Digital Populism

Application Form

Course summary

“Digital Populism” explores how contemporary populist actors use digital media, data infrastructures, and platforms to mobilize supporters, reshape public discourse, and challenge democratic institutions. The course addresses highly current debates that engage a wide international research community, covering cutting‑edge topics such as datafication, the datafied mindset, algorithmic mobilization, echo chambers, disinformation, and surveillance. Hungary serves as a particularly rich and instructive case for studying digital populism, democratic backsliding, and media system transformation in a comparative, international framework. Combining theory with hands‑on analytical work, the course equips students with both conceptual tools and practical skills, using real‑life cases and examples from a range of countries and political contexts. The course will combine short lectures with interactive seminars, close reading of key texts, and guided discussions. Throughout the week, students will work in small groups on project-based tasks, developing and refining their own research designs on specific aspects of digital populism, supported by methodological guidance from one of the course instructors.

Course requirements

At least level B2 (CEFR) English proficiency

Required reading:

Mahlouly, D. (2025). The Myth of the Vulnerable Audience: Exploring Counter-Intuitive Approaches to Post-Truth Populism in the New Mass Media. Journal of Dialogue Studies. https://www.dialoguestudies.org/article/the-myth-of-the-vulnerable-audience-exploring-counter-intuitive-approaches-to-post-truth-populism-in-the-new-mass-media/

Meet the lecturers

Dr Gábor Polyák works as a professor of media law and media policy, as well as the head of the Media and Communication Department at Eötvös Loránd University. He also works as a senior research fellow for the Institute for Legal Studies of the Centre for Social Sciences. Further, he is the founding researcher at Mertek Media Monitor, a Hungarian NGO focused on media policy issues. He was a research fellow at the University of Münster's Institute for Information, Telecommunication and Media Law from 2014 to 2016. His educational background includes studies in law and media at the University of Pécs, a Master of Laws degree in ICT law from the University of Vienna, and a PhD degree and habilitation from the University of Pécs. He teaches and researches media law, IT law, and media policy. In 2020, he was awarded the Voltaire Prize for Tolerance, International Understanding and Respect for Differences at the University of Potsdam. In 2020, he was awarded the Voltaire Prize for Tolerance, International Understanding and Respect for Differences at the University of Potsdam. In 2025, he was awarded the ‘Teacher of the Year’ prize in the ‘Exemplary Personality’ category in a vote organized by the National Students' Union.

Kata Horváth is a PhD student at Universidade Católica Portuguesa and Eötvös Loránd University. She is a researcher at Mérték Media Monitor. She is working as a researcher on the Hungarian Digital Media Observatory project. In recent years, she has published extensively on the disinformation ecosystem in Hungary, including in the journal Media and Communication tilted How Public Service Media Disinformation Shapes Hungarian Public Discourse, as well as in the journal Journalism Practice tilted Two Journalistic Cultures in One Country: The Case of Hungary in the Light of Journalists’ Discourses on Fake News, and a book chapter Disinformation under the guise of democracy: lessons from Hungary. She is writing her PhD on the professional and audience perception of fact-checking in Hungary and Portugal. She was awarded the Hungarian junior scientific achievement award Pro Scientia Gold Medal in Hungary and has received a PhD studentship from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia in Portugal.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4829-8208

Course Syllabus

Tuesday, Introduction to Populism

• 9.00-10.30 Defining Populism and Digital Populism + Historical Context and Theoretical Frameworks (Gábor Polyák)
• 11.00-12.30 Media Systems and the Platformization of Politics + Digital Populist Rhetoric and Discourse Analysis (Kata Horváth & Gábor Polyák)
• 13.30-15.00 Methodology and Research Design 1 - Project Work (Kata Horváth & Gábor Polyák)

Wednesday, Populism in a digital age

• 9.00-10.30 Echo Chambers, Polarization, and Algorithmic Amplification + European legislation (Gábor Polyák)
• 11.00-12.30 Disinformation, Post-Truth, and Epistemological Challenges (Kata Horváth)
• 13.30-15.00 Methodology and Research Design 2 - Project Work

Friday, Social and Personal Resilience

• 9.00-10.30 Democratic Threats and Resilience + Foreign Agent Laws (Kata Horváth & Gábor Polyák)
• 11.00-12.30 Surveillance state + Data surveillance + Datafication in everyday life (Kata Horváth)
• 13.30-15.00 Research Design Presentations (Kata Horváth & Gábor Polyák)