State, democracy and technology: Political conflicts and vulnerability in the context of big-date, fake news and shitstorms

Abstract

The present article discuss the impacts that the new technologies and some of their corresponding phenomena (big-data, shitstorm, candystorm and fake news) have on the electoral processes and, consequently, on the existing democratic model. This work results from an interdisciplinary study, encompassing a theoretical frame related to sciences such as communication, technology, law and politics. The purpose of this article is to describe the phenomena of big-data, shitstorm, candystorm and fake news from the existing academic literature, and to indicate how they will all have a growing relevance in the development of contemporary electoral processes, creating the need for new initiatives in Executive, Legislative and Judicial levels to avoid deleterious consequences capable of affecting the balance of electoral disputes and democracy as a whole.