| dc.description.abstract | This paper discusses what effect social media and algorithms have on affective polarization and how this relates to the storming of the US Capitol building, the 2020 presidential election and briefly about how it affects policy making. The thesis also discusses what measures can be taken to reduce or stop the spread of misinformation. The research method used in this thesis is a literature study and is based upon the theory of anticipated agreement. The findings of this paper concludes that affective polarization does indeed impact the creation of policies, but also people’s attitudes towards the media and the government. The paper also concludes that there are potential measures that can be taken to reduce the spread of misinformation, but that this process will be long and quite difficult as it need participation from individuals as well as some sort of reform in the social media environment. Lastly, it shows how important this topic is for further research to stop potential future domestic terrorism events. | |