Weaponized Data, Media and Political Power
Seeing as though politics affects nearly everything in our lives, from how much tax you pay on your lunch to whether you’re allowed to sit on a park bench, it should come as no surprise to learn that politicians are amongst the most powerful people on the face of the Earth. However, thanks to democracy, the person in these positions is by way of public elections meaning that by extension power lies in the hands of the people. There is new life politically in the use of technology’s spread and influence: How are these techniques being used?
Technology has given those in power, and those aspiring to be, greater engagement to the general public with politicians now generally having prominent presences online. One example of this is the most followed user on Twitter, Barack Obama who continuously used social media to engage with the public with events such as the #AskObama Twitter ‘town hall’ or a Reddit AMA. These both show the capability to communicate and engage with the voting public online. Furthermore, the modernisation of petitions is another example where anyone with access to the internet can have their voices heard and instantly sharable online.
The medium by which political candidates get their messages across is seen as instrumental in their success on election day. This usage may seem to be extremely modern-day but this continual usage is demonstrated by Stefan Molyneaux who stated:
“The medium made the man — much as radio won the presidency for Franklin Roosevelt and television boosted John Kennedy, social media allowed Trump and his allies to drive the narrative.”
Media drives politics (both positively and negatively) as news is the way by which we keep up with current events. We have the outstanding ability to receive news the instant it happens via radio, social media or news outlets which now are spreading faster than ever.
Nowadays, with seemingly virtually everyone being connected to the internet throughout the day this is what makes spreading messages easier than ever. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has meant the British Government has been giving citizens constant updates on the pandemic such as recent statistics and lockdown rules. These mediums have made it easier than ever to keep your population informed about what the latest guidelines are. Furthermore, digital media coverage increases the scope of citizens that these messages reach: have you been on social media recently without seeing news coverage of the pandemic?
Social media has revolutionised all aspects of modern-day society. Starting as a way to connect individuals there has been increased usage beyond a way to message others. Worldwide, humans have recently been found to spend an immense amount of our time online, combining this with a worldwide lockdown has left to a lack of an alternative.
Unfortunately, this increasing reliance on tech comes with it an increase in those looking to exploit it.
This social media use, despite the benefits, can also be a huge challenge within politics. This has huge political ramifications: false stories have been shown to spread around 6x faster than real news stories.
The term ‘fake news’ was popularised by the 45th U.S. President Donald Trump and describes information that is false and potentially misleading and found huge prominence throughout the 2016 U.S. election. Trump used this to his political advantage where after creating an environment where people did not know what to believe online, he attempting to discourage the public to believe negative media portrayals as ‘fake.’
This is just the tip of the iceberg of this exploitation, another methodology in influencing voting opinions was the use of data harvesting and psycho-graphics. Large scale data harvesting on sites such as Facebook has meant that there is a huge wealth of data of individuals being stored in what is considered an ‘online database.’ These databases are used in conjunction with psychographics: psychological traits that influence consumption habits to tailor advertising to internet users all over the world. These methods provide immense opportunities in targeting an audience, politically this can target groups such as young voters or even those defined as undecided.
Namely, these techniques were used by Cambridge Analytica, a now-defunct political consultation subsidiary that claimed to have been involved in over 200 elections worldwide, including allegedly both the 2016 U.S. election and the ‘Brexit’ referendum in Britain. They claimed to have over 500 data-points on every single U.S. voter. This illegal and unethical data-science influencing such hugely influential events shows huge potential for the approach. Already, James Thompson brought up that the 2016 U.S. election was the single best digital ad campaign ever seen from any advertiser, combining this with a former Cambridge Analytica director testifying that their mass use was deemed a ‘weapons-grade’ use of communication.
However, Cambridge Analytica being a defunct company does not mean that this voter-specific approach to influencing behaviour is not being capable of being used in the future (or even currently) does not seem to be a conspiracy. Considering how these seem to be hugely effective influences on behaviour it seems an avenue that continues to be explored as for example even former workers have set up a political consulting company. This danger to the public has led to advocations for data rights to be considered human rights: data has now surpassed oil as the world’s most valuable resource due to the advertising influence it can have.
Brought up in an article by Joe Sunderland, there is a supreme power that comes as a result of influential peoples social media (in this case Elon Musk) with the widespread impact a simple tweet can have on behaviour. This social media usage is so influential that it provides an opportunity that cannot be denied. Digital media influencing opinions. This can lead to a change in which box we tick at the ballots, especially considering an overall generational increase in societal reliance on technology accelerated by the global pandemic: is there a limit on the future use and exploitation within all levels of the political climate?
