Kevin McGravey

ABSTRACT

Political engagement is increasingly digital. Recent United States (US) court cases such as Knight v. Trump, which examines interaction between the President and citizens on Twitter, highlight the need for clear normative theory and laws governing such activity. While US court cases shine a bright light on this problem, democracies globally are also grappling with the fact that important public forums are controlled not by states but by private actors such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter. This article argues for three reforms that would allow digital public forums to fulfill their democratic promise of informing citizens, enhancing participation, and deepening the connection between citizens and public officials. First, powerful privately owned digital public forums should be subject to democratic and constitutional control. Second, public officials should be prevented from silencing citizens on social media. Third, public officials should seek to engage regularly and in good faith with citizens on these platforms.

From: New Political Science 2020 42 (3)

Editor: Wang Yi