Policy Study

09/12/2020

Fighting disinformation on migration with alternative narratives

Rather than trying to counter disinformation stories about migrants directly, communication professionals and policymakers must instead promote alternative narratives that undermine the appeal of messages that incite fear and rage, and reframe the debate on migration entirely.

This is the conclusion of a collaborative research project between FEPS, European Policy Centre (EPC), Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and Fundación Pablo Iglesias. Its aim was to identify and analyse misleading and hostile narratives on migration in Europe and formulate concrete recommendations on how to tackle them. The authors examined nearly 1,500 news articles from four EU member states (Germany, Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic), published between May 2019 and July 2020.

Based on their research, the authors argue that disinformation narratives about migration seek to exploit readers’ fears to polarise public opinion, manufacture discontent, sow divisions and set the political agenda. They tend to adapt and change alongside the public’s main concerns. The COVID-19 pandemic, for example, has led to a growing stream of articles linking migrants to infection risks and accusing them of receiving preferential treatment.

Disinformation narratives are so successful because disinformation actors link migration to existing insecurities, depicting it as a threat to three partly-overlapping areas: health (migrants as violent criminals, terrorists or carriers of disease), wealth (migrants as social benefits cheats or unfair competition for jobs) and identity (migrants as a hostile invasion force, threatening to replace white, Christian Europeans and their traditions).

Any communication strategy seeking to undermine disinformation on migration effectively should therefore be based on alternative narratives that take into account the following recommendations:

  • The message should aim to reframe the debate. It should resonate with the target audience’s lived experience, acknowledging their values and concerns, but avoid amplifying anxieties. Messages promoting alternative narratives must be timely and reflect the news cycle. Like a vaccine administered at regular intervals, communicators should repeat simple, specific messages that can prompt the best immune response against hostile frames spread by disinformation.
  • The medium should aim to restore trust among groups. Institutions, which are often subject to discrediting campaigns, should prioritise communication through trusted intermediaries who can get messages to the hard-to-reach. They should work in partnership with civil society and local actors to deliver coordinated messages in the right environments. They should seek to reach people ‘where they are’ using the most appropriate communication channel, taking into consideration where their audience consumes information.
  • The selection of the audience should aim to reclaim readers from the fringes. Audiences should be targeted based on their values and what they feel is important. Communicators must find an ‘entry point’ where the messenger and audience share common ground.

These narrative strategies must also be backed up by policy changes. Effective policies combined with alternative narratives will go a long way towards resolving the concerns that drive disinformation on migration. A more balanced debate will, in turn, facilitate the adoption of meaningful reforms in line with EU fundamental values and human rights, thus creating a mutually reinforcing cycle of alternative narratives and policymaking.

This Policy Study is part of the Disinformation on migration series conducted in cooperation with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and European Policy Centre (EPC) to help make sense of the disinformation trends relating to refugees. This series also includes:

Network
European Policy Centre (EPC)
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
Fundación Pablo Iglesias
Related publications
09/12/2022

Disinformation on refugees from Ukraine

Disinformation on migration series
29/11/2021

From debunking to prebunking

Disinformation on migration series
Find all related publications
Publications
29/02/2024

The European political community

Informality as a key to success
28/02/2024

Progressive ideas to make international trade successful for all

24/01/2024

Progressive Yearbook 2024

Looking back to look ahead
22/12/2023

Designing labour migration policies that work for the EU and African countries

Progressive Migration Group series
Find all related Progressive Post
Progressive Post
22/02/2024

Ukrainian democracy vs. the Russian war: how to increase resilience

22/02/2024

European integration in wartime: the EU’s imperative to preserve and rejuvenate Ukraine’s democracy

22/02/2024

War economy: how economic policy can help Ukraine win the war

Find all related events
Events
Past
22/03/2024
Brussels, Belgium

Towards a global pact for a better future for people and the planet

Navigating through the poly-crisis
04 - 06/03/2024
Abuja, Nigeria

The Africa we want and the United Nations we need

Africa Summit of the Future Dialogue
27/02/2024
Online

Preparing Ukraine’s economy for a war of attrition

Beyond the battlefield
Find all related news
News
18/03/2024

FEPS President on Euronews talk-show ‘Brussels, my love?’

NATO extension, Portuguese elections, far-right and gender equality were the topics of the debate
04/03/2024

FEPS at the ‘Africa Summit of the Future Dialogue’ in Abuja, Nigeria

23/02/2024

FEPS mission to Brazil

15/12/2023

FEPS President mission to China

Maria Joao Rodrigues participates in the ‘2023 Understanding China Conference’
Find all related in the media
In the media

FEPS President on Euronews talk-show ‘Brussels, my love?’

by Euronews 16/03/2024
FEPS President Maria João Rodrigues discusses NATO expansions and elections in Russia and Portugal on Euronews talk-show ‘Brussels, my love?‘

What are Hungary’s conditions for lifting its Ukraine Facility veto?

by Euractiv 12/01/2024
In this episode, Evi Kiorri asks Andriy Korniychuk, policy analyst and expert on Ukraine matters at the Foundation for European Progressive Studies: what are Viktor Orbán's conditions, and why is Hungary considering changing its position?

Une réforme de l’UE qui intéressera forcément les Suisses

by Le Temps 24/11/2023
'EU reform bound to be of interest to the Swiss', an opinion piece in Le Temps on EU Treaties changes by Maria João Rodrigues, FEPS President, Guillaume Klossa, Director of think tank EuropaNova and Daniela Schwarzer, Executive board member Bertelsmann Stiftung

« Le moment est venu de lancer un débat sur la réforme de l’Union européenne »

by Le Monde 22/11/2023
'The time has come to launch a debate on the reform of the European Union', an opinion piece in Le Monde on Eu Treaties changes by Maria João Rodrigues, FEPS President, Guillaume Klossa, Director of think tank EuropaNova and Daniela Schwarzer, Executive board member Bertelsmann Stiftung