Alternative technology and far-right political activism in the ‘post-truth’ era

Alternative technology or ‘alt-tech’ platforms are known for their lax approach to content moderation and curation of debate on controversial social justice issues. These characteristics demonstrably appeal to members of far-right and extreme-right communities censored from mainstream social media. This study responds to this situation by investigating the overt relationship between alt-tech and mainstream social networks, focussing on the spread of misinformation and disinformation online by far-right and extreme right actors in what is often described as the ‘post-truth’ era (McIntyre 2018). It examines how mainstream news and social networks feature on alt-tech forums such as Gab and Telegram, while alt-tech forums are linked to on more mainstream platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. The research is holistically interested in examining how discourse across a wide array of interrelated online media may constitute a periphery of far-right political organisation amenable to co-optation and entryism by a more ‘groupuscular’ extreme right and neo-fascist core (see Griffin 2001). The case studies identified relate to prominent far- and extreme-right actors discussing topics such as Cultural Marxism, in connection with antisemitism and transphobia, eugenicist conspiracy about global heating, and endorsement of insurrectionary violence. Prominent far and extreme right actors in various stages of de-platforming and re-platforming are selected for analysis. One example includes the recent welcome back to Twitter of Andrew Anglin, the founder of the extreme right, neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer, which is currently only accessible via the dark web. Another is the historical uses of Twitter and then Gab by insurrectionist supporters of Donald Trump, and the contemporary use of Truth Social by Trump himself. Data are analysed through qualitative and quantitative methods concerned with addressing “opaque and transparent relationships of dominance, discrimination, power, and control as manifested in language” (Wodak and Meyer 2009, 10). Specific methods include a) a discourse analysis to determine latent connectivity present across alt-tech and mainstream platforms through their focus on far and extreme right political campaigns, and b) a hyperlink analysis to determine the manifest connectivity between content across different platforms. An innovative theoretical framework provides for critical evaluation of how sensational misinformation spread via media networks in the post-truth era can have a generative influence on far-right activism patterns. This focus extends toward consideration of the globalisation and digitisation of contemporary news, which has created revenue pressures for media industries to generate engagement through click-bait, especially given their catering to limited domestic audiences. The analysis then philosophically reflects on Nietzschean perspectivist influences on the far right, where 'truth' is considered important only to the extent of its political-material use (Beiner 2018). Beiner, R., 2018. Dangerous minds: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the return of the far right. University of Pennsylvania Press. Griffin, R., 2001. Notes on the definition of fascist culture: the prospects for synergy between liberal and Marxist heuristics. Renaissance and Modern Studies 42, pp. 95-115. McIntyre, L., 2018. Post-truth. MIt Press. Wodak, R & Meyer, M (eds.)., 2009, Methods for critical discourse analysis, Sage.