Social media is central in many of our lives, but few would say that’s a good thing.
Despite its initial promise, swathes of Europeans feel the technology has had a negative impact on society. While it promised to bring us together, the opposite has happened.
Just look at any event from the past few years; whether it’s the war in Ukraine, countries swinging towards populism, or digital election manipulation, it appears social media has taken bad situations and made them worse.
The strange thing is that even though we’ve coexisted with the technology for decades now, we’re no closer to solving these issues — and with the European Parliament elections taking place this week, it’s as good a time as ever to ponder how we might fix this disinformation and toxicity online.
And one idea that won’t go away? Requiring people inside the EU to use identification before they can post on social media. But is this a good idea? Could it help make online platforms safer and more trustworthy?
The societal and political impact of social media
Ben Dubow, a Senior Fellow at The Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), says that social media is accused of “promoting a wide variety of ills relating to society and elections.” This includes disinformation, the degradation of teen mental health, extreme polarisation, and foreign interference in state matters.
This viewpoint is supported by Andrew Bud from iProov, a London-based identity verification and authentication service. “Public authorities have gone on record to show that tens of thousands of social media accounts with bogus identities … are being used by foreign adversaries to subvert public confidence and sow confusion about many issues,” he says.
On the surface, things seem clear: social media is being weaponised against both democracy and individuals. Yet it’s not quite as simple as that.
Dubow from CEPA cautions against viewing social media’s negative impact on elections as pure fact. He says that while foreign influence and nefarious bot use is prevalent, “the research establishing their connection to voting patterns or belief formation is still ongoing.”
On this topic, Matthew Lesh — the director of public policy and communications at the UK’s Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) — tells TNW that “the idea that social media can swing election outcomes, let alone change results, is substantially unproven.”
He believes that most people still get their information from more traditional sources and “the impact of a relatively small amount of false, foreign-generated information is limited.”
In summation, although there is clear evidence that bots and foreign governments are trying to influence elections, there’s little firm proof it’s actually working, even if it might feel as if it is on a personal or societal
