Post-truth politics in the middle east: The case studies of Syria and Turkey

Abstract

This article presents two case studies of disinformation from the Middle East which fit within the broader academic discussion of ‘post-truth politics’. The first case study analyzes a disinformation campaign via social media targeted at a Syrian humanitarian organization known as the White Helmets. The second case study recounts Turkish President Erdoǧan’s strategy to leverage the mobilization and consensus-building potential of social media after the 2013 Gezi Park protests. Both cases present similar dynamics of authoritarian or autocratic regimes coopting social media, particularly in the form of citizen journalism, user-generated content (UGC) and ‘trolling’ supported by State authorities to challenge the opposition’s discourses.