Törnberg, P., & Chueri, J. (2025). L10 Flashcards
(15 cards)
What is the central research question in Törnberg & Chueri’s study?
Which political parties are more likely to spread misinformation on Twitter across 26 countries.
What dataset did the authors use to analyze misinformation?
A comprehensive dataset of 32 million tweets from 8,198 parliamentarians in 26 countries, combined with Parlgov, V-Dem, and media factuality databases.
How is ‘factuality score’ measured in the study?
It is based on the average factuality level of URLs shared by politicians, using ratings from MediaBiasFactCheck and Wikipedia’s Fake News list.
What is the main finding regarding populism and misinformation?
Populism alone is not linked to misinformation; only right-wing populist parties show a strong correlation with sharing low-factuality content.
How do radical-right populist parties use misinformation strategically?
They exploit distrust in institutions and the media, create alternative media ecosystems, and use sensationalist content to dominate attention.
Why is misinformation particularly suited to right-wing populist strategies?
Because it supports narratives about cultural threats, national identity, and undermines mainstream institutions.
How does the media environment contribute to misinformation?
Social media enables attention-grabbing, low-quality content to spread rapidly; politicians exploit this to bypass traditional media gatekeepers.
What role does party family play in misinformation levels?
Radical-right parties show the lowest factuality scores, significantly more than mainstream or left-wing parties.
What is the relationship between government participation and misinformation?
Government parties are generally less likely to share misinformation compared to opposition parties.
Why is personalization and party cohesion controlled for in the analysis?
To account for the influence of dominant individuals or internal fragmentation that may skew party-level misinformation patterns.
What are the principles of comparative research in social media studies?
Using large-scale cross-national data (tweets, party databases), integrating contextual variables (ideology, party family), and accounting for multilevel effects.
How do platform affordances influence political communication?
Twitter allows direct, fast, unfiltered communication, encouraging sensationalism and misinformation through retweets, virality, and minimal editorial oversight.
How do political parties use social media for communication?
They bypass traditional media, control narratives, directly reach followers, and tailor messages—especially populists who exploit outrage and distrust.
What role does misinformation play in radical-right party strategy?
It helps mobilize supporters, discredit opponents, and align with anti-elite narratives while dominating attention-driven media environments.
Why is misinformation a political strategy rather than an accident?
It is used deliberately to gain electoral advantage, delegitimize institutions, and build alternative information ecosystems that serve party interests.
