The Cambridge Analytica scandal highlighted just a minor element of misinformation on social media platforms. Most countries, including the US, UK, Germany, Australia and India, have indulged in organised and formalised forms of social media manipulations.
Studies show that this problem is disturbing political and electoral processes across the globe. There has been a 150% increase in the number of countries affected by this issue since 2017. The effects of these manipulations are dangerous as information dissipated on social media continue to shape opinions even if and after it has been debunked.
In response, Facebook has introduced new measures to fight against the spread of misinformation on its platforms. Similarly, Instagram unveiled a The ‘Third-Party Fact Check’ program. Instagram has engaged 45 ‘independent fact-checkers’ across the globe to target false information.
Instagram now uses a combination of user feedback and algorithms to identify fake content, whereby fact-checkers provide an accuracy rating for content. If a post is deemed to be spreading false information, Instagram demotes such content, making it 80% less visible for future views. In addition, posts are also accompanied by a misinformation disclaimer that blurs the content and requires viewers to physically agree to access the post.
This policy will be applicable to all users, except those identified as “politicians” under this policy. “Politicians”, in this context, refers to candidates running for office, current office-holders and their cabinet appointees and political parties and their leaders. Former candidates and officials and advocacy groups, however, are not exempted from the third-party fact-check programme.
However, by immunizing politicians and discounting other crucial players in the spread of misinformation, this policy fails to achieve what it seeks to–hindering misuse of the platform, and reducing the impact of fake news on public opinion.
Instagram has consistently expressed its dedication to promoting political discourse and free speech. It distances itself from any form of political refereeing, citing this as a justification to exempt politicians from the scrutiny of third-party fact-checkers.
In an attempt to protect political speech, this policy gives protection to ‘direct speech’ made by a politician. ‘Direct speech’ includes the original content and advertisements by politicians. Such ‘direct speech’ will not undergo the scrutiny of the fact-checkers, even in situations where the content has been previously debunked.
Since the term “politician” does not take into account former candidates, ex-officials and ex-office-bearers and advocacy groups, many members of the opposition party are not exempted under this policy. A study has also concluded that by flagging certain content as false, Instagram by extension offers authenticity and verification to content that isn't flagged, regardless of whether it is true or not.
This gives the ruling party and its members an unfair advantage as they have the ability to control the narrative on Instagram by using doctored content and unverified facts.
Further, social media manipulation is often promoted by politicians themselves, in an attempt to sway public opinion and discourage criticism. For instance, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), is known to have a huge, aggressive, structured, and highly organized IT Cell; its work has heavily influenced results in both state and national elections.
Moreover, the policy fails to acknowledge the expediency with which content goes viral on Instagram. Sunil Prabhakar, a digital media expert, discussed that by the time the review of the content in question is complete, it would have already caused the impact it aimed to.
This policy also ignores the increased use of social media influencers–users with a significant number of followers–by politicians and political parties. There is a need to specifically address the spread of misinformation by such influencers, as they have the ability to reach a vast network in a short duration of time.
A representative of a digital media marketing company stated that social media celebrities across the media and entertainment industry–including mainstream celebrities, stand up comedians and musicians–are now taking up paid political stances.
Prashant Puri, the co-founder and chief executive of a digital media and marketing firm, released a statement highlighting the importance of influencers in the elections held in 2019 in India. He stated that influencer marketing utilized 20-25% of the campaign budget of most political parties.
The reason for their growing importance is politicians’ and political parties’ ability to use their network to spread propaganda. Moreover, upon implementation of this policy, influencers have the ability to share any misinformation or doctored content that has been posted from a politician’s page without any questions about its credibility.
Influencing the narrative on social media is crucial as it can affect the voting patterns of young and first-time voters. With 34.33% of the Indian population aged 15-24, many of whom are highly active on social media, this demographic is crucial for any election. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure that the content on such mediums is not deceiving. For this, misinformation by politicians and its propagation by influencers must be held to the same standard as content by other users.
Irrefutably, discourse on Instagram and other social media platforms is a manifestation of free speech which is crucial for a free and fair electoral process. However, when the discourse is manipulated by politicians, it vitiates the democratic process. By ignoring crucial aspects of the spread of misinformation, Instagram's policy facilitates the promotion of a one-sided narrative.
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