Doing Good or Looking Good? Multinational Corporations’ Social Media Discourses on Forcibly Displaced People

Companies increasingly communicate about their corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts, including regarding forced migration, thereby shaping public discourses and attitudes. However, these corporate discourses remain largely underexplored. This study examines how five leading multinational corporations (Google, McKinsey & Company, Airbnb, Starbucks and IKEA) represent forcibly displaced people in their Twitter and YouTube communication (2015–2022). Using Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, we examined their YouTube videos ( n = 25), tweets ( n = 65) and embedded organic content ( n = 60). The findings reveal interacting liberal, CSR logic-driven discourses, with notable variations across industries, media, activities, populations and motivations. First, forcibly displaced people are mainly presented as ‘empowered’, relatable individuals, yet these strategically regulated representations may assimilate, dehumanise and establish hierarchies of deservingness. Second, they are frequently portrayed as victimised, impersonalised beneficiaries, reinforcing saviour-saved imageries. Extending the current literature, this study highlights how corporate communication reproduces stereotypical humanitarian imageries of forcibly displaced people.