New replication study examines the influence of digital media on democracy

The research team systematically replicated the methodology of the original study and used an updated dataset with studies up to March 2024. The results confirm the findings of the original study: Digital media have many problematic effects on democratic processes, in addition to positive ones. On the one hand, they promote political participation and facilitate access to information. On the other hand, they increase polarization, mistrust in institutions, and populist movements.

A recent research paper by the Institute for Replication (I4R) analyzes and reviews the results of the 2023 study, ‘A Systematic Review of Worldwide Causal and Correlational Evidence on Digital Media and Democracy,’ by Lorenz-Spreen et al. The replication study, conducted by researchers from Tongji University, the University of Cambridge, and Duke University, confirms the original findings on the relationships between digital media and democracy.

“The replication study supports our findings, and the worrying trends continue,” explains Philipp Lorenz-Spreen, research group leader for Computational Social Science at TU Dresden and research scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development (MPIB) in Berlin. He and Lisa Oswald – both working at the Center for Adaptive Rationality – led the 2023 study. Postdoctoral researcher Lisa Oswald underscores the significance of these findings. “The correlative evidence is mounting that digital media can negatively influence political processes – we see increased polarization, rising mistrust in democratic institutions and media, and a proliferation of misinformation.”

Replication study: https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/i4rdps/206.html

Original study: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01460-1