Platforms, Identity and Mobilisation – The Far-Right Online

Abstract

With the events of January 6th, 2021, the online activities of the far right are once again in the media spotlight. Conspiracy theories and baseless rumours, as well as invocations to participate in protests and the insurrection, found purchase on online forums and social media platforms. When the former US President was banned following the events, ‘Alt-Tech’ platforms received even greater scrutiny. Whether in the spotlight or not, the far right inhabits and establishes a variety of online spaces which lend themselves to identity-formation, movement-building, and organization, as well as the creation and dissemination of frames. The structure of each platform allows for moderately idiosyncratic communities to develop, varying on barriers of access, platform enforcement, and platform affordances. The anti-democratic impact of the far right spilled onto the streets in a number of incidences throughout the US Presidential Election 2020. Most notably, the far right participated in voter interference, intimidation, riots, and an insurrection, all co-ordinated through these online platforms. Together, this panel offers a holistic view of the far right online, acknowledging how each platform allows for idiosyncratic communities to form. It engages with identity, movement building, platform affordances, and digital innovation of the far right online through: (1) far right inter- and intra-platform discursive and conceptual flows; (2) shared collective identities and masculinities of the far right and the manosphere; (3) the role of discursive opportunities and platform architecture in the far right’s othering language; and (4) the intersection of additive manufacturing technology, online forums, and Extreme Right political thought. Consequently, this panel seeks to coalesce different case studies that highlight the digital innovation and adaptation of the far right in constructing community, dispersing ideology, and enhancing movement strategies. It foregrounds the multiplicity of opportunities that the online space offers to radical movements, whether said opportunities are exploited or not.

Title	Details
Printing Terror: Extreme Right Online Forums, and Do-It Yourself Firearms	View Paper Details
The interaction between the producer and the consumer: the alt-right on Reddit and YouTube during the US Presidential Election 2020	View Paper Details
Enemies of the radical right: the role of online discursive opportunities in shaping far-right’s othering language	View Paper Details
United in aggrievement: Masculinities and collective identity in the Manosphere and the far-right	View Paper Details
After the Storm: Visual storytelling about the Capitol Hill siege in right-wing online communities on both sides of the Atlantic	View Paper Details