Digital Media and Social Movements: Obstacles to Building a Global Media Ethic

This chapter will outline three criteria associated with ethical political communication (intent, justice, and integrity), and discuss three, interrelated obstacles that undermine the ability of activists to cultivate a global media ethic. The three obstacles are: (1) the lack of a global commitment to free speech and a democratic free press, which makes it very difficult for activists in some countries to communicate their ideas at all; (2) the spread of disinformation by actors interested in either gaining (or maintaining) power over the citizenry, which undermines the integrity of communication regarding political issues; and (3) the use of disinformation to disrupt democratic processes (such as elections) and undermine democracy more generally, which skews the media environment in favor of “bad” actors and makes it difficult for activists to engage audiences outside of polarized online communities.