Abstract

Through the combination of digital methods, corpus linguistics and critical discourse analysis, the article investigates the role of Twitter journalism in the process of criminalization of NGOs in the Italian public debate on immigration between 2017 and 2020. Starting from a theoretical framework that brings together the populist anti-immigration discourse and its integration with the notion of sovereignsm, the research is aimed at: i) analyzing changes in the discourse about the role of NGOs in migration issues; ii) intercept discursive re-contextualization of the populist anti-immigration rhetoric; iii) investigate the role of journalism in these processes. Findings show that NGO’s criminalization is constructed and normalized by a discourse that has progressively shifted its focus from migrants to NGO volunteers, within a general discursive framework where anti ONG claims are deeply embedded in populist / sovereignst stances.