{"title":"Exploring the role of political elites in post-truth communication on social media","authors":"Timothy Graham, Katherine M. FitzGerald","doi":"10.1177/1329878x241244919","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates post-truth messaging and participatory disinformation on Twitter, focusing on the activities of Craig Kelly, a former Australian member of parliament and a key figure previously accused of spreading health misinformation in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. We draw on Harsin's conceptualisation of post truth communication to analyse 4317 tweets and 5.2 million interactions with Kelly's account and his network of followers over a six-month period. Our novel empirical approach, combining coordination network analysis with a forensic qualitative approach, explores the participatory nature of online interaction, where fringe actors mobilise around Kelly's tweets. The findings demonstrate how political figures have a privileged and outsized role in public discourse, undermining scientific institutions and promoting anti-deliberative politics. This research underscores the role of participatory disinformation in the post-truth era and suggests that regulators, governments, and social media platforms work collaboratively to develop a whole-of-society framework to tackle misinformation.","PeriodicalId":46880,"journal":{"name":"Media International Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Media International Australia","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878x241244919","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"COMMUNICATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study investigates post-truth messaging and participatory disinformation on Twitter, focusing on the activities of Craig Kelly, a former Australian member of parliament and a key figure previously accused of spreading health misinformation in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. We draw on Harsin's conceptualisation of post truth communication to analyse 4317 tweets and 5.2 million interactions with Kelly's account and his network of followers over a six-month period. Our novel empirical approach, combining coordination network analysis with a forensic qualitative approach, explores the participatory nature of online interaction, where fringe actors mobilise around Kelly's tweets. The findings demonstrate how political figures have a privileged and outsized role in public discourse, undermining scientific institutions and promoting anti-deliberative politics. This research underscores the role of participatory disinformation in the post-truth era and suggests that regulators, governments, and social media platforms work collaboratively to develop a whole-of-society framework to tackle misinformation.