Democracy was a political system practiced in ancient Greek city-states. With the revolutions in the 17th and 18th centuries, it revived in a modified form passing through different phases, and then at the end of the 20th century, with the emergence of the New World Order (NWO) democracy was declared as the champion political system of the world.
In the first decade of the 21st century, the advancement of technology in the form of social media; provided a platform for people to express their views and share them with the people around them in a matter of seconds, strengthening the basic pillar (freedom of expression) of democracy through technology.
According to different reports, there are 82.90million internet users in Pakistan, with 71.70 million active social media users. If we analyze the influence of such large junk of social media users on democracy in Pakistan, it gives hope in the flourishing of historically struggled democracy, but on the other side, it also obstructs its way. It constructively influences democracy through enhancing political participation, promoting and providing a platform for building public opinion, acting as a medium of information regarding government functions and moreover, and digitizing democratic culture.
On the other side, it is also used as a tool that destructively affects democracy like; the recent culture of spreading misinformation and propaganda tool against political opponents, dragging state institutions in political matters, baseless debates, and abusive language against each other on social media, are all maligning the struggled democratic culture of Pakistan. In this modern era, technological tools like social media can be used effectively through proper monitoring to enhance democracy in Pakistan.
