“Social networks are a political weapon of great destruction”

2024-08-01 06:00:09

PProfiting from the growing democratic deficit in Western forms of government, right-wing movements have emerged to politicize politics. As a university professor in Brazil, I witnessed their rise in this country, from their appearance until their adoption in 2018.

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As we fight to preserve education and research, time shows how effective our communication is. Even our network on Facebook, gathering hundreds of professors, is unable to communicate on the role of universities, for two reasons. First, the right wing, thanks to its approach to social networks, manages to make arguments based on logical construction redundant. Secondly, while we fight on the ground of ideas, we see that the highest right grows stronger by playing on the area of ​​forces, although recognized by political philosophy (The Circuit of Influence. Body politics, suffering and the end of the individualVladimir Savatle, The Water’s Edge, 2022).

Today, French intellectuals seem to be making the same mistakes. It’s a bit sad, even almost funny, to see respected political pundits and commentators on television ignoring the impact of social media platforms on political choice making. No, these platforms have limited access to young people or little influence on election results. They are a political weapon of great destruction. Social networks are reshaping the architecture of information, changing the concept of truth and giving identity to political actors previously ignored by the establishment (Daniel Lacerda and Rita de Cassia Santos, “The Role of Social Networking Platforms for Discursive Legislation: Revealing Neoliberalism Behind the Speech on Public Universities”, M@n@gement n° 26/4, 2023, not translated). Discussions that had been pushed into the realm of private life then arose again in the afternoon.

The rise of national populism

The truth is that, despite its growth in France, the far right has not yet gained a majority to govern. But the greatest danger is not in the laws or reforms that this ideology claims to make. – Many of these proposals also depend on constitutional levers which would prevent a prime minister in the same position from serving. The biggest threat is the effect of the messages promoted during this election campaign, because the word itself takes material. Discourse on social networks is a powerful engine for social change: political victory occurs well before electoral victory.

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