Context: Cambridge Analytica was a political data analytics company that harvested personal data from approximately 87 million Facebook users without their consent , using a personality quiz app to access not only quiz-takers' data but also that of their friends. This data was used to build psychological profiles and micro-targeted political advertising for the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and the Brexit Leave campaign. The Cambridge Analytica scandal, exposed by whistleblower Christopher Wylie and reported by The Guardian and New York Times in March 2018, revealed how social media platf
Context: Since 2016, right-wing populist leaders and movements have gained power across every continent , fundamentally challenging the liberal democratic consensus that defined the post-Cold War international order. From Trump in the US (2016, 2024), Bolsonaro in Brazil (2018), Modi in India (2014), Orbán in Hungary (2010), Meloni in Italy (2022), to Milei in Argentina (2023), a global pattern has emerged of leaders who claim to represent "the people" against corrupt elites and global institutions. These movements share common features despite different national contexts: hostility to immig
Context: The 2016 U.S. presidential election, in which Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton , was characterised by unprecedented media dynamics including the rise of social media as a primary news source, the proliferation of misinformation and "fake news," Russian disinformation operations, and the collapse of distinctions between entertainment and political information. Social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube became the dominant battleground for political communication, enabling targeted advertising, viral misinformation, and foreign interference at a scale unprec