During the US presidential and Brexit elections "social media companies like Facebook and Twitter systematically served large numbers of voters poor quality information -- indeed often outright lies -- about politics and public policy," wrote S Bradshaw and Prof PN Howard. They analysed 9 countries, comparing them to 28 others. "One crucial finding is that social media platforms play a significant role in political engagement. Indeed, they are the primary vehicle by which young people develop their political identities. In the world's democracies, the majority of voters use social media to share political news and information, especially during elections." The authors think that this is bad for democracy and "if democracy is to survive, today's social medic giants will have to redesign themselves." So social is bad for democracy and must be restrained. That is to say that mainstream media is entirely truthful. Allegations by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth against John Kerry were entirely false but were gleefully spread by the mainstream media. Kerry never recovered and lost the election. In Mexico the government is the largest advertiser and forces the media to carry "paid content that resembles news, full-page transcripts of government speeches, spot ads on radio and TV", wrote N Schachar. The government of India spent nearly Rs 10 billion of taxpayer money on advertising in 2016-17. In addition the government spends vast sums of money on public notices, calling for tenders for public projects, and publishing lists of candidates who have been successful in UPSC exams, often going into several pages. A threat of withholding ads is enough to get any uppity journalist fired. Ordinary people never get their voices heard, so it is no wonder that they do not trust the mainstream media. Gossiping is a vital part of being human, said Prof R Dunbar, strengthening family bonds and creating a network of friends. "Rumour-mongers are the original fourth estate, journalists who inform society about and thus protect it from cheats and freeloaders," said Prof YN Hariri. Instead of gossiping across a fence today's youngsters gossip on social media. This is technology. The protests at Tahrir Square in Egypt that brought the downfall of Hosni Mubarak was coordinated on social media. The recent protests against the brutal theocratic government in Iran were being organised on social media, but the mainstream media in the US were not reporting them, probably because Barack Obama signed a nuclear deal with Iran. Within minutes of Fight 1549 ditching on Hudson River in New York in 2009 the photos were circulating on social media. With everyone possessing a cell phone with camera mainstream media can no longer control the news. Maybe they are afraid of job losses. Hence the anger.
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