In U.S. history, voter oppression has been any legal or extralegal measure to reduce voting or registration by members of a targeted racial group, political party, or religious community. In recent years, states have erected barriers to voting by imposing strict voter ID laws, cutting early voting times, restricting registration, and more.
With digital technology and the increasing role of social media in political discourse, the methods of suppressing voters have become more refined, often operating behind the scenes.
Social media has transformed political campaigns and offered an easy and fast way to reach a vast number of voters, but it has also provided a ground for subtle voter oppression.
Misinformation, disinformation, and targeted disinformation campaigns can now spread faster and farther than ever before, with very little regulation.
For instance, in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, Russian operatives utilized social media platforms to spread divisive and misleading content aimed at suppressing the vote in key swing states. Misinformation about voting locations, times, and methods was carefully spread to confuse or dissuade voters from casting their ballots, sometimes targeting marginalized groups.
Research has found that digital ads in key states were also designed not only to encourage people to vote but to undermine their belief in the value of their vote. It’s true, too; you will see many people believing in the sentiment that their vote won’t matter. The problem is while one person’s decision to vote might not individually matter, if many people believe their vote will not count and subsequently decide not to cast their ballot, it will have a big impact.
The key to fighting against these new tactics of voting suppression is voting itself. Don’t cast your power away; use it to actually make a change and participate in democracy.
