Weaponized Narratives and the Regulation of Political Advertising: The Case of the Czech Republic

Nikola STAŇKOVÁ 

https://doi.org/10.53465/JAP.2025.9788022552806.536-543

 

Abstract: Political advertising in the European Union is undergoing rapid transformation as online platforms and algorithmic targeting reshape the boundaries of electoral communication. Traditional EU regulations focus on transparency and funding disclosure, but they fail to capture the discursive dimension of political persuasion. This paper examines the Czech Republic as a case study, where the communist past continues to shape the politics of memory and informs public sensitivities toward regulation. It argues that disinformation campaigns increasingly weaponize historical narratives—from nostalgic references to the communist era to depictions of the European Union as a new form of domination — in order to influence electoral behavior. Such strategies pose a unique challenge: regulatory frameworks must address manipulative uses of history without reviving fears of censorship deeply rooted in post-communist societies. To respond to this challenge, the paper proposes a discourse-analytic regulatory framework that integrates linguistic analysis, historical context, and interdisciplinary oversight into the regulation of political advertising. By combining insights from political science, law, and linguistics, the paper contributes to the interdisciplinary dialogue at the Bratislava conference, offering both a theoretical perspective and a practical model for addressing the evolving threats of disinformation in democratic societies.

Keywords: political advertising, disinformation, historical memory, Czech Republic, European Union regulation, political discourse

Fulltext: PDF

Language of the paper: English

Online publication date: 23 December 2025

Pages: 536 – 543

 

ISBN: 978-80-225-5280-6 (online), 978-80-225-5279-0

ISSN: 2729-8973 (online), 2729-8981

Publisher: Bratislava University of Economics and Business, Vydavateľstvo Ekonóm

 

How to cite this conference proceedings paper (APA 7^th Edition):

Staňková, N. (2025). Weaponized Narratives and the Regulation of Political Advertising: The Case of the Czech Republic. In R. Štefančík (Ed.), Jazyk a politika. Na pomedzí lingvistiky a politológie X (pp. 536–543). Vydavateľstvo Ekonóm. https://doi.org/10.53465/JAP.2025.9788022552806.536-543