Sebastian Payne

Douglas Alexander: Facebook makes it more difficult for politicians to campaign

Labour is struggling to win back voters in Scotland because of social media conspiracy theories that are difficult to debunk, the party’s campaign chief said this morning. Speaking at a LabourList event, Douglas Alexander recounted a story about a voter who supported independence and bought into a conspiracy theories about the oil companies she read on Facebook. This echo chamber poses a great challenge for parties attempting to tell the truth, he said:

‘We’re used to a politics where we share facts but diverge on opinions. We are confronting — increasingly because of the rise of social media — a politics where people’s social media feeds can be an echo chamber for at the best of their opinion opinions and worst of their own prejudices. 

‘And that’s a tough challenge for all democratic politicians in every part of the UK. More broadly — how do we engage with a very rapidly changing media landscape in which facts are not common and actually people.’

Alexander acknowledged the Scottish referendum was a ‘seismic event’ which lead to ‘great sense of grief’ for the 45 per cent of Scottish voters who supported for independence.

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