Apathy and Alienation: Navigating the Role of Disinformation in Political Participation

Citizens’ willingness to be politically active is among the key aspects in building resilience of democracy in digital era. This willingness to participate is often influenced by people’s consumption of media (Boulianne, 2017) which can increase in frequency especially in crisis times (Ohme, Hameleers, Brosius, & Van der Meer, 2021). However, the rising presence of disinformation, especially in online information environment, can have negative effect not only on citizen’s trust in media, institutional trust, and political preferences, but also on broader perception of democracy (Hameleers, Bronsius & de Vreese, 2022; Humprecht, 2020). This creates a context in which communication contributes to disorder rather than order in society and a need for nuanced insight into experiences of the more vulnerable segments of our citizenry. Drawing on the "Alarmed citizen" concept (Thorbjørnsrud & Figensoau, 2022), a group characterized by vigilance, fear, and low trust in institutions, our focus extends to their information-seeking behavior and motivation to be politically active. We specifically ask: How does the media repertoire of people more vulnerable to disinformation affects their relationship towards the political system? How does it further influence their willingness to be politically active? Our research is set in the specific context of Czech Republic, where citizens are typical for their low levels of both institutional and media trust. Moreover, the disinformation scene and alternative media have been quite active in recent years which has been only heightened by the recent crises (COVID-19 pandemic) (Štetka, Mazák & Vochocová, 2021). In December, we conducted six online focus groups, each comprising of six participants. They were recruited from the Czech adult population, guided by inclusive criteria emphasizing low media (and institutional) trust, openness to alternative media sources and active social media usage. To provide diversity in the discussion, the participants represented a variety of socio-economic backgrounds. Preliminary results show that the participants tend to be overly critical not only towards mainstream media but also towards any information they consume. This cynicism is often embedded in their frustration with the political system, mostly due to the feeling that the media align with politicians’ interests. Many perceived both the politicians and journalists as the same elites, which does not reflect people’s interest. Overall, there is a buildup frustration towards the political situation and apathy when it comes to possible positive change. Described overuse of certain types of political participation, specifically demonstrations, leads to further apathy towards any active citizenship, as even such active forms of participation do not seem to produce any change. In some cases, even the effectiveness of voting was questioned. This resentment further propels their feelings of alienation from the political system, which can lead to either believing alternative sources or leaning into reality apathy. This creates a threat of citizenship, that is not only distrustful, but also politically inactive. Our results further contribute to the understanding of behavior triggered by consumption of disinformation. Additionally, we highlight the crucial need to reactivate citizen’s motivation for participation to further support the resilience of functioning democracy.