2 political outliers claim seats in European Parliament by leveraging social media’s viral power

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS and JOSEPH WILSON
Associated Press

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — One is a wildly popular, seemingly happy-go-lucky YouTuber with no political experience from Cyprus. The other is a brash, fringe figure of Spain’s far right who rails against unauthorized immigrants. They are now new members of the European Parliament thanks to their savvy use of the potential of video-based social media. YouTuber and TikToker Fidias Panayiotou rode the wave of his online popularity coupled with the disenchantment of many Cypriots with the country’s political culture all the way to election victory. Mostly unknown Spaniard Alvise Pérez leveraged his social media diatribes against migrants and claims of political corruption to win three European Parliament seats. What ties them is their success in their online reach-out to otherwise indifferent voters.