Right-wing populist disinformation:

2022 elections in Portugal

Ana Filipa Joaquim

The phenomenon of the rise of populism in Europe in the XXI century is a much-discussed topic
in academia. Populism is not limited to this century, as several documents refer to it as a
political movement that was strongly present in Europe at the end of the XX century.

With an ambiguous and hardly consensual definition, from conceptualization to

characterization, populism finds in its ideological genesis a rival and distant dichotomy
between the pure people and the corrupt elites.

The main thrust of this political ideology is the emotional speech of its leaders and the mass
movement that follows them. The populist parties and leaders, labelled as opportunists and
amateurs, have found in social networks a privileged communication tool, free of effective
laws.

Due to the characteristics of the interconnectedness of social networks, today's society is

experiencing a parallel phenomenon of disinformation.

The social discrediting of government officials and perceptions of fear and terror provides the
breeding ground for a new era known as "post-truth."

Social media has become increasingly important in the political arena as politicians have found
a way to communicate with their audiences without intermediaries. However, it is important
to point out that free speech in virtual communities has its limits, but there is no fact-checking
for disinformation in real-time.

Populist leaders in particular tend to take advantage of this lack of regulation by spreading
false messages, mainly using misinformation.

In fact, there are several types of fake news. The most common in populist political statements
is misinformation, a way of manipulating the truth by highlighting or inventing facts that are
somewhat closer to the truth.

By 2019, several authors had published articles on Portugal's immunity to the rise of right-wing
populism. However, in the 2021 presidential elections, a right-wing populist party (founded in
2019 and calling itself CHEGA) records a meteoric rise in the favor of Portuguese voters and
manages to place itself third on the electoral list.

This paper proposes a project to answer the following question: Was the use of disinform

ation as a political strategy of right-wing populism in Portugal during the 2022 election
campaign a privileged tool of political marketing?

The article intends to discuss the use of disinformation as a political strategy to generate
empathy and manipulate people's perceptions in order to obtain votes on election day, by
analyzing several electoral debates and campaign speeches of CHEGA party during the political
campaign for the 2022 general elections in Portugal.

Keywords: Populism; Populism in Portugal; Disinformation; Fake News; Far Right; Marketing

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