Gong published the “Analysis of Political Narratives on TikTok during the 2024 Election Campaign” – research with an aim to explor the political narratives and political environment of TikTok in the pre-campaign and campaign period for the Croatian parliamentary elections.
TikTok is the fastest growing social network in the world, preferred by users between the ages of 16 and 24, and during the parliamentary election it was the scene of various political campaigns, content and narratives by politicians, political parties and accounts that spread political content without official political affiliation. The focus of the analysis was therefore to list the politicians and political parties that use TikTok, to determine the reach of the published content and to observe the political narratives that are spreading on Croatian TikTok.
A thematic division between pro-democratic and pro-EU and anti-democratic, anti-EU narratives was established. These two political narratives spread through the official accounts of politicians and parties and accounts that share non-party political content, reaching TikTok users with a variety of topics that reflect underlying social and political issues. The mainstream political scene, with parties like HDZ, SDP and Možemo, advocates democratic participation, social public policies and anti-corruption measures, aligning with European values and cooperation. In contrast, Domovinski pokret, Most and politicians like Mate Lukić, Ivan Pernar, Karolina Vidović Krišto and Mislav Kolakušić promote nationalist, anti-globalist and conspiratorial narratives, which challenge the foundations of democratic governance and European integration.