Over the past few decades, democracies globally have seen a rise in support for more extreme, right-wing policies and politicians. This support is facilitated and encouraged by the popularity of right-wing media actors online that often promote conspiratorial or factually inaccurate narratives, exacerbating political tensions and polarization. This keynote will reflect upon the increasingly central role of digital surrogates in the public sphere and in political decision-making and the importance of persistence in political communication research.