Surprising Ways in Which the Internet Can Be Used to Alter People’s Beliefs, Opinions and Attitudes – Even Our Votes

Somewhat accidentally, the Internet has given rise to new techniques for influencing people on a massive scale that have no precedent in human history. When search engines show results that favor one perspective or another, that can easily change the attitudes or preferences of people who are undecided on an issue. Recent research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows, for example, that search rankings favoring one political candidate can easily shift the voting preferences of undecided voters by 20 percent or more - by up to 80 percent in some demographic groups.

This effect, called the Search Engine Manipulation Effect (or SEME, pronounced "seem"), has been replicated in multiple studies with more than 10,000 people in 39 countries. SEME is especially problematic because people generally cannot detect biased search rankings; in other words, the effect is invisible to users. It also leaves no paper trail, which means authorities have no way at present of detecting it. SEME can also shift opinions, attitudes, or beliefs about almost any topic. Because many elections are very close, SEME has probably been determining the outcomes of upwards of 25 percent of national elections worldwide for years, and its impact is increasing as Internet penetration continues to grow. Even without deliberate planning by search engine executives, search algorithms are affecting both votes and opinions because of the way they are programmed to favor some search results over others - a process that currently lacks even minimal transparency.