October, 2011 Volume 21, Issue 3 Newsletter Welcome Roundtable: Flow of Political Information Data Sources Announcements Archives Social Media	Roundtable The Flow of Political Information in the Digital Age: What's Better and What's Worse?
	Gadi Wolfsfeld The New Media and The Spread of Political Hate I shall focus my attention on the negative aspects of the digital age. Perhaps it is because of where I live (Israel) or because of my generally pessimistic view of the world. Whatever the reason, although I fully acknowledge the benefits the new digital age has brought us, I find some of the negative aspects quite frightening. I will start with one of the places where I encounter political hate on a daily basis: "talkbacks". Talkbacks in Israel refer to readers' reactions to stories they read on the Internet. They are usually very short, a few sentences at most. Political stories in Israel generate a good deal of heat and an especially divisive story can generate hundreds of reactions. Whenever these stories deal with either the Arab-Israeli conflict or the ongoing confrontation between religious and secular Jews, many of the comments become pure venom. As someone who belongs to the peace camp in Israel, I find that a good deal of this political hate is directed at us and at Arabs (including the Arab minority in the country). In the days of the traditional media, much of this hate speech would have been filtered out. I, like all of those who have done work in political communication, fully understand the need to hear more voices in the news. The problem is that it is often the extremists in society that seem to take the most advantage of this new platform and they, like everyone else, find it much easier to create communities. You might ask why I read these comments if they get me so angry (and, I'll admit, also fill me with political hate towards the right wing racists in our country). I don't have a good answer to the question, but I can use a metaphor. It is sort of like when you have a painful cavity and you feel the need to constantly check it just to make sure it still hurts. Neither behavior is completely rational, but I don't believe it is uncommon. Another negative consequence of the digital age is that it gives a tremendous boost to terrorist organizations. Here too, the fact that they can easily create a sense of solidarity by creating like-minded communities is a central part of this concern. One would want to add to this the fact that terrorist organizations can easily collect almost endless information about likely targets and how to construct a wide variety of weapons. It is not at all farfetched that some terrorists may be able to use the Internet as a source for developing and distributing biological and chemical weapons. It is worth mentioning that those who attacked the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on 9/11 spent a good deal of time on the Internet collecting information about plane routes and the like. I have a hypothesis that is worth throwing out about this. Perhaps the new media are a more significant change for those engaging in violent collective action than for those using it for peaceful protest. Let's call it the Digital Age of Violence hypothesis. Those engaging in peaceful collective action certainly gain advantages through the use of the new media. They are in a much better position to mobilize, raise money, and communicate with supporters and potential supporters. The problem is that these digital tools have probably not changed the basic rules of competition between the various social movements. Given that almost every group tries to use the new media and the amount of public attention available remains limited, it doesn't necessarily improve any particular movement's chances for having an impact on the political process. The competition between violent groups and their enemies, on the other hand, probably changed dramatically. If the Internet allows these groups to organize and mobilize more effectively, then we are no longer talking about a few more street demonstrations. One is talking about an increasing number of fanatics who are willing to kill large numbers of people. Here the best metaphor would be how much easier it is to burn down a house than to build it. It is true of course that the authorities can also use the Internet to locate such extremists, but it is not clear who has the upper hand in this new form of competition. I'm sorry to be so pessimistic about the "new dawn". My consolation is that I know that many others on this panel and elsewhere will emphasize the more encouraging aspects of the digital age.