At the end of March, we convened a working group of experts on social media, election integrity, extremism, and political violence to discuss the relationship between online platforms and election-related political violence. The goal is to make real and effective recommendations for platforms to take to ensure their products do not foster the potential for political violence, especially before and after the November US general election. It was to provide, but this comes with consequences. For states around the world.
Today, we released a consensus document from our working group entitled Preventing Technology-Used Political Violence: What Online Platforms Can Do to Avoid Contributing to Election-Related Violence. We believe this issue is urgent given the current threat landscape in the United States. Relying on online platforms to “do the right thing” without the right regulations and corporate incentives in place may seem increasingly futile, but it can help shape the public conversation and We believe that there remains an important role for independent experts to play in shedding light on the issue. These companies will be able to act more responsibly.
Growing signs of possible political violence
The attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 has significant implications for the 2024 election cycle. Former President Donald Trump and many Republican political elites continue to advance false claims about the results of the 2020 election, which could serve as a premise for efforts to delegitimize the results of this November's vote. be.
But such rhetoric is just one catalyst that could spark political violence in the United States this political season. “An undercurrent of violence and physical danger has become the new normal” across the country, particularly targeting public officials and democratic institutions, the New York Times wrote in a feature on the topic this month. And a Brennan Center survey conducted this spring found that 38% of election officials have experienced violent threats. And add to this already threatening environment, conflicts over Israeli and Gaza protests on college campuses and major cities, potentially controversial developments in the former president's various trials, and potential threats against LGBTQ+ people. Adds warnings from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. Pride event this summer. Unfortunately, the likelihood of political violence in the United States appears to be increasing.
Ignoring technology platforms could make the situation worse
What role do online platforms play in this threat environment? It is unclear whether major platforms are ready to handle this situation. Many platforms are rescinding moderation policies regarding false claims of election fraud, dismantling trust and safety teams, and seem to be diving headlong into the growing threat of judges and election officials. These developments suggest that platforms are ignoring the lessons of the past few years, both in the United States and abroad. For example, one year after January 6, supporters of outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro used social media to organize and mobilize attacks on government institutions. Also, an American Progress study on the 2022 US midterm elections found that “social media companies have once again refused to address their complicity in fomenting hatred and information chaos… With important exceptions, companies have again It offered superficial changes and empty promises not backed by appropriate people and resources.”
Platforms’ failure to prepare for election violence suggests that 2024 will mirror 2020 in many ways. Prior to that election, two of the authors (Eisenstat and Kreis) convened a working group of experts to clarify what platforms needed to do to protect the election. . Sadly, platforms are not following these recommendations and enforcing false voting restrictions for all users (including political leaders), explicitly disputing election disinformation, and amplifying reliable election information. It has largely ignored these and many other recommendations from independent researchers and civil society organizations, including: Platforms failed to adequately follow such recommendations, as documented in a draft report on the role of social media in the Capitol attack prepared by the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 attack. This helped create the backdrop for January 6th. .
Recommendations
To avoid similar outcomes, we suggest several steps that platforms can and should take if they want to ensure that they do not promote political violence. None of the recommendations are entirely new. In fact, many of them are consistent with any number of papers that scholars and civil society leaders have published over the years. However, despite the short time to implementation, these need to be iterated.
The full set and details of the seven recommendations can be found in our report, but generally they center around a number of themes where online platforms are currently inadequate, including:
Platforms should develop robust standards for threat assessments and engage in scenario planning, crisis training, and engagement with external stakeholders while being as transparent as possible. Platforms must enforce clear and enforceable content moderation policies that address election integrity year-round and proactively address election denialism and potential threats to election officials. Politicians and other politically influential people should not be exempt from content policies or receive special treatment from platforms. Platforms must enforce rules uniformly. Platforms should clearly explain important content moderation decisions during election periods and be transparent, especially when it comes to moderating high-profile accounts.
During this election cycle, much of the conversation around technology accountability has shifted to the question of what to do about deceptive uses of AI. However, the distribution channels for AI-generated content remain primarily through online platforms, where users spread the “Stop the Steal” narrative in 2020 and those who ultimately engaged in political violence at the U.S. Capitol. stimulated. We continue to address these unresolved issues in the hope that growing calls for accountability will encourage platforms to act more responsibly and prioritize the risks of political violence in the U.S. and abroad. We will continue to pay attention to this.
