Populist politics, Covid-19, and fake news

The case of Craig Kelly

Bibliographic Data

ID6234880
AuthorsNicholas Barry (0000-0002-0042-1513, La Trobe University), Raul A Sanchez-Urribarri (0000-0001-8615-6724, La Trobe University), Raul Sanchez-Urribarri (La Trobe University)
Year2022
Volume57
Issue3
Pages280-296
Publication date2022-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1036-1146 • E-ISSN: 1363-030X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10361146.2022.2122775
OpenAlexW4296459155
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited16

One of the marked features of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the proliferation of fake news about the virus. Although commentary on this issue has generally focused on the dissemination of online material by private citizens and organised groups, politicians have often played a major role as well, exacerbating divisions and impairing the effective implementation of measures against the pandemic. This article examines this issue, focusing on Australian politician Craig Kelly, with references to the cases of Donald Trump (US) and Jair Bolsonaro (Brazil). Despite operating in very different contexts, we find a high degree of similarity in the messages they conveyed, which echoed misleading claims being circulated online, and constituted a form of medical populism. These findings show that the problem of fake news is not simply about the activities of shadowy groups online; it is also enabled by the public comments of populist politicians

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Fake news · Media studies · Pandemic · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Populism · Public relations · Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 · Similarity (geometry · Sociology · Computer Science · Law · Medicine · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Social Media and Politics · Virology