A new study by the BridgeGap team at the University of Perugia shows that the social media landscape around QatarGate was not fundamentally different from the era dominated by traditional media.
Institutional actors — political and media alike — contributed to producing a biased and, at times, instrumentalized narrative on social platforms.
Once again, the main loser was the ideal of a genuine public sphere: the only serious foundation for a broad, collective anti-corruption demand. This public sphere was squeezed between political bias, polarization, and competing agendas.
There is no sustainable anti-corruption effort without a significant share of public opinion willing to judge facts independently of political labels. QatarGate is no exception. As the investigation has quietly stalled, public pressure has proven too weak to demand a relaunch.
And a major opportunity has been missed.