This study examined whether manipulative linguistic tactics are present in social media posts from the Dutch Sovereign Citizen Movement (SCM), using a mixed-method analysis in a two-phased research project. The SCM is considered an extremist anti-governmental movement gaining supporters swiftly in Belgium and the Netherlands.
The study’s first phase examined pragmatic linguistic features such as deixis, speech acts and violations of Gricean Maxims. These features were detected and identified in social media posts from the SCM.
The combination of the three features was found to have a strong manipulative effect, focusing on polarisation, creating an alternative reality and prompting people to take action.
In the second phase of the study, a panel of twenty-six survey takers was tested for being able to detect or experience these manipulative tactics in the selected texts already analysed in the first phase. 92.3% of the participants, ranging between the age of 25-81 (N = 26), both males and females (f = 7, m = 18, x = 1), identified that persuasion tactics were present. Qualitative data showed that survey respondents could also accurately describe the specific tactics used in the texts.
Additional findings showed one participant, who appeared to be a supporter of the SCM ideology, did not experience or detect manipulation at all, fuelling the discussion around the theoretical definition of manipulation and contributing to the theory of reality paradigms.
The qualitative analysis of (extremely) negative responses from people not adhering to the presented SCM content, also aligned with the theory of reality paradigms.
Other findings suggest that people who self-assess having difficulties in today’s society, are more susceptible to the content of the SCM, adding to the value of this research project and linking the findings to Moghaddam’s Staircase to the Terrorist Act (2005).
Furthermore, the present study provides an important addition to the understanding of manipulation through pragmatic linguistics in social media, and in the posts of the SCM specifically.
The survey findings suggest further research into the long-term effects of exposure to manipulative texts to generalise findings to larger populations and add to the validity and confirmation of reality paradigms.
Keywords: manipulation, linguistics, pragmatics, social media, misinformation, Sovereign Citizen Movement
