Lesson 20 - Ilc - Social Media The Digital Age

Social Media & the Digital Age
CGW4U
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/2015cws11and12.pdf
T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 1

Table of Contents
Topic to Students
Curriculum Objectives
Glossary of Terms/Key Concepts
Introduction of the Lesson
Section 1: Power of Social Media & Digital Platforms
Section 2: Censorship & Human Rights
Section 3: Future technology & Agents of Change
Culminating Activity
Culminating Activity Assessment Rubric
Works Cited & References
Optional / Additional Readings
Teacher’s Handbook

Topic to Students
Although social media and the digital age are fairly new phenomena they are here to stay. Social
media, digital platforms, and technology have impacted all aspects of our individual, national,
and international lives. This independent learning course will discuss social media, and
technology as it relates to propaganda, elections, fake news, censorship, human rights, agents of
change, and the mass media.
Since you are an influencer online and nearing the age of voting, it is important to understand the
power of social media to affect positive change but also to manipulate information, opinions, and
the global political climate. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to identify and critique the
influence of technology and social media on a global scale and on individuals. You will also be
able to think about how social media and technology are already changing, and consider what
changes should be made in the future!
By the end of the lesson I will:

●

Curriculum Objectives
A1.1 formulate different types of questions to guide investigations into world geographic issues
A1.3 assess the credibility of sources and information relevant to their investigations
A1.4 interpret and analyse data and information relevant to their investigations, using various
tools, strategies, and approaches appropriate for geographic inquiry
A1.6 evaluate and synthesize their findings to formulate conclusions and/or make informed
judgements or predictions about the issues they are investigating
A1.7 communicate their ideas, arguments, and conclusions using various formats and styles, as
appropriate for the audience and purpose
C1.2 analyse the roles and responsibilities of international organizations, governments, and
companies with respect to the protection of the natural environment
D2.1 analyse issues relating to the impacts of globalization on economic and social conditions in
both developing and developed countries and on the environment
D2.2 analyse the impacts of globalization on individual countries and on the interrelationships
between countries
D2.4 assess the responsibilities of governments and businesses for managing economic,
environmental, and social impacts associated with globalization, and describe ways in which this
could be done.
D3.3 describe the globalization of culture and analyse the factors that have contributed to it.
E1.1 analyse government policies for controlling population growth, and assess their impacts
E1.2 assess the effectiveness of various international aid policies, programs, and practices in
improving the quality of life in developing countries
E1.3 assess the contributions of various individuals to advancing human rights and improving
the quality of life in various countries, and assess the roles and responsibilities of individuals, as
global citizens, in helping to solve issues of global concern
E2.1 explain the impact of technology as an agent of change and describe ways in which
technology could be used to bring about beneficial change in the future
E2.2 analyze the influence of mass media, including the Internet, on social and political change
E3.2 assess the responsibility of governments and international bodies for the promotion and
protection of human rights
E3.3 analyse issues relating to the rights of women and children, and assess the effectiveness of
programs and organizations that address these issues

Glossary of Terms/Key Concepts
● Agent of change
○ “An agent of change is someone who sees a problem in their community, large or small, and
does something to take action for substantial change. This person is someone who listens to
the people in the community where the issue exists and makes sure that they truly
understand the root of the problem before implementing a new idea.”
● Censorship
○ “Censorship, the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are "offensive," happens
whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal, political, or moral values on
others. Censorship can be carried out by the government as well as private pressure groups.”
● Confirmation bias
○ “The confirmation bias describes our underlying tendency to notice, focus on, and give
greater credence to evidence that fits with our existing beliefs”
● Digital Age
○ “The present time, in which many things are done by computer and large amounts of
information are available because of computer technology”
● Exploitation
○ “The use of something (or someone) in order to get an advantage from it”
● Global Citizenship
○ “A global citizen is an individual who is aware of the world and has a sense of their role in
it. They respect and value diversity and work to understand and add to efforts to achieve
social development goals. Global citizens participate in communities at all levels (from
local to global) and take responsibility for their actions and interactions with members of
their own community and communities abroad.”
● Human Rights
○ “Human rights are standards that recognize and protect the dignity of all human beings.
Human rights govern how individual human beings live in society and with each other, as
well as their relationship with the State and the obligations that the State have towards
them.”
● Objectification
○ “The act or an instance of treating a person as an object or thing:The objectification of
women in the media teaches girls that all they have to offer is their body and face, and
they should expend all their effort on physical appearance.”
● Political Polarisation
○ Political polarisation is the process by which the population or public opinion tends to
divide based on how close each individual is to the left or right on the political spectrum,
and which, on the one hand, tends to gravitate toward the extremes at the expense of the
centre. In other words, creates greater political divides between the left and the right.
● Social Media
○ Social media is a computer-based technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas, thoughts,
and information through the building of virtual networks and communities. By design,
social media is Internet-based and gives users quick electronic communication of content.
Content includes personal information, documents, videos, and photos. Users engage with
social media via a computer, tablet, or smartphone via web-based software or applications.

Introduction
Technology has shaped our world in almost every way we can imagine. It affects
industry, politics, science, and everyday life. The ways that it does this are constantly changing
because technology is constantly changing. Let’s take a look at a video that will get us thinking
about that.
This lesson will focus especially on social media as an agent of influence and change, and
how societies, governments, and individuals interact with it! Before we dive into the specific
content, here is one more short article (see below) that will help frame our thinking about how
social media and mobile technology shape our day to day life.
Technological Influence on Society

by Mickeel Allen, Alvernia University
Nov 07, 2019
Technology affects the way individuals communicate, learn, and think. It helps society
and determines how people interact with each other on a daily basis. Technology plays an
important role in society today. It has positive and negative effects on the world and it

impacts daily lives. We are living in an era where technological advances are common.
The internet and cell phones are some examples. However, with technological advances,
there’s a downside to it all.
One aspect of technology that has had a great impact on society is how it affects learning.
It’s made learning more interactive and collaborative, this helps people better engage
with the material that they are learning and have trouble with. Also, it gets you better
access to resources. With the creation of the internet, it gives us access to information at a
twenty-four-hour rate and you have access to almost anything online. In addition, it
allows students to get work done easier. Students can take quizzes and exams more easily,
and teachers being able to hold online classes can be very effective. It also expands the
boundaries of the classroom, encouraging self-paced learning. People can access learning
through YouTube and social media. This helps students learn better than sitting down for
lectures and reading from textbooks. These technological advancements made learning
more fun and convenient.
Another way technology has impacted society is through communication, how we talk
and communicate with one another worldwide. Technology brought many new methods
of electronic communication. For example, there are emails, social networking, you can
facetime a person that lives on the other side of the world, and here’s video conferencing
where you can have conferences electronically. Lastly, the technological advancements
that were made within the health industry have helped keep people safe and healthy.
There are many innovative apps on phones that allow people to watch their weight, how
many calories they intake, heart rate and other health properties any time of the day.
There’s increased accessibility of treatment available, there’s the change in healthcare
that adds benefits for the elderly, and hospitals using advanced technology within their
surgical rooms.
However, studies show that mobile communication affects people in a negative way
when it comes to being sociable and making face-to-face contact. Mobile technology can
decrease communication and relations between people. There’s less personal time, where
you find that you don't have enough time for yourself because you’re always in contact
with someone. Also, it can be distracting from your schoolwork. There is also loss of

privacy, because anyone can find you anywhere, at any time of the day. In conclusion, all
of these things impact how humans act today. Without technological advancements, our
way of life would not be as complex. Technological influences shape the way humans act
today.
Now that you have read the two articles, start thinking about some big guiding questions that will
be important for this lesson (note that you do not need to record answers for these questions yet):
● How does social media and digital technology affect day to day life?
● How does social media and digital technology affect governments, social movements,
and human rights?
● How can you use social media to be a better global citizen?
Down the Rabbit Hole - additional resources:

If you are interested in diving deep into this topic, here are some quick links.
● How TikTok recommends videos #ForYou

Section 1 - Power of social media & digital platforms to influence the world
1.1 Propaganda in foreign and domestic policy
As we know, digital media and social media is an effective tool for communication and
mass messaging. Governments around the world often use the media to propagate their ideas in
attempts to influence their populations. In this activity we will explore the ways in which various
governments have created propaganda campaigns and how the digital age has facilitated these
campaigns. Specifically, we will analyse campaigns from China and Canada regarding
population control.
First, we will look at propaganda posters advertising China’s former One-Child-Policy.
These billboards show how governments used media to promote their policies prior to the digital
age. China's 'One Child' Policy Propaganda Posters Over the Years.

China’s ‘One Child’ Policy Propaganda Posters Over the Years
For more than 30 years, China has enforced a strict policy limiting families to one child.
Signs and posters around the country encouraged families to comply.
Oct. 2, 2015 6:29 am ET
A farmer rides past a billboard promoting China's one-child policy on the outskirts of a village
near Dongying, Shandong province, in August 1997. The sign urges people to ‘improve the
quality of the population’ and ‘control the population increase.’GREG BAKER/ASSOCIATED
PRESS
A decaying mural promoting China’s family-planning policy suffers from neglect along a back
street in Beijing, from October 1996.WILL BURGESS/REUTERS

A billboard along a road leading to a village in Beijing’s suburbs encourages couples to have
only one child, from March 2001.GOH CHAI HIN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY
IMAGES
In an image from October 1997, a man walks past a sign that states: ‘Implementing family
planning is in the interest of the country, people and posterity,’ on the outskirts of Khotan in
northwestern Xinjiang province.REUTERS

Next, we will explore Canada’s #ImmigrationMatters campaign that was done on social
media to promote immigration in Canada. Although these government campaigns are seemingly
opposites, while one is attempting to reduce its population, the other increasing it, they may be
more similar than they are different.
Support Questions
Explore and analyse the campaigns linked above:
1. How are the billboards that China Used to promote their One Child Policy and Canada’s
#ImmigrationMatters Campaigns similar? How are they different?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
2. Why might a government need to create media or propaganda campaigns to gain the
support of the population? How are these campaigns effective?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
1.2 Elections and Domestic Politics
Not only can the media be used by governments around the world to influence their
populations, but new technologies have also affected politics. More and more we are seeing
social media affecting election results. Explore the effect of social media on the 2020 United
States presidential election here.
Social Media’s Impact on the 2020 Presidential Election: The Good, the Bad, and
the Ugly
This year, the US is experiencing one of the most anticipated and divisive elections in its
history. Social media, with some 233 million users in the US and already a major

communications platform, is believed to have taken on a heightened role of importance
and ability to influence leading up to the election with people relying more on virtual
communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. This may have both positive and
negative consequences.
Social media is acknowledged as an important platform this year for reaching youth and
reports a massive and continuous increase in engagement during this election cycle.
Although it’s too early to determine exact causation, NPR, in an October 29 article on
surging youth turnout, shared that the number of early voters under 30 who are voting for
the first time in their life is more than double the number of first-time voters at this point
in the 2016 election.
In fact, experts believe that social media has positively impacted civic engagement,
registration, and early voting across the board. Many states have reported record breaking
new voter registration numbers and nationwide, early voting has broken historic records
at 99.7 million early votes submitted (already more than two-thirds of the total votes cast
in 2016). “Get out the vote” (GOTV) ads and communications on social media, an
umbrella term used to describe actions taken to get supporters of a campaign to turn up at
the polls, are nearly impossible to miss when scrolling through social apps.
Although increased engagement in social media appears to have played a key role in
increasing civic engagement, there is also a downside – misinformation and
disinformation. In the past few weeks leading up to Election Day, there has been a unique
rise in cases of video manipulation where video clips are edited to make candidates
appear to be making mis-steps that they didn’t commit, slurring words or appearing less
competent, and some deep fakes, a technique using artificial intelligence to fabricate
images and videos most often used for malicious purposes, where videos are computer
generated to show false footage.
“While [social media] platforms prohibit this, they often get posted, viewed, and shared
millions of times,” Golbeck said on the rise of these malicious efforts. “One of the main
manipulation techniques used to add legitimacy to candidates and positions is to use bots
or super active accounts to make things look popular - fact-checkers are critical for
helping understand who and what can be trusted.” Golbeck suggests using sites such as
FactCheck.org

(Original news story written by Hayleigh Moore & Mia Hinckle)
November 3, 2020
Social media also has the power to create further political polarization. In other words, it
creates greater political divides between the political left and the political right. Watch this video
about How Social Media Divides Us politically. (Optional) For more information about how the
algorithms contribute to political polarization, consult this article: Digital public: looking at what
algorithms actually do.
Support Questions
1. In your own words, what is political polarization? How does social media contribute?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
1.3 Fake News and Misinformation
The spread of Fake News and misinformation has become a growing phenomenon in
today’s political landscape. It is becoming more and more difficult to distinguish an individual’s
opinion form, informed knowledge, and even from fact. In this section, we will explore how
digital media has facilitated the spread of fake news as its effects on global politics. Let’s take
the United States for example, former president Donald Trump is notorious for the creation and
spread of misinformation, read the following article to see the impact it’s had on American
politics: Trump tweets: Legacy of lies, misinformation, distrust.

Trump’s election lies were among his most popular tweets
PUBLISHED WED, JAN 13 2021
Nate Rattner
Following the U.S. Capitol riot, Twitter permanently banned President Donald Trump’s
account “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
Blocked from using his preferred tool for public communication, Trump left behind 88
million followers, some 16,000 now-deleted tweets while in office, and a legacy of
spreading disinformation and distrust on the platform.
A CNBC analysis of Trump’s tweets during his presidency found that his most popular
and frequent posts largely spread disinformation and distrust. Many of his most-liked
tweets contained falsehoods, while the topic he posted about most frequently, “fake
news,” was a weapon for undermining information.
“Trump’s primary use of Twitter has been to spread propaganda and manipulate public
opinion,” said Sam Woolley, director for propaganda research at the University of Texas
at Austin’s Center for Media Engagement. “He used Twitter to delegitimize information
or to delegitimize the positions of his opponents.”
Of Trump’s 10 most-popular tweets, four contained false claims related to the 2020
election results. Of his 100 most popular posts, 36 contained election-related falsehoods.

Those 36 posts containing election falsehoods received a collective 22.6 million likes and
3.9 million retweets, according to the analysis, which used a historical log of Trump’s
posts from the Trump Twitter Archive and excluded any retweets from accounts other
than @realDonaldTrump. “Since the November election, Trump has turned to Twitter as
the core platform for spreading disinformation about the election,” said Woolley.
The House of Representatives is expected to impeach Trump on Wednesday afternoon for

a second time. The Democratic-led House introduced an article of impeachment Monday
that cited Trump’s repeated false claims of election fraud as evidence that he ignited
insurrection at the Capitol.
While the posting of falsehoods is one form of misinformation, Woolley said, Trump also
practiced a less direct mechanism: Attacks intended to delegitimize information. This is
most visible in the use of Trump’s favorite phrase, “fake news,” which appeared roughly
900 times across his tweet history.

“Trump uses social media and terms like ‘fake news’ and ‘witch hunt’ and his power
there to create the illusion of popularity for ideas that actually have no basis in reality,”
said Woolley. “Often what this does is create a bandwagon effect for supporting false or
misleading things, or more generally attacking institutions,” which may include health
care, science, education, and the government, in addition to the media.
The increase in social media disinformation from Trump and others has visible effects on
U.S. democracy, said Kelly Born, executive director of the Cyber Policy Center at
Stanford University. She described broad impacts, such as decreasing trust in institutions,
and more specific, tangible outcomes, like the mob of Trump supporters that interrupted a
joint session of Congress confirming Joe Biden’s election victory.
“There’s no question that the [social media] platforms were used in every step” of the
riot, said Born, “from the heightening of tensions between these groups to really
exacerbating the animosity to actually physically organizing, with people talking about
bringing zip ties and rope and where to go and when.”
Woolley agreed that last week’s events show the power of Trump’s internet presence
outside of social media, explaining how the online and offline worlds are connected.

The Trump Twitter cycle followed a now-familiar pattern throughout his presidency:
Trump tweeted to millions of followers, who further spread the messages in his posts,
which were then covered in the media and pushed further into the public discourse,
giving Trump another opportunity to comment on his initial message.
“There have been other Republicans and supporters discounting what he does, saying let
him have his thing on Twitter, downplaying or ignoring it,” Woolley said. “With what
we’ve seen in Washington in the last several days, we can no longer deny the fact that
what Trump does and says online has serious offline consequences.”
Trump spoke publicly for the first time since the riot on Tuesday, but did not take
personal responsibility for the violence. In his comments, he used language similar to that
seen in many of his tweets, calling the impeachment talk “really a continuation of the
greatest witch hunt in politics.”
In addition to how Trump used the tool, Born said that part of his Twitter legacy is that
his actions finally forced social media and tech platforms to take action against the type
of content and behavior he promoted. In the last week, Google and Facebook suspended
or banned Trump from their platforms, Amazon withdrew cloud computing support from
social media app Parler due to violent content on the platform, and Twitter suspended
more than 70,000 accounts associated with the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory.
Because of Twitter’s permanent suspension of Trump’s account, most of his tweets that
were embedded in media stories over the years have vanished, leaving a hole in the
historic record of the 45th president. Private companies do not fall under rules for
government agencies to preserve documents and communications for legal and historic
research.
“These Tweets will no longer be available to the public and this is not an institutional
government account,” a Twitter spokesperson told CNBC by email Wednesday. “We
defer to the White House and National Archives and Records Administration on
preservation requirements. We will work with the government to help fulfill their archival
laws.”

The spokesperson also noted that Politwoops preserves all deleted tweets.
- CNBC’s Marty Steinberg and Steve Kovach contributed to this story.
Support Questions
2. What impact has the spread of misinformation on social media had on the political divide
in the United States?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
3. Confirmation Bias describes our underlying tendency to notice, focus on, and give greater
credence to evidence that fits with our existing beliefs. How are we seeing examples of
this in American politics? How has social media and digital media contributed to this
problem?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

If you are interested in diving deep into this topic, here are some quick links.
● China's One-Child Policy
● Digital public: looking at what algorithms actually do
● The role of misinformation in Trump's insurrection
● How Lies on Social Media Inflame Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Section 2 - Censorship & the power to influence human rights
2.1 Censorship in social media and access to information
With the numerous digital technologies and the invention of the internet, there is now
unlimited access to knowledge at peoples’ fingertips. However, governments and private
organizations may not want everyone to have access to information. Throughout time and the
world those in power have censored or limited access to information and knowledge. There have
been many reasons for this censorship, from furthering a government's own aims and controlling
internet freedom, to removing violent content and misinformation.
Please take a look at Explore the Map below and Social Media Platforms Take Steps to
Remove Violent Content After Criticism and Social Censorship: Should Social Media’s Policy
Be Free Speech? (all articles are below).
Explore the Map

Freedom House
Social Media Platforms Take Steps to Remove Violent Content After Criticism
Social media platforms come under criticism these days for a wide variety of things. One thing in
particular that they have been criticized about is their role in helping violent offenders including

the New Zealand Broadchurch Mosque shooter and terrorist live stream his attacks and overall
becoming a platform that allows extremist views to thrive and violent tendencies to be
propagated among people that might have similar opinions on matters.
In response to this, a wide variety of social media platforms have taken steps to prevent such
disasters from happening again at any point in the future. Facebook claims that it has reduced the
amount of time it takes to remove a violent video after it has been posted by a drastic amount. It
now takes 12 seconds for the algorithm to locate and remove a video that contains any form of
real life violence in it which according to Facebook executives is a 90% decrease from how long
it used to take before.
Facebook is also going to start banning users from its live stream feature if they violate terms
and conditions by showing real life violence or using it to spread any hate filled, extremist or
terror related content. It should be noted however that the ban is only going to be temporary,
which has lead some to say that stricter measures need to be taken in order to actually make a
difference and prevent such content from being spread around on social media.
Twitter has also stated that it has taken steps to remove about a million and a half accounts that
were associated with the spreading of terrorism related messages through its platform. According
to Twitter executives, 90% of all accounts that were associated with terrorist activities have been
suspended, something that would be a welcome change after the recent spreading of terrorist
content using social media platforms.
Zia Muhammad Saturday, September 21, 2019
Social Censorship: Should Social Media’s Policy Be Free Speech?

John Koetsier Senior Contributor (John Koetsier is a journalist, analyst, author, and speaker)
Consumer Tech
Oct 25, 2020
How should social media deal with controversial subjects or false information?

According to alternative social network Minds.com CEO Bill Ottman, freedom is the best policy.
And, he says, it’s also the policy that results in the least harm. At election time, when fake news
is a hot button topic on all sides of the political spectrum, that might be a controversial opinion.
“Where we draw the line ... is around the First Amendment,” Ottman told me in a recent
TechFirst podcast. “No one really knows what the policy is on Facebook and Twitter and
YouTube.”
This might be seen as a libertarian argument based on freedom rather than one concerned with
harmful results, though Minds does have restrictions on harmful content as well. But more
importantly, it’s Ottman’s assertion that banning bad content is actually socially riskier over the
long term for our entire culture. Part of his rationale is a quote from a Nature study on the
“global online hate ecology” which suggests that policing content can just shunt it elsewhere to
more hidden places.
“Our mathematical model predicts that policing within a single platform, such as Facebook, can
make matters worse and will eventually generate global dark pools in which online hate will
flourish,” the study says.
Ottman acknowledges that we all want less hate speech (none would be good!) and safe online
communities. Rather than censorship, however, he advocates a policy of engagement. That’s why
he engaged Daryl Davis as an advisor for the Minds community. Davis is the well-known blues
musician who, as a black man, has de-radicalized as many as 200 members of the KKK via
engagement and conversation.
Ottman wonders if that model is scalable with digital technology.
“What do you think would happen if the 20,000 moderators on Facebook were all mental health
workers and counselors and people who are actually engaging — as long as it’s not illegal, like
true harassment, like that stuff has to go — but for the edge cases, these people who are like
disturbed people … what would happen if we had 20,000 people who were productively
engaging them?”
It’s worth asking that question.

It’s also worth considering that for some, this isn’t a theoretical topic or an abstract discussion.
I personally know a smart, gifted woman who was contributing incredibly to the software
usability ecosystem who was driven offline by misogynistic trolls who literally threatened her
with rape and murder. Others are persecuted based on race, political beliefs, or numerous other
reasons.
It’s good, therefore, that Ottman acknowledges that the Davis model isn’t the only path forward,
and that social networks have a responsibility for safety.
“I do think it’s the job of the social networks to make it very clear to you as a user how to control
your experience ... giving you as many possible tools to control your experience as they can,”
Ottman says.
That could, theoretically, include the ability to proactively block hateful comments or contacts.
Doing so at scale, however, seems currently impossible, which Ottman acknowledges.
“It’s a losing battle to expect that every single piece of content uploaded to social networks with
hundreds of millions or billions of users is going to be able to get fully vetted,” he says.
And, in fact, when President Trump contracted Covid-19 and multiple Twitter users publicly
wished that he would die, Twitter blocked those Tweets, citing policies that say “tweets that wish
or hope for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against *anyone* are not allowed and will
need to be removed.” That was news to hundreds of people, including women and people of
color, who have dealt with implicit and explicit death threats for years with no intervention from
Twitter.

Most social networks employ some form of AI to find and block objectionable content, but it,
frankly, is far from perfect. Case in point: recently farmers in Canada had their pictures of onions
flagged by Facebook and removed because they were ‘sexual’ in nature. Unless the platforms get
orders of magnitude better, it’s going to be hard to see how they can allow us to control our
experience enough to avoid the trolls.
This is not an easy problem, and it doesn’t have an easy solution. Algorithms already control a
lot of what we see, and hard-edged reality bubbles that separate and divide people is one
potential result, Ottman says.
“There’s a growing body of evidence that what is happening, that the content policies on the big
networks are fueling the cultural divide and a lot of the polarization and civil unrest,” he told me.
“And people like Deeyah Kahn have done TED Talks on this also, directly engaging hate
head-on. And the evidence actually shows that that’s really the only way to change minds.
You’re almost guaranteed not to change their mind if you ban them. In fact, the opposite, I mean,
you can’t communicate with them if you ban them.”
That’s a tall order.

It has a certain ring of truth to it: how can we expect machines to police our expressions and
actions, rather than personal persuasion by other human beings? But it also seems incredibly
challenging to do safely, and at scale.
Support questions:
1. How might governments use media and social media to influence people? Is the
censorship of the media a breach of people's human rights, specifically freedom of
expression?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
2. Should content be censored? If yes, who should be censoring: governments, social media
companies, others?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2.2 Human Rights in social media and on digital platforms

We have entered a new age of digital globalization. Thanks to constantly improving
technology we are more connected than ever before to people around the world. Borders no
longer stand in the way of rallying for a cause and with the aid of social media, events unfold at
record speed. This phenomenon is discussed in the following article, The Impact Social Media
Activism Had On The BLM Movement.
The Impact Social Media Activism Had On The BLM Movement

We're taking a look at what helped VS hurt the movement
Sandy Hudson
May 25, 2021
Discrimination and police brutality are nothing new, but last summer we saw a racial unrest
unlike anything we’ve seen before. This forced more of us to confront Canada and the United
States’ long history of racism. Public opinion of racism quickly shifted in the wake of the protest,
with a huge jump in support for the BLM movement and acknowledgement of institutional
racism, especially on social media. Has any of that support resulted in meaningful change? Dr.
Moya Bailey, author of #HashtagActivism and Sandy Hudson, co-founder of the Black Lives
Matter movement presence in Canada, discuss performative ally-ship and hashtag activism.
What is hashtag activism?
Hashtag activism is a tool that leverages people’s use of digital media to support the activism that
they are already doing on the ground. It’s a combination of using digital platforms to increase
and bolster messages that are happening in real life or, IRL.
One classic of hashtag activism that people can immediately recognize is the use of the names of
people that have been killed by police violence. This has been a way that people have understood
hashtags as an important means to get a message out and across. Last summer was different as
there was a succession of these hashtags used in a few weeks, the death of George Floyd,
Breonna Taylor and in more recent times, Makaia Bryant.
#BlackoutTuesday: helpful or harmful?

In a few hours more than 14.6 million black squares flooded onto Instagram feeds. The impacts
of black out Tuesday can be thought of positively in the sense that any sort of feedback from
mainstream media and culture is helpful and it shows a level of support. When people are
interested in doing something, by seeing others post it takes away a sense of nervousness about
taking a position on something.
However, the negative impacts is that it’s so easy just to put up a black square and stand in
solidarity, compared to actually speaking up against the issue. Asking the government to make
concrete changes-that’s a lot riskier but shows you stand in solidarity. Accomplice or solidarity
actions that are built by those not following the lead of those most affected usually fall flat. In
addition, many of these posts used the hashtag “#blacklivesmatters” in their captions drowning
out actual BLM posts.
Being in-line with activists
When activism becomes popular the inclination is to jump in and do good. What we cannot
forget is that there are people working and preparing for these moments in the in between times
when activism is not popular. They have done so much work to move forward, it is so critical to
check in with these people if we do want to make the best contribution to “do good”.
What work have police forces taken to show accountability and what still needs to be done?
The problem lies within the fundamental operations of police, so the individual police forces are
not expected to do much. What needs to be done is changes from governments and policy
makers. They need the ones taking action. There has been concrete changes made in Canada
after recent events in 2020. For example, the city of Vancouver recently decided to remove cops
from all schools. Changes like this show that we are in the right direction.
Has traditional media contributed anything meaningful to change?
During the freedom struggle of the 1960’s the traditional media had an important role to play in
broadcasting to the world- the acracies that were happening and how black people were treated.
Dr. Moya Bailey’s newest book, the Misogynoir Transformed discusses more about the

transformative justice practices we can see in the media that people create for themselves. For
instance, Black women are now using YouTube and other platforms to create the media that they
want to see.
Companies and public figures with global reach are establishing numerous diverse
campaigns and programs. They cover issues from environmental conservation, wildlife
conservation, community development, and global public health to name a few. Many programs
promote gender equality such as the five shown in the article below.
AROUND THE WORLD

5 Gender Equality Campaigns Which Made a Huge Impact
September 5, 2018
Gender equality is essential to create a safer, better, more prosperous, and sustainable world.
Unfortunately, women are still not safe in their own house, or in the communities, they do
not have equal legal or social status in many countries. Till now there are 49 countries
without any laws to protect against sexual violence or abuse and in 18 countries, husbands can
legally prevent their wives from working. Women’s rights activism and feminist movements
have started gaining momentum over the last two decades. These 5 gender equality
campaigns made a huge impact over the last few years by engaging common people,
leaders, empowering women, to create a more gender-equal, sustainable world.
HeForShe
Founded by UN Women in 2014, HeForShe movement aims in breaking social norms by signing
primarily up men and boys to support gender equality. HeForShe believes that Gender equality is
not a women’s issue but a threat to global human rights. They work as a systematic platform to
engage boys and men in partnership with women in taking direct actions to eradicate
discrimination, violence, and oppression against women. Since it’s launch, hundreds of
thousands of men across all walks of society, including Global leaders, diplomats, CEOs have
committed to this innovative initiative as a change maker. IMPACT 10x10x10 is a pilot initiative

of HeForShe, where leaders from three sectors-Governments, corporate and academia would be
engaged to a top-down approach in making real changes and measurable progress in gender
equality issues in their respective sector. #HeForShe
UniTE to End Violence Against Women

UniTE to End Violence Against Women is a campaign launched by United Nations
Secretary-General in 2008 to end all forms of violence against all women in the world by
actively engaging Policymakers as well as leaders from civil societies, private sectors,
individuals and communities. The UNiTE campaign aims to enforce and implement laws and
action plans to prevent violence against women and girls by educating and involving people from
diverse backgrounds. This campaign also aims to address the worldwide use of sexual violence
as a tactic of armed conflict. One of the key targets of the UNiTE campaign also is involving
men and boys as an active change-maker in this fight against sexual violence against women.
#UNiTE #UnitedNations
Empower women
In October 2011, UN Women and Canada jointly developed this online platform on women’s
economic empowerment. Since then Empower Women has spread across 190 countries, created
more than 410 Champions for women’s economic empowerment, and is the leading global
movement for women’s economic empowerment. They are dedicated to empowering women
economically by engaging and educating both women and men as advocates and change-makers
through a common platform by networking, sharing, peer learning and mentoring.
#EmpowerWomen
MeToo
In 2006, Tarana Burke started the Me Too movement to extend support and empathy to survivors
of sexual violence by creating a larger network of survivors. What started as a grass root level
campaign in 2006, became a global movement by 2017 through viral#Metoo hashtag on social
media and created a huge impact in several countries in the world. The purpose of this movement

was to help the survivors heal and de-stigmatize and to validate the trauma and pain of the
survivors. This movement is the voice of survivors of sexual harassment and violence and led by
survivors for survivors. They were also fighting for systemic changes in the social and criminal
justice system. #MeToo
Girl up
Girl Up is an initiative of the United Nations Foundation to engage and empower girls to stand
up for each other and change the world. Girl Up provides leadership training and resources to
girls to become gender equality advocates and leaders. Girls Up partnered with the United
Nations to fund programs in five key areas -education, health, safety, leadership, and
documentation. Gris Up was started as a campaign for American girls in 2010, but soon it began
a global movement towards creating a network of girl leaders to transform the communities. To
date, Girl Up has supported more than 34,000 girls worldwide through their different programs.
Support Questions
1. Does social media help or hinder the fight for equity and human rights? Discuss how
social media and digital platforms have impacted human rights (positively or negatively).
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

If you are interested in diving deeping into this topic, here are some quick links.
● Global response to the Beirut explosion
● Twitter to the rescue
● How Social Media is Changing the Face of Human Rights Activism
● Hate Speech and Social Media: Preventing Atrocities and Protecting Human Rights
Online
● Objectification and Exploitation of Girls and Women by the Mass Media and Social
Media

● Create Your Impact. Ethically.
Section 3: Future Technology & Agents of Change (past, present, future)
3.1 Technology as an agent of change
Social media and technology has changed the way we communicate, learn and think. We
live in a society that is driven by technology. Take a moment to imagine your life without
technology. Imagine how different your life would be with no internet, no cellphone and no
social media. Now let's take a look at a video at how social media has the power to change the
world.
Technology plays a crucial role in society and our daily lives. Not only does technology
keep us connected, it has impacted the health sector and made learning more accessible,
especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Needless to say, with all the positive impacts that
technology brings, it also affects people in a negative way.
The Impact of Digital Technologies

Technologies can help make our world fairer, more peaceful, and more just. Digital
advances can support and accelerate achievement of each of the 17 Sustainable Development
Goals – from ending extreme poverty to reducing maternal and infant mortality, promoting

sustainable farming and decent work, and achieving universal literacy. But technologies can also
threaten privacy, erode security and fuel inequality. They have implications for human rights and
human agency. Like generations before, we – governments, businesses and individuals – have a
choice to make in how we harness and manage new technologies.
A DIGITAL FUTURE FOR ALL?

Digital technologies have advanced more rapidly than any innovation in our history –
reaching around 50 per cent of the developing world’s population in only two decades and
transforming societies. By enhancing connectivity, financial inclusion, access to trade and public
services, technology can be a great equaliser.
In the health sector, for instance, AI-enabled frontier technologies are helping to save
lives, diagnose diseases and extend life expectancy. In education, virtual learning environments
and distance learning have opened up programmes to students who would otherwise be excluded.
Public services are also becoming more accessible and accountable through blockchain-powered
systems, and less bureaucratically burdensome as a result of AI assistance. Big data can also
support more responsive and accurate policies and programmes.
However, those yet to be connected remain cut off from the benefits of this new era and
remain further behind. Many of the people left behind are women, the elderly, persons with
disabilities or from ethnic or linguistic minorities, indigenous groups and residents of poor or
remote areas. The pace of connectivity is slowing, even reversing, among some constituencies.
For example, globally, the proportion of women using the internet is 12 percent lower than that
of men. While this gap narrowed in most regions between 2013 and 2017, it widened in the least
developed countries from 30 per cent to 33 per cent.
The use of algorithms can replicate and even amplify human and systemic bias where
they function on the basis of data which is not adequately diverse. Lack of diversity in the
technology sector can mean that this challenge is not adequately addressed.
THE FUTURE OF WORK

Throughout history, technological revolutions have changed the labour force: creating
new forms and patterns of work, making others obsolete, and leading to wider societal changes.

This current wave of change is likely to have profound impacts. For example, the International
Labour Organization estimates that the shift to a greener economy could create 24 million new
jobs globally by 2030 through the adoption of sustainable practices in the energy sector, the use
of electric vehicles and increasing energy efficiency in existing and future buildings.
Meanwhile, reports by groups such as McKinsey suggest that 800 million people could
lose their jobs to automation by 2030, while polls reveal that the majority of all employees worry
that they do not have the necessary training or skills to get a well-paid job.
There is broad agreement that managing these trends will require changes in our
approach to education, for instance, by placing more emphasis on science, technology,
engineering, and maths; by teaching soft skills, and resilience; and by ensuring that people can
re-skill and up-skill throughout their lifetimes. Unpaid work, for example childcare and elderly
care in the home, will need to be better supported, especially as with the shifting age profile of
global populations, the demands on these tasks are likely to increase.
THE FUTURE OF DATA

Today, digital technologies such as data pooling and AI are used to track and diagnose
issues in agriculture, health, and the environment, or to perform daily tasks such as navigating
traffic or paying a bill. They can be used to defend and exercise human rights – but they can also
be used to violate them, for example, by monitoring our movements, purchases, conversations
and behaviours. Governments and businesses increasingly have the tools to mine and exploit data
for financial and other purposes.
However, personal data would become an asset to a person, if there were a formula for
better regulation of personal data ownership. Data-powered technology has the potential to
empower individuals, improve human welfare, and promote universal rights, depending on the
type of protections put in place.
THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media connects almost half of the entire global population. It enables people to
make their voices heard and to talk to people across the world in real time. However, it can also

reinforce prejudices and sow discord, by giving hate speech and misinformation a platform, or by
amplifying echo chambers.
In this way, social media algorithms can fuel the fragmentation of societies around the world.
And yet they also have the potential to do the opposite.
THE FUTURE OF CYBERSPACE

How to manage these developments is the subject of much discussion – nationally and
internationally – at a time when geopolitical tensions are on the rise. The UN Secretary-General
has warned of a ‘great fracture’ between world powers, each with their own internet and AI
strategy, as well as dominant currency, trade and financial rules and contradictory geopolitical
and military views. Such a divide could establish a digital Berlin Wall. Increasingly, digital
cooperation between states – and a universal cyberspace that reflects global standards for peace
and security, human rights and sustainable development – is seen as crucial to ensuring a united
world. A ‘global commitment for digital cooperation’ is a key recommendation by the
Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation.
Support Questions:
Explore and analyse the article above.
1. How have social media and the digital age been used as a driving force for change? Do
you think that it has a more positive or negative impact? Why or why not? (think
specifically about health, the environment, and education) [add more lines]
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
3.2 Impact of mass media (technology) on social and political changes
Technology and politics go hand in hand. The internet allows political parties to reach out
to a vast audience at little or no cost. They can use Social media platforms to collect a vast
amount of data on the entire population to facilitate the spread of propaganda and disinformation
during electoral periods. Explore how technology has become a channel for surveillance and
electoral manipulation and how it has impacted politics seen below.

HOW DOES TECHNOLOGY IMPACT POLITICS?
We’re going to take a deep dive into three major ways technology impacts the political
landscape.
Posted by Josh Anderson on 06/25/2019
There are a lot of hot button political topics out there. However, some are so deeply rooted in
political discourse that they not only manifest as a hot topic on the campaign trail, but impact the
machinations behind the scenes, and even the way that we, as private citizens, view politics and
consume political information. Technology plays a major role in shaping the political landscape.
In this blog post, we’re going to take a deep dive into three major ways technology influences
politics– as a tool for political actors on the campaign trail, as an often divisive political topic
and as a potential landmine that can upend political aspirations.
TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL FOR POLITICAL ACTORS

Perhaps the most obvious way that technology impacts politics is as a tool for political actors
such as politicians, governments and other organizations to better identify, engage with and rally
members of the public to their cause, as well as broadcast political messaging. We see this in
action every time we watch a campaign commercial on TV, see a political ad on Facebook or
receive a flyer in the mail.
Two of the most powerful methods for using technology as a tool include data collection and the
use of digital media. For example, Barack Obama famously rose to the President of the United
States in large part thanks to a revolutionary and unprecedented effort at collecting granular data
about the demographics and voting patterns of key voters all over the United States. Data
collection has always been a key aspect of political and information campaigns, but President
Obama’s capitulation brought the potential for the state of data collection to the forefront of
national attention.
In the following years, such focused and granular data collection – about everything from past
voting behavior to household income to internet browsing patterns – has become an essential part
of any modern (and successful) political campaign. The data is used to create marketing

campaigns to broadcast political messages, cultivate donor relationships to solicit extra
donations, as well as identify and assist new voters with getting to the polls.
Along those same lines, another way that technology impacts politics is more subtle: in
establishing authenticity with certain voting blocs. For example, Beto O’Rourke has built a
presidential campaign on the unconventional use of social media. Whether he is sharing a video
of himself chowing down on local cuisine during a campaign stop or vlogging his thoughts about
the rigors of being on the road, O’Rourke is hoping that his extensive dependence on technology
will resonate with millennial voters who often spend their time in similar ways.
TECHNOLOGY AS A POLITICAL TOPIC AND CAMPAIGN PLATFORM

More controversially, most political candidates and many political organizations have strong
stances on many topics that have to do with technology, such as data privacy. Many politicians
(and members of the public) feel strongly about securing the rights of individuals to privacy. The
“right to be forgotten” has become almost a household term, and in some political circles, such
as the Libertarian Party, this right is as crucial to personal liberty as freedom of speech.
Another related topic is equitable access to technology. Many areas of the world, even in some
highly developed countries such as the United States, lack access to high-speed internet and this
inequity begets more inequity. Access to high-speed internet can play a major role in alleviating
many social problems, such as educational and health disparities. Disruptive educational
platforms, such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), as well as innovative health
technologies, such as telehealth and fitness apps, are often completely inaccessible to the areas of
the world that could benefit most from them.
Residents of major and mid-sized cities often take access to high-speed internet for granted, even
expecting it in most public places, such as libraries, schools, parks and downtown plazas. But
just an hour outside of a small city, broadband can be hard to find, often limiting residents’
opportunities. It’s not uncommon for senators from states such as Wyoming or Iowa, who have
broad influence on Capital Hill due to the small number of Senate members, to prioritize their
constituents’ access to broadband internet in their campaigns.

Finally, another political hot topic is the regulation of major tech companies who are growing
more and more powerful. It’s not difficult to argue that companies such as Google, Facebook,
Amazon or Apple are more powerful than many countries in the world, and so the interest of
these entities is also a common topic on the campaign trail. In March, President Trump blocked
the acquisition of tech infrastructure giant Qualcomm by Broadcomm, citing national security.
This was a controversial move, even to some members of his own political party, who deemed
such regulatory moves to be detrimental to economic growth.
TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL FOR THE PUBLIC

Politicians and political organizations aren’t the only ones that utilize technology to shape
politics. The rise of digital platforms, especially social media, has given private citizens the tools
to affect political change on a level like never before. For example, many experts largely credit
the takedown of political strongmen all over the Middle East during the Arab Spring of 2011 to
the power of social media and chat apps, such as WhatsApp, that empowered citizens to quickly
organize and broadcast their message around the world. Facebook and Vine videos of protests
and police brutality went viral and were broadcast on global media outlets, such as CNN and
BBC.
Another way that technology impacts politics for the better is through a more controversial, but
nonetheless effective, method: exposing unethical or illegal behavior. For example, the “trail”
that digital media leaves behind led to the downfall of Anthony Weiner, once a shining star in the
Democratic Party, who was engaging in inappropriate behavior on Snapchat with a minor.
TECHNOLOGY AS A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD

As any IT manager knows, the same advancements in technology that allow us to work and play
in ways like never before also allow nefarious actors to cause disruption or harm like never
before. While some hackers spend countless hours trying to access personal or financial
information, many are dedicated to disrupting the political world. These efforts often go beyond
simple hacking for the sake of hacking. For example, the hacktivist organization Anonymous is
dedicated to exposing sensitive political and governmental information to the benefit of the
public.

Along similar lines, but with a more mission-focused bent, is the advent of “fake news,” a term
coined during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. Fake news is media written and published
usually with the intent to mislead, in order to damage an entity or person, or to gain financially or
politically. Fake news often utilizes sensationalist, dishonest or outright fabricated headlines to
increase readership. The internet has given fake news an unparalleled platform for distribution.
Whenever you are browsing the internet and see an outrageous headline in a sidebar, you’re
probably seeing clickbait, which is earning revenue from distributing fake news.
POLITICS AND OPEN SOURCE

We’ve explored many aspects about the intersection of technology and politics. The one thing
that all of these topics have in common is passion. Citizens have strong opinions about the role
of technology in our lives, so it’s no wonder that political actors and organizations incorporate it
into their campaign strategies and platforms accordingly. This same passion about the role of
technology comes into play at Acquia, thanks to our strong commitment to the open source
community, which is built on a philosophy of collaboration, access, diversity, and egalitarianism.
While it is unlikely that the nominees for the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election will stake their
campaign on an issue regarding open source software, it is very likely that they will have stances
on issues related to Acquia’s platform and mission, and some of which may even impact our
work. These could be somewhat mundane, focusing on intellectual property laws or taxes.
Alternatively, they could be very controversial, like net neutrality or diversity in the workplace,
both of which are issues that reside in the same technological and ethical fault-lines from which
the open source community was borne.
CONCLUSION
Technology and politics have always been connected, dating as far back as the Industrial
Revolution, which led to some of the most seminal issues in American history, such as labor
protections. But in recent years, they have become more or less inseparable. You can’t engage in
politics without engaging in technology, and you can’t use technology – whether you’re a tech
visionary, consumer of digital media, or avid Tweeter – without engaging in politics.
Support Questions:
Explore and analyse the links above.

1. After reading the article, what are your thoughts on technology being used as a tool for
surveillance and electoral manipulation?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

If you are interested in diving deeping into this topic, here are some quick links.
● The Crisis of Social Media
● The Social Dilemma
Conclusion
You have now completed the three sections of this independent learning course. You
should now be able to identify and critique the influence of technology and social media as it
relates to propaganda, elections, fake news, censorship, human rights, agents of change, and the
mass media. You have now read and watched how each of these influences the world, nations,
and individuals.
Using Social Media & Digital Platforms Productively, Healthily, and Safely
As individuals, we need to understand the influence of social media and the digital age on
ourselves and put up the necessary safeguards. This goes further than what has been addressed in
this independent learning course, specifically with its influence on our mental health. We will
now look at a video from TEDx Talks and Aurelia Torkington discussing how to use social
media in a healthy, safe way.
Extension activity
Use each of the three umbrellas as the basis for answering the following:
● How has social media and the digital age changed our world? Both negatively and positively?
● What does the future hold?
● How will it help and hurt us?

Culminating Activity
After learning about how social media, digital platforms, and technology affect our geopolitics,
your task is to create 2 TikTok style videos that focus on a topic of your choosing. Each video
will present opposing perspectives. You do not need to agree with either perspective to create an
engaging video.
Requirements:
● Choose a topic that is relevant to the information studied in this unit and current
world-issues.
● Create two videos presenting opposing perspectives on the issue you’ve chosen.
● Incorporate topics and concepts studied in this unit to critically analyse your chosen
topic.
Examples of opposing perspectives - (not limited to these options)

● 1 pro, 1 con
● 1 fake news, 1 real news
● 1 pro-right, 1 pro-left
● 1 fact based, 1 opinion based
● 1 AI takeover future, 1 no-tech future

Culminating Activity Assessment Rubric
0 1 2 3 4
Knowledge & Does not Demonstrates Demonstrates Demonstrates Demonstrates thorough

understanding demonstrate limited knowledge some knowledge considerable knowledge and
of content knowledge and and understanding and understanding knowledge and understanding of your
understanding of of your chosen of your chosen understanding of your chosen topic
chosen topic topic topic chosen topic
Planning skills No clear video Video topic is Video topic is Topic of videos is Topic is relevant and
topic hardly relevant somewhat relevant relevant engaging
Processing skills No evidence of Analysis of topic is Analysis of topic Analysis of topic is Analysis of topic is
and critical analysis hardly clear is fairly clear and clear, engaging and very clear, engaging,
thinking somewhat shows evidence of and shows ample
engaging critical thinking evidence of critical
thinking
Creative Video lacks Video has little Video is somewhat Video is creative, Video is very creative,
thinking creativity and has creativity, and has is creative, interesting, and has interesting, and uses
no audio or missing either audio interesting, and attractive audio and exceptional audio and
visual elements or video elements has some audio visual elements visual elements
and visual
elements

Completeness of Did not submit Submitted 1 video Submitted 2 Submitted 2 with Submitted 2 with
video videos videos opposing perspectives opposing perspectives
with high effectiveness
Expression of Audio is totally Audio is unclear, Audio is mostly Audio is clear, Audio is very clear,
ideas unclear, communication is clear, communication is communication is
communication lacking, and visuals communication is good, and visuals are excellent, and visuals
is non-existent, are unclear or show quite good, and attractive are exceptional
and there are no little effort visuals are fair
visuals
Application of Does not show Shows why topic is Shows why topic Shows why topic is Shows why topic is
knowledge why topic is relevant to yourself is relevant to relevant to yourself relevant to yourself
relevant to and your audience yourself and your and your audience with and your audience with
yourself and your with little audience with effectiveness exceptional
audience effectiveness some effectiveness effectiveness
Making No connections Hardly made a Made 1 Made 1-2 connections Made at least
connections made connection to a key connection to a to/between key connections between at
concept key concept per concepts per video least 2 key concepts
video per video

Works Cited / References
● Social Media photo:https://binged.it/3mxSb6g

● Introduction graph: “Digital technology and social change: the digital transformation of
society from a historical perspective” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32699519/
● “How TikTok recommends videos #ForYou”
https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/how-tiktok-recommends-videos-for-you/
● “Technological Influence on Society”
https://www.bctv.org/2019/11/07/technological-influence-on-society/
● Propaganda photo: https://binged.it/3q1ue9s
● China’s ‘One Child’ Policy Propaganda Posters Over the Years
https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-one-child-policy-propaganda-posters-the-years-1443
781750
● “Social Media’s Impact on the 2020 Presidential Election”
https://research.umd.edu/news/news_story.php?id=13541
● Fake News cartoon: https://binged.it/3pWm9ms
● “Trump’s election lies were among his most popular tweets”
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/13/trump-tweets-legacy-of-lies-misinformation-distrust.h
tml
● Censored photo: https://binged.it/3w6Ef6a
● Freedom House Explore the Map
https://freedomhouse.org/explore-the-map?type=fotn&year=2021
● “Social Media Platforms Take Steps to Remove Violent Content After Criticism”
https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2019/09/social-media-platforms-take-steps-re
moving-violent-content-faster.html
● “Social Censorship: Should Social Media’s Policy Be Free Speech?”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2020/10/25/social-censorship-should-social-m
edias-policy-be-free-speech/?sh=c222897489a6
● Human Rights photo:https://binged.it/3w6jxU1
● The Impact of Socia Media Activism Had On The BLM Movement
https://www.cityline.tv/2021/05/25/impact-social-media-activism-blm-movement/

● 5 Gender Equality Campaigns Which Made a Huge Impact
https://www.rightsofequality.com/campaigns-on-gender-equality/
● Change Agent cartoon: https://binged.it/3EEHgO7
● “The Impact of Digital Technologies”
https://www.un.org/en/un75/impact-digital-technologies
● Does social media have the power to change the world video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uppg_2nGo54
● The crisis of social media
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2019/crisis-social-media
● How does technology impact politics:
https://www.acquia.com/blog/how-does-technology-impact-politics
● The Social Dilemma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaaC57tcci0

Optional / Additional Resources
Section 1:
● China's One-Child Policy
● Digital public: looking at what algorithms actually do
● The role of misinformation in Trump's insurrection
● How Lies on Social Media Inflame Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Section 2:
● Global response to the Beirut explosion
● Twitter to the rescue
● How Social Media is Changing the Face of Human Rights Activism
● Hate Speech and Social Media: Preventing Atrocities and Protecting Human Rights
Online
● Objectification and Exploitation of Girls and Women by the Mass Media and Social
Media
Section 3:
● The Crisis of Social Media
● The Social Dilemma

Teacher Handbook
Section 1: Power of Social Media & Digital Platforms
1. How are the billboards that China Used to promote their One Child Policy and Canada’s
#ImmigrationMatters Campaigns similar? How are they different? (E1.1)
Both are campaigns where government’s used mediatic mediums (billboards, social
media) that are accessible to reach their populations. Both are campaigns regarding
policies that touch on population control.
The policies are opposites, one seeks to increase population in Canada and the other
seeks to reduce China’s Population. The policies are from different countries with
different regimes: Canada vs China.
2. Why might a government need to create media or propaganda campaigns to gain the
support of the population? How are these campaigns effective? (E1.1, E3.2)
Governments might need to do this for unpopular policy decisions, or policies that people
are weary of. Governments might also have campaigns to encourage people to comply
with the policy, for example in China. Lastly, governments would have media campaigns
to spread information, for example the vaccine campaigns around the world.
These campaigns are effective ways for a government to reach large audiences and
convince them of their support.
3. In your own words, what is political polarization? How does social media contribute?
(A1.1, E1.3, E2.1)
Political polarization is when people are pushed further to either the political right or
political left, there is a greater divide between them.
Social media contributes by showing us/exposing us primarily to politically charged
information that is inline with our political inclination. This means that people on the
right and left have less and less interactions from one another and we are becoming more
and more divided.

4. What impact has the spread of misinformation on social media had on the political divide
in the United States? (A1.3, E3.2)
The spread of misinformation through social media has increased. In the example of the
United States, former president Donald Trump is notorious for the spread of
misinformation; in fact, of his most popular tweets throughout his presidency many
contained false information. This has had a profound effect on American politics because
Trump’s supporters often believe the President’s tweets to be fact. In the U.S., this has led
to political polarisation, further spread of false information and even violence.
5. Confirmation Bias describes our underlying tendency to notice, focus on, and give greater
credence to evidence that fits with our existing beliefs. How are we seeing examples of
this in American politics? How has social media and digital media contributed to this
problem? (A1.3, A1.4, E3.2)
Since social media has a tendency to show us content that we are likely to interact with,
we only see information that confirms our preexisting political beliefs. When prominent
political figures, such as the president of the United States is tweeting falsehoods, people
who rely on social media for their news are more likely to see these posts that affirm their
political opinions. People are therefore, only exposed to ‘news’ that confirms their
current beliefs, allowing falsehoods like “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT” to be
accepted as true.
6. How might governments use media and social media to influence people? Is the
censorship of the media a breach of people's human rights, specifically freedom of
expression? (D2.2, E1.4, E3.2)
There are multiple possible ways to answer this question, but the best answers will
reference the articles they read. Opinions from either side are welcome as long as they are
supported. One possible example:
Governments can influence people using propaganda images (like the ones we saw from
China), or in advertisements like the Ontario Covid ads we saw during the pandemic. I
think it is a breach of human rights to censor what people say on the internet. They have
freedom of speech and expression, and how people choose to respond is up to them.

7. Should content be censored? If yes, who should be censoring: governments, social media
companies, others? If no, please explain why. (E3.2, E3.3)
This question is subjective. There are multiple possible answers. Look for thought out
reasoning. For example - Content should be censored by an impartial organization
regulated by the government in order to limit hate speech.
8. Does social media help or hinder the fight for equity and human rights? Discuss how
social media and digital platforms have impacted human rights (positively or negatively).
(E1.3, E2.2, E3.2, E3.3)
This question is subjective. There are multiple possible answers. Look for thought out
reasoning. For example - Social media helps the fight for equity and human rights by
making information more accessible. Movements can gain traction quickly and
effectively as seen in #MarchForOurLives, #BLMmarch, #WomensMarch.
9. How have social media and the digital age been used as a driving force for change? Do
you think that it has a more positive or negative impact? Why or why not? (think
specifically about health, the environment, and education) [add more lines] (C1.2, D2.1,
E2.2)
Technology has advanced rapidly over the years and has impacted our lives both
positively and negatively. Technology has positively enhanced our lives and serves as an
equaliser. It enhances our connectivity, financial inclusion, access to trade and public
services. In the health sector, AI technology is helping to save lives, diagnose diseases
and extend life expectancy. In education, virtual learning environments and distance
learning have opened up programmes to students who would otherwise be excluded.
Finally, in terms of the environment, technology has helped with the adoption of
sustainable practices in the energy sector such as the use of electric vehicles and
increasing energy efficiency in existing and future buildings.
10. After reading the article, what are your thoughts on technology being used as a tool for
surveillance and electoral manipulation? (D2.4, E2.1, E3.2)
There are many possible answers to this question. Best answers will show evidence from
the reading. They should take a position and support it. For example:
In the article we learned that technology spreads fake news that influences elections. I
was disturbed by how powerful technology from watching our actions and listening to

our words can be manipulated to control how we vote. I think that there should be laws
that make that harder to do.

Lesson 20 - Ilc - Social Media The Digital Age

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Lesson 20 - Ilc - Social Media The Digital Age

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lesson 20 - Ilc - Social Media The Digital Age

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Social Media & the Digital Age

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 1

Glossary of Terms/Key Concepts

Introduction of the Lesson

Section 1: Power of Social Media & Digital Platforms

Section 2: Censorship & Human Rights

Section 3: Future technology & Agents of Change

Culminating Activity Assessment Rubric

Works Cited & References

Optional / Additional Readings

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 2

By the end of the lesson I will:

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 3

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 4

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 5

Technological Influence on Society

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 6

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 7

Down the Rabbit Hole - additional resources:

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 8

1.1 Propaganda in foreign and domestic policy

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 9

Oct. 2, 2015 6:29 am ET

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 10

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 11

1.2 Elections and Domestic Politics

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 12

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 13

1.3 Fake News and Misinformation

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 14

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 15

The House of Representatives is expected to impeach Trump on Wednesday afternoon for

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 16

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 17

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 18

Down the Rabbit Hole - additional resources:

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 19

2.1 Censorship in social media and access to information

Explore the Map

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 20

Zia Muhammad Saturday, September 21, 2019

Social Censorship: Should Social Media’s Policy Be Free Speech?

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 21

Ottman wonders if that model is scalable with digital technology.

It’s worth asking that question.

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 22

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 23

That’s a tall order.

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 24

2.2 Human Rights in social media and on digital platforms

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 25

The Impact Social Media Activism Had On The BLM Movement

What is hashtag activism?

#BlackoutTuesday: helpful or harmful?

T. Eng, B. Garrod, S. Hogeterp, R. Seegoolam, R. Sigler, M. Spooner Lesson 20, page 26

Being in-line with activists

Has traditional media contributed anything meaningful to change?