Dear colleagues, We invite submission proposals for our full-day pre-conference at ECREA 2026: Instant Messaging as Political Communication Infrastructure 7 September 2026 at the Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic Instant messaging platforms — WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Viber — have become critical yet under-theorized sites for political communication, civic mobilization, and everyday governance. This pre-conference brings together scholars to advance theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches for studying these platforms. We organize submissions around two tracks: Track 1 – Pro-Democratic Political Communication Grassroots civic organizing, social movements, democratic protest, political discourse, campaigns, and research ethics. Track 2 – Anti-Democratic Political Communication Conspiracist and extremist networks, hate speech, authoritarian uses of instant messaging, populist campaigns, and challenges for democratic public spheres. We welcome original research, theoretical, and methodological papers, as well as methodological toolkits and data repositories. Submission guidelines - Proposals: 1,000–1,500 words - Submission deadline: 15 May 2026 - Notification of acceptance: 12 June 2026 - Full CfP and submission: https://bit.ly/IMPolComm Format: The day combines parallel presentation sessions (pro- and anti-democratic tracks), roundtable discussions on conceptual frameworks, and a methodological workshop in working-table format (data collection tools, ethics, multimodal analysis). Networking drinks to follow. Registration fees: ECREA members €40 | Non-members €60 | PhD students (ECREA members) €25 For questions, contact: o.pasitselska@rug.nl<mailto:o.pasitselska@rug.nl> We look forward to your submissions and to seeing you in Brno! Best, Kilian Buehling on behalf of Olga Pasitselska, Qinfeng Zhu, Eedan Amit-Danhi, and Emilija Gagrčin Universität Tübingen / Weizenbaum Institute | University of Groningen | University of Bergen -- Dr. Kilian Buehling Postdoctoral Research Associate Institute for Research on Far Right Extremism (IRex) University of Tübingen | Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society Recent publications: Buehling, K., Becker, J. D., Zhang, X., & Heft, A. (2025). Rechte Verschwörungstheorien in hyperparteiischen Medien – Was hätte ein Verbot des Compact-Magazins für das antidemokratische Online-Ökosystem bedeutet?. Wissen schafft Demokratie, 18/2026: Demokratiegefährdung online. https://doi.org/10.19222/202618/06 Schulze, H., Buehling, K., & Zehring, M. (2025). The Telegram COVID-19 Protest Dataset 2020-2022. Computational Communication Research, 7(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.5117/CCR2025.1.9.SCHU Buehling, K., Zhang, X., & Heft, A. (2025). Veiled conspiracism: Particularities and convergence in the styles and functions of conspiracy-related communication across digital platforms. New Media & Society, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251315756 Pasitselska, O., Buehling, K., & Gagrčin, E. (2025). Chat groups as local civic infrastructure: A case study of “Solidary neighborhood help” Telegram groups during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. New Media & Society, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251349426