Populism, cyberdemocracy and disinformation: analysis of the social media strategies of the French extreme right in the 2014 and 2019 European elections

Abstract

Since the European elections in 2014, the populist formations had been increasing the shares of power that their masses finally claimed in the May 2019 elections. In the case of France, this rise of the Rassemblement National has even given rise to a new political regime: the Europeanism of Macron vs. the Euroscepticism of Le Pen. This paper aims to delve into the communication strategy of the latter formation, to see how it has been able to shift the party’s fascist image towards that of a protector of national sovereignty and interests (against the European ones). To this end, the 1256 tweets posted on its official Twitter profile during the fortnight of the 2014 and 2019 European election campaigns have been qualitatively analysed. The results point to a whitening of its image, in order to present itself as a potential voting option for the majority of the French electorate while retaining a certain populist essence.