From Infodemics to Collective Resistance: Populist Mobilisation and Health Consequences

Yuxi Wang , INED

The COVID-19 pandemic unfolded alongside an unprecedented “infodemic” that reshaped public engagement with science, health, and authority. This study investigates how online infodemics translated into collective resistance and influenced population health through political mobilisation. Using structural equation models across six European countries, I conceptualise resistance—a latent construct measured by residential mobility and protests opposing vaccines, lockdowns, and public health mandates linked to populist radical right (PRR) movements—as the behavioural bridge between digital information environments and epidemic outcomes. Findings reveal a robust infodemic–resistance–epidemic pathway: exposure to higher levels of infodemic consistently predicts stronger opposition to non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). This effect is most pronounced in Germany and Italy, where established PRR networks amplified the infodemic through narratives of “elite overreach” and “freedom under threat”, converting online discontent into organised mobilisation. In Austria, Belgium, and France, resistance was weaker and more pandemic-specific. By integrating informational, political, and epidemiological processes, the analysis shows how epidemics evolve into politicised collective behaviour that undermines compliance and sustains viral transmission. The results highlight the role of populist mobilisation as a social amplifier for epidemics and demonstrate that pandemic resistance reflects not cognitive failure but organised defiance. Effective responses must rebuild trust, depoliticise health communication, and address structural sources of populist grievance.

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 Presented in Session 122. Health Policy, Health Systems and Population-level Interventions