Digital platforms and their political impact

Abstract

The relevance of the article is due to the rapid development of digital platforms such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, etc., and their consequent acquisition of significant social, economic and political importance in the world in general and Ukraine in particular. Digital platforms are the identified complex information systems that provide interconnection functions between market participants; they are open for use by customers, partners, application developers, and service providers. The penetration of digital platforms into all spheres of social and political life entails an increasing individualization of civic interests, the formation of multiple identities, and the blurring of traditional foundations to consolidate public opinion. In order to survive in the era of digitalization, the parties begin to operate according to the digital platforms models and become increasingly populist.

The article aims at making an overview of the prospects and ways forward of the digital platforms’ impact on the development of political institutions in Ukraine.

The analysis results illustrate that the Facebook’s ads base in Ukraine has now reached 22 million people, 63% of people receive political information from social networks, and this number increases annually, while television remains the main source of political information for 48% of Ukrainians, including 8% of those who learn important events exclusively from TV news. As of February 2021, 57% of Ukrainians are using Viber and over 20% give their preference to using Telegram platform. At the same time, the citizens of developed countries like the USA, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the UK have already started to assess negatively the impact of large technological companies on modern democracy, while the Ukrainians are almost not aware of the negative impact.

The prospects for further research are focused on the need to developing legislation that would protect personal data and other areas in order to prevent the negative impact of digital platforms and artificial intelligence technologies on the sustainability of democratic institutions in Ukraine.