State disinformation: emotions at the service of the cause
Main Article Content
Abstract
Disinformation is not only a phenomenon of modern democratic societies, but also a tool at the service of states. In the current communication ecosystem, politics and society interrelate in the face of a phenomenon characterised by multiple information channels and sources in which emotions now play a central role. In international relations, the expression of a state’s political will through charisma and populism are the chief aspects detected in the analysis of emotions in political science. This has led to the construction of a narrative based on security threats and the friend-enemy distinction, among other things. On the basis of an exhaustive literature review, this study offers an overview of the political and social factors underlying the use of emotions in disinformation as regards four aspects: politics, economy, diplomacy and security. Likewise, it identifies the main defining traits and behaviours of domestic and international audiences. The analysis and verification of the research question contribute to elaborate an international theory of emotionally driven disinformation which has begun to play a leading role in both academia and politics.
Keywords
References
Adler, E. & Drieschova, A. (2021). The Epistemological Challenge of Truth Subversion to the Liberal International Order. International Organization, 75, 359-386.
Aggestam, L. & Johansson, M. (2017). The leadership paradox in EU foreign policy. Journal of Common Market Studies, 55(6), 1203-1220.
Amado, A. (2019). As metáforas do jornalismo: Identidades implícitas para uma profissão mutante. Lumina, 13(2), 11-23. https://www.doi.org/10.34019/1981-4070.2019.v13.27737
Ambrosio, T. (2010). Constructing a framework of authoritarian diffusion: Concepts, dynamics, and future research. International Studies Perspectives, 11(4), 375-392.
Arias-Maldonado, M. (2016). La democracia sentimental. Barcelona: Página Indómita.
Arias-Maldonado, M. (2020). A Genealogy for Post-Truth Democracies: Philosophy, Affects, Technology. Communication & Society, 33(2), 65-78.
Bakir, V. & McStay, A. (2018). Fake News and The Economy of Emotions: Problems, causes, solutions. Digital Journalism, 6(2), 154-175. https://www.doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2017.1345645
Baldwin-Philippi, J. (2019). The technological performance of populism. New Media & Society, 21(2), 376-397. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/1461444818797591
Bakalov, I. (2019). Whiter soft power divisions, milestones, and prospects of a research program in the making. Journal of Political Power, 12, 129-151.
Bakshy, E., Messing, S. & Adamic, L. A. (2015). Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook. Science, 348(6239), 1130-1132. https://www.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa1160
Blazacq, T., Léonard, S. & Ruzicka, J. (2016). Securitization’ Revisited: Theory and Cases, International Relations, 30(4), 494-531.
Beckett, C. & Deuze, M. (2016). On the Role of Emotion in the Future of Journalism. Social Media + Society, 2(3), 1-7. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/2056305116662395
Bennett, W. L. & Livingston, S. (2018). The disinformation order: Disruptive communication and the decline of democratic institutions. European Journal of Communication, 33(2), 122-139. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0267323118760317
Benkler, Y., Faris, R. & Roberts, H (2018). Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics. New York: Oxford University Press.
Berger, J. (2020). How to Persuade People to Change Their Behavior. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, April 20, 1. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2020/04/how-to-persuade-people-to-change-their-behavior
Bericat, E. (2000). La sociología de la emoción y la emoción en la sociología. Papers, 62, 145-176.
Bericat, E. (2016). The sociology of emotions: Four decades of progress. Current Sociology, 64(3), 491-513. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0011392115588355
Blecua, R. & Feijoó, C. (2020). El nuevo “Gran Juego”: implicaciones de un acuerdo de asociación estratégica entre China e Irán. Real Instituto Elcano, ARI 102/2020.
Bradshaw, S. & Howard, P. N. (2018). The global organization of social media disinformation campaigns. Journal of International Affairs, 71(1.5), 23-32. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/26508115
Buzan, B., Waever, O. & de Wilde, J. (1997). Security: a new framework for analysis. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
Canovan, M. (1999). Trust the People! Populism and the Two Faces of Democracy. Political Studies, 47(1), 2-16. https://www.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9248.00184
Carlson, M. (2017). Facebook in the news: social media, journalism, and public responsibility following the 2016 Trending Topics controversy. Digital Journalism, 6, 4-20.
Chadwick, A. (2017). The Hybrid Media System: Politics and Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chesney, R. & Citron, D. (2019). Deepfakes and the New Disinformation War. The Coming Age of Post-Truth Geopolitics. Foreign Affairs, 98(1), 147-155.
Coicaud, J. M. (2016). The question of emotions and passions in mainstream international relations, and beyond. In Y. Ariffin, J. M. Coicaud & V. Popovski (Eds.), Emotions in International Politics (pp. 23-47). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://www.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316286838.003
Cormac, R. & Aldrich, R. J. (2018). Grey is the new black: covert action and implausible deniability. International Affairs, 94(3), 477-494. https://www.doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiy067
Crilley, R. (2018). International relations in the age of “post-truth” politics. Int. Affairs, 94, 417-425. https://www.doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiy038
Crilley, R. & Gillespie, M. (2019). What to do about social media? Politics, populism and journalism. Journalism, 20(1), 173-176. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/1464884918807344
Cull, N. J. (2019). Public diplomacy: Foundations for global engagement in the digital age. Cambridge: Polity.
Damasio, A. (2006). Descartes’ Error (Kindle). New York: Vintage Books.
Damasio, A. (2018). El extraño orden de las cosas: La vida, los sentimientos y la creación de las culturas. Barcelona: Destino.
Deibert, R. J. (2019). The Road to Digital Unfreedom: Three Painful Truths About Social Media. Journal of Democracy, 30(1), 25-39.
Del-Fresno-García, M. (2019). Desórdenes informativos: sobreexpuestos e infrainformados en la era de la posverdad, El profesional de la información, 28(3), e280302. https://www.doi.org/10.3145/epi.2019.may.02
Del-Fresno-García, M. & Manfredi-Sánchez, J. L. (2018). Politics, hackers and partisan networking. Misinformation, national utility and free election in the Catalan independence movement. El profesional de la información, 27(6), 1225-1238. https://www.doi.org/10.3145/epi.2018.nov.06
Deuze, M. & Witschge, T. (2018). Beyond journalism: Theorizing the transformation of journalism. Journalism, 19(2), 165-181. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/1464884916688550
Elswah, M. & Howard, P. N. (2020). Anything that Causes Chaos: The Organizational Behavior of Russia Today (RT). Journal of Communication, 70(5), 623-645. https://www.doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqaa027
Faris, R., Roberts, H., Etling, B., Bourassa, N., Zuckerman, E. & Benkler, Y. (2017). Partisanship, propaganda, and disinformation: Online media and the 2016 US presidential election. Berkman Klein Center Research Publication, 6.
Freedom House (2017). Freedom on the Net 2017. Manipulating Social media to Undermine Democracy. Retrieved from https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/freedom-net-2017
Finnemore, M. & Hollis, D. B. (2016). Constructing norms for global cybersecurity, American Journal of International Law, 110(3), 425-279.
Flonk, D. (2021), Emerging illiberal norms: Russia and China as promoters of internet content control, International Affairs, 97(6), 1925-1944. https://www.doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiab146
Garrett, R. K. & Weeks, B. E. (2017). Epistemic beliefs’ role in promoting misperceptions and conspiracist ideation. PLoS ONE, 12(9), 1-17. https://www.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184733
Gerbaudo, P. (2018). Social media and populism: an elective affinity? Media, Culture & Society, 40(5), 745-753. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0163443718772192
Gerrits, A. W. M. (2018). Disinformation in International Relations: How Important Is It? Security and Human Rights, 29, 3-23.
Graham, S. E. (2014). Emotion and Public Diplomacy: Dispositions in International Communications, Dialogue, and Persuasion. International Studies Review, 16(4), 522-539. https://www.doi.org/10.1111/misr.12156
Guriev, S. & Treisman, D. (2020). Informational Autocrats. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 33(4), 100-127. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3208523
Habermas, J. (1990). Historia y crítica de la opinión pública. 4th Ed. Irun: Gustavo Gili.
Hahl, O., Kim, M. & Zuckerman Sivan, E. W. (2018). The Authentic Appeal of the Lying Demagogue: Proclaiming the Deeper Truth about Political Illegitimacy. American Sociological Review, 83(1), 1-33. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0003122417749632
Harcup, T. & O’Neill, D. (2017) What is News? Journalism Studies, 18(12), 1470-1488. https://www.doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2016.1150193
Heerdt, W. (2020). Russian hard power projection: A brief synopsis. CSIS. Retrieved from https://www.csis.org/blogs/post-soviet-post/russian-hard-power-projection-brief-synopsis
Hoffman, S. (2019). Engineering Global Consent: The Chinese Communist Party’s data-driven power expansion. ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre, Policy Brief, Report 21/2019.
Innerarity, D. & Colomina, C. (2020). Introducción: desinformación y poder, la crisis de los intermediarios. Revista CIDOB d´Affers Internacionals, 124, 7-10.
Iyengar, S., Lelkes, Y., Levendusky, M., Malhotra, N. & Westwood, S. J. (2019). The origins and consequences of affective polarization in the United States. Annual Review of Political Science, 22, 129-146. https://www.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051117-073034
Jowett, G. S. & O’Donnell, V. (2012). Propaganda and Persuasion. London: Sage.
Kirk, J. & McDonald, M. (2021) The Politics of Exceptionalism: Securitization and COVID-19. Global Studies Quarterly, 1(3), 1-12. https://www.doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksab024
Kneuer, M. & Demmelhuber, T. (2016). Gravity centres of authoritarian rule: a conceptual approach. Democratization, 23(5), 775-796.
Krebs, R. R. & Jackson, P. T. (2007). Twisting Tongues and Twisting Arms: The Power of Political Rhetoric. European Journal of International Relations, 13(1), 35-66. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/1354066107074284
La Cour, C. (2020). Theorising digital disinformation in international relations. Int Polit, 57, 704-723. https://www.doi.org/10.1057/s41311-020-00215-x
Lakoff, G. (2004). Don’t think of an elephant: Progressive values and the framing wars –a progressive guide to action. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing.
Lakoff, G. (2016, July 23). Understanding Trump. Retrieved from https://georgelakoff.com/2016/07/23/understanding-trump-2/
Lanoszka, A. (2019). Disinformation in international politics. European Journal of International Security, 4, 227-248.
Layous, K. & Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). The How, Why, What, When, and Who of Happiness. In J. Gruber & J. T. Moskowitz (Eds.), Positive Emotion. Integrating the dark sides and the light sides. (pp. 472-495). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199926725.003.0025
Lippmann, W. (1925). El público fantasma. Trans. César García Muñoz (Ed.). Ed. 2011. Madrid: Genueve.
Lutscher, P. M., Weidmann, N. B., Roberts, M. E., Jonker, M., King, A. & Dainotti, A. (2020). At home and abroad: The use of denial-of-service attacks during elections in nondemocratic regimes. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 64(2-3), 373-401.
Malo, P. (2021). Los peligros de la moralidad: Por qué la moral es una amenaza para las sociedades del Siglo XXI. Bilbao: Deusto.
Manfredi, J. L. & Ufarte, M. J. (2020). Inteligencia artificial y periodismo: una herramienta contra la desinformación. Revista CIDOB d’Affers Internacionals, 124, 49-72. https://www.doi.org/10.24241/rcai.2020.124.1.49
Mattern, J. B. (2005). Why “Soft Power” Isn’t So Soft: Representational Force and the Sociolinguistic Construction of Attraction in World Politics. Millennium, 33(3), 583-612. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/03058298050330031601
McIntyre, L. (2018). Post-Truth. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
McChesney, R. (2013). Aquello que fue ahora, y esto es entonces: Walter Lipmann y la crisis del periodismo. CIC Cuadernos de Información y Comunicación, 18(0), 39-49. https://www.doi.org/10.5209/rev_ciyc.2013.v18.41713
Mele, N. (2019, July 10). Necesitamos algoritmos que privilegien la calidad. Agenda Pública, El País. Retrieved from http://agendapublica.elpais.com/necesitamos-algoritmos-que-privilegien-la-calidad/
Mellado, C. (2020). Beyond Journalistic Norms Role Performance and News in Comparative Perspective. New York: Routledge.
Mercer, J. (2010). Emotional Beliefs. International Organization, 64(1), 1-31.
Mercier, H. (2017). How Gullible are We? A Review of the Evidence from Psychology and Social Science. Review of General Psychology, 21(2), 103-122. https://www.doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000111
Nisbet, E. C. & Kamenchuk, O. (2019). The Psychology of State-Sponsored Disinformation Campaigns and Implications for Public Diplomacy. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 14, 65-82. https://www.doi.org/10.1163/1871191X-11411019
Nye, J. S. (2014). Transformational and transactional presidents. Leadership, 10(1), 118-124.
Nye, J. S. (2021). Soft power: the evolution of a concept. Journal of Political Power, 14(1), 196-208. https://www.doi.org/10.1080/2158379X.2021.1879572
O’Connor, C. & Weatherall, J. O. (2019). The misinformation age: How false beliefs spread. Newhaven, CT: Yale University Press.
Papacharissi, Z. (2015). Affective publics and structures of storytelling: sentiment, events and mediality. Information, Communication & Society, 19(3), 307-324. https://www.doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2015.1109697
Petersen, M. B. (2020). The evolutionary psychology of mass mobilization: how disinformation and demagogues coordinate rather than manipulate. Current opinion in psychology, 35, 71-75. https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.02.003
Price, M. (2015). Free Expression, Globalism and the New Strategic Communication. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Pomerantsev, P. (2019). This is not propaganda: Adventures in the war against reality. New York: Public Affairs.
Rojecki, A. & Meraz, S. (2016). Rumors and factitious informational blends: The role of the web in speculative politics. New Media & Society, 18(1), 25-43. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/1461444814535724
Russia Report (2020). Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament. House of Commons.
Sandvoss, C. (2013). Toward an understanding of political enthusiasm as media fandom: Blogging, fan productivity and affect in American politics. Participations, 10(1), 252-296. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/1369148117701754
Sasley, B. E. (2011). Theorizing States’ Emotions. International Studies Review, 13(3), 452-476.
Schudson, M. (2018). Why journalism still matters. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Seib, P. (2021). Information at war: Journalism, Disinformation and Modern Warfare. Oxford, UK: Polity Press.
Shen, H (2018) Building a digital silk road? Situating the internet in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. International Journal of Communication, 12, 2683-2701.
Singer, J. B. (2014). User-generated visibility: secondary gatekeeping in a shared media space. New Media & Society, 16(1), 55-73.
Solomon, T. (2014). The Affective Underpinnings of Soft Power. European Journal of International Relations, 20(3), 720-741.
Stroud, N. J., Thorson, E. & Young, D. (2017). Making sense of information and judging its credibility. In First Draft, Understanding and Addressing the Disinformation Ecosystem, 45-50.
Tandoc Jr., E. C., Lim, Z. W. & Ling, R. (2018). Defining “fake news”: A typology of scholarly definitions. Digital journalism, 6(2), 137-153.
Tucker, J. A., Guess, A., Barbera, P., Vaccari, C. Siegel, A., Sanovich, S., Stukal, D. & Nyhan, B. (2018). Social Media, Political Polarization, and Political Disinformation: A Review of the Scientific Literature. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://www.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3144139
Ünver, H. A. (2017). Computational Diplomacy: Foreign Policy Communication in the Age of Algorithms and Automation. EDAM Research Reports, Cyber Governance and Digital Democracy 2017/3. Retrieved from https://ssrn.com/abstract=3331640
Van Herpen, M. H. (2016). Putin’s propaganda machine: soft power and Russian foreign policy. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Waisbord, S. (2013). Vox populista. Medios, periodismo, democracia. Barcelona: Gedisa.
Waisbord, S. (2019). Communication. A Post Discipline. Cambridge, UK/Malden, MA: Polity Press.
Wajner, D. F. (2021). Exploring the foreign policies of populist governments: (Latin) America First. Journal of International Relations and Development, 1-30.
Wardle, C. & Derakhshan, H (2017). Information Disorder: Toward an Interdisciplinary Framework for Research and Policy Making. Informe al Consejo de Europa. Retrieved from https://shorensteincenter.org/information-disorder-framework-for-research-and-policymaking
Wawrzonek, M. (2014). Ukraine in the “Gray Zone”: Between the “Russkiy Mir” and Europe. East European Politics and Societies and Cultures, 28(4), 758-780.
Webster, F. (2014). Theories of the Information Society. London/New York: Routledge.
Weeks, B. E. (2015). Emotions, partisanship, and misperceptions: How anger and anxiety moderate the effect of partisan bias on susceptibility to political misinformation. Journal of communication, 65(4), 699-719, https://www.doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12164
Wivel, A. & Grøn, C. H. (2021). Charismatic Leadership in Foreign Policy. International Affairs, 92(2), 365-383. https://www.doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiaa223
Details
Article Details
RIGHTS TRANSFER
By submitting the article for evaluation and subsequent publication in Communication & Society, the AUTHOR exclusively assigns the rights of public communication, reproduction, distribution and sale for commercial exploitation to the University of Navarra through its Publications Service, for the maximum legal term in force -the entire life of the author and seventy years after his death or declaration of death-, in any country, and in any of the current and future edition modalities, both in print and electronic versions.
In the event that the article is not accepted for publication , this transfer of rights lapses with the communication of the refusal to the AUTHOR.
The AUTHOR affirms that the article is unpublished, that it has not been sent simultaneously to another publication medium and that the rights have not been transferred exclusively previously. He is responsible to the University of Navarra through its Publications Service for the authorship and originality of his work, as well as for all pecuniary charges that may arise for the University of Navarra through its Publications Service, in favor of third parties due to actions, claims or conflicts arising from the breach of obligations by the AUTHOR.