Are Free And Fair Elections A Thing Of The Past?

This audio belongs to a TED Talk journalist Carole Cadwalladr gave on the role Facebook played in the UK's 2016 vote to leave the European Union. 

Lately, it seems like social media—and more specifically Facebook—is always linked to disastrous results at the ballot boxes. To what extent are these accusations real? And what can we do about it?

The day after the Brexit vote, Cadwalladr visited South Wales, where she grew up, and the area with one of the highest "Leave" votes in the country. When in Ebbw Vale, she realized that something wasn't right. 

In the town, she found a new college for further education, a new sports center, a new train line with its new railway station ... all funded by the European Union. However, even people using those new facilities claimed that the EU had done nothing for them. They also said they were fed up with immigrants and refugees, despite the journalist not meeting any during her visit. Data agreed with her. 

After Cadwalladr published her article, a source called and mentioned "this stuff she'd seen on Facebook". What ads had people seen and what impact had they had? What data was used to target these people?

We don't have the answers, but Facebook does, and Mark Zuckerberg refuses to share them. 

Election laws from the 19th century don't work anymore. New elections are taking place online, and buying votes is as easy as setting up a Facebook campaign. This is not democracy.

A very interesting reflection on the need for further investigation and regulation of the new contexts for elections.