Negative Effects of Social Media on Democracy

Extract

[...] Humanity & Society, Vol pp - 199. Guess Lyons B. (2020). Misinformation, Disinformation, and Online Propaganda. Social Media and Democracy: The State of the Field, Prospects for Reform. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, pp - 33. Institut Pasteur (2023). Coronavirus: beware of false information about COVID-19 circulating on social media https://www.pasteur.fr/fr/journal-recherche/actualites/coronavirus-attention-aux-fausses-informations-covid-19-circulant-reseaux-sociaux Kahne Bowyer B. (2018). The political significance of social media activity and social networks. Political Communication, Vol pp - 493. Leber Abrahams A. (2019). [...]

[...] However, social media platforms remain faced with the difficulty of dealing with machine-generated veracity (Guess et al., 2020). Leber et al. (2019) argue that conducting a disinformation campaign abroad is not only easy but also less costly. Instead of opening borders, the internet reinforces the power of a state. Countries such as Russia and Iran, for example, both have laws that are specifically designed to ensure state sovereignty over the use of the internet. Furthermore, social media platforms can be used as weapons beyond borders. [...]

[...] Negative effects of social media A. Spread of false information One of the main negative effects of social media on politics and/or democracy is the dissemination of false information and fake news. Social media platforms facilitate the rapid and large-scale spread of misleading and/or erroneous information, which can manipulate public opinion and undermine the credibility of leaders. The contagious nature of social media means that false information can spread quickly and reach a large number of people before it can be verified and rectified. [...]

[...] Polarization and division of society One of the other negative effects of social media on democracy is the way they can intensify the fragmentation and polarization of society. Social media algorithms have the ability to create echo chambers and filtering bubbles, where users are only exposed to information that corresponds to their existing beliefs. This can foster a lack of empathy and understanding towards those who hold divergent opinions, leading to an exacerbation of ideological divisions within society. Furthermore, the spread of false information and propaganda on social media can contribute to the polarization of society. [...]

[...] - References Baum, M. A., Potter, P. B. (2019). Media, public opinion, and foreign policy in the age of social media. The Journal of Politics, Vol pp - 756. Bessi, A., Ferrara, E. (2016). Social bots distort the 2016 US Presidential election online discussion. First Monday, Vol n° 11. Carney, N. (2016). All lives matter, but so does race: Black lives matter and the evolving role of social media. [...]