Last year not only saw the covid-19 pandemic but ‘a massive increase in visibility of, and support for, conspiracy theories’, says the annual report of the anti-nazi group Hope Not Hate (HNH). The pandemic has quickened the demise of many traditional far-right groups, while younger, more tech-savvy activists have thrived, it says.
According to the report, the far-right is moving to a ‘post-organisational’ movement. Old-fashioned political groups are in decline with few paying members, and the report goes as far to describe the traditional far right as ‘even more irrelevant’; but more fluid online networks and individual ‘citizen journalists’ have grown in number.
Journalists are increasingly being targeted for harassment and violence by the far right. Meanwhile, in a trend that began years ago, but accelerated in 2020, many of the figureheads that are now directing much of the UK far right scene have begun to self-identify as “journalists”. In an age when trust in traditional media outlets is low and more people get their information off social media, the rise of these far-right ‘citizen journalists’ poses a growing danger, the report says.
As for the method of broadcasting far-right views, the report says that Telegram continued to be the platform of choice. “While other platforms are used alongside it both for organising and outreach, Telegram continues to be the most important platform tieing the violent elements of the British far right closer together. With its relative ease-of-use and sign up, and commitment to secrecy, it lowers the hurdle to engage with violent groups and allows individuals to easily receive a constant stream of violent propaganda and immerse themselves into virulently racist communities. Telegram has done little to stem the use of its platform for these groups.”
The report credits many social media companies with making an effort to de-platform extremists, but this has led to far-right activists and conspiracy theorists moving to unmoderated “alt-tech” platforms.
Nazi terrorism remains a threat, increasingly involving teens: 12 people were convicted last year. The report notes that police and the authorities more generally such as MI5 are taking far right terrorism threats more seriously than in past decades.
Green nationalism
The report also describes something called ‘green nationalism’. What HNH terms eco-fascists are promoting violent direct action, drawing influence from a terroristic style of extreme-right politics that has proliferated online.
Nick Lowles, CEO of HNH, said: “Despite the country being in lockdown for much of 2020, the far right managed to morph and take advantage of these challenging circumstances. While organisationally the British far right remains very weak and fragmented, the number of people who are coming across their ideas is growing exponentially and, as a consequence to the racist backlash to Black Lives Matter, we have seen the return of racial nationalism.”
As the title of the 144-page report ‘Blacklash, conspiracies and confrontation’ suggests, the report covers counter-protests to the Black Lives Matters movement, and conspiracy theories, mainly online, which saw an ‘explosion’ during the lockdown; and online hate generally.
Such findings mirror last month’s legal review for the Commission for Countering Extremism (CCE); and the Antisemitic Incidents Report 2020 by the Community Safety Trust.
Picture by Mark Rowe; the plinth of the statue of slave trade profiteer Edward Colston, thrown into the harbour by BLM protesters in Bristol city centre last year.
