Insights from narrative and public opinion research on digital threats to democracy and social justice in Europe
By David Madden, Ecosystems & Partnerships Director, Luminate Strategic Initiatives and Jacqui Howard, Advisor
Social media companies have become an enormous obstacle to advancing justice worldwide. Platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok have maximised their profits at the expense of our personal and collective safety. Their business model is built on endless, unfiltered, and often extreme content driven by algorithms that amplify hate, abuse, disinformation, and division. This toxic stream harms all of us, especially people already discriminated against, on- and offline: children, women, racialised people, religious minorities, migrants, disabled people, and others. It undermines trust and respect between people, threatening our mental and physical health - even rocking the foundations of democracy itself.
While European policymakers have focused on these issues, relatively little has been done to engage the broader public. Luminate commissioned research to understand how to engage and mobilise more people in campaigns for an internet that enables us all to thrive. It focused on people’s perceptions of social media companies and the role of regulation in tackling digital threats to democracy.
This year-long research project was commissioned by Luminate and carried out by Humankind, Purpose and Yonder in 2022 to study narratives, public opinion, and messaging in Europe related to social media companies. Working with campaigners, digital rights and communications experts, we have compiled a guide for the field with insights from research and best practices in campaigning and messaging.
These insights come at a critical moment. This research was conducted immediately after the passage of the landmark Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA). Now is the time to ensure that the public is engaged in demanding that these regulations are enforced.
Luminate commissioned research to understand how to engage and mobilise more people in campaigns for an internet that enables us all to thrive. The data from the narrative analysis, focus groups, surveys, and message testing in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Ireland can be accessed in the Insights Guide.
Key research insights
The data from the narrative analysis, focus groups, surveys, and message testing in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Ireland is rich and invaluable – and can be accessed fully in the Insights Guide. While there were some nuances across countries, there generally weren’t significant differences in people’s perceptions. Some highlights from the research include:
- Most people don’t think highly of social media companies; a large majority of respondents see the companies as profit-driven and self-interested, disrespectful of users’ privacy, and not to be trusted.
- At least one in four respondents had a negative experience online in the last four weeks, and a majority in all five countries believe that more should be done to protect all of us online.
- A strong majority of respondents support regulation, and most people want more and better safety measures on social media. Most people also think that it is the responsibility of social media companies to make the internet safer; the role of government and other governing bodies is less clear.
- People care more about workers' rights, child protection, racial, gender, and climate justice than online harms. There’s an opportunity to connect these issues with campaigns for a better internet.
- The values that people care about most online – safety, control, honesty, and respect – are the values that social media companies are failing on. This provides a campaigning opportunity.
- A strong majority of respondents see the problems. Most are ambivalent about whether the harms outweigh the benefits of social media platforms. However, right now, they don’t see viable solutions or their role in making positive change.
Next steps
Our challenge, then, is to build robust theories of change and visionary campaigns that present compelling, viable alternatives and show policymakers and regulators, the courts and tech companies that the time for action is now. We hope the Insights Guide inspires conversation across silos and adds to existing work on public campaigning for social justice and platform accountability. Ultimately, we hope it supports future research, collaboration and action to build widespread popular support for an internet that underpins social justice and democracy for everyone in Europe and beyond.