Manipulating Truth: Disinformation Campaigns Against Child Protection Services in Europe
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Abstract
Disinformation targeting child protection services (CPS) in Europe poses a significant challenge to institutional legitimacy and social cohesion. This paper analyses recurring narratives and themes found within 45 fact-checking reports about CPS, using qualitative methods and Habermas’s public sphere theory as interpretive framework. Results show that authoritarian and fundamentalist actors strategically create and disseminate disinformation that aim to polarise discussions about topics such as family values, state authority, and child welfare. By mapping actors, targets, and themes, this paper demonstrates how disinformation narratives are constructed and circulated across different ideological contexts. This study contributes to research on disinformation and child welfare by clarifying how CPS in Europe is framed and politicised in disinformation campaigns. Additionally, the study aims to provide a useful basis for policymakers and practitioners in the broader efforts to recognise and respond to disinformation around child welfare and protection, and other public institutions.
Bibliography: Corsulic, Suljo: Manipulating Truth: Disinformation Campaigns Against Child Protection Services in Europe, ZRex – Zeitschrift für Rechtsextremismusforschung, 2-2026, pp. 217-237.
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Title: Manipulating Truth: Disinformation Campaigns Against Child Protection Services in Europe
Issue: Jg. 6, Nr. 2-2026: Freie Beiträge