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ImportantFrom memes to race war:
How extremists use popular culture to lure recruits https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/30/extremists-recruiting-culture-community/
The 6min video, distributed on gaming platforms and social media is a recruiting tool for far-right extremists that draws viewers in with “They’re coming for your guns” & “They’re opening your borders” then hits them with “They’re humiliating your race” and “Defend your race.”
The far-right groups that emerged during Trump’s occupation created enduring communities
They soft-pedal their political goals & focus on entertaining potential recruits with tools of pop culture, according to current and former members and those who study the new extremism. https://twitter.com/LuluLemew/status/1266856403270094860
They soft-pedal their political goals & focus on entertaining potential recruits with tools of pop culture, according to current and former members and those who study the new extremism. https://twitter.com/LuluLemew/status/1266856403270094860
#Extremists approach young people on gaming platforms, luring them into private rooms with memes that start out as edgy humor and gradually grow overtly racist. https://twitter.com/lululemew/status/1163192241982234626
They literally sell their ideas, commodifying their slogans and actions as live streams, T-shirts and coffee mugs.
They slide into chats, offering open ears and warm friendship to people who are talking online about being lonely, depressed or chronically ill.
https://twitter.com/lululemew/status/1163460545607032833?s=21 https://twitter.com/lululemew/status/1163460545607032833
https://twitter.com/lululemew/status/1163460545607032833?s=21 https://twitter.com/lululemew/status/1163460545607032833
The pathways into the kind of extremism that led to the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, threats against lawmakers and last year’s armed confrontations at state capitals nationwide are often initially anything but ideological. https://twitter.com/lululemew/status/1169312143877005313
“Before conspiracy theories take root, before people decide to break the law bc they think society is somehow rigged against them, there is first a bonding process..connection & camaraderie that encourages members to believe they will now be privy to answers that outsiders” don’t
“You have neo-Nazis, eco-fascists, conspiracy theorists, and what unites them is the culture, not the ideology — the videos, movies, posters, memes,” said @Rita_Katz, executive director of @siteintelgroup, which monitors online extremism.
What the various strands of the far right have in common is the ability to give some Americans a sense of COMMUNITY. https://twitter.com/lululemew/status/1235543513028349952
The same tactics were used decades ago. Give potential recruits a sense of community.
Extremists groups know that starting off spouting full throttle Nazism, for example, turns some ppl off. They recruit more if they don’t.
#radicalization
Extremists groups know that starting off spouting full throttle Nazism, for example, turns some ppl off. They recruit more if they don’t.
#radicalization
“January 6th was a pep rally for these people, just like white-power music concerts were for me,” said Christian Picciolini, 47, who spent 10 years in the neo-Nazi movement before leaving radicalism behind. “Most people don’t look at it as fun, but they should.”
A generation ago, @cpicciolini was recruited into an extremist group in Chicago in a face-to-face meeting in an alley.
Today, the same kind of overtures take place in digital alleys, especially in chats connected to video games with multiple players.
Today, the same kind of overtures take place in digital alleys, especially in chats connected to video games with multiple players.
Decades of research on far-right youth culture has shown how particular facets of subcultures and youth scenes—like hate music—can spread intolerance & prejudice against minorities, not only in..right-wing hard rock & black metal, but also in .. country & pop music.
@milleridriss
@milleridriss
“Violent references are paired with positive messaging about brotherhood, patriotism, belonging, and noble quests, making far-right positions seem *HEROIC*.” (Emphasis added by me)
— Hate in the Homeland by @milleridriss
(Clip from @jimzirin @cunytv interview)
— Hate in the Homeland by @milleridriss
(Clip from @jimzirin @cunytv interview)
Link to full interview:
The appeal of a video like ‘The Last Battle’ is that it’s all EMOTION...
↓From Weaponized Words by @KurtBraddock :
↓From Weaponized Words by @KurtBraddock :
#Outrage appeals to ppl bc of the experience...
“Outrage helps viewers feel validated in their opinions & allows them to avoid belief-disconfirming points of view”
“Outrage also helps [them] feel like they are part of a clear like-minded in-group.”
— @dannagal Irony and Outrage
“Outrage helps viewers feel validated in their opinions & allows them to avoid belief-disconfirming points of view”
“Outrage also helps [them] feel like they are part of a clear like-minded in-group.”
— @dannagal Irony and Outrage
Australian researcher, Julia Ebner ( @julie_renbe) studied extremist culture by going undercover, joining America & European racist groups.
The extremists gave her full access to their plans and ideology only
*after she proved her interest* by hanging out with them.
The extremists gave her full access to their plans and ideology only
*after she proved her interest* by hanging out with them.
To gain firsthand insight into extremists’ recruitment and radicalization tactics, Ebner had to win the trust of the group
It required her to send a photo of her white wrist with her initials drawn on her skin, then submit to genetic testing.
It required her to send a photo of her white wrist with her initials drawn on her skin, then submit to genetic testing.
“Socialize First”
Once admitted, Ebner became privy to a parade of memes that advocated for turning the US into a White ethno-state.
“the strategy is to socialize first,” @julie_renbe said.
Once admitted, Ebner became privy to a parade of memes that advocated for turning the US into a White ethno-state.
“the strategy is to socialize first,” @julie_renbe said.
In an analysis of the arrests of people who took part on 1/6, @orensegal, vp of the Center on Extremism at the @ADL, found that about 25% of the attackers were connected to self-styled militia groups, white supremacist causes or groups pushing QAnon conspiracies...
~75% of insurrection arrestees found each other one by one, mostly online, falling down rabbit holes that led from something entertaining toward an enticingly radical way of perceiving reality.
#radicalization
in 
“Decades ago, the far right’s media content was created mainly by small, ideologically driven businesses — publishers, record companies, film studios.”
Now from nasty memes & videos to overtly racist calls for violence, are products of countless independent people
Now from nasty memes & videos to overtly racist calls for violence, are products of countless independent people
Gionet, in 2019, told @willsommer, a reporter who chronicles the far right, that he had *left the movement* and *regretted “ever contributing anything to that culture*. I was just a normal guy who liked memes and I got radicalized.”
https://twitter.com/lululemew/status/1388581164399661067
https://twitter.com/lululemew/status/1388581164399661067
“The far-right’s shift away from in-person recruitment / radicalization started before the www became widely available.”
Enter Louis Beam’s Liberty Net in 1984
Enter Louis Beam’s Liberty Net in 1984
Importantly, Beam’s Liberty Net also helped advance the strategy of leaderless resistance:
1985...Tom Metzger
“Tom Metzger, the neo-Nazi who had a falling out with David Duke in the late 1970s, also believed the internet would have a prominent role in his cause.”
— Hateland: by Daryl Johnson
“Tom Metzger, the neo-Nazi who had a falling out with David Duke in the late 1970s, also believed the internet would have a prominent role in his cause.”
— Hateland: by Daryl Johnson
From 1998 regarding extremists, Leaderless Resistance & the Internet
ASYMMETRY FROM THE RIGHT:
IMMINENT DANGER FROM EXTREMIST ACTIVITIES?
LIEUTENANT COLONEL O. G. MANNON
United States Air Force
ASYMMETRY FROM THE RIGHT:
IMMINENT DANGER FROM EXTREMIST ACTIVITIES?
LIEUTENANT COLONEL O. G. MANNON
United States Air Force
