Abstract
There is a growing body of research interested in uncovering the role that social media influencers and other internet celebrities play in amplifying circulations of disinformation, within countries and through transnational networks. While some scholars are beginning to examine disinformation in Spanish-dominant communities within the United States, there has yet to be a study that investigates the practices of known disseminators of mis- and disinformation to their Spanish-speaking audiences or how diasporic networks may be formed and leveraged by these influencers. Minority language communities may have less access to factually based news and information from government institutions in charge of health, emergency operations, and electoral infrastructure, especially at the local level. At its worst, the consequences of disinformation can range from participation in intolerant political movements to dangerously poor health choices. By examining populist YouTube influencers who have been observed to embed harmful discourse such as disinformation and partisan sensationalism into their Spanish-language programming, this study is premised on the importance of understanding the practices of successful influencers who construct harmful discourses in ways that appear authentic, engaging, and potentially trustworthy to followers. The aim of this study is to understand how false narratives are constructed by political social media influencers within minority language communities, thus foregrounding communities that are underserved by a country’s news and information infrastructure and which are comparatively more embedded in transnational (dis)information flows.