Episode 39: Elections & Social Media

This week, we're back in the studio to discuss all things political. Now that the UK is gearing up to a General Election, we've got voting on the mind.


Mark Zuckerberg recently said that Facebook wouldn't be rejecting political adverts that were deemed to contain false information, with Twitter deciding to ban political adverts altogether. However, during the Leaders' Debate for the UK General Election, the Conservative Party press Twitter account (@CCHQ) rebranded itself - aiming to discredit Labour by pretending to be a fact-checking account. We discuss the role of social media platforms in political campaigns.


With midwife Clemmie Hooper being unmasked as a troll who attacked other "mum-fluencers" on Instagram, what do the banning of Kelechi Okafor (@kelechnekoff) from the platform and the the erasure of the racist elements of the story when reported the mainstream press tell us about online disinformation tactics ?


Plus - we find out why online voting isn't available in the UK yet, chat the psychology of voting, and discuss how electronic voting could change politics.


You can find Kelechi's podcast "Say Your Mind" on Twitter (@SayYourMindPod) and on all podcast apps.


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