What did Trump’s Tweets really mean?
By Michael Humphrey “I analyzed all of Trump’s tweets to find out what he was really saying.” The tally was in, it was clear Donald Trump had lost – and he tweeted: “either a new election should take place or … results nullified.” It sounds familiar, but...
News ban: Can we regard Facebook as a public utility?
By Gavin Ellis We have been shocked by Facebook’s Australian news ban because we have been labouring under a misapprehension: We thought it was a public utility. It was conceived as a utility (for Harvard University students) and founder Mark Zuckerberg has been...
Should social media companies be owned by the public? 🔊
Social media as it exists currently is an oligopoly, with a handful of private companies controlling the structure and use of the platforms which mediate our communication not only with one another but also with the public sphere. As these companies continue to amass...
How did Trump win the online disinformation war?
By Peter Geoghegan Social media platforms have allowed US conservatives to delegitimise the election and sow mistrust of democracy. In late August, roughly five weeks before Americans went to the polls, a story appeared in The New York Times reporting new data about...
How does social media influence political campaigning and communication? 🔊
Social media has become a key feature in politics and communication and will likely play a significant role in the 2020 US election. The Trump administration has threatened sanctions against social media sites TikTok and WeChat, a move which...
Social media as the new wild west: How can we curb lawlessness on Facebook?
By Rachel Simpson The crisis of lawlessness on Facebook means it has become a breeding ground for alienation, fragmentation and xenophobia across the globe. In a contribution to the North Carolina Law Review, Georgetown Law Professor Anupam Chander, commented on the...
Why is it so hard to stop COVID-19 misinformation spreading on social media?
By Tobias R. Keller & Rosalie Gillett Even before the coronavirus arrived to turn life upside down and trigger a global infodemic, social media platforms were under growing pressure to curb the spread of misinformation. Last year, Facebook cofounder and chief...
What impact will Twitter’s political ad ban have on democracy? 🔊
Last week, Twitter announced it would ban all political advertising from the 22nd of November. Founder Jack Dorsey says that political reach should be earned not bought. The announcement came as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg testified on Capitol Hill about...
Taking issue: Is social media good or bad for democracy?
We asked three academics to address the question of whether social media is democratising or eroding democracy. Great democratic potential It’s tempting to dodge this question by arguing technologies don’t determine our politics, or equivocating with a...Subscribe by Email
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