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Overcoming political polarisation in a divided cyberspace
Social media empowers both good and bad actors and amplifies their messages. But who’s listening?
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Social media has democratised participation in political life by lowering barriers to information access and content creation.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Carol Soon
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Out of the mainstreaming of the Internet beyond the military in the 1980s came utopian visions of an enlightened public. This vision was underpinned by the assumption that people would be better informed because they would have more access to diverse views and be more equipped to make rational decisions on politics and policy.
Four decades on and the reality seems to be getting further and further away from this vision. Today, elections and political discourse are characterised by hate speech fanning tribalism, disinformation that chips away trust in public institutions, and incitement to violence, making political mudslinging mild by comparison.
