UK Labour Party Strategist Laments Social Media for Undermining Democracy

Douglas Alexander said the rapidly changing media landscape creates an echo chamber that reaffirms voters' preconceived notions.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The United Kingdom's Labour Party campaign strategist bemoaned Tuesday the challenge that social media poses to the democratic process ahead of May's general election.

Speaking at a conference organized by the self-described independent progressive blog LabourList broadcast by the Guardian, Douglas Alexander said the rapidly changing media landscape creates an "echo chamber" reaffirming voters' preconceived notions.

"We are confronting increasingly, because of the rise of social media, a politics where people's social media feeds can be an echo chamber for, at best, their own opinions and, at worst, their own prejudices," Alexander was quoted as saying.

The politician's remarks appeared connected to an incident in mid-to-late September 2014, where over 140,000 Scots signed two online petitions demanding a recount after the nation's failed independence bid.

The petitions gained massive traction online, with footage allegedly depicting cases of vote-rigging at the independence referendum circulating on social networks.

"How do we engage in a very rapidly changing media landscape in which facts are not common, actually people have their own facts?" the Guardian cited Alexander as saying.

According to the Electoral Calculus poll, Labour is predicted to gain considerably on the incumbent Conservative Party, falling 19 seats short of an outright majority.

However, reports on Monday suggested that as Labour leader Ed Miliband rejected an alliance with the Scottish National Party on Monday, Labour may compromise up to 27 of its seats in Scotland.