Tribal Politics: The Disruptive Effects of Social Media in the Global South

Photo by: Soe Zela Tun—Reuters

This chapter from my monograph Social Media and The Post-Truth World Order investigates the disruptive impact of social media in politically volatile contexts in the Global South, focusing on the controversial role of Facebook in facilitating hate speech and disinformation that led to widespread violence against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar . The article also analyses the role of WhatsApp in allowing the circulation of disinformation during the 2018 general elections in Brazil, won by controversial far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro.

Both case studies are indicative of the problematic role of social media platforms as arbiters of global political speech, especially because their affordances and incentives tend to favor sensational and inflammatory content. The problem is compounded by the inability of State institutions, particularly in countries with a weak democratic tradition, to exert control and enforce oversight on the content of social media platforms.

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