Opinion: Should celebrities like Taylor Swift use their platform to encourage social change?

BY MIA SPEIGHTS AND ISABELLA YEAZEL 

Photo by Shutterstock

In today's politically charged climate, it's easy to see things as political and interpret hidden messages where they aren't meant to be. 

Recently, celebrities, like Taylor Swift, have been under scrutiny for not speaking clearly about important political issues that have been arising in the United States. Fans of Swift have been expressing their concern and have been asking her to post and speak out about certain political topics. 

This has since raised the question of whether celebrities should speak on political issues or keep their opinions to themselves. 

Kerry Washington has been standing up and speaking out about multiple political issues throughout her career, encouraging her fans to make informed decisions backed by facts and not by propaganda. Washington's influence reaches millions of people, as she has over seven million followers on Instagram and over six million on Facebook. 

When celebrities and powerful people speak on important political topics, it brings a considerable amount of attention to those topics, enacting change. 

However, there is a downside to speaking out. When celebrities share their political opinions, they can open themselves up to increased scrutiny from outside sources. 

Earlier this year, Selena Gomez posted on her Instagram story a very emotional message addressing the ICE raids that have been occurring in the United States. After this, Gomez received lots of criticism for her emotional response to the situation. Critics, typically from the opposite side of the political spectrum, were harsh enough to compel her to delete the video from her story a few hours after it was posted. 

There will always be pushback from certain people when a celebrity voices an opinion, but political opinions seem to get more news coverage than non-political opinions. So should Taylor Swift be more vocal about her political opinions? 

For someone so successful with a large following of fans, she has a lot to lose from posting her political opinions; however, she is already so well established in the music industry that there's a chance her opinions being made public will negatively affect her life. Swift already faces criticism for almost every decision she makes. Speaking out about her political opinions won't change the amount of criticism she receives. It will redirect it. 

Is it unfair to expect Taylor Swift to encourage social change with the power she has as a human being with her own beliefs and values, or is it simply upholding an expectation we have for those in a position of social status and power who some would argue have the responsibility to use these mass platforms they have gained as a catalyst for sharing political issues? It is undeniable that Taylor Swift has a massive influence on her fans.

 In 2023, Swift posted on her Instagram story and encouraged her fans to register to vote through Vote.org. There was a 1,226% jump in participation on the website in the hour following the story post. Fans have been voicing concern due to the lack of vocalization on her platform about recent issues and it then raises the question, does she have that responsibility as a woman with such a mass following and ability to make change, or does she have the right to choose when she gives her opinion on politics? How do we decide who needs to talk about issues and who doesn't? Do we need to consider that if we had that much power, would we be willing to risk our careers for someone else's expectations, especially in the digital age we live in, where nothing you post or say online is erasable?

References 

Linskey, Annie . “Taylor Swift urges 35,000 + to register to vote via Instagram.” NPR, Sept. 22, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/09/22/1201183160/taylor-swift-instagram-voter-registration

Saad, Nardine. "Selena Gomez sobs publicly over ICE raids, spars with critic over family’s immigration story." Los Angeles Times, Jan. 28, 2025. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-01-28/selena-gomez-deportation-raids-ice-crying-video