Social Media and Religion Emerge as Tools for Mass Psychology Manipulation, Says Justice Faloye

African Technology and Mass Psychology: A Critical Analysis

In a stark warning about modern information control, Prince Justice Faloye, president of the African Sociocultural Harmony and Enlightenment (ASHE) foundation, has highlighted how social media, religion, and emerging technologies are manipulating human psychology through controlled narratives and algorithms.

Faloye points to a concerning trend in which truly meaningful content struggles to reach audiences in today’s algorithm-driven world. “If Fela Kuti started off in this generation, he would live in the shadows of Wizkid, Davido and Burnaboy not because their music is more harmonic and socially beneficial, but due to algorithms of social media against anything anti-establishment,” he states.

This technological gatekeeping, according to Faloye, represents a sophisticated evolution of historical methods used to control African narratives. Where Fela once faced government persecution but could still sell his music on the streets, today’s artists face invisible digital barriers that can render critical voices effectively silent.

The problem extends beyond music to publishing and broader information dissemination. Faloye describes his shock upon discovering that publishing houses maintain restrictive categories that systematically exclude indigenous African philosophy. “The apparent African ignorance, decivilization and disunity was not inborn but deliberately social engineered,” he argues.

This information control reflects a long historical pattern, according to Faloye. He traces it back to the mass production of religious texts like the Bible, which he argues helped establish narratives that supplanted indigenous African knowledge systems. The Roman Emperor Constantine’s Nicene Council, he suggests, created a unified narrative that effectively whitewashed Black civilizational history.

Faloye draws parallels between these ancient methods of control and contemporary digital gatekeeping. He points to how religious texts were strategically deployed to manage colonial subjects, noting how Bishop Ajayi Crowther’s Yoruba Bible attacked African belief systems by labeling “Esu, the nearest equivalent to Jesus, as Satan.” Such reframing, he argues, helped to “kill the indigenous African Information system.”

In the modern era, radio and recorded music industries continued this pattern by commercializing and defanging Black music. While revolutionary forms like rap emerged from marginalized communities, Faloye notes how they were quickly countered with commercialized alternatives and reinforced by drug culture.

Social media represents the latest frontier in this struggle. While initially promoted as platforms for free speech, Faloye contends these digital spaces primarily amplify “idiotic consumerist and sexual speech” while sophisticated algorithms suppress revolutionary content.

He points to China’s approach as an instructive contrast. “Countries like China that understood the concept of mass psychology to conquer and enslave minds banned Facebook, Twitter and other Western social media infrastructure,” Faloye observes. “However African neocolonial guards aids them to continue African Civilizational Erasure.”

The consequences of this information control are profound. Faloye argues it has created generations susceptible to harmful economic policies and foreign intervention, drawing direct parallels to colonial-era justifications for external control. Without access to their authentic historical narratives, he suggests, African populations remain vulnerable to manipulation.

His warning carries particular urgency as digital platforms increasingly dominate global information flows. Unless Africa develops its own information technology infrastructure, Faloye believes Africans will remain “mentally enslaved to external imperialistic agendas.”

As digital transformation accelerates across the continent, Faloye’s analysis raises critical questions about who controls Africa’s digital future and whether these platforms will amplify or suppress authentic African voices.