Aoife Gallagher: Irish mis- and disinformation Telegram channels increased by 326% since 2020

ISD Senior Analyst Aoife Gallagher discusses the rise of the fire right in Ireland with the New York Times. In the guest essay by Irish Times reporter Una Mullally, Mullally drives home that Ireland has historically been referenced as an outlier in Europe for not swaying towards the far right after the 2008 financial crisis. Yet, this seems to have changed in recent years aggravated by a housing crisis and leading up to November’s violent anti-immigration protests in Dublin.

Aoife, co-author of the reports ‘Uisce Faoi Thalamh: An Investigation into the Online Mis- and Disinformation Ecosystem in Ireland’, featured in this op-ed speaking about the findings of these reports. “The number of channels and chat groups on Telegram associated with the Irish misinformation and disinformation ecosystem increased by 326 percent since 2020.”

The Summary report, the Platforms report and the Topics report are all available on our website.