Microtargeting's normative implications

Political microtargeting is often taken to be a threat to democracy, in large part because it supposedly is manipulative. This paper takes up this claim by connecting an analysis of the practice to philosophical debates about the concept of manipulation. In doing so, it arrives at the argument that political microtargeting is not necessarily manipulative, but that instances of it are. Moreover, it argues that microtargeting’s manipulative effect on democracy does not only concern how it influences individual citizens, but also how it affects the citizenry as a group and their political environment. While this argument does not offer a full evaluation of the harms and benefits of political microtargeting or an empirical analysis of the extent of the problem of manipulation, it does offer a forceful reason for demanding greater transparency about political microtargeting from parties and social platforms, and possibly also for a condemnation of the practice as such.