Rita Matias, a far-right lawmaker and social media influencer, poses with students at the Sebastião da Gama High School in Setúbal, Portugal, on Feb. 21. SETÚBAL, Portugal — The surprising voters driving the far right’s surge in Europe scrambled for selfies inside a suburban auditorium. Rita Matias, 25, an ultraconservative and social media influencer, had just called for migrant quotas and curbs onin a political debate.
Yet surveys suggest that younger Portuguese citizens without living memory of that era may help populists make major gains. The far-right Chega party could become the top party for voters ages 18-34, potentially tripling its share of younger voters, to, in just two years. Though polling in third place overall, Chega could serve as a kingmaker for a conservative coalition — or frustrate efforts to form a government by parties that refuse to partner with it.
“If you look at all of these parties now, they have kept their anti-immigration stance, but shifted far more to focus on social-economic appeals,” said Catherine Fieschi, a political analyst and fellow at the Robert Schuman Center of the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. “But the other important way they’ve reached the young is that they were really smart about social networks.
Ventura, who has demonized the Roma community and said a Black lawmaker should be “returned to her own country,” uses social media platforms to engage with youths in more entertaining ways — recently posting aAsked what it is like going up against “an influencer,” Diogo Mira, a politician from the left who debated Matias, said: “It makes me feel horrible. Young people prefer those who do TikToks. They prefer sound bites. Chega is indoctrinating them.
“About 80 percent of the misinformation we find comes from Chega and André Ventura,” said Fernando Esteves, Polígrafo director. “About 60 percent of his statements are false or inaccurate. They generate their own stories, manipulate photos, create fake polls.”