The Convergence of Right-Wing YouTube Audiences in Canada and the U.S. During the Freedom Convoy

• In Event: 20220 - Section on Communication, Information Technology, and Media Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Section on Communication, Information Technology, and Media Sociology Roundtable IV: Digital Infrastructure II

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has fostered transnational information flows and anti-vaccine sentiment through digital media. While research on transnational right-wing populist coalitions is growing, less attention has been paid to audience-level overlaps in right-wing media ecosystems, particularly between Canada and the U.S., despite Canada’s longstanding cultural reliance on the U.S. Using YouTube comments from 11 media channels across 43 videos, including Canadian outlets across the political spectrum and three U.S. channels referencing the Emergencies Act from February 14 to 16, 2022, I examine the extent to which the Freedom Convoy, an anti-vaccine movement, facilitated audience convergence between Canadian and American users on YouTube. I employ a bipartite affiliation network to construct two different channel one-mode networks based on overlapping words and users. Results reveal that Fox News plays a central role in both word- and user-based networks and strongly connects with Toronto Sun, a Canadian right-wing local media outlet. Additionally, CNN and Global News appear to facilitate cross-cutting exposure, significantly overlapping with Fox News, while Canadian center and left-wing outlets exhibit lower user overlap with each other, suggesting fewer highly engaged pro-Emergencies Act users. These findings indicate that the convergence of right-wing media ecosystems between the two countries accelerated during the pandemic, extended beyond their own media communities, and shaped discussions even within left-leaning platforms in both countries.

Author

• Jihye Kim, UMass Amherst