Influencers and candidates in prison have won seats in the powerful European Parliament, with social media playing an outsized role.
He has no political experience. No high-profile endorsements. No party affiliation. What Fidias Panayiotou does have are 2.6 million followers on YouTube and more on TikTok. And now he has won a seat in the European Parliament representing Cyprus, one of several unusual candidates who launched improbable campaigns only to snag membership in the 720-seat legislature.
. It’s a first in a country where the mighty political parties have long earned iron-clad loyalty by meting out favors. Secretary-General Stefanos Stefanou lamented the outcome, which he called a “new reality in which citizens opt for non-politics as a political choice” to register their disenchantment with the country’s political culture. Spain Armed with a pair of social media accounts and staunch anti-immigrant discourse, a social media influencer rocked Spain’s far right by snatching up three of the country's 61 seats in the European Parliament.
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