How social media is changing elections, for the Government of Victoria in Australia

For the Government of Victoria, Australia, our report on how social media changing is elections. Report here.

For Better …

On the positive side, social media campaigning may increase engagement with citizens on issues that they care about. Where conducted openly and honestly, microtargeting can help manifest voters’ desires, concerns and policy preferences to politicians, thereby helping elected leaders develop programs that meet voters’ needs.3 For instance, the UK’s Electoral Commission (the elections regulator) observes that there is value in microtargeting if conducted transparently and honestly: ‘For example, people who live three streets from the hospital that they are particularly interested in will want to know about plans to close that hospital or suchlike.’

For Worse …

On the negative side, social media campaigning generates multiple harms. It (1) produces wrongly informed citizens, that (2) may stay wrongly informed in digital echo chambers (especially during periods of intensive efforts to persuade and influence, such as elections and referenda) and (3) be emotionally provoked given the affective nature of much online disinformation. Added to this is a fourth problem: (4) contagion, where false information spreads across social media and mainstream news. Furthermore, (5) microtargeting enables a range of democratic harms, from fragmentation of important national conversations through to undue influence over susceptible citizens. Related (6) is the impact of the disinformation media ecology on seeding distrust in democratic institutions and processes.

Full report here.