Social Media Disinformation, Political Polarisation and Domestic Terrorism

Abstract

In this seminar, our speaker James Piazza presents a study that tests whether social media disinformation contributes to domestic terrorism within countries. James theorises that disinformation disseminated by political actors online through social media heightens political polarisation within countries and that this, in turn, produces an environment where domestic terrorism is more likely to occur. James tests this theory using data from more than 150 countries for the period 2000-2017. He examines disinformation disseminated online by three types of actors: domestic governments; domestic political parties and non-government organisations; and foreign governments. James finds that propagation of disinformation through social media drives domestic terrorism, regardless of the actor. Using mediation tests he also verifies that disinformation disseminated through social media increases domestic terrorism by, among other processes, enhancing political polarisation within society. He concludes with a brief discussion of future research directions to better understand the role that social media, and social media disinformation, might play in fomenting political violence.