Franco with glitter sunglasses. Mussolini dancing in a school corridor. Hitler celebrating like Cristiano Ronaldo. What looks like “just jokes” is, in reality, a pipeline of “pop fascism”, a disinformation strategy that makes extremist narratives feel harmless, funny… and increasingly acceptable.
In this webinar, we unpacked how this strategy works: how fascist symbols and dictators are smuggled into pop culture through memes, music, football fandom, AI-generated videos and nostalgic aesthetics. Far from being neutral or ironic, these formats act as vehicles for disinformation, conspiracy theories and historical revisionism, designed to evade moderation, trigger emotional engagement and resonate with young audiences.
Drawing on the cross-border investigation by Maldita.es (Spain) and Facta (Italy), Coral García and Francesca Capoccia showed how history is being rewritten in real time on social media, and how to recognise and counter these dynamics before “pop fascism” becomes normalised online.
Watch the recording here:
Speaker: Coral García Dorado, Head of Disinformation Investigations, Fundación Maldita.es
Coral García Dorado is the Coordinator of Disinformation Investigations at Maldita.es. She previously coordinated the creation of the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN), which was led by Maldita.es. She has previously worked as a fact-checker and investigative journalist in various sections of Maldita.es. She holds a Master’s degree in Investigative Journalism, Data, and Visualization, as well as a Master’s degree in International Journalism, both from Liverpool John Moores University. Previously, she has worked on various projects focused on the Spanish-speaking population in the UK.
Speaker: Francesca Capoccia, Journalist and Fact-checker, Facta
Francesca Capoccia is a journalist who works on fact-checking and debunking at Facta. For other newspapers, she writes about sports a focus on human rights. She published “Protagoniste? Donne, informazioni e cultura” (2024) with Aras Edizioni, and previously served as editor-in-chief of the web magazine The Bottom Up.
Moderator: Raquel Miguel Serrano, Senior Researcher, EU DisinfoLab
Raquel Miguel Serrano is a senior researcher at EU DisinfoLab. She has a background in journalism and spent most of her professional career working for the German press agency DPA until 2019, when she shifted her focus to disinformation. Raquel earned a Master’s degree in Cyber Intelligence and joined EU DisinfoLab. She is the author of multiple articles, mainly focused on mis- and disinformation circulating in Spain and Germany, but also on more comprehensive topics such as the impact risk of online disinformation or pre-bunking as a tool to counter information disorders. Recently, she has been working in other areas, such as FIMI or the challenges posed by generative AI.
The opinions expressed are those of the speakers/authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of EU DisinfoLab. This webinar does not represent an endorsement by EU DisinfoLab of any organisation.