The emotional logic of populist communication: a systematic review This article systematically reviews recent empirical research on the role of emotions in populist politics. Following PRISMA guidelines, we review 51 peer-reviewed studies published between 2017 an...

The emotional logic of populist communication: a systematic review www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

📢 ECPS Commentary

⚡️How Communication Style Shapes Political Trust More Than Populist Content in Domestic and International Politics

✍️ By Ihsan Yilmaz, Ana-Maria Bliuc, Tetsuro Kobayashi & John Betts

📕 Read the commentary: 🔗 www.populismstudies.org/how-communic...

How Meta’s victim-blaming failed to sway jurors in landmark social media addiction trial Aggressive strategy and loss in the trial highlight a problem for tech firms: a widespread distrust of social media companies

How Meta’s victim-blaming failed to sway jurors in landmark social media addiction trial

@ihsanylmz.bsky.social et al. haben ein systematisches Review der Forschung zu digitalem Populismus bzw. dem Einfluss von Social Media auf den gegenwärtigem Populismus veröffentlicht und identifizieren darin Forschungslücken:
doi.org/10.1177/1461...

The State as Edgelord TRT's revenge fantasy and the audience that didn't show up

Turkish state TV just aired a scene where an Ottoman prince slaughters Jewish merchants on screen while the Khaybar chant plays in the background. This is new territory — even for TRT. I wrote about what it means, and why almost nobody in Turkey noticed or cared.

HS Kirkkonummella | HS seurasi, kun kaapelirikosta epäilty Fitburg saapui satamaan aseistautuneiden viranomaisten valvonnassa Suomen ja Viron välillä kulkevassa Elisan tietoliikennekaapelissa havaittiin kello 4.53 häiriö. Alkoi viranomaisten suuroperaatio. HS oli paikalla, kun alus lipui noin kello 17 satamaan Kirkkonummella...

Finnish border guard boarded a Turkish-owned vessel suspected of breaking yet another comms cable in the Gulf of Finland. About time, Turkey takes Russian aggression against Nato allies seriously
www.hs.fi/suomi/art-20...

One of my most un-Bluesky opinions (and I have lots!) is that, despite the evil ownership structure, awful environmental/human costs, etc. etc. etc., I'm finding AI increasingly useful in my everyday life and work, in too many ways to describe, and keep hearing the same thing from ordinary people.

To be confronted with this horrific act of antisemitic violence during the Jewish festival of light and hope is shattering. In moments like this, we hold each other close.

We should all be able to gather with our communities, practice our culture, and worship in safety. 3/4

Horrific, disgusting, inexcusable, antisemitic

The Persistence of Informational Manipulation and the Appropriation of This chapter introduces the concepts of conspiratorial publics and conspiratorial canon within the context of Strategic Digital Information Operations (SDIOs)

Super happy that my friends @katemfitzgerald.bsky.social, @timothyjgraham.bsky.social and I have just published a chapter about conspiracy theories, their formation and persistence on digital platforms. Edited by @ihsanylmz.bsky.social & Shahram Akbarzadeh

www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-...

📢 ECPS Commentary

🧭 Why Europe, Not China or Russia, Is the Civilisational Problem in Trump’s NSS

✍️ By Nicholas Morieson

🔖 Why does Trump’s NSS characterise Europe—rather than America’s great-power rivals—as the real civilisational crisis zone?

📖 Read: 📎 www.populismstudies.org/why-europe-n...

The threat of sabotage from China is growing That’s not an excuse to erode Australians’ freedoms.

OPINION: "Warnings last week from ASIO about sabotage threats marked an important shift in tone," write Deakin University's @ihsanylmz.bsky.social & Nicholas Morieson.

"And they raise important questions about how the Australian government should respond."

Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2025...

The threat of sabotage from China is growing. That’s not an excuse to erode Australians’ freedoms There’s a risk of a slide towards digital authoritarianism as Australia responds to these growing threats.

theconversation.com/the-threat-o...

Opinion | The Rise of Social Media and the Fall of Western Democracy

The Rise of Social Media and the Fall of Western Democracy www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/o...

The six copies of the book titled “Hybrid Transnationalism and Repression: Turkey’s Diaspora Under Authoritarian Islamist Siege”, which I co-authored with my dear friend @ihsanylmz.bsky.social , have just arrived from the publisher.

It Begins With a Joke. Comics in the World’s Largest Democracy Know Where It Ends.

It Begins With a Joke. Comics in the World’s Largest Democracy Know Where It Ends. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/w...

Manchester synagogue attack latest: suspect shot after four people injured in vehicle and stabbing attack, police say Keir Starmer will fly home early from Europe to chair a Cobra meeting, while Greater Manchester mayor tells people to avoid the area

Horrible news to wake up to. My heart goes out to everyone affected. 💔

Where now for Britain’s Universities? UK higher education now faces a very bleak future, retreating in the face of little public sympathy and limited political interest.

An absolutely depressing read on the state of higher education in the UK… solidarity with my colleagues.

This is US cooperation in transnational repression www.rferl.org/a/iran-us-de...

The week in Trump absurdities: from Turkey’s ‘rigged elections’ to ‘your countries are going to hell’ The president, in five days, has claimed Tylenol causes autism, he was sabotaged at the UN and pronounced his rivals ‘guilty as hell’

The week in Trump absurdities: from Turkey’s ‘rigged elections’ to ‘your countries are going to hell’

America’s accelerating exit from itself After the Kirk murder, Trump is pulverising the country’s founding principles with astonishing ease

'It has been widely observed that the speed of America’s democratic slide surpasses that of other “elective autocracies” such as Narendra Modi’s India and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Turkey. But that understates Trump’s impatience.'

I'd describe the new push to recognize Palestine as "mostly harmless"...

were it not for the fact that these efforts are mostly a fig leaf for not taking more aggressive action to stop what virtually every international human rights organization now describes as a genocide.

Britain, Australia and Canada Recognize a Palestinian State The announcements came on the eve of the annual gathering of the U.N. General Assembly.

Breaking News: Britain, Canada and Australia formally recognized Palestinian statehood.

Quote graphic featuring the following quote from Prime Minister Carney’s statement on Canada’s recognition of Palestine: “Canada recognises the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel.”

Today, Canada recognises the State of Palestine.
 
My statement: www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/stat...

The road to authoritarianism - total information control.

bsky.app/profile/scot...

'Rotten' Australian university culture lashed in long-running senate inquiry Australia's universities are blighted by a "culture of consequence-free, rotten failure", a senate inquiry has found.

Australia's universities are blighted by a "culture of consequence-free, rotten failure", according to the former chair of a senate inquiry examining governance at public universities. ... "There's no other sector in the country where failure is rewarded so handsomely and with so little scrutiny."

After the far-right mass rally in London, Britain must learn lessons from abroad – and fast | Cas Mudde This is no time for complacent exceptionalism. The UK is part of the fourth phase of the far right in the postwar era, and its politicians must respond, says political scientist Cas Mudde

I wrote for @theguardian.com about the “Unite the Kingdom” rally.

High time to pull head out of the sand and learn from other countries — if only on what NOT to do!

Trump's emotional targeting of comedy figures is so telling. Hypermasculine strongmen DESPISE being made fun of.

Again, look to Turkey. Experts literally testified on whether comparing Erdoğan to Gollum was an insult. A guy sharing a meme was jailed.

And then there's the satire magazine closures.

Erdogan’s Irredentism Just Can’t Keep Up As international norms crumble, Turkey’s revisionist policies appear less provocative in comparison.

My latest from @foreignpolicy.com

"Just recently, Turkey stood out for its repeated assaults on international norms. Now, those norms have been shattered by a host of bigger and more aggressive actors, and Turkey looks almost calm in comparison.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/17/t...

Opinion | What Democrats Can Learn From Charlie Kirk

What Democrats Can Learn From Charlie Kirk www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/o...