Teenagers are increasingly exposed to extremist narratives online, and this phenomenon is already being reflected in schools

Ricardo Soares, a student in the Doctoral Program in Educational Sciences (PDCE) at FPCEUP, was featured in three media outlets (Expresso, SIC, and RTP) last Friday. The focus was on the growing impact of radical influencers and adolescents' exposure to extremist narratives disseminated online.

"Influencers with millions of followers who promote nationalist values, normalise gender stereotypes, and flaunt luxury end up wielding enormous power among younger people, who venerate them and dream of imitating them," explains Ricardo Soares, a researcher at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at the University of Porto. "They want to own the same cars, the same houses, and travel to the same destinations." As part of his doctoral work, the researcher has analyzed the online presence of Portuguese influencers, identifying "discriminatory" content against immigrants, live broadcasts denouncing an alleged "invasion" of the country and the "theft" of jobs, as well as conservative and misogynistic rhetoric. Examples include statements such as: "A committed woman doesn't have friends, doesn't go out at night, doesn't have Instagram", or "The best thing you can do for your wife is to get her pregnant and remove her from the job market." Explicit appeals to vote for Chega were also found. (excerpt from the Expresso newspaper report)

Read the Expresso report.
See Ricardo Soares' appearances on RTP and SIC reports.