Please forgive me for my absence! I assure you I have not quit my graduate coursework, nor did I have the luxury of an entire summer off. I'm currently enrolled in Research Methods, and much of the writings and course work appear to be preparing us for a larger paper that will be due the final week of the course.
This week our assignment was to conduct a literature review, which I still have no idea how to write, in preparation for our final paper. The revised copy of this literature review will be included in the final paper. So be nice! This version hasn't been peer reviewed yet, and is still a work in progress!
Literature Review:
Cyber Operations, Social Media, and Ethics
Dawn M. Morris
Trine University
LDR 5333: Research Methods
Dr. Sheila Schmitz
July 18th, 2021
Literature Review
The purpose of the proposed study is to understand the extent of influence social media political meme posts may have on voters, and if voters who perceive themselves as ethical could be persuaded to change their beliefs or voting behavior based on exposure to such political meme posts. In a digitally connected society where cyber interference is possible, it is crucial to conduct studies that will increase the knowledge on the likelihood a social media meme post will influence voting behavior. This review will not explore the degree of which a political meme post is actively used for intellectual discussion and debate among average social media users. Instead, the literature review discussion will focus on the basics of cyber voter interference, and how social media influences the understanding of ethics to understand the likelihood of persuasion by social media political meme posts.
Cyber Operations: Cyber Voter Interference
Most internet users are aware to some extent of the hidden dangers cyber criminals use to steal information, like viruses, malware, worms, and trojans, which creates fear in the user and makes them leery of some websites and applications. For protection from these tactics’ internet users are encouraged to use anti-virus and malware software programs. However, dangerous cyber operations are conducted on the internet in plain sight on popular trusted social media sites. State sponsored cyber operations include a variety of forms, including cyber voter interference (CVI), which has the goal of influencing voter behaviors through the use of doxing (publicly posting private or stolen information), disinformation (misleading or false information), and trolling (manipulating public debate to create a false version of reality) (Hansen & Lim, 2019).
Researchers, Hansen and Lim, discussed two case studies related to the use of CVI in the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections and the 2017 French Presidential elections. In both cases they found Russian cyber hackers and actors were suspected of CVI by using doxing, disinformation campaigns, and trolling campaigns on social media sites to promote or denounce specific candidates (Hansen & Lim, 2019). These CVI techniques are used in conjunction with one another effectively spread information through visual images or through public media discussion boards and posts to sway public opinion.
There are often no identifiable markers on images created in these campaigns to know the true origin of them, which can lead to speculation of them being associated with a cyber operation. Additionally, there is a noted issue identifying and connecting sources in cyber operations due to their complexity (Hansen & Lim, 2019). However, sometimes the origins of the information can be traced, and quickly identified as cyber interference. For example, these case studies did conclude one common link between the two, Fancy Bear, who was linked to both the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and French channel TV5 Monde hacks (Hansen & Lim, 2019). What Hansen and Lim’s study did not conclude is to what extent, if any, did these cyber operations have on the outcome of either the U.S. or French Presidential elections, it only concluded the existence of such operations.
Social Media’s Influence on Understanding of Ethics
While there has been noted occurrences of CVI, the debate as to how much influence these techniques have on election outcomes is minimal. To understand the likelihood of CVI succeeding in determining election results and understanding of a person’s ability to perceive ethical social media posts is necessary. Researchers Bagdasarov et al., conducted a research study to identify how social media might affect a person’s understanding of ethics, and if their personality traits were influential in their ethical stance (2017).
To conduct this study a survey was conducted amongst undergraduate students. They were asked to respond to 14 different scenarios that commonly occur on social media all with ethical implications, provide personal demographic information, and partake variable related surveys (Bagdasarov et al., 2017). The variables that were measured were used mostly in conjunction with the scenario survey to determine the ability for the participants to recognize if the information on social media is ethical, or not, and if they were linked to any perceived personality or behavioral traits.
The researchers in this study discovered when the participants were exposed to a high number of ethical violations on social media that they were less likely to find the scenarios personally acceptable, those who scored high on the agreeableness trait were more likely to find the same scenarios socially acceptable, and participants expressed an increase in negative feelings about the described unethical situations (Bagdasarov et al., 2017). One of the possible conclusions to the findings is that if the participants were viewing the scenarios as unethical then they might be conforming to the ideal ethical norms portrayed on social media (Bagdasarov et al., 2017). Furthermore, the ability or person to identify when a situation is unethical varies, which could mean that only those who have a heightened awareness of ethics might be able to identify when a situation is ethical or not (Bagdasarov et al., 2017).
Conclusion
Knowing that agreeableness and conformity have an impact on how someone would view an unethical social media situation helps tremendously in our ability to identify those who are potential cyber operation targets. To what extent a cyber operation will affect a voter largely might be associated with their core personality traits, such as their tendency to be agreeable or conform to the social norms of social media based on social influence regardless of their understanding of ethics. Since social media political meme posts can be difficult to source, potential voters who have a lower understanding of ethics might be more likely to unknowing participate in doxing, misinformation campaigns, and troll campaigns in comparison to those who have a higher understanding of ethics. However, more research is needed to confirm if the political meme posts on social media do have an affect, if any, on election results.
References
Bagdasarov, Z., Martin, A., Chauhan, R., & Connelly, S. (2017). Aristotle, Kant, and . . .Facebook? A Look at the Implications of Social Media on Ethics. Ethics & Behavior, 27(7), 547-561. Retrieved July 2021, from https://trine.on.worldcat.org/oclc/7149878014
Hansen, I., & Lim, D. J. (2019). Doxing Democracy: Influencing Elections via Cyber Voter Interference. Contemporary Politics, 25(2), 150-171. Retrieved July 2021, from https://trine.on.worldcat.org/oclc/8016056070
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