Politics, Democracy, and the Internet
Of all the organisations and sectors I could’ve chosen, I decided to go for the government and politics. In recent years, I just think there’s so much that’s changed; we’ve had a shift from rallying in person to debates on national tv, to MEMES on Instagram explore pages. It’s affected all of us, the voters, running candidates, and those currently in office. Let’s have a look into the extent at which it has transformed the sector, and whether this is a change for the better. With many forms of digital marketing now viable, I have chosen to concentrate on the internet as the main digital platform.
The Impact of the Digital World:
Pre-election campaign fun!
The total amount of the campaign budget being spent online has increased from 24% in 2015 to 43% in 2017 according to the Electoral Commission. With younger and more progressive politicians going for the younger demographic, it shouldn’t be surprising to find politicians on TikTok, yet it still surprised me. Not only that, but there were also supporters posting snippets from debates and other events to show how “awesome” their candidate is. I do see the benefit of this; the use of digital platforms — from tv to TikTok enables a candidate to reach much further than simply standing in a square and handing out flyers, plus the algorithms on sites such as TikTok ensures the videos are viewed by the target audience. There are, however, many opportunities for politicians to use these platforms in a not-so democratic way, which we will discuss more on.
Of the People, By the People, For the People
In a democracy, ideally everyone has a voice, and uses this voice. They have all the information they need to vote for the right candidate, and this candidate is held accountable by the voters. After the shift towards digital campaigning, we see that people are more aware of the politicians they are voting for. The internet now plays an important role in shaping the political identity of individuals, especially among the younger generation. The availability of online resources has played an important role in this.(Jiang 2016).
The Election
Although as of yet, we have not been allowed to vote online, we are given the option to register online. Especially with the advertisements spreading information about the elections, there is definitely an impact to elections. This article highlights how the internet played its role in getting people to vote- from fun hashtags such as #PromAtThePolls to services such as Uber that teamed up to create Pizza to the Polls, where they would send free nourishment if the poll lines were long. With many influencers also showing that they had voted and encouraging their fans to vote, we see how the internet has made it possible for elections to be a truer reflection of the voter population.
Some Benefits to Online Politics:
Carrying the Voice of Democracy
We can now get support for people from all around the world for a cause. Be it the environment, as people signing petitions on Change.org to bring it to the attention of the parliament, or to get justice against corruption, the internet has enabled the masses to do so, and for individuals to rally the masses. This is how democracy should work- and now we are realising its potential. Note, however, masses can now also be rallied for an extremist cause- such as the attack on January 4th, 2021, where we saw the masses force their way into the capitol in the US.
Power for the cause
In this medium article, we see how Bernie Sanders, an American politician, raised money for various causes when he became a viral meme. In more current events, a tweet from the Ukrainian vice prime minister led Elon Musk to give Ukraine more Starlink stations, which provide Spacex’s internet service. In an attempt to show that an attack on democracy would not be tolerated, organisations such as Meta have banned Russian ads, and people from all over the world have been giving donations to Ukrainians through online pleas. All this goes to show just how impactful the internet has become for politics and democracy.
Information campaigns
It is not just the public who can use the internet and the various social media platforms it offers to spread information about various courses, but also the government, who can provide information on the effects of harmful behaviours such as substance abuse, and how to help victims, and also to bring attention to new policies and government schemes. For example, the Kickstart scheme that was an initiative to reduce young adult unemployment, was advertised on platforms such as snapchat and Instagram. With a mainly young adult audience on these apps, these campaigns have a much further reach than simply announcing them over the news or putting random ads up.
The Flip side to Digitalising Politics:
Misinformation and A Platform to Dangerous Voices
We’ve looked at how impactful an information campaign has been, but on the flip side, misinformation poses a real threat to society. The internet allows anyone to post almost anything, and sometimes certain things can go without fact checking. As mentioned previously, the Trump administration refusing to accept the election results and referring to voter fraud without hard evidence, led many of his supporters to believe he had lost unfairly, and hence to rally and even storm the capitol. That being said, platforms such as Facebook are now trying to tackle this — by flagging up anything that may appear to contradict facts from reliable sources. Can misinformation truly be tackled though, given the scale of the internet?
Surveillance Capitalism and Dangerous Propaganda
For those who have not seen the Netflix documentary about the information scandal involving Facebook before the 2016 election, check out this brief article on how it was discovered that apps such as Facebook had allowed access to our information to political marketing campaigns without our knowledge- and how this enabled the agency to categorise people into groups based on their data and market very specifically towards more swayable audiences. The age of surveillance capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff has gained popularity over the years, and rightfully so. With lax laws for internet sources and social media platforms, we are all susceptible to dangerous propaganda, without even being aware of it. Zuboff mentions how it can lead to disastrous consequences for democracy and freedom, and I agree. The current laws seem inadequate to combat this.
A Brief Conclusion:
Although we have only briefly covered some of the arguments for and against online politics, it does not change the fact that politics is now online, and this will probably not change any time soon. With that being said, I believe it could be a force for good, once proper laws and stricter regulation are in place for online platforms. Online politics makes it easier for everyone to get involved, be it through registering to vote online, signing a petition, or re-tweeting. It also provides a platform for politicians to interact with more people and the government to reach larger audiences. After weighing in the pros and cons, I think the digitalisation of politics has been a force for good, but I would understand if you were to disagree.
