What are governments and judicial electoral institutions doing relating to social media´s impact on democracy? Social networks, originally designed to connect family and friends, are becoming an important stage in which electoral campaigns take place. By allowing users to create content and disseminate it quickly, cheaply, and accurately to large groups, social media is transforming the dynamics of political engagement. On the other hand, politicians develop online campaigns, search for citizen preferences and spend money to attract voters. These new rules of the game present both advantages and risks.
This panel will examine what governments and judicial electoral institutions are doing relating to this huge challenge to democracy. Papers will discuss what are the impacts of platform regulation on electoral competition and electoral integrity. Also, papers will examine the pre-voting period of the electoral cycle, comparing legal frameworks and the agreements made by electoral institutions around platform companies in the electoral campaign period. Papers will discuss the problem taking into account three aspects of the phenomenon: information, algorithms and interaction between platforms companies and democratic institutions.
