Understanding Dark Political Communication

The first paper session I’m attending at the AANZCA 2024 conference is a panel on democracy in crisis, and starts with my QUT colleague Stephen Harrington. His focus is on ‘dark political communication’, as a way of moving past the overemphasis on mis- and disinformation and recognising that such practices are just one part of a much broader range of communicative dysfunctions in contemporary political systems.

This then also incorporates a greater focus on recent changes in political PR: political PR has been a growing focus in the study of politics in recent decades, with attention paid to its arrangements with mass media logics, its aims of audience maximisation, its generally positive and persuasive messaging, and its generally professional communicative approach – all of which is perhaps encapsulated in terms like ‘messaging’ and ‘spin’.

But the conventions of political PR are now being challenged by a new style of political communication, which Stephen describes as ‘dark’ political communication: this is political communication as adapted to social media logics, offered in bad faith and with a disregard for the truth, and often considerably less conventionally professional in its approach to messaging. It operates through trolling, laundering of disinformation and conspiracy theories, inflammatory language and performative acts, extremely antagonistic relationships with mainstream media, positive and cooperative relationships with fringe and hyperpartisan outlets, and deliberative distortions and manipulation of public opinion.

Arguably, this is a genuinely new paradigm for political PR, rather than just an extension. It is also different from propaganda in its conventional sense, with less message discipline and narrative control and a less linear and more chaotic nature that simply throws out ideas and works with those that stick. In doing so, it might even push entirely incompatible messages to different audiences. Several political PR companies now offer such dark political communication as a service.

’Dark’ political communication does not imply that other forms of political communication are inherently good, but this specific form is deeply problematic and often operates in the shadows, with inherently antagonistic, anti-democratic, and illiberal motives. It thrives on cynicism, poses a major challenge to the processes of journalism, and has affected every major policy development in recent years.