Political Communication

Deadline: September 15, 2023

Special Issue Editors: Hossein Kermani, University of Vienna, Taberez A. Neyazi, Sophie Lecheler,

Computational propaganda is a global phenomenon prevalent in both democratic and non-democratic nations. Despite receiving considerable academic attention in recent years, our understanding of its operation across various understudied contexts and platforms remains limited. Most existing research primarily focuses on Western democracies as well as influential actors such as China and Russia, with Twitter and Facebook often being the focus of existing literature. This emphasis on Western contexts and a limited number of platforms in the study of computational propaganda results in a significant knowledge gap, particularly regarding theory development, which consequently overlooks the experiences of the Global South. In the burgeoning field of Computational Political Communication (CPC), we have the opportunity to shed light on this pervasive issue from new perspectives. Building upon the previous special issue on Political Communication that explored different aspects of CPC (Theocharis & Jungherr, 2021), we seek to enhance our understanding of the networks, actors, strategies, methods and practices of computational propaganda in understudied contexts and platforms.

This special issue will attempt to redefine the theoretical frameworks and methodological tools deployed in the study of computational propaganda, particularly those capable of uncovering the intricacies of this phenomenon from a global perspective. We aim to advance this line of inquiry by curating a collection of papers that enhance our theoretical, methodological, and empirical understanding of computational propaganda in contemporary societies around the globe.

Theoretically, this symposium aims to investigate how digital techniques, in conjunction with offline manipulative strategies, have been utilized by propagandists to influence public opinion in understudied contexts. This exploration involves examining the complex interplay between identity politics, digital media, and political actors. Also, the symposium seeks to understand how citizens respond to and engage with computational propaganda and analyze its impact on understudied platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, TikTok, and other local social media.

Methodologically, the symposium intends to understand computational propaganda by employing qualitative, quantitative and/or computational methods, thereby providing a comprehensive understanding of how computational propaganda operates in practice in diverse contexts.

Empirically, the symposium aims to shift the focus of political communication scholarship beyond mainstream contexts such as Western democracies and engage with a fresh scholarship from contexts that are currently underexplored, like Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), as well as South and Southeast Asia. Our goal is to uncover the unique nuances and emerging perspectives of computational propaganda in these regions of the Global South, an area often remains on the periphery of such discussions. This involves unpacking innovative strategies that are not unique to these regions but are also being exported to other contexts.

We welcome submissions of around 5,000 to 8,000 words maximum, including tables, figures, notes, and references.

Authors are invited to submit an extended abstract to cppc.symosium@gmail.com via email no later than September 15, 2023. Selected abstracts will be notified by October 15, and expected to submit full papers by April 15, 2024. Full papers must comply with the journal’s submission guidelines and should be no longer than 30 pages, inclusive of abstract, tables, references, and figures. The symposium will include three to five finished articles to be published in 2024.

Extended abstracts should not exceed 1,000 words, excluding references. They should discuss the problem the study aims to address, the key concepts and theories informing the research, and elucidate how the submission brings a novel perspective to the topic of computational propaganda in understudied contexts and platforms. The abstracts must clearly state the research questions and hypotheses, describe the methods and data collection procedures, and provide a summary of expected findings.