Politics and social media are dangerous mix

Quebec parties should consider a code of conduct for digital campaigning

Social media and politics: A match made in heaven or erosion of democracy in real time?

Campaign season is underway here in Quebec, and the role of social media in digital campaigning has never been more relevant.

The automation of politics — from the use of algorithms and automatic accounts ( bots) that monitor, predict and shape users’ online behaviour, to “fake news,” and the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election — should have political parties here thinking about the risks, benefits and responsibilities of using social media in their efforts to sway public opinion, and get into office.

More than ever, we need to have a critical discussion about the role of social media in shaping our political discourse and beliefs. Let’s take Twitter, for example. Developed in 2006 by a trio of programmers from California’s Silicon Valley — Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams and Biz Stone — the platform was initially vaunted as a vehicle for open, democratic communication. It was a tool to promote and further civic engagement, and to connect with people you would never have otherwise had access to. Anyone from anywhere could join in and gain access to thoughtprovoking ideas and debates. You could follow along as a revolution was unfolding, or a crisis was deepening, or a celebration was underway.

Along the way, it disrupted countless traditional fields, including journalism, business and politics.

Yet a few years back, some had argued that Twitter, faced with steep industry competition from such sites as Snapchat, Instagram and WhatsApp, was teetering on the edge of irrelevance. Then Donald Trump, who uses Twitter as his preferred medium for speaking directly to his followers, was elected president of the United States. For better or worse, now we’re all along for the ride.

Today, the platform boasts more than 330 million accounts. One catch? Many are anonymous, and not all of them are human. A 2017 Economist article asks whether social media threatens democracy. “Far from bringing enlightenment,” the author suggests, “social media have been spreading poison.”

Politics is noble calling. But it has always had a dirty side to it. Social media don’t so much create division as stoke partisanship and polarization, and reinforce existing biases. Instead of dispelling misinformation, social media are more likely to spread it, giving a signal boost to “fake news” and becoming an engine of gaslighting. It’s a place where ad hominem attacks, expletive-laden criticism, death threats or worse (yes, sometimes it can be worse) are the norm rather than the exception.

This is not to say that it’s all bad. Despite the recent expansion from 140 characters to 280, Twitter is still a platform that relies on brevity, succinct messages as bursts of information. This can be incredibly effective.

Politicians across the political spectrum, including here in Quebec, have a keen appreciation of the value of social media in speaking directly to their constituents in a way that can have an impact on their campaigns. But there’s a political calculus to be made. Political parties can use the platform to create personal connections between candidates and constituents, to come across as more human, and build support. But the use of bots — although potentially useful in disseminating information about policies and platforms — may also create a distorted perception of our political reality.

For example, Fenwick McKelvey and Elizabeth Dubois of Concordia University and University of Ottawa, respectively, have researched the use of bots on Twitter, examining their use in Quebec’s 2012 election and since then.

They noted that a follower of the Coalition Avenir Québec created a bot account called CAQbot that sent out 11,000 tweets in support of the party. McKelvey and Dubois argued that with the rise of automation and artificial intelligence capabilities like this, political parties should adopt a code of conduct for digital campaigning to ensure transparency, fairness and accountability.

As Quebec’s political candidates head out on the campaign trail, it’s an idea worth exploring. Twitter.com/ CooperCeline