Social Media Impacts on Conflict and Democracy

Lisa Schirch is Senior Research Fellow at the Toda Peace Institute, Japan, and Visiting Fellow at the Alliance for Peacebuilding and George Mason University.

• 1. The Techtonic Shift: How Social Media Works 2. Digital Information, Conflict, and Democracy 3. Brazil: Weaponized Information and Digitized Hate 4. Colombia: The Use of Social Media in Democratic Spaces: A Double-Edged Sword 5. Egypt: Social Media Impacts on Civil Society, Violent Extremism & Government Control 6. India: A False Information Ecosystem 7. India–Pakistan: Civil Society Digital Activism for Peace 8. Jordan: Social Media and Social Change Opportunities and Threats 9. Kenya: Social Media Literacy, Ethnicity and Peacebuilding 10. Myanmar: The Role of Social Media in Fomenting Violence 11. Nigeria: Social Media Dynamics in Boko Haram’s Terrorist Insurgence 12. Northern Ireland: Social Media and Conflict Dynamics on the Peace Lines 13. Sri Lanka: Digital Blooms in Social Media and Violence 14. Venezuela: 21st Century Authoritarianism in the Digital Sphere 15. Zimbabwe: Social Media as a Toxic Tool or a Future Bridge to Peace 16. A Peacebuilding Approach to Addressing Social Media Threats

"Social media is both a driver of disinformation and polarisation and a potential tool for building more peaceful and resilient societies. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in learning how social media is upending conflict dynamics worldwide, from fragile states to longstanding democracies, and—most importantly—what policymakers, the private sector and civil society collectively can do about it." – Uzra Zeya, CEO of the Alliance for Peacebuilding"In this book, local researchers from 13 countries map the impacts of social media technologies on their contexts; an important read for tech companies, governments and civil society peacebuilders." – Michaela Ledesma and Helena Puig Larrauri, Directors and Co-founders of Build Up"The rule of law, truth, democracy, privacy and civil liberties are under threat all around the world. This book explains the particular role of social media in fuelling these negative processes. It demonstrates how such media exploit personal, social and political vulnerabilities to generate fearful citizens. The subsequent politics of fear, intolerance and domination generate political paralysis and subjugation. The dynamics of these processes are examined theoretically but more importantly are illustrated by 13 insightful case studies from all around the world. These cases demonstrate that the challenges are national in consequence but global in scope. This book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how to utilise social media for good in order to protect inclusive, tolerant and accountable political institutions at national and global levels." – Kevin P. Clements, Emeritus Professor of the University of Otago; Director of the Toda Peace Institute