Traditionally, when you think of a public space you may imagine streets, city squares, parks, or university campuses. Public spaces serve many functions, they are places of leisure, social interaction, and cultural expression. Alongside these everyday purposes, they also act as settings for deliberative democracy which Britannica (2025) defines as a school of thought in political theory that claims that political decisions should be the product of fair and reasonable discussion and debate among citizens. Deliberative democracy is often expressed through forms of civic engagement. The Oxford English Dictionary (2001) defines civic engagement as “citizens coming together to participate in public space on public issues.” This makes public spaces inherent to democracy, which the OED (2014) describes as “a form of society in which all citizens have equal rights and the views of all are tolerated and respected.” Such equality relies on active citizenship, which Elstub, Ercan, and Mendonça (2016) define as belonging to a political community that shares rights, responsibilities, and a vision for a common future extending beyond mere legal status such as having a passport or the right to vote. Therefore, public spaces enable power to be more evenly distributed among citizens rather than concentrated in the hands of a small minority. However more recently, digital platforms such as social media networks and online forums have also become arenas for debate, activism, and collective action, enabling people to garner support and mobilise around shared causes beyond physical boundaries.
A recent example is the #Blockout movement, which emerged in May 2024 on platforms including X, Instagram, and TikTok. The movement involved social media users calling for the blocking of accounts belonging to celebrities who had remained silent on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza (TCA Regional News). Notable figures targeted included Alia Bhatt, Priyanka Chopra, Virat Kohli, Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Kylie Jenner, Zendaya, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Kanye West, Zac Efron, Kevin Jonas, Nick Jonas, Justin Timberlake, and Katy Perry (Karki, 2024).
The movement began following the Met Gala on 6 May 2024, where celebrities paraded in expensive designer outfits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, while a pro-Palestinian demonstration a few blocks away was dispersed by US police and Israel conducted bombings in Rafah, a refuge for displaced people. (CE Noticias Financieras, 2024)
The goal of the action was to reduce the earnings the noted celebrities receive from social media platform advertisements. (Karki 2024) One example of how the campaign was successful was that actress and singer Selena Gomez reportedly lost one million followers on Instagram and 100,000 on X, according to social media analytics site Sonic Blue as well as this fellow actress and singer Zendaya, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, and her sister Kylie Jenner have also seen hundreds of thousands of followers drop. (Tribune Content Agency, 2024).
As one can see from this example, just like physical public spaces, digital platforms allow for civic engagement in the form of protests and enable people to voice their views to a wider audience, seemingly creating a more diverse and democratic society. However, just as there are limitations to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression in physical public spaces, such as policing, surveillance, and restricted access, there are also significant limitations to how effectively deliberative democracy can function within digital platforms.
Elstub, Ercan, and Mendonça (2016) argue that “deliberation is effective when it is disconnected from power.” Yet on digital platforms, power is often concentrated in the hands of a few individuals who have the ability to shape public discourse using algorithms. One example that illustrates this imbalance is Elon Musk’s ownership of X. Conroy (2025) suggests that “Musk, who has engineered the X algorithm to boost his own tweets, often drives the change in public conversation”. This claim is supported by a recent pre-print study by Timothy Graham of Queensland University of Technology and Mark Andrejevic of Monash University who found evidence of possible algorithmic bias favouring Musk’s personal X account and several Republican-leaning accounts. (Iyer, 2024) The researchers reported that after July 13, 2024, Musk’s posts received approximately 6.4 million additional views, representing a 138% increase in engagement, independent of trends across other accounts (Iyer, 2024). Similarly, X has faced allegations of manipulating its systems to give far-right posts and politicians greater visibility than other political groups (Browne, 2025).
This example illustrates how social media algorithms can distort democratic deliberation by amplifying certain voices. However, algorithmic manipulation is not the only limitation to deliberative democracy on these platforms. Another significant limitation is the mass circulation of misinformation, which increasingly divides political societies. For instance, during the 2024 United States presidential election, X’s AI-powered trending section reportedly promoted voter-fraud conspiracy theories and smears against Vice President Kamala Harris. (Tatone, 2025) Both algorithmic bias and the spread of misinformation contribute to political polarization and undermine citizens’ ability to engage in informed and meaningful debate.
The unreliability of social media as a source of information is further compounded by the technological advancements of artificial intelligence. “AI-generated synthetic content has permeated the U.S. political sphere, where it is often shared by high-profile figures like U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump and his allies, who repeatedly promote AI-created memes and deepfakes. A case in point: Trump reposted an AI-generated fake image of singer Taylor Swift endorsing his election campaign, which she never did. Democrats also posted AI-made fake photos of Trump being arrested. Such fakes could result in wide-reaching and immensely damaging instances of misinformation and disinformation” (Csernatoni, 2024). Read (2023) similarly warns that biased AI outputs can reinforce stereotypes, marginalise minority groups, and heighten inequality and polarisation. Supporting this, Li (2024) highlights that AI-generated fake news spreads at an unprecedented speed and scale, appearing authentic while fuelling social distrust and political division.
Together, these examples suggest that though digital platforms, can be used positively as vehicles for democratic participation, they also increasingly pose risks to deliberative democracy. Through enabling the powerful to control narratives and by facilitating the rapid spread of misinformation, they erode the conditions necessary for fair, inclusive, and informed public deliberation.
The United Nations have created 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a blueprint for achieving a better and more sustainable future for all. (United Nations 2015) SDG 16 focuses on promoting peaceful and inclusive societies, providing access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels. (United Nations 2015) Digital platforms, when used effectively, can support these aims: for example, the #Blockout movement in 2024 enabled citizens to voice concerns and mobilise around a humanitarian crisis, expanding civic engagement beyond physical public spaces. However, the use of AI and algorithmic manipulation on platforms like X demonstrates the challenges to achieving SDG 16, as biased algorithms, amplified misinformation, and deepfakes can undermine trust, fuel political polarisation, and limit inclusive participation in democratic deliberation
Bibliography
Britannica Editors. Deliberative democracy. In: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/deliberative-democracy (Accessed: 27 October 2025).
Browne, R. (2025) Musk’s X faces criminal probe in France over algorithm manipulation concerns. CNBC, 7 February. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/07/elon-musks-x-faces-criminal-probe-in-france-over-algorithm-concerns.html (Accessed: 28 October 2025).
CE Noticias Financieras. (2024) Blockout 2024 to celebrities: why are they asking to stop following celebrities in the US?Miami: ContentEngine LLC. Available at: ProQuest Central (Accessed: 27 October 2025).
Conroy, J.O. (2025) How Elon Musk’s X became the global right’s supercharged front page. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/04/elon-musk-x-trump-far-right (Accessed: 28 October 2025).
Csernatoni, R. (2024) Can democracy survive the disruptive power of AI? Carnegie Europe, 18 December. Available at: https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/12/can-democracy-survive-the-disruptive-power-of-ai?lang=en(Accessed: 28 October 2025).
Elstub, S., Ercan, S. A., & Mendonça, R. F. (2016) “Deliberative Systems: Normative Foundations and Challenges,” in Democracy and Society
Iyer, P. (2024) New research points to possible algorithmic bias on X. Tech Policy Press, 15 November. Available at: https://www.techpolicy.press/new-research-points-to-possible-algorithmic-bias-on-x/ (Accessed: 28 October 2025).
Karki, M. (2024) ‘What Is Blockout 2024 List & Why Are Alia Bhatt, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Kylie Jenner On It?’, Free Press Journal. Mumbai: Athena Information Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Available at: ProQuest Central (Accessed: 27 October 2025).
Li, S. (2025) The social harms of AI-generated fake news: Addressing deepfake and AI political
manipulation. Digital Society & Virtual Governance, 1(1). Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389217747_The_Social_Harms_of_AI-Generated_Fake_News_Addressing_Deepfake_and_AI_Political_Manipulation (Accessed: 28 October 2025).
Oxford University Press (2001) Civic engagement. In: Oxford English Dictionary Online. Available at: https://www.oed.com/search/advanced/Quotations?textTermText0=civic+engagement&textTermOpt0=QuotText (Accessed: 9th October 2025)
Oxford University Press (2014) Democracy. In: Oxford English Dictionary Online. Available at: https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=democracy (Accessed: 9th October 2025)
Read, A. (2023) How AI might impact democracy. Westminster Foundation for Democracy. Available at: https://www.wfd.org/what-we-do/resources/democratic-approach-global-ai-safety/how-ai-might-impact-democracy(Accessed: 28 October 2025).
Tatone, A. (2025) How Elon Musk turned X into a pro-Trump echo chamber. NBC News. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/elon-musk-turned-x-trump-echo-chamber-rcna174321 (Accessed: 28 October 2025).
Tribune Content Agency (2024) ‘Blockout trend targets celebrities over Gaza silence’, TCA Regional News. Chicago: Tribune Content Agency LLC. Available at: ProQuest Central (Accessed: 27 October 2025).
United Nations (2015) Sustainable Development Goals. Available at: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/ (Accessed: 10th October 2025).
Joshua Morton