“Media is absolutely disgusting”: Emotions and affect towards political elites, information sources and conspiracy theories in anti-lockdown protests

Using a unique dataset collected through ethnographic observations and interviews at six anti-lockdown protest sites, this article examines concrete emotions across different stages of the anti-lockdown protests in London, shedding light on the broader affective anti-lockdown protest atmosphere. Our study contributes to a nuanced understanding of protest movements in times of emergency by demonstrating how the distinct feelings of “distrust” and “disillusionment” in reaction to political elites, information and news sources can mobilise and consolidate a social movement during a crisis. We identify these long-run emotions towards official sources as crucial in fuelling short-run emotions of anger and anxiety at the pandemic's outset, mobilising and uniting protesters around alternative sources of information and conspiracy theories. Moreover, our findings show that despite their distrust towards mainstream media, protesters felt trust in alternative media and each other, assisting them to sustain positive affect during the protests. Even in the tense context of the pandemic, positive emotions such as joy were also fostered through the shared feeling of distrust towards political and media elites, common conspiracy theories and activists' togetherness in protest spaces, which created an evolving anti-lockdown atmosphere. • Data from anti-lockdown protests was collected via interviews and multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork. • Unifying force forming anti-lockdown protests: Long-term distrust/disillusionment towards mainstream media and political elites. Anti-lockdown protesters were united by long-term distrust of mainstream media and political elites. • Distrust initially drove protesters to familiar online spaces, fueling anger and anxiety at the pandemic's onset. Distrust drove protesters to familiar online spaces, fueling anger and anxiety at the pandemic's start. • Alternative social media, flooded with information/speculation, fostered suspicion and anxiety. Information and speculation on alternative social media fueled suspicion and anxiety. • Positive emotions like joy emerged amid pandemic tensions, fueled by shared distrust, conspiracy beliefs, and protester solidarity. Joy emerged amid pandemic tensions, fueled by shared distrust, conspiracy beliefs, and protesters' solidarity.