Politics, public health, and disinformation: Instagram posts by European far-right parties about COVID-19 vaccines

Introduction: This research has analyzed the visual discourse on Instagram of the European far-right parties in Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Austria and Poland on the COVID-19 vaccines carried out during 2021. The main objective has been focused on in discovering the position of these parties regarding the vaccination process against the coronavirus and the use of biased strategies or frames linked to misinformation. Methodology: (N=1050) Instagram posts have been analyzed using visual content analysis. The results show that the European far-right parties studied have not used their Instagram accounts to spread health strategies to alleviate the effects of COVID-19. Results: The contents disseminated have turned out to be individualistic and consistent with the ideals of each party. Except for specific exceptions, in general all the parties have shown a neutral position without being very explicit in their positions. Discussion: What these findings reveal is an inclination not to make decisive speeches that could make them lose voters, despite maintaining a critical position that pretends to be an alternative to the official one. Conclusions: Their main speeches allude to the lack of individual freedom, the voluntariness in the administration of the dose, the rejection of vaccination of children and the denial of the COVID passport.