Friend,
Our 2020 Year in Hate and Extremism report has just been updated with four new pieces:
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* An analysis of the role played by "big tech" in spreading extremist conspiracies and hateful rhetoric online. Has accountability for these platforms come too late
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* A deep dive into one particular example - the encrypted messaging platform Telegram - of how new technology is reshaping extremist movements into new and potentially more dangerous forms.
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* An explanation of the concept of "accelerationism" in the white power movement. It's a term used by far-right extremists who want to sow chaos to bring about "system collapse" and clear the way for a coming apocalyptic race war and an authoritarian regime.
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* A Q&A with Cynthia Miller-Idriss, director of the Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Laboratory (PERIL) at American University, on how to inoculate young people against extremism.
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We've published our Year in Hate report annually since 1990. We know that "now more than ever" is often just a cliché, but this year, it couldn't be truer: The Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol is a sobering reminder that the threat posed by hate groups and extremists is as dangerous as it's ever been.
To effectively fight hate, first we must understand where and how it is spreading. That's the purpose of our Year in Hate report. The articles in this report may not be comforting reading, but they are an important source of knowledge for those of us who are committed to stemming the tide of extremism in our country. Together we can make a difference.
Below, we've highlighted selected excerpts from the new additions to the Year in Hate for you - but we also encourage you to check out the entire report here: [link removed]
"Has Accountability for Big Tech Come Too Late?"
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As the turmoil of the Trump era drew to a close with an attack on the U.S. Capitol, planned on both mainstream and fringe digital platforms, tech companies found their policies governing extremism tested like never before.
Former President Trump's efforts to discredit the 2020 presidential election put our democracy under tremendous strain, using technology as a cudgel. In so doing, he followed in the footsteps of authoritarians throughout the world who use technology, including social media platforms, as a weapon. These efforts were on full display before and during the presidential transition, when Trump and his allies weaponized social media to spread lies and conspiracy theories about the election being rigged. His baseless allegations of fraud culminated in an attack on the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead, and 140 law enforcement officers injured. The supporters who coordinated the insurrection did so using a combination of mainstream social media platforms and fringe apps catering to and favored by the far right.
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"How an Encrypted Messaging Platform Is Changing Extremist Movements"
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Far-right extremists and white supremacist terrorists have embraced Telegram as their platform of choice, signaling a shift away from these groups' traditional methods of organizing and toward a dangerous future defined by leaderless resistance and "lone actor" terrorism.
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Telegram, a messaging app, is a haven for neo-Nazis, white nationalists and antigovernment extremists locked out of traditional social media sites, as Hatewatch first reported in mid-2019.
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But 2020 presented a year full of new hurdles for in-person organizing for the movement, ranging from legal quagmires to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, extremists have come to rely less on in-person groups, such as those recorded in the Southern Poverty Law Center's annual hate count, and more on diffuse, leaderless digital networks, such as those facilitated by Telegram. While this shift does indicate that extremists are using new strategies for organizing, it does not signal a decrease in the threat those extremists pose in the United States and around the world.
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"At the End of the Trump Era, White Nationalists Increasingly Embrace Political Violence"
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If anything has defined the white power movement over the latter part of the Trump administration, it's the adoption of "accelerationism" - a term with a complicated academic lineage, but a simple meaning within the radical right.
The entire economic and political system, accelerationists contend, must be dismantled through apocalyptic race war. In their conception, politics as it's often waged - where power is exercised through elections, campaigns, policy, and mass movements - has no utility. They choose instead a "cleansing fire" of violence, as one of the strategy's more prominent proponents put it. Accelerationism is an anti-politics born of this particular moment, defined by widespread financial and political uncertainty, a pessimistic view of the future, and declining faith in democracy.
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"Preventing Radicalization into Violent White Nationalist Movements: A Conversation with Cynthia Miller-Idriss"
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You distinguish PERIL's mission as rooted in a "pre-prevention" approach. How does this approach make the lab's work different? Why was it so important for our organizations to collaborate on this guide and through this approach?
Once we acknowledge that the problem of radicalization and extremism is not only something on the subcultural fringe, but also is plainly in the mainstream, it becomes clear that what we need are mainstream-targeted approaches. The field of intervention work related to extremism has long been focused on countering violent extremism (CVE) through deradicalization and disengagement programs. Of course, when people are ready to disengage from violent extremist movements, they need access to counseling and a wide range of reintegration support. But there is thin evidence that disengagement processes can be effectively initiated, especially at scale. PERIL believes it is essential to instead work to prevent people from entering radicalization pathways to begin with, and to create early off-ramps for those who are initially exposed to extremist propaganda, disinformation, manipulative rhetorical strategies and techniques like scapegoating. We are empirically field-testing interventions based on lessons from public health research, aiming for inoculation of the whole population so that we reduce vulnerability to extremist propaganda when people encounter it - much like a vaccine.
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In solidarity,
Your friends at the SPLC
P.S. Have you subscribed to our new podcast, Sounds Like Hate? It's an audio documentary series about the dangers and peril of everyday people who engage in extremism, and ways to disengage them from a life of hatred. Listen to Season 1 today: [link removed]
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