The next speaker at the Weizenbaum Conference is Regina Cazzamatta, whose focus is on the disruption of public spheres in Europe and Latin America by regressive ‘alternative’ media. ‘Alternative’ here is a problematic term, as some outlets are alternative in a progressive sense, trying to provide a platform for marginalised voices, while others are much more regressive and illiberal in ideology and spread mis- and disinformation. Here, the focus is on the latter category of outlets.
How do such regressive outlets justify their institutional roles, then? The project focussed on some 65 such sites that had been identified by fact-checkers as sources of problematic information; the fact that fact-checkers had identified them also means that these sites have had some degree of impact. Such sites were predominantly located in the US, Germany, Spain, and the UK, if they had impact in Europe; the situation in Latin America is less clear.
Such sites provide several main narratives motivating their activities: they declare clear exclusionary beliefs, seeking to regress to a less inclusive society based on tradition, religion, radical neoliberalism, freedom of expression, and/or patriotism and national identity; they challenge the legitimacy of mainstream media and claim to uncover some hidden truths; and they advocate for freedom of expression only for select dominant groups in society, not for everyone. They have a substantial presence across various social media platforms, and often greater audiences than the fact-checkers themselves.
