If the reason for spreading false information is not ignorance but intent, then enlightenment can only lead nowhere. The Bremen research duo Hannah Trautmann and Nils Kumkar wanted to find out from which contexts people spread disinformation. It evaluated 13 conversations on topics such as migration, corona, freedom of the press on AfD Facebook accounts from the period between February 2020 and June 2021 and found that these mostly followed a basic pattern and clear rules of the game.
What counted was not the content of statements, but rather “identity claims”: What does a statement reveal about the author? Is he “one of us” (that is, AfD supporters) or “of them” (that is, the allegedly conspiratorial majority)? “Alternative facts” are brought into play to reinforce the fundamental opposition to the majority opinion of society.
They serve as instruments to arm oneself against factual criticism – motto: “Don’t get caught out” – and to stage and profile yourself as a “viewer”.
Trautmann and Kumkar sum up: “One does not take a position against pandemic control policy following a misleading factual assertion, but one shares misleading factual assertions in order to express one’s opposition to pandemic control policy and government policy in general.” Strengthening democracy requires differentiation: Put behind disinformation Misunderstanding or a lack of media literacy? Democratic parties should justify their positions, decisions and actions in a plausible, consistent and understandable manner. They should make it clear how their positions differ from one another.
However, the study is limited to Facebook and the AfD. It would be interesting to find out what the picture would be on other social media platforms and in other party environments.
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