Social Media Manipulation to Undermine Democracy 

Introduction
Living in this age of reality where the world has become smaller and connected than ever
before must have been a dream for our ancestors who were so anxious about their loved ones
but had to wait for days to know how they were doing in life. It was quite tough to establish
communication but then, social media came to existence and just a couple of years changed
the way the society was living completely. 
At this point of time, over 2 billion people are connected to social media and are using to
communicate with their friends and relatives and sharing their stories online on those
platforms. Social Media has brought a number of miracles for which we are thankful but
there is an ugly of the coin which will compel you to leave these platforms and also make you
understand how the following factors manipulate your mind and make you threat to
democracy and peace
How Social Media manipulates
Companies like Facebook and Google uses a lot strategy in creating contents which you like.
The use of Artificial Intelligence by these companies play a pivotal role in choosing the
content which you like. For example, a Muslim who uses social media will have more
chances of watching videos related to anti CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) or anti BJP.
Similarly, a Hindu using social media will be getting video recommendations related to Ram
Mandir or Pro CAA. Now, this use of AI generally creates a rift between the parties who
become intolerant to have a sit down and argue on valid points about their beliefs and
cultures. The next thing which will happen is the radicalisation of both the sides which
ultimately lead to clashes and riots. The AI captures everything which the user would like to
see so that he or she can spend hours being active on the platform. This is a business model
used by the tech giants in the silicon valley which is making people addictive to social media
and weakens them to that point where they cannot live without social media for a long period
of time. 
A man is social animal and has its own ideologies and thoughts and will always like to hear
which makes him satisfied and this becomes an advantage for social media. 
Lies spread faster than truth
There must be an enormous amount of social media users who have at least once been the
victim of false news. Whether it be the death of any actor or any new cure for cancer, fake
news in reality spread faster than the real news. The particular reason for this circumstance is
that people want to hear they like and something extraordinary. This is a human nature and
hence cannot be changed in the least. This paves the way for the spread of false information
about the government policies which will cause distress the citizens and will incite violence.
This is very easy, anyone with mala fide intention can create an account in the social media
and can spread these false information to the targeted audience who have a high chance of
getting manipulated by those posts and get brainwashed easily. The Bengaluru riots in 2019
was the result of a facebook post of Congress MLA which was deemed to be hurting religious
sentiments of Muslims and as a result, several vehicles and houses were burnt and many
people were injured in the riots. 
Social Media creates tension
We all are witnessing the farmers protest which is happening prominently in the parts of
Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh where farmers are protesting against the farm
bills which were passed by the government. It is not surprising that the social media has been
split into many 2 parts who are with and against farmers. This rift is causing primarily due to
the social media as we do not know what is actually happening from ground zero and the
only source of information we have is from the social media which could be biased many
times. Now this is creating an unforeseen tension which is slowly built and caused a massive
outrage amongst the farmers who got to know that they will be ruined if these farm bills are
implemented. This all was the result of false news which got rampant on the social media and
thus, the most significant factor played on 26 January was the social media. 
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Responsibility of Social Media 

Right now, Facebook and Google are the biggest tech giants and they have a moral
responsibility of implementing reforms in its platforms where users can become less
addictive to these platforms. It is the addiction that holds the person to use more often than
ever. People are checking messages on their social media in the morning just after waking up
and since teenagers use a lot, they are becoming the victims of psychological problems like
anxiety and depression. Since at this age, their minds are sensitive, watching radical videos
on social media is destroying their minds. 
What to do
What we are witnessing here is a targeted manipulation of the audience with careful analysis
of likeness and interests. If fallen to the hands of a dictator, this will become the ultimate
weapon in controlling the population and manipulating with great ease. Action must be taken
to avoid such consequences which can prevent this dystopia. These companies need to
change their business models as it is not the people and the leaders who are evil in nature but
it is the business models which solely aim at making profit at all costs and losing the sense of
humanity. Making these social media platforms more user friendly can help in avoiding many
hazards whether it be related to reducing false information or making it less addicting.   
Recently, government has implemented a policy of keeping the social media platforms and
the OTT platforms under its supervision and taking action if any content is deemed to be
objectionable in nature. The reason for introducing this policy was simply to tackle the
problem of violence which is spread through the posts on the social media. Social Media may
have helped in making our lives easier and more entertaining but this is also should be kept in
mind that the fickle minded people can also get influenced by some content and can become
part of the mob who wants to overthrow the government without any valid reason.   While
social media activism brings an increased awareness about societal issues, questions remain
as to whether this awareness is translating into real change. Some argue that social sharing
has encouraged people to use computers and mobile phones to express their concerns on
social issues without actually having to engage actively with campaigns in real life. Their
support is limited to pressing the ‘Like’ button or sharing content.