Obama’s digital strategy in the elections of 2008 changed the way political campaigning would be run in the future. Obama went from a relatively unknown senator to the President of the United States using social media as an integral part of his campaign strategy, focusing on 15 social networks. His aim was not only to reach a broader audience but also to create a direct connection with his supporters asking for their engagement and involvement in the process. But Obama was not the first politician to use the power of technology in his advance. Franklin D. Roosevelt used the radio as a medium of communication with the public, while it was the usage of television that helped John F. Kennedy overcome the communication gap with his voters. Nowadays, almost 15 years after Obama’s new media strategy, social media is the number one tool in the arsenal of politicians. Giorgia Meloni, the woman set to become Italy’s first female prime minister after the recent Italian general election, spend €21,411 on Ads on her official Facebook page, while her party, “Fratelli d’Italia”, has spent in total more than €140,00 in the last 30 days (Article by Matthew Holroyd for euronews., published in 23/09/2022)
However, social media during elections are not solely serving communication reasons. Their usage as a propagandistic medium is increasing and can stir up serious trouble. The 2016 US presidential election is a clear example of the influence of digital misinformation and the power of fake news. Research by Alexandre Bovet and Hernán A. Makse, who examined 171 million tweets sent by 11 million users during the five months before the day of the elections, showed that out of the 30.7 million tweets that contained a link point toward news outlets, 10% directed to websites with fake news and conspiracy theories and 15% to biased news. Following the end of the elections, some said that more of the fake news articles were pro-Trump articles, but they were only allegations.
Social media have played a decisive role in the United Kingdom’s “Brexit” referendum as well. Even the then U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May in her speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet at London’s Guildhall referred to the propagandistic effect of social media by openly accusing Russia of interfering in Brexit. However, according to an official report, by the UK government, no evidence was found of Russian interference in the EU Referendum, while some claimed that Mrs. May should also look closer to home for the fake news.
But how social media platforms can affect the process of voting? Political mobilization very often is related to peer pressure. Such an example is the “I voted” button, offered by Facebook. It has been observed that it is far more likely for Facebook users to vote when an online friend has shown that he has already voted. In addition, social media platforms are using algorithms that expose users to content according to three main factors; interest, demographic information, and engagement. In this way, online platforms target specific groups bombarding them with ads and political information. Of course, such tactics of content curation are financed by political campaigns to approach prospective voters. Misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation are the number one tools used to affect election outcomes. Among the factors that allow immerging technologies to boost the spread of fake news are information overload, which makes users unable to filter all the details; the creation of the so-called informational bubbles, where people are exposed only to information that aligns with their profile and are excluded from opposing content; and political microtargeting, that allows politicians and parties to use personal data and send tailored messages to citizens to influence them.
Although social media has been an integral part of elections for more than ten years, there is no consensus about the appropriate regulatory framework that should apply. But even regulating the political content found in social media carries the risk of committing serious human rights violations. That is why the regulatory framework for election should set as a priority the protection of human rights principles like the right of opinion and expression. Since the media play a decisive role in the effective functioning of a democracy, any legal framework should be based on the protection of media pluralism, especially during elections. Most importantly, it is time for the multi-billion online platforms to take on the liability of sensitive content published on their sites which can lead to election manipulation. So far, only Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has announced that starting in January 2022 will no longer allow targeted ads on topics related to politics.
By The European Institute for International Law and International Relations.
