implement these ideas and innovations, which can detect coordinated campaigns, networks that republish the same messages, and accounts that use fraudulent patterns and suspicious links, especially suspicious links, through the use of artificial intelligence and network analysis.
He also emphasized the need for mechanisms of legal coordination with the platforms, with the aim of preserving digital evidence, stopping the spread, and removing content when there are legal grounds for doing so.
Zaidi believes that one of the points that must be developed in the future is dealing with accounts that have large mass influence differently from ordinary accounts, particularly when it involves commercial or financial activity, through greater transparency regarding advertisements, commercial partnerships, and the sources of the offers being promoted, in addition to strengthening identity verification and combating fake accounts and networks.
In concluding his statement, Zaidi affirmed that “the battle is not only technical,” because the best algorithms alone cannot protect society, stressing the need for “law, detection technologies, cooperation with platforms, and professional media that is quick in verifying information.”
He added that the most important element is “digital education that makes young people understand that what they see on the screen is not necessarily a true reflection of its owner’s life.”
He concluded by saying that “the challenge today is not to ban social media, but to prevent the power of the algorithm from being turned from a tool of discovery,” clarifying that he means the discovery of content “into a tool exploited by misleaders, fraudsters, or criminal networks to reach young people and influence them.”
