But now a team of international researchers has carried out a comprehensive review of hundreds of studies globally, the biggest of its kind, exploring this claim and found that while social media is not exclusively bad, it can certainly stoke starkly conflicting views, populism, and political mistrust especially in established democracies. 

The researchers, from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Hertie School in Germany, and the University of Bristol in the UK, systematically assessed studies investigating whether and how digital media impacts people’s political behaviour. Studies show that although some effects may be beneficial for democracy, for instance digital media can increase political knowledge and diversity of news exposure, they also have detrimental effects, such as fostering polarisation and populism. 

Furthermore, the way consequences such as increased political mobilisation and decreasing trust in institutions play out depends largely on the political context. Such developments were found to be beneficial in emerging democracies but can have destabilising effects in established democracies. 

Read the full University of Bristol news item

‘Digital media and democracy: A systematic review of causal and correlational evidence worldwide’ by Lorenz-Spreen, P., Lewandowsky, S., and Hertwig, R. in Nature Human Behaviour [open access]