Researchers from the universities of Limerick and Oxford published a study that served to confirm something many regular users of social media already know: Twitter is an echo chamber.
Scientists analysed half a million tweets from about 100,000 users during the run-up to the same-sex marriage referendum in 2015. They found that tweeters were far more likely to be connected with others who shared their views.
There can be little argument that the huge increase in use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter has drastically altered the media industry and the presentation and dissemination of news. It has also shifted the democratic goalposts. Social media has given voice to those who previously went unheard and has empowered those who feel marginalised or disenfranchised to engage with others online and form new communities. With Facebook logging 1.1 billion daily active users and Twitter recording about 328 million monthly active users, the potential power of these sites is staggering.
Undeniably they have had a positive effect on the democratic process; it has become increasingly impossible for governments to ignore public outrage when it’s amplified through the microblogging megaphone. Moreover, it has become increasingly difficult for politicians to conduct business that should be in the public interest behind closed doors. Likewise it has provided media outlets with more access to the public they serve and provided consumers with a great opportunity to influence and shape the news. These are positives.
Such powerful tools, however, can also cause great damage. Propaganda, disinformation, fabrication and downright lies flourish online and all too often go unchallenged. Reasoned debate can get swept away, and proven or verifiable statistics and facts get trounced by fake news.
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Although no definite conclusion can be drawn over whether the proliferation of false information and fake news on Facebook last year played a role in swinging the presidential election in favour of Donald Trump, the company came in for severe criticism in the aftermath for permitting propaganda to take root unchallenged on the site.
Since then Facebook has made strenuous efforts to tackle the problem. Last week it announced a broad rolling out of its “Related Articles” feature to help minimise the circulation and impact of false and misleading stories in people’s news feeds. The new Facebook tool is being promoted in Kenya as part of an effort from the social media giant to combat a raft of bogus reports circulating in the build-up to the country’s closely-fought general election today.
However, there are wider issues at stake. The ability of social media to influence court cases has become a growing concern among the judiciary and last month Susan Denham, the outgoing chief justice, warned that new laws were required to tackle the problem. “There are genuine concerns over the dissemination of false claims,” she said.
Mrs Justice Denham is correct. It is vital that the impartiality of the court system and the fundamental right of any individual to a fair trial is not undermined through social media campaigns.
Politicians need to heed her call. One of the more pernicious effects of the rise of fake news is an erosion of public trust in the political process. One way in which politicians can embark on the fight to win back this trust is to not just promise transparency, but deliver it.
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But it is also the responsibility of users of social media to make an effort to sort the false chaff from the truthful wheat and to seek out differing viewpoints to their own and tolerate them.
An echo chamber inhibits willingness to seek compromise or understand opposing views. Remove the ability or inclination to do these things and democracy dies in the synchronised clamour.