Populist and far right online ecosystems

Abstract

The contemporary populist far-right have proven to be effective users of social media technology. There is an elective affinity between social media platforms and far-right populism (e.g. Carmani, 2017), with algorithms rewarding the affective nature of online political communication. This socio-technical “ecosystem” is further complicated by the proliferation of social networking websites and forums catering to far-right populist audiences, including their interplay with mainstream social media and niche or fringe platforms, as well as changes in platform ownership. When Elon Musk took ownership and assumed management over Twitter, some chaos broke out on the platform. For example, in the weeks following Musk’s acquisition, harassment, hate speech, and the spread of disinformation notably increased (Frenkel & Conger, 2022; Rashawn & Anyanwu, 2022). This made one observation abundantly clear: who owns, designs, and moderates social media can drastically impact the medium and what meaning is derived from online discussions. The mass restoration of previously suspended Twitter users, including notorious neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin, offered far-right populists new opportunities to normalize and spread supremacist ideas. At the same time, the ongoing development of fringe platforms like Gab or Truth Social continues the development of an increasingly stable alternative digital infrastructure for far-right populist cultures. This panel adopts a holistic approach and explores a variety of practices – such as content creation and dissemination, identity building, and mobilisations, as well as platform governance – to better understand the relationship between social media technology and the populist far-right. This panel will explore how certain socio-technical processes and practices are presented in and between a variety of online spaces, including mainstream platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube, as well as alternative platforms like Gab, TruthSocial, and Odysee. This panel takes particular interest in the effects of platform design and governance upon the development of far-right populist cultures, including their formation and activity. Through a series of presentations and discussions, the proposed panel will explore several important points, such as: (1) understanding which and to what degree do features in Gab’s interface most or least appeal to active users in far-right populist cultures (2) examine the political economy of rightwing social media and their mainstream paragones, (3) the use of Facebook and Telegram by the Hungarian extreme right, (4) the role of platforms in mobilisation of the 2021 (US) and 2023 (Brazilian) congress attacks, and (5) the interplay of mainstream and niche platforms in the spread of misinformation in a e ‘post-truth’ era. To address these, the session will in an innovative manner draw from different bodies of research and provide a novel contribution to the conference, based on the complimentary use of political science, terrorism and political violence studies, as well as media and communication studies. The resulting panel discussion aims to provide important knowledge and lessons for moving disciplinary research and policy work forward, offering guidance on future studies focused on the relationship between social media technology and far-right populist cultures.

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