Cambridge Analytica and the Public Sphere: An Investigation of Political Manipulation in the Digital Age

Abstract

The Cambridge Analytica scandal, which unfolded in 2018, was a wake-up call for many and is a good illustration of political and civic consequences of big data in the digital age. In this thesis, I used theory-driven qualitative content analysis to explore political manipulation in the digital age, illustrated by the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and focus on how the democratic challenges, impugn the role of democratic citizens in the public sphere. For this matter I have used Habermas concepts of deliberative democracy, the public sphere, and citizen sovereignty extensively as a lens through which I analyse the events of 2018 and its aftermath. I was able to identify five challenges to the concept of the public sphere as it stands, and I relate my findings to how they may be consequential to the democratic system in general under a neoliberal capitalist order.