This book examines the phenomenon where social media platforms amplify extreme viewpoints, leading to heightened public discourse. It highlights how fringe sources gain prominence while mainstream media face marginalization. Through a cross-platform analysis including Google Web Search, Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, 4chan, and TikTok, the study identifies the rise of hyperpartisan web operators, alternative influencers, and ambivalent commentators. It critiques social media platforms for inadvertently becoming arbiters of acceptable discourse, favoring their own content creators and shaping public discourse dynamics. The book offers a critical view of contemporary online information environments and their societal impacts.
This book examines the intersection of misinformation and hate speech on social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. It argues that these phenomena lead to extreme violence and discrimination against targeted groups, influenced by socio-political contexts and user behaviors. The study includes theoretical discussions, methodological evaluations, and qualitative case studies from India, Brazil, Myanmar, and the UK, exploring hate directed at various communities such as people of African and Asian descent, indigenous groups, Muslims, Dalits, feminists, LGBTQIA individuals, Rohingya, and immigrants. The book emphasizes the urgent need for systematic political responses to mitigate these issues globally.
Over the last five years, widespread concern about the effects of social media on democracy has led to an explosion in research from different disciplines and corners of academia. This book is the first of its kind to take stock of this emerging multi-disciplinary field by synthesizing what we know, identifying what we do not know and obstacles to future research, and charting a course for the future inquiry. Chapters by leading scholars cover major topics - from disinformation to hate speech to political advertising - and situate recent developments in the context of key policy questions. In addition, the book canvasses existing reform proposals in order to address widely perceived threats that social media poses to democracy. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.