2021 Parliamentary Elections in Czechia - The Main Manipulative Narratives on Quasi-Media Websites and Social Networks
Between 26 July 2021 and 11 October 2021, the CTHH created weekly monitoring reports of the main narratives occurring at the so called quasi-media scene concerning the elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The monitoring was aimed at ensuring situational awareness of the spread of disinformation about the elections, including questioning the integrity of the electoral process.
The most significant narrative trends up to the election date:
- The elections will be manipulated
This narrative started to occur during July and August. Alleged manipulation of the elections presented by the quasi-media scene differed during the observed period. Initially, it was a prediction of election manipulation based on COVID-19 restrictions (e.g. here). One of the first narratives to emerge were those alleging manipulation of the election results due to power cuts when the results were being counted. It included a reference to a similar occurrence that had happened during the 2017 parliamentary elections (e.g. here).
Mainstream media and social media platforms were also accused of election manipulation. Namely, Facebook banned one of the candidates – the radical populist figure Lubomír Volný. Czech Television was also targeted, for not inviting several smaller parties (quasi-media scene favourites) to their pre-election debates (e.g. here or here). Another media outlet accused of manipulation was Czech Radio. Other texts generally dealt with the idea that mainstream media in the Czech Republic create an environment of support for particular political parties that suit the interests of "Brussels" or "globalists." (e.g. here and here).
The NGOs and civil society were also culprits when it came to identifying alleged election manipulation. The first case involved an application from the Million Moments for Democracy movement (Milion chvilek pro demokracii) focused on encouraging voters not to vote for populist or extremist parties (e.g. here). The second involved the People in Need for its student's election project that was framed as an attempt to brainwash young people into favouring "Brussels", „green propaganda“ or the Pirate Party, that is extremely unpopular on the scene (e.g. here, here, here, and here). The EU was claimed to have intervened in the elections as well, as the quasi-media scene reacted in large numbers to the statement by EU Commissioner Věra Jourová, which was purposefully manipulatively interpreted to mean indicate that the EC was trying to undermine the sovereignty of the Czech Republic and determine who may and may not be part of the government. This narrative has appeared repeatedly on the quasi-media scene (e.g. here, here and here).
The last pre-election week was influenced by the Pandora Papers revelation. One of the leading figures in the European context of the disclosure was Andrej Babiš, the prime minister and the head of the ANO party. The case was framed as an attempt by the „globalists“ and George Soros to manipulate the election outcome in favour of the centrist Pirates and Mayors coalition (e.g. an article on the Aeronet outlet). The leak was also intended to prevent the formation of a coalition between ANO and Freedom and Direct Democracy (Svoboda a přímá demokracie) – e.g. here. According to some commentators the Security Information Service was also involved in the alleged plot.
During the election itself (8 and 9 October 2021), there was a somewhat weaker trend on the quasi-media scene that drew attention to the alleged manipulation of ballots. On Saturday, 9 October, for example, photographs of allegedly tampered ballot boxes were circulating (e.g. here, here and here).
- Elections are pointless
This is a narrative partly related to the one about manipulated elections – specifically, the message that elections are useless because they won't change anything (e.g. here). In this sense, The Anarchist Federation also expressed its concerns several times.
- The pre-election coalitions are not legitimate
It is a narrative attacking the legitimate possibilities of the electoral process and the candidates' legitimacy that began to emerge over the summer and became more prominent in late September and early October (e.g. here). It was a narrative that was later reiterated by some of the candidates.
- Attacks on candidates
The quasi-media scene has attacked the Pirate Party the most and for a long time, and subsequently the Mayors and the centre-right SPOLU coalition. These were narratives that portrayed both of these coalitions as "enemies" – agents of "Brussels", the Sudeten German Landsmannschaft, globalist politics, supporters of migration, Islamism, "green madness", and the like. The Pirates were portrayed as an extremist party linked to the anarchist organisation ANTIFA. Some of the candidates also participated in disseminating these narratives, which were strongly present on the quasi-media scene.
The most important trends immediately after the announcement of the election results:
- Elections are a fraud
This is a mostly fragmented trend that has spread mainly among the ANO and Andrej Babiš supporters (e.g. here or here) or The Free Block (Volný blok) (e.g. here). Electoral coalitions continued to be considered electoral fraud (e.g. here or here). The quasi-media scene also returned to the amendment of the electoral law following the intervention of the Constitutional Court, explicitly criticizing the possibility of forming electoral coalitions (e.g. here). Contrary to the previously described narrative that the elections were rigged, this was an attack on some of the principles according to which elections are held (e.g. electoral coalitions, the Electoral Act) rather than on the process as such.
- Brussels and the globalists have won, which will lead to a decline of living standards
This narrative reflects the pro-western orientation of the centre-right coalition SPOLU (mainly The Civic Democratic Party (ODS), which gained the most votes) and considers the election winners to be Brussels, George Soros, the globalists etc. Part of this narrative is the assumption that alleged negative phenomenons in the West will apprear in the CR, such as state failure (and the comeback of the “wild” 90s era), rising prices, decline of living standards, diversion from so-called traditional values and the onset of " green madness". In some cases, there are warnings of the onset of multiculturalist propaganda, "genderism", veganism, promotion of same-sex relationships, influx of refugees, a shift towards neo marxism and strengthening of anti-covid measures („covid fascism“) (e.g. here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here).
- The election result was influenced by foreign interference
The Russian state website Sputnik published a commentary by Elena Panina, member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, claiming that the election result (defeat of the ANO party) was caused by foreign interference and "Russophobic games". The alleged interference is the Pandora Papers case. The Pandora Papers affair is also assessed as interference by Aeronet.
CTHH Assessment:
All of the narratives that have emerged in the context of the parliamentary elections are, in a sense, linked to long-standing trends in the production of quasi-media websites and social networks – the systematic building of distrust in the state and the elites, distrust and resentment towards the EU, attacks on mainstream media and NGOs, etc. In the case of attacks on selected candidates, they were about scaremongering about the harmful effects of illegal migration and migrants, which is also a topic that has long been present on the quasi-media scene. Questioning elections as useless then represents a narrative attacking trust in one of the fundamental mechanisms of democraticy, which corresponds with an analysis formerly presented by the CTHH.
Based on the pre-election production of the quasi-media scene it seemed very likely that, in case of failure of nationalist-populist parties (typically the Free Block, Freedom and Direct Democracy, partially the Tricolour and other smaller parties) that were heavily supported by the scene, there might be a build-up of the "rigged election" narrative, similar to the one observed after the U.S. presidential elections. During the counting of election results, this kind of activity declined and concentrated on finding a scapegoat within the scene or predicting the grim future under the governance of the centre-right coalition government. The emphasis was put on an assumed "governance of Brussels", "covid dictatorship", and the overall decline of living standards due to the election. The narrative built around the rigged election has circulated among the supporters of the Free Block and as well as Andrej Babiš's supporters, but it was mostly fragmented.