On Monday, 14th May, the Sylvans debated the resolution that ‘This House believes that the rise of social media has been bad for democracy.’
It was proposed by Daniel Viray and opposed by Richard Johnson.
There were a number of threads to the debate, in particular the role of social media in the spread of and access to information (pernicious or not), the impact of alleged foreign government meddling, micro-targeting in elections and echo chambers. A minor sub-plot was the issue of whether the UK political system is currently a democracy, and whether democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others!
The final vote saw the motion defeated.