Broadcasting anti-media populism in the Philippines: YouTube influencers, networked political brokerage, and implications for governance

Abstract

This article interrogates platform governance and accountability amid the growing role of influencers in constructing political discourses, and particularly, in the intermediation of anti-media ideological frames through their embeddedness in networked assemblages. We deploy the concept of ‘networked political brokerage’ to examine the socio-technical relations among influencers, the platform, and its users, and how this dynamic assemblage engages in the intermediation of anti-media populism. The study draws from a critical examination of the network and discursive tactics deployed by Filipino YouTube influencers who advance partisan political commentary and deceptive narratives to delegitimize mainstream media institutions through issue network analysis concerning the franchise denial and eventual shutdown of the Philippines’ oldest media network, ABS-CBN. We problematize how influencers engage platform affordances and cultures of use to enable, amplify, and fortify the brokering of their political agenda within a larger network of political actors, while eliding accountability. Through the mutually affirming relationship of content creators and the platform, networked hyper-politicized contents gain visibility and galvanize anti-media rhetoric. Ultimately, the article raises concerns on the social consequences of networked political brokerage and offers a framework for how governance and policy discussions can treat the functioning of such networked political influence.

Probing Tagore in 21st-century Bangladesh: Shifting Faces of Metaphysical Reality and the Role of New Media

“…Another key component of the media in Asia is the function of influencers in creating political discourses. Soriano and Gaw (2022) investigate the role of YouTube influencers in the dissemination of anti-media populism in the Philippines. Through their networked assemblages, they suggest that influencers play a vital role in building political views and defining political concerns.…”