Culloty, EileenORCID: 0000-0001-7960-8462 and Suiter, JaneORCID: 0000-0002-2747-8069
(2021)
Anti-immigration disinformation.
In: Tumber, Howard and Waisbord, SilvioORCID: 0000-0003-0026-7111, (eds.)
The Routledge Companion to Media Misinformation and Populism.
Routledge (Taylor & Francis), London, UK.
ISBN 9780367435769
Anti-immigrant disinformation plays a central role in populist and far-right discourses, but it remains a complex object of study. In addition to the definitional challenges posed by disinformation, populism and far-right extremism, it can be difficult to disentangle the intricate overlap of factors that enable the promotion of anti-immigrant disinformation and render audiences receptive to it. To understand these dynamics, this chapter outlines disinformation as a process that engages different actors, platforms, and audiences. It provides an up-to-date analysis of the diverse range of actors who promote anti-immigrant disinformation, explores how platform structures enable anti-immigrant manipulation tactics, and, finally, it contextualises audience receptivity in terms of attitudes towards immigrants and social change. Ultimately, we suggest that efforts to counter anti-immigrant disinformation require multiple overlapping actions that reduce exposure to disinformation while also addressing more deep-seated issues surrounding the crisis of legitimacy within democracy and declining trust in institutions.