ABSTRACT
Responses to counter-narratives were much more likely to be in line with the original intention of the hashtag, with minimal interaction from more progressive voices. The dynamics of this hashtag demonstrate the tensions generated in trying to counter right-wing activism online without further reproducing existing inequalities by opening up avenues for further disinformation to be propagated. The chapter describes the contours of these debates, touching on broader questions of de-politicisation, counter-publics, and frictions between activism and digital media technologies. It discusses a series of case studies that drill more specifically into the relationship between populism and the mediated activism that is trying to contest it. Overall, the studies touched on here demonstrate how the digital and mainstream media are not separate discursive spheres but critically intersect, and therefore, it is necessary to study the relations within these media ecologies.
