ABSTRACT
In May 2022, Hande Karacasu posted a short propaganda film, Sessiz İstila (Eng.: Silent Invasion), that is organised and funded by the leader of the Victory Party, Ümit Özdağ who becomes a highly popular figure in Turkish politics. The short film tells about refugees who are claimed to have invaded the jobs market and social and cultural life in Turkey and triggers the audience to act against the refugees. In a very short time, this short film became a trending topic in Turkey and was highly debated in the political arena. Through populist rhetoric, “Silent Invasion” as an outcome of disinformation and conspiracy theories on refugees in Turkey refers to the idea of “banopticon,” which was coined by Didier Bigo. Inspired by Foucault's idea of the panopticon, Bigo's “banopticon” offers profiling technologies that help to observe and control people under surveillance and determine whether a person, such as a refugee, should be granted the right to act freely. This study analyses users' comments shared below the short propaganda film “Silent Invasion” on YouTube through critical discourse analysis. By doing this, this chapter explores to what extent and to whom ban culture serves and how surveillance is adapted to the daily lives of ordinary people.
