What a perfect world!
It seems harmless enough...
Like so many photos and videos on Instagram.
But there is more to these images than meets the eye.
And that is no accident.
These posts are designed to manipulate – to draw young people to the right and radicalize
them.
Our research led us to a woman who has left the German right-wing extremist movement as
well as to experts on radicalization.
Joined by them we look at what goes on behind the scenes when seemingly harmless content
is posted on social media
This film will show you
How right-wing extremists use social media to lure followers
We want to get to know the methods the right-wing radicals are using.
That’s why we met up with Lisa H.
She was prominent on the right-wing scene but left about two years ago.
Lisa H. is a controversial figure.
To verify her claims, we compared the method she described to us with observations made
by experts and research done by other media.
This analysis comfirmed that she came across the right-wing extremist method herself and
adopted it for her own use.
We met her in a safe place of our own choosing
because Lisa told us that she has been threatened by some of her former cohorts.
Lisa was a YouTube star in Germany’s extreme right-wing scene for about a year.
Her channel was a prime example of right-wing recruitment methods in action.
Lisa’s channel incited hatred against all kinds of perceived enemies: social liberals,
the government, Muslims.
She has since taken all these videos offline.
Her social media posts reached hundreds of thousands of people.
But Lisa H. wasn’t always as radical as her videos suggested.
2:35 At first, she wasn’t even aware of it herself,
she tells us.
It started click by click, post by post.
What exactly draws these people in?
As we saw at the beginning of this video, these are not the kind of images we automatically
associate with right-wing ideology.
And that is what makes this method so dangerous.
At first glance you don’t see it.
But when you look closely at the hashtags, and linked profiles, it becomes clear what
is really being promoted.
Right-wing extremists exert subtle political influence, especially through social media.
This has been demonstrated by both the research center Correctiv and recent studies, as well
as our talks with experts and Lisa H.
The
same thing can be seen on right-wing social profiles, for example, on Instagram.
Harmless, pretty pictures which promote ideals such as
Tradition, Nature,
Community.
The extreme right instrumentalizes these images for recruiting purposes.
No sign of shaved heads bomber jackets
or army boots.
The change in imagery used by the right-wing scene in many pictures and posts is plain
to see.
On the right-wing profiles, these images can be found mixed up with other posts that symbolize
how this perfect world is in danger.
We see: Bloody hands
to symbolize supposedly increasing violence.
Weapons and soldiers As a call to defense.
Videos that transmit emotional propaganda.
This is exactly what Lisa H. did on YouTube and Telegram when she herself was a right-wing
influencer.
Last year when the US Capitol was stormed, we saw how people can be mobilized through
social media.
In Germany there were violent protests by COVID deniers.
These social media communication strategies reinforce social tensions and pre-existing
fears.
A 2020 analysis looked at right-wing posts on social media.
At the time of the survey, in YouTube alone, the right-wing channels with the most followers
had 177 million views.
This is a lot!
So now we wonder: Why does this method work?
Experts say: Most of these people are at a point where
life seems to have no meaning.
The internet makes it easy for these young people to join a community and find a sense
of belonging.
Lisa H. says she was in a similar position.
The young mother-of-three often had to provide for her family alone and struggled to make
ends meet.
YouTube gave her the attention she was missing.
After just a few posts and videos she rose to become an important influencer in the right-wing
scene.
She
tells us, that the positive feedback she got from the right-wing scene spurred her on until,
in the end, she was no longer herself.
She regrets this.
At some point, Lisa H. realized things had gone too far.
She was in over her head.
She now acknowledges that she was repeatedly contacted by people from the left-wing scene
who wanted to talk to her about her world views.
In the end, she decided to take part in an official exit program.
Right-wing internet training
How can you avoid breaking laws yet still post right-wing extremist propaganda on social
media?
Our research has shown there are seminars given by the right-wing scene
Extremist groups, like the Europe-wide Identitarian Movement, organise workshops that teach how
to keep posts and YouTube content within the legal parameters so that it seems harmless.
Lisa H. says she took part in one of these seminars.
According to her it took place in a fraternity building in Cologne.
A conservative student association.
We confront the fraternity and ask if the allegations are true.
Have they made their premises available to the Identitarian movement?
To this day,we have not received an answer
This is a strong accusation.
So let’s take a look at the other side.
What is being done about this?
Pushing right-wingers offline: but how?
One method used by the big platforms is what's called deplatforming.
In general, when individuals or groups spread radical content, they are permanently deleted
from the major social media channels.
Once banned from Facebook, YouTube or others, the far right loses millions of viewers.
Many far-right influencers have long since shared links to alternative platforms by the
time their profiles are deleted.
In their profiles, stories or posts.
These links lead to small, usually encrypted groups on messenger apps such as Telegram
or Whatsapp.
The audience reach is smaller but communications can be kept more private because outsiders
don’t have easy access.
For example: Telegram.
This messenger service is hard for German authorities or journalists to reach.
It is considered uncooperative.
The German authorities and politicians recently increased the pressure on the service and
several accounts have been blocked.
A recent study showed that Telegram has become an important platform for right-wing extremists.
For example, it is known to have been used to call for the assassination of politicians
or journalists.
Experts warn that channels like these harbor a great danger
to society.
Radicalization can start with harmless images like landscapes,
women pictured in nature or
images of male friendships.
Hashtags, specific language, new networks, alternative platforms can pull followers deeper
and deeper into the right-wing maelstrom.
Experts warn that digital platforms aren’t being taken seriously enough by the government,
even though they have been used as a “battlefield by right-wingers" for quite some time now.