Alt-Right indoctrination on the internet

By Alex Avila

Across the internet and social media, people are increasingly sharing extreme opinions and political ideologies that have the potential to radicalize people’s beliefs, especially those exposed to these ideas at a young and impressionable age. This is a particularly problematic trend as more and more of the younger generations, including children and young teenagers, share and consume so much media content on social media platforms like Tik Tok, Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, etc.

Radicalization has been used to describe individuals who, after going through websites, read or discuss controversial topics with others that lead them down a rabbit hole to extreme views.

A significant thread of this comes from the “altright,” an ultra-conservative demographic that is also prone to white supremacy, ultra-nationalism, racism and violent ideologies. Their voices have become louder, spread exponentially and even infiltrated the conservative corporate and social media ecosystems, including Fox News, The Ben Shapiro Show, Jordan Peter- son, Steven Crowder, PragerU, and Info Wars, among so many others.

Consumers of these platforms can quickly find themselves exposed to anti-feminist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, and racist beliefs in a closed space of people who stoke and share these ideologies openly and loudly.

The alt-right audiences primarily consist of white males, believing the standards of men and white people are being attacked or decreased due to feminism, leftist movements, immigration, identity politics, and fears of a decrease in white masculinity.

Considered white supremacy and nationalist movements, numerous affiliated groups have been blamed for an increase in murders and terrorist attacks LGBTQ+, religious,and minority communities in public spaces.

Several attacks include the Quebec City and Christchurch mosque shootings, the 2019 El Paso shooting against Latin Americans, and the United States Capitol attack. Several of the perpetrators are known to be avid viewers of content spread throughout the alt-right mediasphere and users of imageboards, websites and social media platforms, such as 4chan and 8chan, where many members of the alt-right anonymously express their hatred for minorities, feminism, and the LGBTQ+ community, among other grievances.

Their extreme views have even appeared on social media platforms like Youtube and Facebook, who’ve been criticized for featuring and monetizing Youtube channels associated with the alt-right pipeline, such as Jordan Peterson, Steven Crowder, Ben Shapiro, and PragerU.

The channels attract younger viewers with their views on masculinity, conservatism, and ‘Old-American Values,’ respectively.

In reaction to the backlash, however, Youtube has removed the monetization of certain channels such as Steven Crowder’s channel; although, he is still able to keep the majority of his content up and continues publishing videos on the platform.

According to research conducted by the non-profit research firm Data & Society, Youtube hosted a variety of individuals or groups that featured other ultra-conservative and alt-right members with similar or even more hardcore beliefs.

PragerU, short for Prager University, is known for having its videos on Youtube and ad- vertisements on other videos that share controversial opinions. Despite being named or advertised as such, PragerU is not an actual university and just an organization that has received criticism for sharing misinformation and disinformation.

Several false accusations were made including their beliefs that white privilege is a myth, fossil fuels are a safe energy source for the environment, and cherry-picking history to skew their thoughts on slavery to not be “that bad.” PragerU has even attempted to reach out to children with programs known as “PragerU Kids.”

Many criticize conservative groups for not outright condemning the altright or its extreme followers, such as Donald Trump, who was accused of refusing to condemn the members of the alt-right present in the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Earlier this year, there was the mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., where alleged shooter Payton S. Gendron killed several Black customers at a supermarket in a predominantly black neighborhood. Releasing a manifesto before the shooting, and live streaming it on the popular streaming service “Twitch,” the alleged shooter attributed his white supremacy beliefs from going on websites like 4chan, agreeing with posts revolving around blaming minorities for white issues and, in particular, the “replacement theory.”

The replacement theory is a racist ideology whose supporters believe the power and influence of the white ethnicity is being diminished, blaming it on non-white civilians by saying, in part, that immigrants are being brought to this country to be made citizens so as to “dilute” white culture and the power of white voters. Fox News personality Tucker Carlson has been criticized for embracing the theory. He was quoted as saying, “I know the left become hysterical if you use the term replacement, with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World… because that’s what’s happening, let’s just say it. That’s true,” Carlson said. However, many groups have dedicated themselves to helping the youth who have found themselves to be radicalized, such as Parents for Peace, a group of families who have lost their family members due to extremism, former extremists, and are often, themselves, survivors of extremist violence. Their goal is to “Reduce stigma for those affected by extremism and raise awareness of radicalization,” according to their website: parents4peace.org.

Understanding that social media and other digital platforms can be used to indoctrinate, spread hate and connect individuals with groups who harbor in abhorrent ideologies is just the beginning.

Members of the alt-right communities and white supremacist groups have already learned how to use these platforms effectively to both spread their messages and galvanize their audiences to act on these beliefs.

To further counter this trend, it will be up to society to become more media literate and use these same media platforms and tools to condemn these destructive ideologies, violent behaviors and hateful rhetoric through information and education, not disinformation and indoctrination.