The Digital Descent of Democracy
The increasing influence of social media has allowed the virtual world to gain an unnaturally high level of control over our thoughts, behaviours, and actions. With this comes widespread societal change; while we remain aware of the cycle of fashion trends, food recipes and public movements which circulate the internet and infiltrate our minds on a daily basis, we are often unable to acknowledge that these seemingly harmless surface level pressures are accompanied with a gateway into our deeper thoughts and are capable of altering our political compass.
Can we trust what we read online?
A survey from the Oxford Internet Institute found that arranged schemes on social media were utilized in every one of the 81 countries which were investigated. This doesn’t necessarily sound like a bad thing: surely this power brought about by the digital world can be revolutionary for social change if it is used in the right way? Wait until you hear this: 76 out of the 81 countries surveyed used false information as a political tactic! In other words, we are being fed lies: this is extremely dangerous and can take a forceful hold over our vulnerable minds. The ability to sway the views of masses of people is being both used and abused by authoritative figures and groups.
An obstruction of free will
The manipulation isn’t just passive. Professor Shoshana Zuboff has famously claimed that ‘surveillance capitalism is an assault on human autonomy’. Multinational companies such as Google are collecting information about us from our online activity and using this to anticipate and alter our opinions and behaviours. Advanced comprehensions of human behaviour can be used to determine our actions and give rise to debates about how much autonomy we have left. To put it bluntly, these organisations are eating away at our free will and, unknown to us, are taking our independence.
Injustices by dataveillance
Personal data is an economic good: to many, this will come as a surprise. The data broker commerce in the US was approximated to produce revenues of over $150 billion in 2012, placing an extremely high value on our data. The maldistribution of data is an issue of injustice which is only accelerated as we have more of our data recorded and used against us by people in power. Social media is contributing to the poor allocation of resources throughout society, and although largely unknown to us, is escalating inequalities.
A threat to democracy
Our scripted online world, and the corresponding fall of genuine face-to-face interactions, has formed a direct gateway into our brains and plants implicit biases within us. This gives rise to a question I repeatedly ask myself: can we hold our ground, or will we all fall victim to such powerful propaganda? When so many of our voices are already silenced by our governments, I am unable to emphasize enough the importance of guarding the one tool which allows us to input our views and progress towards equality: democracy. We must keep our wits about us and remain conscious of the government’s tireless attempts to convert us to their political agenda.
Is it all bad?
On the flip side, it is important to acknowledge that there are also advantages to the growth of politics on the internet. A previous blog by Santhra Martin highlighted how online platforms allow politicians to reach a wider audience so that people can acquire more information than they would be able to without a digital world. Not only this, but the option to register to vote online means voting is accessible to more people, resulting in election results which are more representative of the population than they would otherwise be.
Keeping informed
The way I see it, the most invaluable positive of digital media and technology is the ability it has to raise awareness of current affairs. I am not alone in this thought: a survey undertaken by Pew Research Center across 19 countries revealed that 73% of participants say access to the internet and social media has made people more informed about current events, both nationally and globally. Various studies have disclosed that there is a correlation between the use of social media and converted views on the climate crisis.
Getting involved
A compelling example of technology implementing change is the formation of Caylee’s law, which makes it illegal for a guardian not to report a child as missing if there is a risk of danger. The case of Casey Anthony, who is suspected of murdering her daughter, took over the internet and led to a petition for the law in 2011 reaching over 1.3 million supporters. Protests are another political tool coordinated largely by social media. Approximately 1.6 million ‘climate strikers’ from around 120 countries left school for a day in March 2019 to act out against the political negligence of the environmental crisis, giving power to citizens who are not of voting age.
A force for fundraising
Facebook is notorious for its fundraisers, and has facilitated donations of over $2 billion for non-profit organisations. People are being encouraged to gift their money to a wide range of charitable causes which they may otherwise be unaware of, and doing so is easier than ever: all it takes is a few taps on a screen. Veteran’s Matter has generated upwards of $50,000 on Facebook alone. This benefit will only snowball: one review found that the amount of donations received in fundraisers increases as the size of an organisation’s network increases. As social media continues to grow, so will our gratuity.
What’s the verdict?
We have explored both the positive and negatives of digitalising politics, yet I am still hesitant to embrace this element of modernity. Unless we can reduce our impressionability, we will succumb to the tactics which are compromising the purpose of our democratic system. It is vital that we make a conscious effort to stay aware, or else we will fail to utilize the opportunities brought about by the internet. As individuals, we must strive to remain in touch with our true morals, and consistently check in with ourselves and our political views to ensure they are not being manipulated by the media against our will.
