On Sunday 25/09, Italians were called to choose a new “ruling party”, Italy has been under extreme pressure to determine a new regime that would likely change the face of politics as they know it. 

The journey leading up to election day has been rocky to say the least and Italian politicians turned for the first time to social media outlets such as TikTok for capturing the attention of the younger voters.

Hello, fellow kids: Italian politicians turn to TikTok for votes.

Looks like Italian politicians are on a virtual hunt for undecided voters.

Over the summer, as polls suggested, most of those who had not yet picked a side were under 30, therefore party elders took it to the next level: TikTok.

The first one that took over TikTok was Silvio Berlusconi, 85, who served four times as Italy’s prime minister. He landed on the social media platform, that is mostly popular among the young, explaining why he was there at his age.

“On this platform, you guys are over five million, and 60 percent of you are less than 30. I am a little envious,” Mr. Berlusconi said.  “We will talk about your future.”

The video had 9.6 million views, raising eyebrows among some users.

Then it was time for Matteo Salvini and Giorgia Meloni, although both of them have chosen slightly different paths, using the platform only to discuss major issues such as security and immigration. 

Giorgia Meloni, despite being the all-time favorite for the ongoing campaign, seems not to be doing as well as her fellow colleagues on social media these days, creating a bunch of backlash mostly coming from the younger generation.

But... let’s back up a little. What is considered propaganda? 

According to Herman and Chomsky (1988) propaganda is a phenomenon that “require the collaboration of the mass media” and could not function without such,  therefore it is perceived as a distinctly modern phenomenon interwoven with channels of mass communication which at the time were found in television, newspaper and radio, even movies.

Of course, propaganda alongside everything else has undergone quite a change after the loud intervention of technologies and after welcoming digital platforms as spaces of free speech. 

Is social media the new way to do propaganda?

Could this be how our future will be discussed from now on? It definitely could be. 

It’s called propaganda 2.0, it means integrating web tools with the traditional state propaganda. In this particular case all governments, parties or NGOs can steer society. 

Implementation of the traditional state propaganda is quite an expensive and complicated process, but with Propaganda 2.0 you kind of just tweet your opinion and then your tweets can be the main subject on newspapers, TV programs, even cinema movies.

Does it actually work?

Research shows that many governments are finding that social media propaganda works even better than censorship! 

More and more of the world’s governments are moving away from trying to censor social media and instead are turning to putting their own propaganda on the internet. 

Propaganda is no longer a tool for changing opinions, but more of a way to spread content online. 

Be careful though, social media is a vast space and most importantly free, which means that it gives you the opportunity to present your opinion and others’ as well. Social media companies need to provide the necessary support for contestation.

Propaganda on social media is possible and looks closer than ever and you’re free to speak your mind, gracefully, always.

 

By Miriam Gagino