Direct experimental tests of switching from algorithmic to chronological feeds consistently find no significant effect on affective polarization, contradicting the claim that algorithmic amplification of mainstream content drives measurable polarization.

[DEFENSE-REBUT → bz9opj] The Guess et al. (2023) experiment switching approximately 23,000 users from algorithmic to chronological feeds found no significant change in affective polarization despite substantially changing content exposure patterns. The Gauthier et al. (2026) experiment on X found that neither switching the algorithm on nor off significantly affected affective polarization, replicating the null across a different platform. The Piccardi et al. study recruited only users with at least 5% political posts via Prolific during an extreme political period, making its 2-point effect unrepresentative of standard algorithmic effects on the general population. Therefore, Direct experimental tests of switching from algorithmic to chronological feeds consistently find no significant effect on affective polarization, contradicting the claim that algorithmic amplification of mainstream content drives measurable polarization. (Warrant: When direct tests of algorithmic vs. chronological feeds at scale find null effects on affective polarization, observational engagement patterns do not establish that amplification produces population-level attitude change.)

• The Guess et al. (2023) experiment switching approximately 23,000 users from algorithmic to chronological feeds found no significant change in affective polarization despite substantially changing content exposure patterns.
• The Gauthier et al. (2026) experiment on X found that neither switching the algorithm on nor off significantly affected affective polarization, replicating the null across a different platform.
• The Piccardi et al. study recruited only users with at least 5% political posts via Prolific during an extreme political period, making its 2-point effect unrepresentative of standard algorithmic effects on the general population.

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• Is the absence of positive evidence strong enough to justify concluding ¬A, or only to justify withholding belief in A?Open
• Is the absence of evidence due to absence of investigation rather than to A's being false?Open
• Could disconfirming or null findings have been suppressed, unpublished, or systematically under-reported (file-drawer / publication bias)?Open
• Has the investigative regime actually been adequate (well-funded, well-powered, well-designed) to detect E if A were true?Open
• Could A be true but produce only a weak signal that escapes detection at the prevailing statistical thresholds?Open

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