View all newsletters
Sign up to our newsletters

Support 110 years of independent journalism.

  1. Science & Tech
20 March 2018updated 01 Jul 2021 12:15pm

Its stock may have fallen, but can Facebook really influence election results?

Officials from Cambridge Analytica have been caught bragging about their corrupt use of the social media site.

By Stephen Bush

It’s Facebook wot lost it? The social media giant’s stock have been sent plunging by a series of stories about the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. Piling the pressure on both Facebook and the troubled consultancy firm is a Channel 4 exposé, which you can watch in full here, in which senior officials boast about their ability to influence elections and not only uncover, but manufacture dirt on political opponents.

The question is: how much of this is just bragging? In the wake of every campaign, there are always people who, either through their own self-promotion or that of others, try to claim that it was their technology, or their strategic insight, that led to the result going their way. And sometimes those claiming credit are telling the truth, and sometimes they aren’t.

What is true is that Cambridge Analytica has questions to answer, both about how it obtained information and how it used it. It’s also true that adverts can change minds. That’s the point after all. But it’s an old, old truth of campaigning that parties try to maximise the effectiveness of their message by cutting out people who won’t be interested in it. In doing so, they have turned to data – both their own and the stuff they buy from supermarket loyalty schemes and alike – to make sure that they aren’t advertising their shiny new childcare policy to a childless student or someone else similarly disinterested. Bluntly, none of the messages that Cambridge Analytica is alleged to have spread would have looked out of place in a British tabloid or Fox News. What is changing is the medium, not the message.

But there is something more worrying about present developments and it isn’t that they may have caused Brexit. As George Bernard Shaw once noted, a government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul. It may be that our increasing individualistic consumption of media makes it easier for a party to tell Paul it will rob Peter, and Peter it will rob Paul, with no consequence or accountability.

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

Content from our partners
The promise of prevention
How Labour hopes to make the UK a leader in green energy
Is now the time to rethink health and care for older people? With Age UK

Topics in this article :
Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU