Populist Right Parties on TikTok: Spectacularization, Personalization, and Hate Speech

Populist parties use social media as a fundamental element of their online communication strategies. This article aims to identify the strategies of right-wing populist parties and politicians on TikTok by measuring a set of features of their videos: It evaluates the presence of hate speech in these messages and the identification of certain groups as enemies of the people, and also pays special attention to the differences in engagement according to the presence of hate speech and entertaining or humoristic features. We apply a content analysis to a transnational sample (N = 293) of videos posted by the following populist right-wing parties and politicians on TikTok: Vox and Santiago Abascal (Spain), Jose Antonio Kast (Chile), and the UK Independence Party (UK). Findings show that while Vox and UKIP use TikTok to convey their ideology and values and to target the state as the main enemy of the common person, Kast used the same platform to build and project his image of leadership and to broadcast humoristic and entertaining content. Only 19% of the analyzed videos included hate speech elements. Not only was hate speech uncommon; it deterred engagement in terms of the number of comments as well. Contrarily, humour and entertainment favoured engagement. We conclude that TikTok might downplay the most controversial issues of the populist right.

Automated summary

This article examines the strategies used by right-wing populist parties and politicians on TikTok, focusing on the presence of hate speech and entertaining features in their videos. The study finds that Vox and UKIP use TikTok to convey their ideology and target the state as the enemy, while Kast utilizes the platform to build his leadership image and share humorous content. Only 19% of the analyzed videos include hate speech, which not only is uncommon but also deters user engagement. In contrast, humor and entertainment enhance user engagement. The study suggests that TikTok may downplay the most controversial issues of right-wing populism.