According to a new report by the United Kingdom’s Commission for Countering
Extremism (CCE), extremists of all spectrums, including neo-Nazis and....


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Far-Right Extremists In Europe Leverage Internet To Promote Racist And
Xenophobic Narratives

(New York, N.Y.) – According to a new report
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by the United Kingdom’s Commission for Countering Extremism (CCE), extremists
of all spectrums, including neo-Nazis and the far right, have been exploiting
the coronavirus pandemic to launch broad misinformation campaigns that aim to
sow social discord. Extremists have promotedracist and xenophobic narratives
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on social media platforms to incite violence against minority groups, such as
urging their supporters to intentionally infect Jewish and Muslim populations
with the coronavirus. The CCE’s report highlights analarming trend
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in which minority groups are increasingly targeted by extremist content online.

 

More than 70 years after the defeat of Nazi Germany, ethno-nationalist and
white supremacist movements in Europe continue to thrive. They include
far-right political parties, neo-Nazi movements, and apolitical protest groups.
Though not all of these groups directly link their ideologies to Nazism, their
propaganda portrays immigrants and ethnic minorities in a similar manner to how
Nazi propaganda portrayed Jews, blaming them for national economic troubles and
depicting them as a serious threat to the broader national identity.

 

Some of Europe’s historically non-political, violent far-right groups have not
only embraced populist language similar to that of the ethno-nationalist
political movements, but also continue to espouse openly racist concepts and
employ violence to achieve their visions of an ethnically homogenous state. Not
only do these violent white supremacist groups employ similar strategies to
some of the most prominent Islamic terror groups, they are also motivated to
pursue the radical end goal of an ethnically or culturally homogenous state due
to similar concerns that their identity and way of life are under threat.

 

As social media platforms continue to see record usage during the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. officials haveencouraged
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tech companies to be increasingly vigilant against extremists’ misuse of their
sites. Given the government restrictions on public life, the risk of online
users being exposed to and radicalized by hateful ideologies remains a threat
for as long as the content persists on social media sites.

 

To read CEP’s European Ethno-Nationalist and White Supremacy Groups resource,
please clickhere
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To read CEP’s Extremist Groups Leverage Coronavirus Pandemic Online blog post,
please clickhere
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.

 

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