Mimi Mihăilescu
Elon Musk has endorsed Călin Georgescu as Romania's next president. But what happens when a tech billionaire and a far-right Romanian politician collide? A political firestorm. In a world where billionaires and populists are manipulating elections in the name of 'democracy', Mimi Mihăilescu shows how Musk has succeeded in weaponising Romania's sovereignty Read more
Frederik Henriksen
Frederik Henriksen analyses anti-systemic, populist movements during the Covid-19 pandemic. Here, he explains how these movements rely on alternative news media to establish their own digital information bubbles, and shows how ideological partisanship evolved in these environments Read more
Andrea Ceron
Analysing posts on Facebook and Twitter-X, Andrea Ceron, Silvia Decadri, and Fedra Negri highlight how Italian politicians use populist rhetoric to generate engagement. They find that such rhetoric does indeed increase the likelihood of posts going viral, even among non-populist voters Read more
Maria Merkouraki
EU digital diplomacy during the Russia-Ukraine war has led to the rise of hard-power discourse, writes Maria Merkouraki. The war has disrupted traditional pro-European soft messaging, and shifted the EU's approach to digital diplomacy Read more
Luca Carrieri
‘Sovereignism’ has been characterised as a product of globalisation and Europeanisation, presumably as an (over)reaction to the perceived negative consequences of both. Luca Carrieri and Nicolò Conti's research shows that party supply on sovereignism has been strongly influenced by public demand Read more
Laura Jacobs
Social media play a key role in amplifying populist messages. The resulting misinformation, political polarisation, and the proliferation of hate speech, pose challenges for democracy. Laura Jacobs steps into the populist echo chamber Read more
Aleksandra Spalińska
Elon Musk’s takeover throws Twitter’s future into question. Drawing from Albert Hirschman’s 1970 work on organisational decline, Aleksandra Spalińska explains how the high costs of leaving means a full exit from the platform is not a viable option for every Twitter user Read more
