When the White
House informed University of Delaware faculty member Kassra Oskooii that
his research had been cited in the 2023 Economic Report of the
President, he thought he was being scammed.
“You get an unexpected email from the White House and you’re going to
be suspicious,” explained Oskooii with a chuckle. An associate
professor of political science and international relations, he did some
sleuthing and soon discovered that the email was legit.
Oskooii co-authored the article “Hate, amplified? Social media news consumption and support for anti-Muslim policies"
with Michigan State University associate professor Nazita Lajevardi and
Hannah Walker of the University of Texas-Austin. It was originally
published in the Journal of Public Policy in July 2022.
This research was referenced in a section of the economic report
that talks about the societal implications of the digital space.
Oskooii and his co-investigators’ research tested whether self-reported
reliance on social media as a primary news source is linked to
racialized policy support. The researchers chose as their case study
U.S. Muslims, a group that is publicly visible but understudied. Drawing
on four original surveys that were primarily conducted between 2016 and
2019, the study found a strong and consistent association between
reliance on social media and support for a range of anti-Muslim
policies. This association was found across all ages.
“Whether you are older and on Facebook or younger and on TikTok, if
your primary source of news is from social media and you don’t read
traditional new sources like The Wall Street Journal or New York Times
or watch the network evening news, you're only getting exposed to
certain types of content,” Oskooii said. “We argue that this type of
content is more likely to have sensationalized stories or actual false
stories that could potentially influence your perception of different
groups.”
Often social media users repeatedly visit the same groups and online
sites, keeping them in an “information bubble” that can lead them to
think that everyone believes what they do.
“Partisan polarization has been increasing in our country for some
time and social media can promote this polarization,” Oskooii said.
“Social media outlets may create division rather than bringing us
together.”
This study contributes to a larger body of research that points to
the potential harm of social media. But the genie is out of the bottle.
Oskooii and his fellow researchers don’t think that a ban on social
media is realistic — or desirable.
“Social media has a lot of positive effects. It has helped
individuals in authoritarian countries to organize, such as the Green
Movement in Iran, which arose after the 2009 presidential election
there,” Oskooii said. “Throughout the Arab World, there are numerous
examples of social media helping individuals come together to challenge
established authoritarian governments.”
Social media also can promote connection and strengthen
relationships. Oskooii, who is of Iranian ancestry, points to his own
use of social media as a way to keep in touch with friends and relatives
in Iran more efficiently than he could via other communication
channels.
To combat the negative influence of social media, Oskooii believes both individuals and governments have roles to play.
“In my opinion, government oversight of social media platforms is
needed,” Oskooii said. “The government oversees car manufacturers to
make sure that the cars they produce are safe. Likewise, the government
could make sure that the American public, and especially that subset of
the American public that highly rely on social media for news, don’t get
exposed to misinformation.”
Individuals also can take steps to combat misinformation on social media.
“If it’s a website that you’ve never heard of before, verify it. See
if it’s a legitimate source,” Oskooii said. “Also, don’t just read a
headline. The headline may be just a fraction of what the article is
actually about and, if read alone, may not give you the context you need
to understand the topic.”
But the most significant thing that individuals can do to guard
against being unduly influenced by social media happens offline, not
online, Oskooii said.
“People from different backgrounds and ideas need to come together in
person more often,” he said. “This could be for an activity where
everyone is sharing a common purpose, like volunteering, or just for
something fun, like a softball league.”
Universities can be the perfect incubator for helping people from
different backgrounds and ideologies come together, noted Oskooii.
“When I say diversity, I'm not just talking about race or ethnicity,”
he said. “Universities need to continue to invest in programs to make
sure education is accessible to people of all backgrounds, particularly
people who may not be able to afford a college education.”
Finally, if Oskooii had his way, no student would graduate until they had passed a civics class.
“Maybe I’m just biased because I’m a political scientist,” he said,
“but I think a civics course should be required, in part because it
creates a platform for exposing students to people from different
backgrounds and ideas.”