Hijacking Solidarity. Affective Networking of Far-Right Publics on Twitter
Channel: Centro de Estudos Sociais da Universidade de Coimbra
Date: 2024-02-06

In February 2020, refugees facing violence at the Turkish-Greek border after Erdoğan's EU border opening, sparked #WirhabenPlatz on Twitter in Germany, promoting solidarity. This hashtag was quickly commandeered by far-right groups to spread nativist views. Through network and text analysis, this chapter examines how they became the dominant voice, subverting the hashtag's original pro-refugee message into one of nativism. It also explores their use of Twitter's features for irony and sarcasm, portraying themselves as a marginalized, victimized group in opposition to the mainstream public, highlighting a strategic construction of a counterpublic identity.