Sputnik: How much can social media influence voting patterns?
Liz Carolan: I think it can influence it hugely and we can see evidence of that to the extent that it is being used for political parties' campaigns. It's a very efficient way of trying to get key messages across audiences.
I think it can be both effective and efficient for getting the message across. Especially if you compare it to having to run other types of ads.
Sputnik: Is the use of social media and online campaigning by politicians undemocratic?
Liz Carolan: I think that depends on the way that it's used. Social media like most things is a tool and the impact it has on democracy, depends on how we use it.
In a way if you look at some of the social media led movements that have taken place at the moment, if we look at me too, Black Lives Matter, lots of things that are going on, it can allow for voices which might find it difficult to break through in traditional media to reach an audience and it can allow groups to organize in ways that are difficult to do offline.
I think the problem comes about when we think about the ways that we regulate our democracy ordinarily and if social media can stop us from doing it in that particular way. I’m thinking in particular about campaign financing, so both in the UK and Ireland, we both as countries have decided that we don’t want unlimited, anonymous pots of money influencing behavior.
We’ve seen this to an extent with use in micro-targeted adds and during campaigns both in the Brexit referendum, the Trump presidential campaign and here in Ireland at the moment, there is a big fear that this will be happening for the upcoming referendum that we’re going to be having on abortion rights.
Sputnik: Could these types of adverts be banned in the future?
I think there should be regulation, but not of speech, but enforcing transparency so that we’re all able to get a full picture of how campaigns are behaving and I think this will influence people to behave better.
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