The EU political discursive battle against Poland: Disinformation and the rule of law crisis.

This article examines how European Union (EU) institutions and leaders communicated on Twitter (now X) during the 2021 rule of law crisis with Poland, focusing on the conflict over the primacy of EU law challenged by the Polish government. Through a mixed quantitative and qualitative content analysis of eighteen tweets and 2,280 replies from April to October 2021, the study finds that EU actors posted relatively few but assertive messages defending EU legal authority and democratic values, while the digital audience’s responses were predominantly critical of the EU and often supportive or neutral toward the Polish government. Notably, a large share of replies came from anonymous or unidentifiable accounts that amplified Eurosceptic and nationalist narratives, linking the Polish conflict to other European controversies such as Catalan independence. The findings highlight challenges for EU public communication in countering disinformation and engaging diverse publics, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, underscoring the need for more inclusive and strategic digital communication to uphold the EU’s legitimacy.