Thread: Elections by themselves are not enough to ensure that a vote is truly democratic. There are elections in countries such as Russia and China. Now, the EU Referendum result is often put forward as this big democratic exercise. But it threatens democracy in the UK /1
We now know Vote Leave overspent big time. Several whistle blowers have stepped forward. Yet, the Referendum result is not cast into doubt. It is still the "will of the people", in spite of Leave having an unfair advantage
We also know that Vote Leave lied about the NHS, yet the lie on the bus was a deciding factor for many people. Cameron did not properly challenge them because he did not want blue and blue, yet innocent people were deceived 3/ 
The amount of lying by Vote Leave about immigration, a Brexit dividend etc. was so blatant that some philosophers have described this misinformation as a form of violence, epistemic violence in particular. Violence directed at a population in massive misinformation 4/
See here, where the author argues " the media handling of information concerning EU immigration during pre-Brexit campaigning provides a compelling illustration of the systematic violation of epistemic rights." 5/ tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108…
There was also Cambridge Analytica style microtargeting of people who were high in the personality trait anxiety and worried about immigration. They saw misleading images like this, which most other people did not see. Who is surprised this would push people to vote Leave? 6/
Far from a democratic exercise, the EU Referendum has endangered democracy in Britain. The message of not questioning the result, in spite of lies, overspending, and dark FB ads is clear: do what you have to do to win. Winning is the only thing that matters 7/
And once UK political leaders get this message (lie, overspend, misinform, it's all fine as long as you win) that is the end of free and fair elections in the UK. Recall how Orban won in Hungary, on an exclusive anti-immigrant platform, with massive media support? 8/
That's where we are headed. Regardless of whether you voted Leave or Remain, this should worry you. For even if you voted Leave, would you really want election campaigns (referendums and other) to be based on a massive platform of lies, misinformation and overspending? /ends 9
