Abstract
In the last two decades, right-wing nationalist parties have been on the rise in several European countries. Depicting immigration as the problem of the country, political actors have instrumentalised social media to foment and legitimise panic amongst citizens – working similarly to the ‘tools of moral regulation’ (i.e. legacy media) in Cohen’s moral panic theory (chapter 1). By creating such a panic, political leaders have eroded the social fabric, undermining citizens’ trust in immigrants, and ultimately promoting hostility and prejudicial attitudes towards non-White foreigners (chapter 2).
This thesis focuses on Italy and the anti-immigrant European politician par excellence, Matteo Salvini (chapter 3). This research explores the concept of a social panic, its characteristics, and its consequences in the context of immigration. Through a mixed-methods project rooted in a pragmatist worldview (chapter 4), this thesis investigates how anti-immigrant social panic can be generated online by political actors to influence public attitudes towards immigration.
The first paper (chapter 5) challenges the traditional moral panic theory. By using the Intergroup Trust Model, we show a core limitation of the theory: some panics are no longer moral. In the past, morally deviant groups were the object of media-constructed panics; yet, in contemporary multimedia societies, a politician can exploit social platforms to portray immigrants as a greater threat to the personal safety of the ingroup rather than to the society’s morality.
The second paper (chapter 6) examines the key characteristics of the ‘thin narrative’ employed by Salvini to fuel anti-immigrant social panic online. It shows how foreigners are negatively portrayed as a threat (monster) to the public (victims); at the same time, a small group of brave individuals (heroes) ‘emerges’ to protect society and propose punitive measures against the perceived threat.
The quantitative chapter (chapter 7) presents two studies consisting of a survey and an experiment, which together support a link between anti- immigrant political discourse online and citizens’ anti-immigrant views. Building upon previous studies conducted in Italy on the exposure of negative media portrayals of immigrants, the survey proposes intergroup trust as a fundamental mediator of the impact of social media propaganda on individuals’ attitudes (examining cognitive, affective, and behavioural outcomes).
Investigating possible ways to de-escalate social tensions, the experiment investigates beneficial effects in shifts of political communication, highlighting the potential of political bias to offset prejudicial views.
Taken together, my studies expand upon moral panic theory to develop the concept of social panic and discuss its societal consequences (chapter 8).