DATADRIVEN: Data-driven campaigns: intended and unintended consequences for democracy

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Data-driven political campaigns are on the rise. Concerns have been voiced that practices like onlinepolitical microtargeting techniques are harmful for democracy. These concerns grew after the unexpectedoutcome of the US presidential elections in 2016, the Brexit vote in the UK, and several recent electionsin Europe. However, it is unclear if data-driven campaigns using online microtargeting techniques are anactual threat to democracy. The project will focus on both the intended and unintended consequences ofdata-driven targeting and digital persuasion. In light of ongoing political and societal turmoil, investigatinghow citizens may be persuaded in a turbulent age and in a changing media landscape has never beenmore important. The study will focus on micro (consequences for citizens), meso (consequences forpolitical elites), and macro level effects (consequences for democracy). The project will address fourresearch questions: (RQ1) How do organizations shape elections campaigns by targeting potential votersonline during elections? (RQ2) What are the constitutional and legislative frameworks shaping the extentand nature of data-driven campaigning in European countries? (RQ3) How are data-driven targetingpractices perceived? (RQ4) To what extent do data-driven targeting practices actually affect voters? Theproject is novel as it (1) extends and empirically tests a theoretical framework of data-drivencampaigning, while (2) using a mixture of research methods and a (3) comparative perspective.DATADRIVEN will offer a deeper understanding of online data-driven targeting techniques during electionsin four European countries (i.e., Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and United Kingdom).