Anti-immigrant rhetoric of populist radical right leaders on social media platforms

Social media platforms have become crucial channels for radical right populist leaders to broadcast anti-immigrant views. These politicians employ various rhetorical appeals, such as pathos (emotional language), logos (logical arguments), and ethos (speaker credibility), to sway public opinion. This study considers the anti-immigrant rhetoric of prominent European populist radical right leaders across X, Instagram, and Facebook, analysing the prevalence of these rhetorical strategies across different platforms. From the perspective of mediatization theory, politicians can adjust their messages to fit with the design and formats of various social media platforms. Party leaders often resort to emotional appeals on X, with its limited space for communication, as well as on Facebook, where emotional interaction buttons and discussion features can encourage emotional rhetoric as well. Logical appeals (logos) are common on platforms such as Facebook and X, which offer options to easily share information in the form of texts and links. Additionally, ethos, associated with speaker’s credibility, is common in posts on platforms that facilitate closer engagement with the party leaders’ constituents, such as Facebook and Instagram. These findings underscore the importance of considering platform design when shaping political communication strategies

Misleading Memes. The Effects of Deceptive Visuals of the British National Party

This study investigates how visual manipulation is employed on the Facebook page of a far-right party; and whether manipulation evokes different forms of engagement from Facebook users. The study takes as a case the Facebook page of the British National Party (BNP), which has recently been censored from the social media platform. It therefore provides a rare insight in the visual practices of the party's online political communication. A manual coding of 342 images into factual, funny, fallacious or fabricated content finds that completely fabricated information in images is rare. However, most images do contain information that is presented in a fallacious or misleading manner. The results show how deliberate manipulated images evoke more engagement in the form of comments and more negative emotional responses than images that present information in a factual or funny manner

Political conflict on Instagram during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe:Challenges of a cross-country comparison of visual content

Research on political conflict often overlooks the role of visual-based platforms like Instagram in expressing political discontent, focusing primarily on textual content from newspapers and social media. This paper examines the practicalities and challenges of conducting visual research on Instagram, particularly in the context of comparative studies. We highlight the difficulties associated with sampling representative visual content. Through a small case study, we illustrate how hashtags associated with a single country can generate multiple conflicts, using indicators developed in political protest research and contentious politics. The existence of diverse debates within and across hashtags complicates cross-country comparisons of Instagram content and conflict dynamics. To address this issue, we propose an analytical tool for cross-hashtag analysis, allowing for the assessment of degrees of conflict.<br/

Political conflict on Instagram during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe:Challenges of a cross-country comparison of visual content

Research on political conflict often overlooks the role of visual-based platforms like Instagram in expressing political discontent, focusing primarily on textual content from newspapers and social media. This paper examines the practicalities and challenges of conducting visual research on Instagram, particularly in the context of comparative studies. We highlight the difficulties associated with sampling representative visual content. Through a small case study, we illustrate how hashtags associated with a single country can generate multiple conflicts, using indicators developed in political protest research and contentious politics. The existence of diverse debates within and across hashtags complicates cross-country comparisons of Instagram content and conflict dynamics. To address this issue, we propose an analytical tool for cross-hashtag analysis, allowing for the assessment of degrees of conflict.<br/

Development of one-part geopolymers based on industrial waste

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Retention of Re in metakaolin based geopolymer in the presence of an organic reductant – an experimental study

The goal of this research was to examine the change in redox sensitive contaminant retention and leaching behavior from a model geopolymer system, during oxidation and carbonation, in the presence of an organic reductant. The behavior of redox sensitive elements under variable environmental conditions is specifically important for understanding the leaching of radionuclides retained in geopolymeric materials (e.g. Tc) that are soluble when oxidized and insoluble under reducing conditions. An alkali-activated metakaolin geopolymer with high silica/alumina ratio was selected as a model material. Rhenium was selected as the model redox sensitive element, which exhibits a large valence (-3 to +7) and solubility range. Rhenium was introduced in its most oxidized form (VII) as Re2S7. Ascorbic acid was used as a reducing agent during geopolymer casting due to its high solubility and homogeneous distribution within the matrix. Cylindrical monoliths were cured for 90 days under an inert atmosphere (N2) and then aged for 60 days under 98% N2 + 2% CO2 or CO2 deficient air, at a constant relative humidity (68%). The samples were then subjected to EPA 1313 pH dependent leaching test and EPA 1315 monolith leaching test. Leachates were analyzed using DOC and ICP techniques. XRD and SEM – EDS imaging and analyses were used to characterizes the solids Results show that Re has precipitated as ReS2 (IV) in the matrix. The pH dependent leaching test show that Re was released homogenously throughout most of the pH range (3-12). However, the retention of the material aged under CO2 deficient air was three times lower, indicating that the main effect on leaching from this material is of the oxidation process. The natural pH values were 11.3 and 12 for the material aged under 2% CO2 and for material aged under CO2 deficient air respectively, indicating minor carbonation in the former, however, no carbonate minerals were detected in the matrix. Monolith leaching results show that the geopolymers aged under CO2 deficient air have retained significantly less Re (0.24% leaching) relative to the sample aged under 2% CO2 (0.07wt % leaching). -log(diffusivity) values were in the order of 15 and 16 for CO2 deficient air and 2% CO2 respectively. There is a clear positive correlation between the amount of Re and DOC released from the samples, where their amounts are significantly larger for the samples aged under CO2 deficient air, indicating that the main Re-release mechanism from these samples is related to chelation to organic species under oxidizing conditions

Misleading Memes. The Effects of Deceptive Visuals of the British National Party

This study investigates how visual manipulation is employed on the Facebook page of a far-right party; and whether manipulation evokes different forms of engagement from Facebook users. The study takes as a case the Facebook page of the British National Party (BNP), which has recently been censored from the social media platform. It therefore provides a rare insight in the visual practices of the party's online political communication. A manual coding of 342 images into factual, funny, fallacious or fabricated content finds that completely fabricated information in images is rare. However, most images do contain information that is presented in a fallacious or misleading manner. The results show how deliberate manipulated images evoke more engagement in the form of comments and more negative emotional responses than images that present information in a factual or funny manner

Misleading memes : the effects of deceptive visuals of the British National Party

First published online: 15 March 2020This study investigates how visual manipulation is employed on the Facebook page of a far-right party; and whether manipulation evokes different forms of engagement from Facebook users. The study takes as a case the Facebook page of the British National Party (BNP), which has recently been censored from the social media platform. It therefore provides a rare insight in the visual practices of the party’s online political communication. A manual coding of 342 images into factual, funny, fallacious or fabricated content finds that completely fabricated information in images is rare. However, most images do contain information that is presented in a fallacious or misleading manner. The results show how deliberate manipulated images evoke more engagement in the form of comments and more negative emotional responses than images that present information in a factual or funny manner