Online Smear Campaign (2008)

In 2008, the biggest example of online smear campaign was the viral attacks spread on the Internet which claimed that Barack Obama was Muslim. The seriousness of this accusation needs to be evaluated in the context and the political culture of the United States. On the one hand, the memory of the terroristic attacks by Islamic extremists on 11 September 2011 is still vivid and induces in many citizens the controversial equation between Islam and terrorism. On the other hand, historically, a candidate of any religious faith different from Christianity is perceived as uncommon and suspicious by part of the electorate (Kohut et al., 2000). The religious slander is an attack to the patriotism of the candidate and to his sharing of the values that keep the political community together and that the President, as a symbol of national unity, should embody. Furthermore, claiming that a politician practices a different religion than the one he/she publicly declares implies the even more dangerous insinuation that the candidate has deceived voters by hiding a central aspect of his/her personal life and identity.