Paradoxical Media: Freedom of Speech and Electoral Politics

Join us for another graduate student workshop, Paradoxical Media: Freedom of Speech and Electoral Politics. This workshop brings together scholars examining the complex relationship between media, digital platforms, and political expression. It delves into how modern media technologies affect freedom of expression, public discourse, and electoral processes. The presentations provide critical insights into the paradoxes of media-driven democratization, particularly through social media and artificial intelligence, which both expand and limit the public’s engagement with democratic ideals.

**Papers will be sent immediately after registration.

Presenter Bios:

B. Tyler Leigh: B. Tyler Leigh is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy at the University of Notre Dame. Leigh’s research focuses on how media lead the American public to behave in (anti-) democratic ways. He is currently completing a joint PhD in Political Science and Communication from the University of Pennsylvania.

Bizaa Zeynab Ali: Bizaa Zeynab Ali is a doctoral fellow at New York University and The New School for Social Research in New York. Her research focuses on the sociology of digital cultures and platforms, media industries, global media ethics and creator cultures on social media.

Paper Abstracts:

The Broken Promise of Free Expression: How Social Media Undermines Public Support for Freedom of Expression
By B. Tyler Leigh

Social media has democratized expression by giving anyone with an account the ability to
express nearly any idea into the public sphere. One might expect that Americans would become more supportive of democratic expression as they gain experience and familiarity with it through social media. Using an observational study and two experiments, I show the opposite is occurring. Social media democratized expression but does not deliver on the promised outcomes that free expression is supposed to provide. As a result, conspiracy theories, misinformation, and hate speech seem more influential than ever before. I show that, as a result, people are less willing to allow the exact same expressive acts on social media than in-person. Further, people are less supportive of free expression overall when primed to think about the democratization of expression social media represents. These findings indicate that social media is undermining public support for freedom of expression.

Computational Creativity, Political AI and Artistic Activism in Pakistan: Reflections on the Limits and Possibilities of Generative AI for Contemporary Electoral Politics
By Bizaa Zeynab Ali

This research will highlight the ways in which Generative AI tools facilitated political mobilization during the 2024 elections in Pakistan. I analyze the paradoxical ways in which generative AI was used to propagate disinformation, while presenting digital citizens with an opportunity to counter and subvert state led narratives in innovative ways, by visibilizing violence against women, fact-checking fake news and deliberate disinformation campaigns, invoking civic dissent through political satire and developing an extensive electoral campaign with AI tools. The research showcases examples of computational creativity and artistic activism during recent political unrest in Pakistan, broadly organized in three categories to underline public engagement with AI technology regarding concerns about disinformation, electoral manipulation and state violence. I highlight the creative use of AI tools like chatbots, generative art and voice generators for digital dissent and large-scale political marketing in short periods of time, under the threat of state censorship, internet shutdowns and social media crackdowns.