On the 16th May 2024, Professor Tina Askanius (WP4 lead) was invited to give a keynote speech at the seminar series, “The Hybridization of Conspiracy Theories, Misinformation, and Extremism on Social Media,” organised by Smidge Project (smidgeproject.eu).
In her keynote address, Tina Askanius delved into how conspiracy narratives and far-right extremism converge around themes such as anti-immigration, anti-feminism, and anti-elitism. Using Sweden as a case study, she introduced the concept of ‘Everyday Extremism’, highlighting the increasing presence of extremist discourse, conspiracy narratives and disinformation in the everyday lives of European citizens. Her talk illustrated how these narratives permeate unconventional spaces like e-commerce, online cooking shows, and wellness cultures, often reconfiguring hate into various forms.
Professor Tina Askanius was also joined by OppAttune PhD researcher Juliette Feuvre and Post-Doc Antonis Dimakis. Their discussion will explore the pervasive nature of extremist narratives in online spaces.
