Social Media Manipulation Threatens U.S. Elections

Since the 2016 election, social media companies have been under increased scrutiny for their role in spreading misinformation, sowing discord among voters, and undermining trust in our elections, the cornerstone of our system of self-governance. Now policymakers are examining whether government action is required. In the words of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to lawyers at Facebook, Google, and Twitter, “…do something about it — or we will.”

In their report titled “Is Social Media a Threat to our Democracy,” authors Anamitra Deb and Stacy Donohue of the Omidyar Network and Tom Glaisyer of the Democracy Fund examine six social media issues and their implications for America’s representative democracy: 1) echo chambers, polarization, and hyper-partisanship; 2) spread of false and/or misleading information; 3) conversion of popularity into legitimacy; 4) manipulation by “populist” leaders, governments, and fringe actors; 5) personal data capture and targeted messaging/advertising; and 6) disruption of the public square.

Their conclusion? The fundamental principles underlying democracy are being put to the test by social media and the monetization of public attention, often with unintended negative consequences.

We highly recommend a serious read of the Omidyar Group’s paper. And for those in a hurry, you can read Pierre Omidyar’s own summary in his Washington Post opinion piece: “6 ways social media has become a direct threat to democracy.”

“Our hope is that this research will serve as a starting point for social media leaders, policymakers, government officials and other key stakeholders to delve deeper into the impact this technology is having on our nation and, ultimately, to identify tangible solutions. This isn’t a partisan problem, and it’s not something any one person, company or government can fix.”

Spot on. From our standpoint, the business community wants to help advance this discussion — both as business leaders who support better government and those technologists among us who can help identify and put solutions into place in both the private and public sector.