Populist Discourse on Social Media Inflames Anti-European Sentiment

Research findings show the existence of many ‘populisms’ and the need for coordinated policy responses in Europe

Society

Fundamental Research

© DEMOS H2020 (Democratic Efficacy and the Varieties of Populism in Europe)

- Populist actors’ discourse on Facebook was intense in the period before the EU parliamentary elections in 2019, according to new DEMOS research.

- Populist parties’ communication emphasizes particular national contexts and varies across countries, suggesting the existence of many “populisms” rather than one populism.

- Populist narratives voice strong Euroscepticism and anti-European sentiment, pointing to a weak Europeanisation.

Budapest, Hungary—Ahead of the EU parliamentary elections last year, populist actors used social media to focus on national issues while arousing anti-European sentiment, according to a new DEMOS research on populist discourse led by researchers Samuel Bennett, Artur Lipinski, and Agnieszka Stępińska from Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, in Poland (download the working paper below).

Pointing to populist parties responding to particular national contexts, the findings reinforce the existence of “populisms” in Europe rather than one populism, with a growing network of right-wing, nativist, and populist actors sharing policies and discourses that inflame Euroscepticism and suggest a weak Europeanisation. Hungary, Turkey, and Italy had the highest percentage of Facebook posts with indicators of populist discourse. The UK, Poland, and France followed.

MORE INFORMATION
Read the press release and download the working paper stemming from the research at: https://demos-h2020.eu/en/populist-discourse-on-social-media-inflames-anti-european-sentiment

ABOUT DEMOS
DEMOS, Democratic Efficacy and the Varieties of Populism in Europe is a three-year collaborative research project with 15 consortium members across Europe. DEMOS is funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 framework programme. The project, which kicked off in December 2018, has two chief objectives: better understand populism by investigating under-researched trends in existing scientific literature and contribute to addressing the challenge of populism through innovative and action research. Read more about DEMOS on our website.

Keywords

Populist, Discourse, Communication, Populism, DEMOS, Social Media, Facebook, Europe, EU, Euroscepticism, Europeanisation, Science, Research, Study, Parties, Governments, elections, parliamentary