People to blame not social media

SOCIAL media is a powerful tool. The use of electronic communication to share and network information delivers real-time links between millions of users who can interact in a way no previous media or popular engagement ever allowed.

If democracy is defined as the “belief in, or practise of, the idea that all people are socially equal”, and if the purpose of democracy is to ensure our institutions are representative of the will of the people, then social media, with its large reach and spread, has an important and inevitable role.

It would be easy to label social media a threat to democracy. As a tool like a car or a hammer, there is potential for harm or good.

However, the tool itself is not the threat. Bias, bigotry, misinformation, division and being ill-informed are human foibles, not the problem of the social media platform.

Like the printing press in the Industrial Revolution, social media in the Digital Age is a positive force for social engagement, information, discussion and debate — all of which are elements of a stable, well-functioning democracy.

An excellent example of the power of social media can be found in the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.

Egyptians had suffered under the dictatorial rule of Hosni Mubarak for 30 years, with restrictions on freedom of speech and no free elections, along with many other reasons.

Their resistance came to the surface in the Arab Spring of 2011, engineered by youth online social media.

A Facebook post on June 8, 2010, showing the brutal face of death of Khalid Said (“We are all Khalid Said”) at the hands of the Egyptian government was the spark that lit the fire. It gained 300 members just two minutes after opening the page, and more than 250,000 three months later.

Tahrir Square became the world’s focus for the Egyptian uprising, but social media was the vehicle for organising, recruiting and generating discussion that ultimately led to the downfall of Hosni Mubarak and his party.

The first book ever published composed of only Tweets, Tweets from Tahrir: Egypt’s Revolution as it Unfolded, captures a pivotal 24 hours in the uprising.

The reasons behind the uprising were complex, however it demonstrates that social media can motivate and move the masses, and is a threat to autocracy, rather than to democracy.

China is another example of the power of social media to support freedom of speech and ideas. China has its own social media outlet, Tencent, and platforms such as WeChat enable users to share photos, messages and blogs.

With 596 million users, it is the world’s largest social network market. However, all media in China is tightly regulated by the Government with a pro-Communist stance.

According to Reporters Without Borders, online censorship is controlled through the Golden Shield Project, referred to the Great Firewall of China.

It blocks prominent international sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube and conducts online surveillance.

Media regulation led to Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese freedom of speech and democratic reform proponent, being sentenced to prison for 11 years in 2009.

He was later award the Nobel Peace prize, however, due to Chinese regulation the news was blocked in China and Liu Xiaobo was not permitted to attend the ceremony.

Around the world social media responded though the Empty Chair campaign that increased the awareness of human rights and freedom of speech issues in China.

Despite censorship, news was shared over WeChat and people were jailed for spreading information through Facebook.

Stephen Junor argues that even with government regulation the spread of information through Chinese social media is leading to a “bottom-up change in culture that is gaining momentum”.

The power of social media to support democracy ideally depends on an informed, distributed and unbiased message.

I accept that social media as a platform, does not always achieve this. It can create compromised decisions through bought influence.

Some applications allow users to buy influence through false “likes” and followers.

This is why “likes” should not be equated with the truth or agreement.

While the ideal of social media is freedom of speech, surveillance, regulation, and social pressures can affect this with people posting moderated views.

Social media systems can filter comments, posts or profiles in a way that is hidden to the user and creates a bias aligned with the publisher’s point of view.

Making informed decisions is important for democracy. However, the information on social media can lack depth.

For example, Twitter has a limit of 140 characters. There is also data to show people are using it to find other people who agree with them to confirm their opinion, rather than challenging it.

Despite these risks and limitations, social media can be a powerful tool for democracy. Social media enables a broader group to share facts and contribute with their opinions, rather than the few who can publish through mainstream media.

Social media can bring connectivity and news to groups of people otherwise at risk of isolation or a minority voice.

For instance, 75 per cent of Australians over 75 years of age use social media.

Aboriginal people have embraced social media with 68 per cent of Aboriginal people in metropolitan areas using Facebook daily compared to the average of 42 per cent, and 44 per cent of Aboriginal people in remote areas using Facebook daily.

It can enmesh with mainstream media to reenforce the spread of ideas.

For example, the ABC show Q&A runs a simultaneous Tweet and Facebook campaign, where on average 20,000 members of the public, and as many as 79,000 per episode, give voice to their opinion.

Beyond this national reach, social media also connects people between countries promoting a diversity of views, information and shared experiences.

Without government regulation social media enables people’s views to be freely traded and recognised and it can call governments to account and challenge them.

There are many examples, from international to local, of how social media creates a platform for the voice of the people. This voice is not always informed. However, it can reflect the wide-ranging views of a people, without government interference.

If democracy means everybody has a say, then social media, like the newspaper and television media before it, empowers the voice of the individual more than ever before. Lachlan Rogers is a Grade 7 student at The Hutchins School. “Is Social Media a Threat to Democracy?” won the Rotary Club of Hobart Civics for Citizenship essay competition.