Abstract

SERRANO PLATA, Laura Jimena; BONILLA-ARANZALES, Jhon Kelly; BONILLA MACHADO, Manuel María  and  CHENOU, Jean-Marie. SILENCE IS SAFER THAN SPEECH: THE UTILITY OF SOCIAL MEDIA LABELING IN COUNTERING POLITICAL POLARIZATION IN PEACEBUILDING CONTEXTS. anal.polit. [online]. 2023, vol.36, n.106, pp.85-112.  Epub Oct 04, 2023. ISSN 0121-4705.  https://doi.org/10.15446/anpol.v36n106.111042.

How do soft moderation interventions on social media affect political polarization in peacebuilding contexts? Social media platforms have recognized the undesired effects of misleading information on electoral, political, and public health issues. Thus, several platforms have trained their algorithm to mediate some interactions by adding labels beneath posts flagged as misinformation to face this challenge. Considering the political polarization present in the Colombian peacebuilding process and using an original dataset, this exploratory experimental study aims to test the utility of inserting labels on social media posts to counter the polarization surrounding the political participation of former rebels in Colombia. To do so, different labels were inserted into plausible, tailored tweets from well-known Colombian elite women politicians from both sides of the political spectrum. Our results suggest that these labels fail to make users question their opinion on the issue.

Keywords : social media; soft moderation; polarization; cyber-peacebuilding; former rebels.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in English     · English ( pdf )