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.’
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