Propaganda, the public spheres, and the new economic conditions of the digital age

Abstract

The arrival of mobile internet services came with significant promise of a potentially democratic public sphere mediated through digital media technology. However, rather than achieving this promise, these technologies ushered in a new economic age: surveillance capitalism, which revolutionised propaganda and misinformation in ways which pose clear threats to civil order and democratic processes. This paper updates and integrates Jürgen Habermas's model of the public sphere and communicative rationality with the realities of surveillance capitalism's new economic logics and the ways in which they undermine the public sphere. (1) The selective distribution of content by sorting algorithms fosters cultures of insularity and antagonism which (2) fragment and disintegrate the sphere, contributing to the breakdown of public discourse into echo chambers and filter bubbles. Furthermore, (3) sorting algorithms facilitate the evasion of scrutiny as these individually selected messages bypass public attention and criticism. This lack of scrutiny encourages the use of (4) engagement-farming tactics like the use of inflammatory misinformation. This has often led to (5) patterns of migration; wherein users migrate away from the platform to find more corresponding information about the conspiracy or mythology in question – further breaking down public discourse. Lastly, answering the new revenue model's demand for content often results in (6) content from botnets, troll farms, and misinformation networks being platformed and circulated with little to no repercussions.